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Somewhere between the lines of Judas Priest, Queensryche, and Iron Maiden is Unisonic. New to me. Am I late to this party too?


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36 minutes ago, princeofdarkness56 said:

It’s the same guy in your other video post , Kai Hansen with the singer of Helloween. I think Kai was in that too. 

I like his fucking hat. I love everything I've seen so far. 

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12 hours ago, Ting Ho Dung said:

I like his fucking hat. I love everything I've seen so far. 

Kai is a genius. He’s a great guitar player and an awesome singer, besides being a solid songwriter. Unisonic is his project with Helloween’s ex-singer Michael Kiske. That happened relatively recently, but what I believe you’ve really missed is the Helloween/Gamma Ray golden eras. Both bands were epic. Helloween ruled in the eighties. Then Kai left them, and formed Gamma Ray, which I see as a more focused Iron Maiden with vocals in the vein of Judas Priest, but more melodic. Please tell me if you like this one:

If you like that one, which I find quite representative of Kai’s style, I can recommend you their best albums and very probably you will enjoy them. I used to be a big fan... and still am. 😎

 

 

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Here’s an interesting detail about both Helloween and Gamma Ray:

While the vast majority of heavy metal acts take themselves too seriously, Helloween and Gamma Ray often have humorous lyrics and/or convey positive messages. Even when they get into fantasy territory, they usually do it tongue-in-cheek.

That’s why back in the day they were tagged as “happy metal”, even if their songs sounded anthemic. To me that was a good thing. 

 

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1 hour ago, zorrow said:

Kai is a genius. He’s a great guitar player and an awesome singer, besides being a solid songwriter. Unisonic is his project with Helloween’s ex-singer Michael Kiske. That happened relatively recently, but what I believe you’ve really missed is the Helloween/Gamma Ray golden eras. Both bands were epic. Helloween ruled in the eighties. Then Kai left them, and formed Gamma Ray, which I see as a more focused Iron Maiden with vocals in the vein of Judas Priest, but more melodic. Please tell me if you like this one:

If you like that one, which I find quite representative of Kai’s style, I can recommend you their best albums and very probably you will enjoy them. I used to be a big fan... and still am. 😎

 

 

Yeah, I liked that. 

29 minutes ago, zorrow said:

Here’s an interesting detail about both Helloween and Gamma Ray:

While the vast majority of heavy metal acts take themselves too seriously, Helloween and Gamma Ray often have humorous lyrics and/or convey positive messages. Even when they get into fantasy territory, they usually do it tongue-in-cheek.

That’s why back in the day they were tagged as “happy metal”, even if their songs sounded anthemic. To me that was a good thing. 

 

I noticed that in Exceptional in my OP. Very nice for a change from my usual negativity. I pay a lot of attention to lyrics. To me they make or break a song. 

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Love both Helloween and Gamma Ray. Was listening to both of them on my flight yesterday. Hello ween are sometimes credited as being the originators of power metal. Although I thought their first album (Walls of Jericho) sounded a bit more thrash. Wasn’t the biggest fan of Kai’s vocals on that album and much preferred Michael Kiske’s (and later Andy Deris).

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that Kai and Michael were playing together again. Hadn’t checked out Unisonic yet. 

If you like more of the anthemic power metal style, check out some of the Michael Kiske/Amanda Sommerfield stuff as well. 

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Oh, I love some Helloween- I believe they have toured recently as Helloween, with Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen back for the tour. They really were 'happy metal'- also loved the fact they could take a song and bring out their own version of it complete with the same key changes etc. Remember 'Out In The Fields' by Gary Moore? Well, there's a certain Halloween song that you can mix with it, and it fits exactly..... I should know, I've done it! So, just to confuse the issue- he's Unisonic doing the Halloween song, 'I Want Out'..... LOVE THIS......

 

Listen to Halloween- Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II, it's a classic.

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Now, my recommendations of Kai Hansen works:

Helloween - “Wall of Jericho”’ (1985) : First album. More thrash than power metal, with Kai Hansen on vocals. To many people this was the real thing. Highlights: “Ride The Sky” and “How Many Tears”

Helloween - “The Keeper of the Seven Keys”’ - part I (1987) and part II (1888) : These two are the bible of melodic power metal. There are few albums as influential as “The Keepers...”. Michael Kiske’s diction left to be desired, but he could hit unbelievable notes and the tone of his voice was the very definition of epic. One cannot claim one knows anything about metal without digging deep into theese two albums. Highlights: listen to the whole damned thing!

Gamma Ray - “Heading for Tomorrow” (1990) Kai Hansen quit Helloween right after “The Keepers”; the band released a couple of dubious albums, leaving their fans quite disoriented, and then Kai formed Gamma Ray and released this. The singer, Ralf Scheepers, was almost as good as Michael Kiske, but with a better English. This album brought back the feeling of “The Keepers”. Highlights: once again, the whole thing is relevant.

Gamma Ray - “The Land of the Free” (1995) : In spite of having an awesome vocalist in Scheepers, Gamma Ray didn’t do anything so great after their first album. They had many lineup changes and the songwriting wasn’t consistent. Eventually, Scheepers left and Kai Hansen took on vocals. This was the first album reflecting that major change. Hansen sounds here better than ever. Highlights: Though the average song here was slightly less memorable than their previous masterpieces, I also recommend listening to the whole thing.

Now I have to stop, but I will keep on writing about Gamma Ray later. Thanks for reading! 😉

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Land of the free II was my first introduction to Gamma Ray and still one of my favorite albums. 

Dont be afraid to check out Primal Fear which is Ralf Scheepers’ current band. Killer stuff there, too. 

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4 hours ago, psc3251 said:

Oh, I love some Helloween- I believe they have toured recently as Helloween, with Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen back for the tour. They really were 'happy metal'- also loved the fact they could take a song and bring out their own version of it complete with the same key changes etc. Remember 'Out In The Fields' by Gary Moore? Well, there's a certain Halloween song that you can mix with it, and it fits exactly..... I should know, I've done it! So, just to confuse the issue- he's Unisonic doing the Halloween song, 'I Want Out'..... LOVE THIS......

 

Listen to Halloween- Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II, it's a classic.

Anyone else notice Kai switched V’s about a minute and a half in...?

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I keep on writing:

From “Somewhere Out in Space” (1997) on, the lineup of Gamma Ray got stable and stronger. They subsequently released “Power Plant” (1999), “No World Order” (2001), “Majestic” (2005), “Land of the Free II” (2007) and “To The Metal!” (2010). I personally prefer their output until 2005, but all those albums were excellent.

If you want a great overview of this era of the band (to me their best one), I would simply recommend the following two albums:

“Blast From The Past” (2000) : A two-CD compilation of re-recordings and remastered tracks, covering their entire career until that date, featuring their most solid lineup ever —Kai Hansen (v/g); Henjo Richter (g); Dirk Schlächter (b) and Dan Zimmermann (d). This is an awesome album. Just get it and enjoy!

“Hell Yeah - The Awesome Foursome (And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal” (2008) That’s like a “greatest hits” live, greatly produced. In addition, I was there! 😎 I even appear briefly on the DVD, at the end. 😉

After 2010, they got a new drummer and kept on regurgitating their same winning formulas. Still enjoyable though. In general, you cannot go wrong with Gamma Ray.

Go now to listen to them... and do have fun!🤘

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3 hours ago, zorrow said:

I keep on writing:

From “Somewhere Out in Space” (1997) on, the lineup of Gamma Ray got stable and stronger. They subsequently released “Power Plant” (1999), “No World Order” (2001), “Majestic” (2005), “Land of the Free II” (2007) and “To The Metal!” (2010). I personally prefer their output until 2005, but all those albums were excellent.

If you want a great overview of this era of the band (to me their best one), I would simply recommend the following two albums:

“Blast From The Past” (2000) : A two-CD compilation of re-recordings and remastered tracks, covering their entire career until that date, featuring their most solid lineup ever —Kai Hansen (v/g); Henjo Richter (g); Dirk Schlächter (b) and Dan Zimmermann (d). This is an awesome album. Just get it and enjoy!

“Hell Yeah - The Awesome Foursome (And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal” (2008) That’s like a “greatest hits” live, greatly produced. In addition, I was there! 😎 I even appear briefly on the DVD, at the end. 😉

After 2010, they got a new drummer and kept on regurgitating their same winning formulas. Still enjoyable though. In general, you cannot go wrong with Gamma Ray.

Go now to listen to them... and do have fun!🤘

Because of your endorsement I’m going to dig more into Gamma Ray’s catalogue. 

Listening to Primal Fear “Angels of Mercy: live in Germany” as I type this...

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