Gamma Ray

Although Land of the Free is really great and considered to be the Gamma Ray classic, for me the choice has to come between Somewhere Out in Space and No World Order. It's a tough call but the vote goes to No World Order.

First of all, there are two very distinct eras of the band. The first spans the years where Ralf Scheepers (now in Primal fear) was the vocalist. The second begins with Land of the Free, where Kai Hansen got behind the microphone.

My favourite albums are from the first era, plus Land of the Free, which I consider a masterpiece worthy of the unofficial title "Keeper of the Seven Keys part III", which was thrown around at the time. Most fans of power metal are familiar with the second era however. While I do think that up to No World Order (or even perhaps Majestic), the band only releases good albums, I am personally a bit disappointed that the every album after Land of the Free was firmly rooted in the euro power sound without much diversity. 

The first three albums had a more "open-minded" or experimental approach that I think some of the more prog-minded people frequenting this forum would appreciate, at least for the ambition.

Heading for Tommorow picks up where the Keepers left off. Standout tracks include the opener Lust for Life (with its wonderful little intro "Welcome" - the Helloween tradition of openers). Lust for Life is speed/power metal, the Kai way. Energetic, fresh and features an utterly brilliant solo. 

The Silence is an epic ballad with great vocal performance and a very taste acoustic guitar break. Space Eater was the single/video of the album. Straight, heavy, with a psychedelic verse, it explodes in high note frenzy in the middle. 

Finally, the s/t epic that closes the album, Heading for Tomorrow is a masterpiece of a song. Unlike the Helloween epics (Halloween, Keeper of the Seven Keys), this one has a very straight structure, verse-chorus x2, solo - finale. What really stands out are the beautiful vocal lines that accentuate the Victim-of-Changes-like riffage and the amazing guitar performance by Hansen. His 5 minute solo is a must-hear, drawing inspiration from Gilmour's emotional playing more than anything metal. It of course develops into an epic power metal force exploding to the anthemic finale.

Great album and of huge sentimental value to me, as I was utterly delighted to have new Kai Hansen music at the time. And I really appreciated a song like Money, which was unusually bold for a power metal album, with its funky-groovy riff and that sense of crazy. 

Sigh No More was not received well. While it is true that there are a couple of sub-par songs (also true for every Gamma Ray release except for Land of the Free perhaps), it contains one of my absolute favourite songs ever: Dream Healer. That song also showcases what I mentioned about adventurous and ambitious songwriting. You will hear 70s influences on this album as well and a mixture of hard rock, power metal, accentuated with a lot of surprises throughout. Top moments besides Dreamhealer include One with the World, Start Running and Changes. AMAZING sound and performance from all participants, they were all very accomplished players. In 1991 they used to do the Nightmare Cinema thing Dream Theater did...

Insanity and Genius. This is the favourite album from the people who appreciate the Scheepers era. You will hear again great power metal stuff, fresh and original and away from the cliches the genre would know in the 90s. Tribute to the Past explodes as an opener. Future Madhouse is an insanely catchy, speedy and bold composition at the same time. The Cave Principle is a slow, heavy number, with the lyrics playing on the Plato allegory of the Caves, oozing atmosphere. Prog freaks will no doubt be interested in hearing the band's version of their namesake, Birth Control's  Gamma Ray.  Amazing cover, quite impressive for a power metal band. The same can be said about Insanity and Genius, the track, it also features a couple of oddities in the songwriting that marks this band as quite different from their peers. Heal Me is an epic "ballad" that draws influences from Queen and Pink Floyd and has Kai Hansen as the main singer. Brilliant. 18 Years is a wonderful dynamic ballad as well, where Scheepers really shines through.

Land of the Free is what I said it is. A masterpiece of Helloween proportions. Just get it. If only for Rebellion in Dreamland. Or Abyss of the Void, a song that Manowar fans have been waiting from Manowar since at least Triumph of Steel. Man on a Mission, a speed/power dynamite. Afterlife, a song dedicated to late Helloween drummer Ingo, hair-raising stuff.

Then, since the great success of Land of the Free (really a huge hit at the time, amongst its fans many people who don't usually listen to power metal - think Imaginations from the Other Side) the band stuck to that formula, traditional power metal, the Kai Hansen way. Somewhere Out in Space and Powerplant are both great albums with many friends amongst power metal fans. In fact one of the three (LOTF, SOIS and PP) is usually the "favourite GR album" in the polls. Personally, while I love both of them (SOIS more than PP) I am rather disappointed int he lack of innovation and the desire to do something different. There is very little experimentation going on, the band rather going for the safer, established sound of euro-power. There are also huge Judas Priest (Painkiller era) influences and at this point, many songs start to remind listeners of old Priest riffs or old Hansen riffs. Good stuff mind you but kind of disappointing from the band that gave us Dreamhealer.

If you are a power metal fan, you will enjoy all of their releases up to Majestic, although it will be evident that the band is treading very well trodden territory from Powerplant onwards. Of course that does not mean that you will not find great fucking heavy metal (cliche though it might be) like the song Blood Religion or the Heart of the Unicorn (the token Painkiller-esque song!). 

In my opinion the necessary ones would be Heading for Tomorrow, Insanity and Genius and Land of the Free. But like I said there is a lot more where those came from!

I could go on but I think I overdid it again. :P

Indeed!

Thanks man, that's really too kind of you. 

I just posted my review for Vektor - Outer Isolation. It's actually a slightly reworked translation of the original review I wrote for the Greek Metal Hammer, where the album was featured as album of the month (December 2011). I haven't actually got permission to publish this, so it's our little secret! :P