UNARMED Best Of 25th Anniversary is Helloween's thank-you to millions of fans old and new and will prove their exceptional position on the international metal scene. Instead of putting together a regular greatest hits comp... more »ilation featuring their most successful tracks to celebrate this anniversary, the five band members completely rearranged the greatest melodies they had written in the course of their career to date. The album features Supercharge s exceptional saxophonist Albie Donnelly, Hellsongs s vocalist Harriet Ohlsson, pianist Matthias Ulmer, plus the 70-piece Prague Symphonic Orchestra and the choirs of the Gregorian singers!
As a special surprise, Helloween have come up with 'The Keeper´s Trilogy,' a stunning 17-minute medley of the songs 'Halloween,' 'Keeper Of The Seven Keys,' and 'The King For A 1000 Years,' recorded in cooperation with the Prague Symphonic Orchestra and likely to send shivers of delight down the spine of every Helloween fan.« less
UNARMED Best Of 25th Anniversary is Helloween's thank-you to millions of fans old and new and will prove their exceptional position on the international metal scene. Instead of putting together a regular greatest hits compilation featuring their most successful tracks to celebrate this anniversary, the five band members completely rearranged the greatest melodies they had written in the course of their career to date. The album features Supercharge s exceptional saxophonist Albie Donnelly, Hellsongs s vocalist Harriet Ohlsson, pianist Matthias Ulmer, plus the 70-piece Prague Symphonic Orchestra and the choirs of the Gregorian singers!
As a special surprise, Helloween have come up with 'The Keeper´s Trilogy,' a stunning 17-minute medley of the songs 'Halloween,' 'Keeper Of The Seven Keys,' and 'The King For A 1000 Years,' recorded in cooperation with the Prague Symphonic Orchestra and likely to send shivers of delight down the spine of every Helloween fan.
CD Reviews
Im glad I got it!
Anti MTV | USA | 03/30/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"To tell you the truth I was afraid to buy this album when I saw it in my local FYE cd store because I feared this album would be nothing but a total disaster like some of those idiot rumors said it would be but I thought wrong. First of all this is not a metal album, It's more of an experimental classical rock jazz orchestra type music (like chameleon) but that doesn't mean it can't be good, The band celebrates their 25th anniversery with this album, They have re made and remixed their classical helloween songs into jazz, soft rock, pop, and rhapsody style orchestra with great choir singing for the keepers trilogy and I must say I loved it alot, and it is only recommended for those hard core long time fans who have grown up listening to their music, Many fans may have given up on this band but some fans still appreciate new and different things from helloween like me. If your new to helloween then I wouldn't recommend that you start here, Pick up keepers 1 & 2 or better than raw and the dark ride and give those albums a spin but if your a long time fan then give this album a chance.
Overall: Great album none of the songs were in anyway mediocre at all and it deserves credit! And I wish they would stop adding extra songs as bonuses such as the song why? And just add em like it truly belongs in the album because I don't have it and that really pisses me off.
BTW! Check out the music video of their blues brothers style of Dr. stein on you tube for laughs!
Stay metal! \m/ \m/"
Not for blinkered metal-heads
Puffany | Australia | 04/01/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I've had this album for around 2 months now as it was released much earlier on Amazon UK. - the bad thing about getting it early was that I missed out on getting the bonus track `Why' which was included here.
From a personal viewpoint, I wasn't all that pleased when I saw the track listing, but we all have different favourites.
The interest is in how they reworked/rearranged the songs. Across the album you'll find on different tracks: a 70-piece orchestra; a choir; guest musicians; and even kids!
Personal Highlights:
The sound quality - absolutely awesome when played loud through a decent sound system.
The production is crystal clear -If I Could Fly is a definite highlight with Deris staring here - his new more limited than before vocal range suits this track perfectly.
Future World works really well and includes a surprisingly entertaining short percussion passage near the end.
The Keeper's Trilogy is awesome. Have a listen to the high-intensity orchestration come in after the quiet intro to the `King For A thousand Years' section - unbelievable! Ala the James Bond `Live And Let Die' type of excitement. Sonically, it works as well as when the guitars & drums come crunching in on the original version of 'King...'.
Perfect Gentleman - before I had even heard the album, I couldn't picture this track working very well in another format and ended up pleasantly surprised. - the lyrics are much clearer on this version.
The priceless version of Falling To Pieces blew me away from the first bar. It's at least as good as the original. It's very rare when you have a great song and then an alternate version which is different but equally as good. The word `beautiful' probably best describes this rendition with another well-suited vocal by Deris..
What almost works perfectly is I Want Out. Deris delivers it well enough and kids do the backing vocals which is okay but it's a bit of an overkill as in `Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2'. Kids are okay but I prefer dogs. Still very catchy though.
Musically, this upbeat Dr Stein is very catchy with the brass addition & backing vocals, but I don't think Deris's vocals quite work throughout the track. In fact, his new vocal range sounds uncomfortable at times and does drag the album down a notch although still very good to excellent in certain songs or sections of songs. The guy has been one of my favorite vocalists in the past with his passionate delivery but I think nearly all my other favorite male vocalists (Plant / Gillan / Halford) have all come across problems with their vocals as they have aged.
The DVD is well put together with interviews about how they made the project come together. The guys do come across as being likeable and down to earth.
It also contains a typically loaded Helloween-style film clip of Dr Stein.
There is one thing that bothers me: how could they call this a 'best of' when it's clearly just a re-working of some of their songs in another format backed by outside guests?? - kind of like Page/Plants Unledded album.
Overall, the album is brilliant most of the time but doesn't always work. The usage of the special guests is extremely effective (apart from the kids).
Helloween stated on the DVD that they were very proud of their achievement and that it wasn't an easy project by any means. Their great effort is very rewarding.
I'm definitely glad they released this and I don't miss the hard-edge of the originals when I'm in chill-out mode.
Would I recommend this to Helloween newcomers? Maybe. I'd firstly recommend any album apart from Pink Bubbles, Chameleon, and Rabbit, which I still like enough anyway. Get this after you know the original versions, or if you don't particularly like hard rock - the songs stand alone in any format - so yeah, knock yourself out.
"
Many Will Hate It.....But Many Will Like It Too
Stanley Runk | Camp North Pines | 04/04/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I've always been proud to be a member of the metal genre. Metal fans are the most loyal and devoted of any musical genre-they don't care how old a band is, if they had any chart topping singles, if they are overweight or just plain ugly. It's the music that matters, and that's what makes the metal scene great. On the downside of this, some metal fans are the first to jump all over a band's case when the band has done something the fan doesn't like(having a somewhat poppy sounding song on the album, playing a chord that sounds too "modern", using a drum machine on one track, and many other offenses).
Recently I have read some pretty harsh things online about Helloween's new Unarmed cd. Helloween have been in this boat before back in the day with the notorious Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon albums, so I'm sure the were expecting this type of reaction. I love the fact that they don't let it get to them. In fact, I have seen an interview with Michael Weikath on Youtube where he states(in regards to Unarmed) that a lot of people will hate this album, and he suggests people listen to it before purchasing. I have never heard a band member say something like that when promoting their new album! I was rather impressed by that statement.
So how is this new album? Well, it's probably not gonna get a ton of play in my cd player, but damn it, I enjoyed it. Like the style of music or not, Helloween's having a good time here. One of the things that's always made Helloween one of my favorite bands is their lighthearted nature, and their ability to not take themselves so damn seriously.
As you may already know, Unarmed is a "Best Of" anniversary album with the band doing non-metal versions of their classic songs. Faster Helloween songs are now slower acoustic ballads, songs have been converted to a more mellow rock, even jazzy sound. In fact, some of the songs are so far removed from metal that the intent is obviously to be a bit funny. It reminds me a bit of what Blind Guardian did with The Forgotten Tales, minus the cover songs from other groups, and a bit more tongue in cheek.
Some folks might think Helloween are disgracing themselves. Honestly, lighten up. Helloween are a metal band and will continue to be a metal band. They're not doing this album to become pop stars. This was just an oddball sidestep meant to be a fun time.....and it really could be if you let it."
Not Your Typical "Best Of" or Unplugged Album
Z. William Arkosy | California, USA | 07/12/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If you are new to Helloween, this isn't the best introduction to the band. Another compilation or Keeper of the Seven Keys 1 or 2 is a better way to start.
That being said, I am a long time Helloween fan; Michael Kiske was still singer of the band when I got into them. Helloween has almost become synonymous with Power Metal, combining speed & precision, with catchy sing-along choruses, twin harmony solos, and constant double bass drumming.
If you only like Helloween's power metal side, then this album will probably not appeal to you. Helloween has always had a fun side, and if you remember the Chameleon album (and to a lesser extent Pink Bubbles Go Ape), then you might recall that Helloween had a more experimental side, which is reflected on this album. All the songs are well-known, but at first it is rather bizarre listening to all the reworked versions on this album.
The more I listen to it, the more I like the album.
Dr. Stein - This a very upbeat, almost ska-like rendition of the classic Helloween hit, including some honky-tonk, boogie-woogie piano, and saxophones.
Future World - This is a pretty straight-forward unplugged version. The songs is flawless, so it works acoustically as well as a power metal anthem.
If I Could Fly - Although the original featured piano, it was a very dark, moody song. They turned it into a much brighter, almost poppier version, pretty cool if you ask me.
Where The Rain Grows - They turned this upbeat rocker into a half-time acoustic ballad. Interesting
The Keeper's Trilogy (Medley) - One of the highlights of the album! Very orchestral! Many parts are like a filmscore a la Danny Elfman. This is the only song on the album where you will hear double bass drumming. Many of the guitar parts were replaced with strings & horns. The choir adds nicely to the overall epic feel of these songs.
Eagle Fly Free - Like "Where the Rain Grows" they turned this fast-paced power metal track into a half time ballad, including some female background vocals.
Perfect Gentleman - This doesn't deviate much from the original, as it was already a fun song to begin with.
Forever & One - This song was originally a power ballad. Piano is very prominent, and the choir adds very nicely to the song, making it almost like a gospel version of the original.
I Want Out - They added some children's choir as background, which reminds me of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2" It's almost like a campfire, sing-along version.
Fallen To Pieces - Although this song is mostly acoustic, it has some strange/interesting electronic things going on in the background, turning it into a very ambient version of this song with an almost electronica type feel/vibe.
A Tale That Wasn't Right - Possibly the highlight of the album. This is a very orchestral (almost completely classical music) version of the original power ballad, which was a great song to begin with. Andi sings his heart out (although I think most of us still prefer to hear Kiske singing the old songs).
Why? (Hidden bonus track) - This is also an interesting version. They changed the grooves in the drum, so the song seems faster. OK version, I can see why it's a hidden or bonus track.
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1