Fretplay.com Helloween CD reviews Helloween guitar tabs Helloween CD reviews Helloween tabs Better Than Raw


Helloween - Better Than Raw Audio CD

A fair review of the Helloween "Better Than Raw" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Helloween reviews here, or go back to the Helloween tabs.

Helloween Band: Helloween
Title: Better Than Raw
Rating:
Release Date: 1998-09-15
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Deliberately Limited Preliminary Prelude Period in Z 2: Push 3: Falling Higher 4: Hey Lord! 5: Don't Spit on My Mind 6: Revelation 7: Time 8: I Can 9: Handful of Pain 10: Lavdate Dominvm 11: Midnight Sun 12: Game We Shouldn't Play [*]

Better than Most
By bringing in former Pink Cream 69 vocalist Andi Deris to replace Michael Kiske, the band seemed to regain the focus and energy missing from the last couple of Kiske albums. Originally released in 1998, Better than Raw is, in my humble opinion, the absolute best album Helloween has released since the classic Keeper of the Seven Keys albums. All of the Deris-era Helloween albums are quite good, especially those released in the 1990's, but Better than Raw stands out as the best of the bunch.

This is Helloween doing what they do best - delivering the kind of high-energy melodic power metal that they pretty much invented in the first place. Everything about this album, from the songwriting to the music to the cover art is an improvement over its predecessors. The album is full of strong tracks, though songs like Push, Hey Lord, I Can, and Midnight Sun stand out. This is the kind of album that would bring old-school Helloween fans back to the fold, and one of the only albums released since founding guitarist Kai Hansen left that is truly on par with his band Gamma Ray's albums.


AMAZING STUFF!!
THE HIGHLIGHTS HERE ARE THE VIOLENTS "PUSH" AND "REVELATIONS" AND THE MELODICS YET AGGRESSIVE "FALLING HIGHER", "MIDNIGHTN SUN" AND "LAUDATE DOMINUM" WHICH IS SUNG IN LATIN!!!ITS VERY HARD TO FIND THIS ALBUM TODAY, BUT ITS VERY VERY WORTH GETTING TO!! . MAN, I SHOULD TELL YOU,IVE HEARD MANY GOOD COMMENTARIES ABOUT THIS ALBUM, BUT I WASNT EXPECTING IT TO BE SO AMAZING!THE SONGS HERE ARE FAST, HEAVY AND VERY MELODIC AT THE SAME TIME, LOADED WITH DOUBLE-BASS DRUMS AND FAST GUITAR RIFFS,AS EVERY METAL SHOULD BE.


Power Metal from the gods
The musicianship is phenomenal with plenty of double bass drumming that is sure to get your head banging. Helloween plays energetic power metal with plenty of catchy melodies and great singing yet still retains a heavy edge. This is one of my favorite Helloween releases. It is a great listen from start to finish. This American version of the album has a bonus song called "A game we should not play", which is , I think, better than the bonus song that was on the Japanese release. This is one of their heavier albums with some creative drum rhythms. One of my favorite songs is Laudate Dominum which has some of the most beautiful almost angelic singing and still retains a heavy metal feel with double bass drums jamming along and some AWESOME guitar solos. Trust me, if you are a fan of music like what I've described you will be as overjoyed with this album as I was.


The very best of Helloween!
This album is my absolute favorite album ever. . by any band! There are so many reasons why, as well. First off, since Andi Deris joined the band in 1994, Helloween have greatly surpassed any of their previous works. "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" and "Chameleon" were great albums, but just not Helloween. Andi Deris joining the band, re-defined what Helloween really is as they began to once again make the [best] Power Metal CD's ever. This album is slightly darker than previous Helloween albums. It is very heavy, very fast, very aggressive, very melodic. . . it just has it all. The duel guitars of Roland Grapow and Michael Weikath tear through your head, Markus Grosskopf's bass work defines these beautiful tracks, the fast and pounding drums of Uli Kusch keep you banging your head, and of course, Andi Deris' soaring vocals will have you listening to this CD non-stop! This is the best Helloween has sounded. . . ever. Long live Helloween and Andi Deris! Helloween is taking you over!.


It could have been a great album, but....
He just does not fit into this band;

Second: the bad drumming by Uli Kusch. Otherwise good songs on this album are held down by two major flaws, in my humble opinion:

First: the always below-standards vocals of Andi Deris. Technically speaking his drumming in this album is a lesson in virtuosity, really awesome. In terms of arragement and band-objectives, it's a disaster. Talk abou overplaying, talk about Uli Kusch in BETTER TAHN RAW. Amazing! Could no one restrain him just a little bit, so that the drums did not turn the songs into a big mess of a noise ????!!.


You can see a complete list of all Helloween discography, or go back to the Helloween tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]