Helloween's Reviews
The Dark Ride (Average Rating: 8.80 out of 10)
Kind of Sad (Rated this album with 8 out of 10)
Reviewed by
soul_schizm
from Milwaukee, WI USA
This band just kept continually getting better and better.After the horror that was "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" and "Chameleon," Helloween eventually reformed and released their first "new" album, "Master of the Rings" in 1994. A respectable, if not impressive, effort--the CD nevertheless signaled a new chapter in the life of the once-legedary masters. Although all but forgotten internationally, the band has continued to thrive and improve with each new release. A small but rabid following has kept the flame alive through the '90s, and the band has refused to die. Which brings me to "The Dark Ride." This is an amazing album--not because it blows me out of my chair, but because it represents the perseverence of a band that has been through so many tough times. Andy Deris is just so amazing. He switches between rough & clean so smoothly. Over the past 3 albums, he has matured into one of my favorite frontmen. At once, he's authoritative, nasty, melodic, and tongue-in-cheek. Uli Kusch masters the percussion, lending much more variety to his attack than the vast majority of drummers in Power Metal. The songs on Dark Ride show a maturity that only comes from having done it so many times before. There is real variety here--REAL variety. From the deep guitar rantings of Escalation 666, to the "traditional" power metal fare of Salvation, to the wonderful simplicity of If I Could Fly, to the beat-conscious The Departed, each song was crafted as a work unto itself. More than any other Helloween album, the songs here each stand on their own. I haven't mentioned why I chose the title "Kind of Sad" for my review. It's because after this album, Grapow (guitar) and Kusch (drums) left the band. That's a real problem for me, because it seems they spent so much time building a new reputation, and both those guys were contributing some of the best songwriting the group has to offer. To be honest, I have reservations whether or not Weikath has anything significant left to offer as a songwriter (his writing efforts are among the worst songs on Dark Ride). Dark Ride would not have been half the album it is without the writing of Deris, Grapow, and Kusch. Now that two-thirds of that songwriting battery is gone, I question the future of this band. Therefore, without any hesitation whatsoever, I whole-heartedly recommend "The Dark Ride." Witness the culmination of many years of struggle that ended in a wonderfully crafted album. And, just possibly, witness the final great Helloween CD. Buy it.
Buy this album on Amazon at $15.98
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