Buy for
$9.18
(15 items) |
Album info
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Release date:
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1985 |
Rating:
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8.6 | 258 votes |
Owners:
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343 have it
34 want it
3 trade it |
Disc I
01. Starlight [1987 reissue bonus]
02. Murderer [1987 reissue bonus]
03. Warrior [1987 reissue bonus]
04. Victim Of Fate [1987 reissue bonus]
05. Cry For Freedom [1987 reissue bonus]
06. Ride The Sky
07. Reptile
08. Guardians
09. Phantoms Of Death
10. Metal Invaders
11. Gorgar
12. Heavy Metal (Is The Law)
13. How Many Tears
14. Judas [1987 reissue bonus]
Disc II [2006 Expanded Edition]
01. Murderer [remix]
02. Ride The Sky [remix]
03. Intro / Ride The Sky [live]
04. Guardians [live]
05. Oernst Of Life
06. Metal Invaders
07. Surprise Track
Top 20 albums of 1985: 4
Reviews (2)
Lyrics (8) |
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Songs 1-5: Recorded and mixed at Musiclab Studio, Berlin, January/February '85. Engineered and mixed by Harris "I don't know" Johns, Produced by Helloween
Songs 6-14: Recorded and mixed at Musiclab Studio, Berlin, September/October '85. Engineered and mixed by Harris Johns, Emulator II played by James Hardway, Front cover concept by Weikath, Cover design by Edda and Uwe Karczewski, Hamburg. Layout & Typo by Peter Vahlefeld, Produced by Harris Johns and Helloween
Song 15: Recorded and mixed at Horus Sound Studio, Hannover, July '86. Engineered and mixed by Jan Nemec, Remixed by Dirk Steffens at Soundhaus, Studio, Hamburg
All songs written and arranged by Helloween. |
Review by iaberis [Guest reviewer]
If you go back in time, to the year 1985, you will see a music world where the word "Power Metal" was absent from any metal definition lexicon. It was something unknown. At that time a band called Helloween tried to make its first steps into the music industry.
"Walls Of Jericho" is the first full length album of the band. With its speedy sound, catchy rhythm and Kai Hansen's powerful screams, it is considered to be one of the first albums that gave the spark to light this new eruptive genre of metal, called "Power Metal." Many well known bands of today are still inspired by this album.
Originally this album had only nine songs, but later in 1988 it was released as a compilation with the first "Helloween EP" and the song "Judas" which was only available on 12". "Starlight" is the first song of this album and begins with a very funny intro where we listen to someone who changes stations on the radio when he falls on a funny song "Happy, Happy Halloween…" (whose melody is found again in the beginning of the song "Walls of Jericho") and then comes Kai's screaming voice and Helloween's metal sound! There begins the journey into the unknown which opens new musical horizons. Raw and melodic, sketchy and funny sometimes, with many influences from Iron Maiden, Helloween's music doesn't leave you untouched.
If you consider that this is their first big album, you will be amazed by the quality, the talent, and the imagination of these young people. Although Kai Hansen wasn't written to become a singer, he accomplishes his tasks very well. He and Michael Weikath do a great job in guitars providing us very pleasant and wild solos. The whole album is a masterwork, a piece of what creative people can do.
If you are one of those that take an album as a whole (taking into account the cover, the booklet, the quality of the sound and every single thing) then you might be a little disappointed, since it's a very old album and like all the other of that time, it can't be compared with the appearance of albums of our times. I believe that the time has come for Helloween to start remastering their old albums, as many bands of that time did. But even this "handicap" is not important enough to make us change our minds about the importance and the value of this album.
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Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
published 27.07.2006 | Comments (21) |
Rating:
9.6
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Performance:
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10 |
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Songwriting:
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10 |
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Originality:
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10 |
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Production:
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8 |
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Review by Talvi [Guest reviewer]
The Helloween debut. An album overshadowed by their classics, the Keepers duo. So when you ask people, what were the first and classic metal albums, few recognize this little gem. Even it take me some time to discover it because of that. The other problem is that the production isn't very good. But if you get the remastered album, the problem is fixed. Then, people see Helloween as a power metal band with high pitched vocals. And Kai Hansen nasal vocals are probably not too tolerable. It took me some listens to love his voice. And it's overall much faster than any other Helloween album.
But enough comparisons. Walls Of Jericho is simply the best classic Helloween album. It's also the best speed metal album. Most people say Painkiller, but this is faster, catchier and ages better. I loved Painkiller, but later I was just tired of the riffs or the vocals. But this album, even if it's simple, you can never be tired of it. After a couple of listens, you will have in your mind every melody and every solo.
So well, this is speed proto-power metal, fast, catchy, and, with the remaster, it even sounds good. It ages well, which is, to me, the main problem of many speed metal albums. So what about the songs? Since I'm reviewing the remastered edition, which has the Helloween EP, the Walls Of Jericho album, and Judas. This also has some bonus tracks as well that don't deserve my time. As a Helloween fan, they may be nice, but let's stick to the core of the album.
There are no bad songs. Some things keep this album from being perfect. Those are: Victim of Fate; Cry for Freedom; Reptile; Gorgar. Now, maybe without these tracks the album would be worse. Anyway, the problem is, that the first two just are half fucking killer, probably they are the most vicious moments on the album, but come on, the middle part of Victim of Fate is just silly. As the beginning of Cry for Freedom. Not that I like acoustic intros or interludes, but those two are unnecessary. The others two are classic Helloween silly tracks. They aren't as fast as the rest of the album, which probably make it more tolerable, but they are still a bit mediocre compared with the total killing spree that the other tracks offer. Oh, and the Gorgar solo just rules.
Highlight are probably everything but my personal favorite is Judas. The main riff it's just totally killer. Oh, and even Guardians is a very good song, with fantasy power metal lyrics, but Rhapsody will later make a cover of it. Strange, how can a mediocre band make a better performance from the master of the genre? But even though many bands may sound better, or have better voices, it was the amazing songwriting what made them the legends they are now. So, if you like metal, get this album now. Remember: Heavy metal is the law!
PS: As a minor note, I don't worship Kai Hansen, since I love modern Helloween as much as classic Helloween. But anyway, he's still a metal god.
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Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
published 15.12.2006 | Comments (11) |
Rating:
9.6
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Performance:
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10 |
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Songwriting:
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9 |
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Originality:
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10 |
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Production:
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10 |
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