Sweet, Kiss, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, The Beatles, Nektar, Rainbow, Scorpions, UFO, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Wishbone Ash, Thin Lizzy, Udo Lindenberg
Anniversary best-of “UNARMED” out February 1st, 2010 Elaborate new versions of band classics
Helloween, one of the most eminent melodic metal bands worldwide and - along with the Scorpions and Accept - Germany’s ultimate metal export, got together exactly 25 years ago. A total of eleven headlining world tours took the band all over the globe, and their sensational show at the Monsters Of Rock in Castle Donington in front of more than 100,000 metalheads and spectacular tours alongside Iron Maiden, Dio and Ozzy Osbourne as well as their MTV Headbangers Ball US tour with Anthrax and Exodus remain unforgotten. Helloween have sold more than five million records and garnered 14 gold and 6 platinum awards globally, receiving two gold records in Germany only. Thus: no exaggeration to say that without them, many contemporary acts such as Edguy, Sonata Arctica and Blind Guardian etc. would not be around in their current form. For 25 years, Helloween have shot their riffs and hooks from the hip and doubtlessly count among the most ingenious international metal acts. At the same time, it’s mainly their fantastic and extremely haunting melodies which their fans love. Now Andi Deris (vocals), Michael Weikath (guitar), Sascha Gerstner (guitar), Markus Großkopf (bass) and Daniel Löble (drums) have set out to prove that their great anthems ooze that special Helloween flair even with totally new arrangements: February 1st, 2010 will see the band unleash a stunning best-of album, entitled “UNARMED – Best-Of 25th Anniversary”, which is set to raise the musical benchmark!
“UNARMED – Best-Of 25th Anniversary” is Helloween’s ‘thank-you’ to millions of fans old and new and will prove their exceptional position on the international metal scene. Instead of putting together a regular greatest hits compilation featuring their most successful tracks to celebrate this anniversary, the five band members completely rearranged the greatest melodies they had written in the course of their career to date. The result is an offering which was lavishly produced under the auspices of their tried and tested producer, Charlie Bauerfeind, and recorded with the support of a number of first-rate guest musicians: together with percussion virtuoso Nippy Noya, Fury in the Slaughterhouse accordion player Gero Drnek, as well as German rock icon Peter Maffay’s guitarist Andreas Becker, “UNARMED – Best-Of 25th Anniversary” features Supercharge’s exceptional saxophonist Albie Donnelly, Hellsongs’s vocalist Harriet Ohlsson, pianist Matthias Ulmer, plus the 70-piece Prague Symphonic Orchestra and the choirs of the Gregorian singers!
“People have come to know us for our phat ENGL, Mesa Boogie and Marshall amps; our distorted guitars are our most deadly weapon,” vocalist Andi Deris explains. “This time, however, some listeners will probably find themselves slapping their foreheads when they suddenly, after an unfamiliar beginning, realise which song it is that they have been listening to.” At the same time, Helloween have fully explored the limits of what is possible: the catchy ‘Eagle Fly Free’ for example is a tender ballad, presented as a duet between Deris and Harriet Ohlsson, supported by a wonderful e-bow guitar solo, ‘A Tale That Wasn’t Right’ has turned into a melancholic, touching orchestral version, ‘If I Could Fly’ and ‘Fallin To Pieces’ are presented in a mellow pop guise with lounge music tendencies, and ‘Dr. Stein’ had been transformed into a ska version with an entire horn section.
As a special surprise, Helloween have come up with ‘The Keeper..s Trilogy’ an awesome 17-minute medley of the songs ‘Halloween’, ‘Keeper Of The Seven Keys’ and ‘The King For A 1000 Years’, recorded in cooperation with the Prague Symphonic Orchestra and likely to send shivers of delight down the spine of every Helloween fan.
“UNARMED – Best-Of 25th Anniversary” sees Helloween commemorate their 25th anniversary in their very own way. “We aren’t one of those bands who like to celebrate themselves,” says Weikath. “We wanted to say thank you in a special way to all our fans who have followed us through the past 25 years - to us, this album stands for an official celebration. We had a lot of fun recording our most important tracks in an entirely new ‘outfit’ and with new arrangements. Now we can’t wait to find out how our fans will react.”
TRACKS
Dr. Stein * Future World * If I Could Fly * Where The Rain Grows * The Keeper..s Trilogy (medley: Halloween/Keeper Of The Seven Keys/The King For A 1000 Years) * Eagle Fly Free * Perfect Gentleman * Forever & One * I Want Out * Fallen To Pieces * A Tale That wasn..t Right*
History
Helloween’s history dates all the way back to 1978 when Kai Hansen and Piet Sielck formed a band called “Gentry“. Around 1981 Kai and Piet changed the name of the band to “Second Hell” and recruited drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg and bassist Markus Großkopf who at the time had been playing in a band called “Traumschiff. In 1982 Piet Sielck leaves Second Hell to become a record producer and sound engineer and the band changes their name to “Iron Fist”. Michael Weikath of the band Powerfool tries to lure Kai Hansen to join his band, but in the end decides to join Kai’s band Iron Fist.
1984 comes around and an upstart independent label called Noise records invites the band to record two tracks on their new “Death Metal” compilation alongside bands such as Running Wild, Dark Avenger and Hellhammer. The band, still not satisfied with the name “Iron Fist” changes their name to Helloween. Ingo Schwichtenberg comes up with the idea to not only replace the “o” in Helloween with a pumpkin, but to also come up with pumpkin artwork which would later become one of Helloween’s biggest trademarks. The band contributed to the Death Metal compilation with two songs, a slower and sloppier version of “Metal Invaders” ( a song that would later appear on their debut full length Walls of Jericho) and the track Oernst Of Life.
In 1985 Helloween goes into the studio with producer Harris Johns and releases their debut, a self titled 5 track EP also known to many fans as “The Mini LP”. In October of 1985 the band then releases their first full length album, “Walls Of Jericho”, also produced by Harris Johns. The band also recorded the “Judas EP” which contained a new non album track entitled “Judas” and a compilation of live cuts. Helloween captured the media’s attention and received great reviews all over the world. In November of 1986 while the band toured, Kai Hansen found it difficult to sing and play guitar at the same time so when the tour was over the band began searching for a new singer. The band recruits 18 year old ex-Ill Prophecy singer Michael Kiske and begins work on a new album. The band decided that they wanted to release a double album, however Noise records said that they did not want Helloween to release a double album and therefore Helloween began work on the first part of a two part concept album.
1987’s Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1, produced by Tommy Hansen and Tommy Newton, puts the band on the map. Helloween received rave reviews everywhere around the world including America where they embark on their first US tour with Grim Reaper and Armored Saint. The following year the band released the second part of their concept album called “Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II” which is even more successful than part 1. The band embarks on the Pumpkins Fly Free tour which takes them all over Europe and they even become one of the headliners at the Donnington Monsters of Rock festival in England along with bands such as Kiss, and Iron Maiden. In late 1988 Kai Hansen decides to leave the band because of the long touring schedule. In 1989 Helloween recruits former Rampage guitar player Roland Grapow and the band then embarks on their second Headbanger’s Ball tour in America with Anthrax and Exodus. Helloween also releases two best of albums, “The Best The Rest The Rare” and “The Pumpkin Tracks“. They also release a live album from their Pumpkins Fly Free Tour of Europe. In Japan the album is called “Keepers Live”, in the USA it’s called “I Want Out Live” and around the rest of the world the live album is entitled “Live In The UK”. Helloween, unhappy with their current contract with Noise records decides to break their contract and sign to EMI records. Noise filed a lawsuit against the band for breach of contract and the band fights a major legal battle with Noise records which would last a long time. In the end, Helloween loses the legal battle and must not only pay Noise records a huge sum of money, but they cannot release any material outside of Europe or Japan. This left many people around the world wondering….”What happened to Helloween?
Finally in 1991 the band releases the “Kids of The Century” single which contains a message from the band telling fans where they have been for the last 3 years. They then release their next album “Pink Bubbles Go Ape” which was not received well by the press and fans alike. Although the album does contain some great songs, especially the ones written by Roland Grapow, tensions inside the band begin to build up between members over which direction musically the band should take.
1993 sees the release their next album “Chameleon” which becomes the band’s most unsuccessful album to date. The band begins to endure even more trouble on the Chameleon tour as tensions build up even more while drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg begins to have problems with his psychological condition and cannot finish the tour. Richie Abdel Nabi replaces Ingo on a temporary basis and finishes the tour. After the tour EMI releases the band from it’s contract they fire singer Michael Kiske, citing musical and personal differences.
In late 1993 Andi Deris, former Pink Cream 69 singer, joins the band along with former Holy Moses and Gamma Ray Drummer Uli Kusch, a new lineup for Helloween is born. The band signs to Castle records in 1994. Their next album “Master of the Rings” was released and became what many people called a great comeback album! The band went on a successful tour and new singer Andi Deris surprised many fans with his versatile and powerful voice. The album was released a year later in North America with a second disc containing all 7 b-sides from the album. Tragedy also struck the band as former drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg committed suicide in 1995.
Helloween went back into the studio and released “The Time Of The Oath” in 1996, which was hailed by the press as their best album since the Keeper era. The album contained songs loosely based on the writings of Nostradamus. Helloween was back on top as The Time of The Oath earned them many gold and platinum albums throughout the world. Later that year they released the double live album “High Live” and was elected best band of 1996 by the Japanese magazine Buurn.
While the band began to write for the next album, Andi Deris released his first solo album “Come In From The Rain” and Roland Grapow released his first solo album “The Four Seasons of Life”. 1998 brought along the album Better Than Raw which was yet again released to rave reviews throughout the press. The band combined modern elements with their traditional Helloween sound which made for quite a unique album and went down well with fans. Roland Grapow also releases his second solo album. 1999 saw the band take a break and release a covers album entitled “Metal Jukebox”. This album contained a variety of rock, pop and metal classics which influenced the band. The band then set off to write their next album.
The band signed a two album deal with Nuclear Blast in the year 2000. Their next album entitled “The Dark Ride” , produced by Roy Z and Charlie Bauerfeind was released shortly after. The album became one of Helloween’s worst selling albums ever as the band took a darker and more modern sounding approach. Reviews of “The Dark Ride” in the press were mixed along with many fan reactions. Some liking the new direction and most wanting the Helloween of old. Tensions between members of the band began which led to the firing of guitarist Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch. The band also released "Treasure Chest", a 2 disc best of release that also had some older Helloween songs remixed. The best of also came as a limited edition with a bonus disc called "Buried Treasure" which contained some rare b-sides.
The band then recruits former Metalium drummer Mark Cross on drums and former Freedom Call guitarist Sasha Gerstner. In 2003 the band began to record for their next album, however their new drummer Mark Cross was diagnosed with mononucleosis and could only complete two songs for the recordings and thus was forced to leave the band. Former King Diamond and current Motorhead drummer Mikkey Dee is called in to complete the band’s studio recordings on the drums.
Rabbit Don’t Come Easy was released and drummer Stefan Schwarzmann is called in to join the band for the tour. The album sold well and the band completed a very successful tour around the world. Stefan Schwarzmann decided to leave the band after the tour but stayed throughout the preproduction for the next album until the band found a replacement. Dani Löble, ex-drummer of RAWHEAD REXX turned out to be the perfect drummer for Helloween and the band began to record the follow-up to Rabbit Don’t Come Easy.
n October 31st 2005 the band releases a follow-up to their legendary Keeper albums entitled “Keeper of The Seven Keys - The Legacy”. The album brought more critical acclaim to the band and was received well throughout the world. The success of the album and it’s subsequent tour was so strong the band released a double live DVD and double live CD. In 2007, to commemorate their last two years of success, Helloween released a double Live CD entitled "Keeper Of The Seven Keys - The Legacy World Tour 2005/2006 - Live In Sao Paulo" and a double live DVD entitled "Keeper Of The Seven Keys – The Legacy World Tour 2005/2006 - Live On 3 Continents".
The band is currently songwriting and plans on going into the studio sometime this spring or summer to start recording their next album!
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