Helloween, heavily influenced by The Scorpions’ animal magnetism, injected melody into thrash metal like no other band before them. Iron Maiden redefined what was meant by heavy metal, taking Judas Priest’s British steel and Black Sabbath’s never say die attitude to new heights. For anyone whose ears aren’t painted on, it’s quite obvious both bands play different styles of metal. Yes, both bands had two guitarists, a great singer, an ear for melody, and a penchant for crafting epic masterpiece songs. The similarities were pretty superficial. Helloween were often unfairly compared to Iron Maiden during their early career. The record company interference has also long been thought to be a key factor behind Kai Hansen’s departure from the band after this album’s release. However, it made “Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1” seem a little silly, because the title track wasn’t on it. It hardly matters now, because no self-respecting Helloween fan would be without both albums. Helloween intended to release the two “Keeper of the Seven Keys” albums as a double album, but the band’s record company forced them to split the release. You release “Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 2”, and completely blitz the previous album. It is a melodic metal tour de force, spawning the band’s debut single, garnering great critical acclaim, and racking up immense praise from fans. Say you’re a German heavy metal band, and in 1987, you released an album called “Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1”. Definitely one of the first and best examples of metal not being dark in any sense. It’s kind of off putting at times, but on the other hand it’s one of the most fun-sounding records I’ve ever heard. The lyrics are insane as are some of the sounds they throw in. Stein every song is very strong.Īnother note – they really went off the wall stylistically here. Thankfully this album is much more consistent quality-wise, apart from the silly Dr. This album, like Part 1, is incredibly diverse, both in terms of themes and songwriting, with incredibly poppy numbers sitting between hyper speedy power assaults. While Part 1 abandoned the band’s Speed Metal energy and aggression in favor of complete melody, this album brings back the intense speed of the debut while retaining extremely melodic and uplifting songwriting, resulting in a concrete example of fully formed Power Metal. This album, in my opinion, is superior and much better represents the genre of Power Metal. Thanks to Time Signature, UMUR,, adg211288, diamondblack, Unitron for the updates Buy HELLOWEEN - KEEPER OF THE SEVEN KEYS PART II musicĪlthough the name is misleading, this album and part 1 are not two-part concept albums, and actually seem to be completely unrelated in terms of themes. Don't Run For Cover (single b-side) (4:44)ĥ. Livin' Ain't No Crime (single b-side) (4:41)ģ. 'Save Us' was not included on the original LP format, and on some CD versions it is listed as a bonus track (and placed as track 7 or 10).Ģ. The double CD issue is hard to find nowadays and contains 3 bonus tracks : Cover art for 'Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part II' by Edda & Uwe Karczewskiīoth 'Keepers' albums have also been issued by Noise as a limited edition double CD in 1993.

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