Gamma Ray's first and second albums from '90 and '91, now reissued as a double CD set, with 3 bonus tracks each.
There was a real freshness to the debut, indicating that head honcho, Kai Hansen felt liberated by his departure from Helloween. He displays a real affection for his chosen subject and a renewed vigour in pursuing his songwriting and recording craft with the aptly titled
'Heading For Tomorrow'.
He was joined by vocalist Ralf Scheepers, who would later leave for Primal Fear, Uwe Wessel on bass and Matthias Burchardt on drums.
All that pent up creativity - suppressed by Helloween's narrow corridor of fame - came bursting out in a plethora of rafter raising teutonic metal, fabulous melody lines and enough drinking song approximations to satisfy the most exacting heavy metal audience.
With Hansen, speed is never sacrificed at the altar of expediency.
Theatrical, hi impact singalong songs like
'Money' and
'Hold Your Ground' could have come from the Rocky Horror
Picture Show.
Scheepers, an Axl Rose with an Air raid siren stuck in his throat, weeps and wails through Hansen's soaring, operatic tunes - most notably
'The Silence' and
'Lust For Life'.Equally, Hansen shows himself to be no slouch at the mixing desk. Inventive, imaginative arrangements come thick and fast. Time changes are used for their true purpose - signalling a change in mood or lyrical thrust - ensuring the music intrigues us as well as holding our attention.
On top of all that, arguably, there's a couple of tracks with a commercial edge - the classic-in-the-making
'Heaven Can Wait' and Scheepers' lighterweight songwriting contribution
'Free Time', beefed up by Hansen's hardbodied riffs - are genuine crowd pleasers.
Too often bonus tracks are endcuts that should have stayed on the cutting room floor.
It's a delight then that 'HFT' includes 3 cracking tracks.
'Mr.Outlaw' was previously only included on the Japanese release, later reappearing on the
'Heaven Can Wait' EP.
Second and third bonuses
, 'Lonesome Stranger' and
'Sail On' featured on the EP and the 2002 remastered Box Set.
By 'Sigh No More' it was clear that tomorrow was a helluva lot closer than you think.
Guitarist Dirk Schlater became a permanent member of the band and Uli Kusch replaced drummer Matthias Burchardt.
On this second release we could see Hansen's template for the future of
Gamma Ray beginning to take shape.
It was more innovative, experimental perhaps, and displayed a burgeoning confidence. "I Need A New Direction" announces Scheepers on the dramatic, almost biographical opener
'Changes'. Hansen could now see the way ahead for
Gamma Ray with crystal clarity. Maybe a tweak was needed here are there, but he had it all mentally mapped out.
You could hear Hansen playing with tempo and backing vocals on '
Changes' - switching from lower to higher register, sometimes shadowing the lead vocals, at others using tried and tested call & response.
There's no doubt Scheepers sang with increased conviction, Hansen's guitarwork was marginally more aggressive, the music was darker and the songs were shorter, punchier.
There are plenty of straight up crowd pleasers too
. 'Rich And Famous' and
'Start Running' echo Halloween.
'Father & Son' affects a more mainstream,
Tesla like hard rock style, albeit with a few subtle, progrock twists.
Elsewhere,
'One With the World' continues in an experimental vein - rhythmic metal with pop sensibilities, while
'Dream Healer' is a nice variation on the galloping riff approach. The upbeat, uplifting, hard rockin
'The Spirit' (he'd been listening to Neil Young) closes the album in style.
Well, not quite. Again we have 3 bonus tracks.
For the anorak, there's an interesting pre-production version of
'Dream Healer' and in
'Heroes', we have another, rawer version of
'Changes' (it was originally bonus track on Japanese release of
'Insanity&Genius').
Rounding out the bonus material is the less than memorable
'Who Do You Think You Are', taken from the
'Heaven Can Wait' EP.
A bit of a mixed bag, with an obvious attraction for fans of the band. Casual observers may question the relevance of some of these bonus tracks.
However, two CDs for the price of one, both with 3 bonus tracks. Adds up to cracking value, no matter how you look at it.
Written by
Brian Friday, February 26, 2010
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