after a close listen of Helloween's Chameleon, here are my thoughts :
1. First Time : good Helloween song, not a classic but certainly a good song… 7/10
2. When the Sinner : starts pretty good but the song stretches for too long, they keyboard and horns don’t work much and, overall, it’s not a very strong song… 3/10
3. I Don’t Wanna Cry No More : shows us what Kiske was aiming to… so classic rock that is (which his voice doesn’t fit too well)… I feel this song could have been chosen by Germany for the Eurovision contest… that says how annoying it is… (plus it kind of reminds me of Uriah Heep’s major german hit, Lady in Black, which sucked too… worst song by UH in their classic era). 2/10
4. Crazy Cat : the ultimate proof that german metallers can’t groove… awful song, really… what took on them when they did that remains a mystery too me (even more when I can feel the song could have been way better if played in a more classic Helloweeny style or by another band with the ability to groove properly). 2/10
5. Giants : not bad but not great either… I would have liked the same song to be faster and heavier… it would have kicked ass… but that wasn’t Helloween’s way back then and so, it’s just average when it could have been great… 5/10
6. Windmill : another mainstream song… with a crappy mainstream production too… sounds more like Wet Wet Wet (remember ?) than Helloween… so the song is not exactly bad but it’s damn annoying and definitely not what one would expect from a metal band. 2/10
7. Revolution Now : once again (see When The Sinner) the production ruins it for it’s a good song, somehow reminiscent of Dio’s Black Sabbath & Queensrÿche… Kiske does a pretty good job on vocals and the guitars are quite catchy. Even the mellower part fits… other than the production, one can argue this song is about two or three minutes too long (for it gets boring towards the solo part to the end)… still, one of the strongest songs on Chameleon (but that does not imply a very high quality standard). 5/10
8. In The Night : another attempt to produce a potentially different Helloween sound… and another mainstream sell-out song but , actually, I think this one works pretty well… the piano is sweet and the drummer almost grooves… so, okay, this is not Helloween but a bluesy popish tune that no one would have expected from a bunch of german metallers but, really, the main problem is to find this song on that particular album… it would have fitted perfectly (as the different song) on any other Helloween album but on Chameleon it kind of gets lost in the middle of an ocean of crap… 6/10
9. Music : what’s that again ? more crappy horns, more lousy keyboards (but the lead guitars are pretty sweet) and another song that stretches for way too long (7minutes when 5minutes would have been sufficient)… another song, average, ruined by its production… I really don’t know what they tried to achieve with Music but, whatever it is, it’s a miss… 4/10
10. Step Out Of Hell : not a good song at all…sounds like some Bonfire (remember ?) which is never meant as a compliment coming from me…. Imho, this is the crappiest song on the whole album… a desperate attempt to be in the charts probably too… I’ll give it one point out of my insane generosity and because of a good bridge (not much to save I know). 1/10
11. I Believe : average at best, a classic filler… not bad, not good, not memorable at all either… one I could have easily lived without… even more considering it stretches for 9 minutes (which makes it ultimately boring)!!! 3/10
12. Longing : the final ballad just in case the previous songs didn’t bore you enough… and again, the same problems appears, this is too damn mainstream (on a too damn mainstream album) to bear the good name of Helloween… orchestral arrangements (or pseudo ones), acoustic guitars, mellow voice, all is here to remind you Helloween were, back then, trying to succeed out of the metal scene which they missed before they were just not good enough at it. Longing is the final proof of the waste this album is… 3/10
Rate : 35/100
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