Gamma Ray could be considered a spinoff of Helloween. But that wouldn't be doing them justice. Kai Hansen, the largest creative force in Helloween, left that band to form Gamma Ray. Thus, for a while it seemed like Helloween was the spinoff band. Recently, however, Helloween has returned to past form, and us metal fans are overjoyed because now there are two excellent bands for us to listen to. Needless to say, the two bands are very similar, and if you like one, you'll most likely be a fan of the other.
Heading for Tomorrow('90) ****
This first Gamma Ray album is almost a "Kai Hansen and Friends" solo album. The cover features only Kai and Ralf Scheepers, the singer. He had a drummer and bassist too, but apparently they weren't too important. The rest of the musical work is taken up by a whole bunch of guest musicians. Kai continues his "Future World"-style unquenchable optomism on this album with such tracks as "Lust for Life" and "Heaven Can Wait," his goofiness with "Money," and his epic songwriting with "Heading for Tomorrow." It's fast, with loads of good solos and plenty of chorus vocals, exactly what we'd expect from musical genius Kai Hansen.
Heaven Can Wait-EP('91) ****
By the time this five song EP was released, the band had a semi-stable lineup.
It starts with a redone "Heaven Can Wait" which I like much better than the
original version. Then come two solid songs "Who Do You Think You Are?" and
"Mr. Outlaw," which both have a great "Eagle Fly Free" solo in them. "Sail
On" is the first of a series of Dreamland songs from Gamma Ray. "Lonesome
Stranger" comes out of left field. It's an instrumental straight out of the
Old West which gathers about five guitars together by the end. This EP has
some pretty crazy artwork and hilarious pictures of the band.
Sigh No More('92) ***
The third official release from Gamma Ray is quite a bit different than the
first two. The sparkle and fun is gone and replaced by moodiness. In that
respect, this is the most cohesive of all Gamma Ray albums to date. It
really has a distinct feel to it. The first two songs, "Changes" (at least
the second half) and "Rich and Famous" are excellent, but it sorta goes
downhill from there for me. If I'm in the right mood, this album can seem
really powerful to me, but if I'm not, it just gets boring.
Insanity and Genius('93) ****1/2
I was in the library reading about Helloween and learned that Kai Hansen left
and formed a new band called Gamma Ray. A little later, I happened across a
Gamma Ray CD, so I picked it up. I got home and put it in my CD player and
was blown away by the gunshot drumming of "Tribute to the Past" attacking me
from my speakers. The style continued for the first five songs without
hardly slowing or quieting. Needless to say, I loved it. Only later did I
find out that the music on this album was quite a step from earlier Gamma Ray
efforts. It's like Gamma Ray decided to go out and pick up an extra set of
balls. "Future Madhouse" simply rips. As the disc goes on, it does evolve
into some different styles. "18 Years" slows it down quite a bit, and the
Queen-ish "Heal Me" adds quite a bit of character. And of course, no Gamma
Ray album would be complete without a song near the end that doesn't really
belong there, and this one has "Brothers."
Land of the Free('95) ****1/2
This is by far Gamma Ray's most mature album. It's also very unified, except
of course for some silly stuff at the end. Oh yeah, and Kai Hansen does the
vocals too, and he doesn't suck anymore. Some even say that's the key to
this album, the feeling that Kai brings to his music with his voice. The
opener, "Rebellion In Dreamland" sets a great tone for the rest of the album.
"Man On a Mission / Fairytale" is my favorite Gamma Ray song, very fast yet
very melodic. Not too much else jumps out at you, but that's just because
the whole album is so solid. There are some important guest vocalists,
namely Blind Guardian's Hansi Kursch, and Ex-Helloweener Michael Kiske. The
last song, "Afterlife," is a tribute to the late ex-Helloween drummer Ingo
Schwichtenberg.
Silent Miracles-EP('96) **1/2
This is an EP of four ballads. The first, "Miracle" is basically "Man on a
Mission" in ballad form, useful mainly for making "Man on a Mission" sound
really incredible when heard directly after "Miracle." Then comes "Farewell,"
a track off Land of the Free. "The Silence" is from Heading for Tomorrow,
but redone with Kai on vocals. It sounds just about the same to me. The
final track, "A While in Dreamland" is the happy surprise off this disc. It's
a simple slow piece with Dirk Schlachter on piano and Kai singing (even
whistling.) It's very well done and saves this disc from the dustpile.
Alive '95 ('96) ***
This is a decent live album, but there's really nothing special about it.
The U.S. version comes with 2 discs, 19 songs, and 100 minutes of music, but
the second disc is just Gamma Ray's part of the Power of Metal compilation from
a few years ago. They play six songs off "Land of the Free," and as good as
Kai sounds on the studio album, I think it would be more exciting if he went
back to his old voice for live shows. It just doesn't sound very good live,
especially when he does some former Ralf songs. The old Helloween songs are a
bust, in my opinion, as "Ride the Sky" is almost Kiske-like, and "Future
World" is so much the same, yet so much worse, than Helloween's live version.
Since I have all of Gamma Ray's studio albums, I don't really feel a need to
buy this one.
Other Gamma Ray Sites:
Back to the BandsQuestions, comments, complaints? Let me know: gregie@students.uiuc.edu