Almost Perfect

Helloween's new begin. The new vocalist, Andi Deris, started right away making an excellent album. This is one of the three albums that are Helloween classics. Others are "Keeper of the Seven Keys II" and "Time of the Oath", This album includes many kinds of songs. There's fast songs: "Sole Survivor", "Take Me Home", and "Still We Go", there's a ballad "In the Middle of the Heartbeat". That's not just a sweet ballad...it is maybe Helloween's most famous song together with "I Want Out" which is in Keeper II. There's also a religious song "Why?". It is thinking about that thing why God doesn't do anything although there's so much bad things. The new vocalist is almost as good as the earlier one. Maybe the most popular song in this album among Helloween fans is "Where the Rain Grows". I think it's quite safety single because it reminds of Keeper II songs.

Stars: In the Middle of a Heartbeat, Why?, Secret Alibi, Perfect Gentleman

And a new era begins...

This was a serious attempt of making credible a band that already had fallen from audience's grace.One thing above all must be understood:this is a COMPLETELY different band from what used to be the former Helloween version.This is a more melody-oriented band,more mature that tries hard to leave the past behind and face the 90's with another kind of attitude and music.Some can say that how a band can pretend to be credible with lyrics such as "Perfect gentleman"'s.But this takes us to another level of lyrics writing.Meaningful and often social critical,this band has evolved into something more mature as years go by.It's obvious that it's hard to stay with the same "Go to hell you all" that they showed back in their teens with songs as "I want out".The sound is more melodical and better thought,now with Mr Grapow more involved in the song writing process.Deris is such a good lyricist,with another conception of music,which helped to develop the new Helloween sound.He might not be the best singer on Earth,in fact,sometimes his nasal voice can drive you to turn off the stereo before the CD is over,but his lyrics and his musical ideas can make us forget for a while of his....huh,weird voice.Good album,it deserves credibility...and a second listen from all those that didn't like it.

Andi Deris Gives New Life to the Band

Before Master of the Rings, Helloween was a dying band. After releasing two absolute failures in the sales department(Pink Bubbles Go Ape, Chameleon), Helloween was ready to call it quits. Michael Kiske had parted ways with the band. But just when it was thought to be over for this band, which pioneered the power metal sound, they recruited PinkCream69 vocalist Andi Deris for a last go. Needless to say, it worked! Andi's style is a bit darker, deeper, and more graveled. This worked out to an amazing sound when combined with the Helloween musicianship. Overall, the band has reinvented itself and once again risen to the peaks of metaldom. "Master of the Rings" is one of the best albums from the "Deris Era". The opening track(preceeded by "Irritation"), "Sole Survivor" has a an amazingly catchy chorus, not unlike many other Helloween tracks, along with a hard, driving beat. The rest of the album is well balanced and displays Andi's vocal versatility, including a ballad of sorts with "In the Middle of a Heartbeat". Overall, this album is a great listen for any fan of metal, or, more specifically, Helloween.

Good comeback album

After the well-known dissaster of 1993's Chameleon, Helloween managed to put a good album in the "metal market". Even though it isn' a great album with only three or four good songs it pretty much does it for a comeback. Andi Deris makes a good contribution to the band's new sound.

Highlights:

Where The Rain Grows, Sole Survivor, Still we Go.

I Can't Believe What The Other Guys Are Saying....Get It Now

I won't start saying that this CD is Helloween's best, but this is because I have listened to what they did next. This album is the start of the new Helloween, the one that later produced some of the best albums in my collection. You can divide this band into three periods, th Keeper era (which is absolutely excelent), the weird era (chameleon and pink bubbles) and the present one, to which this CD belongs. It has great songs, great drumming and guitars, and above all a wonderful singer and composer which is Andi Deris. IHe doesnt sing better than Kiske, but he certainly has his own style which is very unique. Someone said that the lyrics were disastrous, this is absolutely wrong. Just because they no longer write about typical heavy metal themes they suck, this is not true. They are just more down to earth now, with more "cotidian" stuff being said. Just buy the CD, do yourself a favour and realize that the only opinion that counts is your's.

Let me tell you something...

... "Master of the Rings" is THE comback of Helloween! There are a few bands who managed to make it back with a new singer, and Helloween is one of them. "Master" is the first album featuring Andi Deris (ex-Pink Cream 69), who stepped in after Michael Kiske took off in 1993. Obviously Helloween put a lot on this album and if it would fail, the band probably wouldn't exist now. But fortunately, the material of the CD is a total blast from the first notes of the "Irritation" to the last chords of "Still We Go".

And another good thing about this album is that Deris is not trying to repeat Kiske (which is simply impossible anyway), but does his own thing and does it very profesionally.

Very fresh, very funny, very multisided. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and a MUST for Melodic Metal fans!

Not a complete miss, but not great either

Let me begin by saying that I was really, really looking forward to listening to this album and putting some thoughts down. After all, this was the first "real" Helloween album since the "Keepers..." and I was dying to hear the new vocalist. Though I should be fair and note that Michael Kiske was perhaps my favorite of all time; I was hoping my preconceived prejudices didn't ruin the listening experience for me. In fact, I was hoping beyond hope that I LOVED this album; alas, I did not.

It's not a bad album, don't get me wrong. It's just not a great album either. As a first listen, Andi Deris is a fairly decent vocalist (and I happen to know he gets better). They still have the wicked soloing of Weikath and Grapow, and new drummer Uli fills the beats well. Unfortunately, where they seem to be most hurting is the song writing. There are few, if any, songs here that reach out, grab you by the throat and scream in your face to RESPECT the fine metal you're hearing. Quite a few of the songs did the opposite - made me yawn. Sure, "Sole Survivor" and "Still We Go" are decent enough and seemingly say "hey, we're Helloween, we're back, we're going to carry on," which is fine and I'm glad. But "In the Middle of a Heartbeat" is actually a really bad Bon Jovi-ish ballad that was painful to listen to.

Like I said, if you're a Helloween fan, you'll certainly find stuff here to make you happy. Remember that it's a different band and that this ain't "Keepers..." anymore. However, it's the same band that began churning out gems not long after this disc; this is just where THAT Helloween began. Give it a listen and decide for yourself.