Album Review: Helloween - Live At Budokan
Reviewed by Carl Black
Anyone fancy some good old power metal from Hamburg Germany this Christmas? The legendary band recorded a legendary set in front of a legendary crowd , in one of the most legendary venues in the world.
Packaged in gatefold vinyl , BluRay/DVD, if ever there was a stocking filler... this is it.
The reformation of Halloween with its seven musicians, three singers and more bass drums than a marching band convention are enjoying a purple patch in their career. This live album really does summarise the last few years of this magnificent uprising. This live offering puts “Live in the UK”, the contract breaking album from the late 80s well and truly in the shade.
The album is cornerstoned by some epic tunes, notably opener Skyfall together with Kai Hanson's medley from the early material, the ever present How Many Tears and Keeper the Seven Keys in its entirety. Just these four songs alone gives us well over 50 minutes of classic material. The set is peppered with crowd favourites such as Eagle Fly Free, Future World, Dr Stein and of course I Want Out, which closes the set. A smattering of newer material from the Halloween album, add a couple of songs that may not be familiar to Halloween fans who haven't followed their career since the seven keys part two, and you have a full 360 of the Germans career.
This album has done a few things to me on a couple of listens. Firstly it does make me want to check out that lost period between 1990 and the reformation of Pumpkins United. It also has inspired me to get the last circle ticket from the official Hammersmith Odeon ticket outlet. I'll see you in row C in October of next year.
It's also an album most importantly, made water leak from my eyes. It's nostalgic and contemporary. It's new and old, it treads new ground and familiar, all in front of that ever enthusiastic Japanese crowd. Anyone who likes the band, new or old, must put two hours aside and listen to this album over the Christmas period.
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