The Keepers of Jericho: A Tribute to Helloween

by

Various Artists

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If you're a fan of European power metal then this album is for you.Excellent choice of bands and songs to be covered.I wish there were more songs from Michael Kiske era but it's good nevertheless.couple of criticisms..1) I am a fan of Sonata Arctica but I felt Hammerfall did a better job covering "I want out".2)Hammerfall were unjustly excluded from this album.3)Why isn't Stratovarius on this one?If you got Luca you might as well have Timo doing Hansen's riffs.However,female vocals on "Helloween" is something not to be missed.Dark Moor added a nice symphonic touch to the song.

While I don't claim to be the biggest Helloween fan ever, I'm familiar enough with the band to be able to judge covers of their songs, and the results in this case are all over the place.

About one third of the songs on this CD (Guardians, I Want Out, Judas, Halloween) are on par with their original Heloween counterparts. Another couple (I'm Alive, Eagle Fly Free, Future World) are considerably less stunning, but still worthy to be a part of the album. The rest of the songs range from dissapointing (Savage, Ride The Lightning, How Many Tears, Little Time) to disturbingly awful (Save Us, Victim Of Fate).

I'm sure hardcore Helloween fans will still find plenty to love and listen to from this album, as there are a fair number of decent songs. It may even bring back some nostalgia or something. For the average power metal fan, however, this is a sub-par effort and any actual Helloween CD would be a far better purchase than this.