Chameleon [Box set]

In order to understand and appreciate this album you have to forget what Helloween did in the past, especially on the 'Keeper of the Seven Keys' albums.

Musically the album departs from double bass driven power metal and concentrates on progressive hard rock with blues, jazz, metal and mainstream influences. By changing musical direction, Helloween break some more boundaries but in other fields of music...

This is considered by many as Helloween's worst album, but I strongly disagree! Most fans and critics disliked and dismissed Chameleon because it didn't follow the band's trade mark power metal sound. While this is true, the album is technically outstanding, it offers tons of variety, features mature songwriting and is an overall great experimental offering.

Chameleon is a long album and there surely are a few weak songs to be found here, although due to the fact that the music is experimental and at parts progressive nothing really bad can be said, as everything depends on musical preferences.

In my opinion, the strongest and most memorable tracks on this album are: "Giants", "I Believe", "Longing", "When The Sinner" and "Music".

"Giants" is probably the album's heavier piece and the only one truly deserving the metal tag. The riffs are memorable, the guitar solos are technical and long, the vocal lines brilliant and the chorus catchy as hell. "I Believe" is one of the longest songs on the album and one of the heavier ones as well. The best way to describe it would be epic hard rock, with strong riffing, memorable guitar solos, topped with vocal majesty. "When The Sinner" is one of the more mainstream influenced tracks, but is very well done, catchy and memorable. "Music" is a wonderful and emotional blues ballad and "Longing" is an orchestral power ballad, which truly shines and ends the album in a melancholic note.

Which songs are best for each person varies, as some songs are more progressive, some more blues centered and some a little heavier.

The band is in great shape; wonderful and emotional solos, a wide variety of riffs, great vocals by Michael Kiske (as always), good bass playing, strong drumming at parts and several songs feature horns sections. Concerning the vocals, don't expect the very high pitched Kiske trademark (Keeper's era) style. He has improved greatly as a vocalist and sings in a smoother and much more varying way, with more emotion and a few extremely high notes in the right places.

Being a metal fan, I hated this album upon the first listen, as I compared it with Helloween's previous masterpieces! But when I took metal out of my mind and listened to this album again, I was definitely amazed by some of the songs!! Actually the reason why this album didn't sell much, was that it was aimed at the wrong crowd.

Don't listen to the rumors, check out this album for your self in order to have an opinion.

This Expanded edition features an interview with guitarist Michael Weikath, many photos included in the extended booklet, together with an extra CD with bonus tracks. The best of the bonus tracks are the rocking "Cut In The Middle" and the groovy "Get Me Out of Here".

(Definitely not an album for die-hard speed metal and heavy metal fans. But surely not a bad album)

If you're only into fast power metal avoid this album by all cost.
That being said if you like more quiet rock this album is pretty good.The songs are well written,performed and produced.The only place this album fails is by its band name and music genre.Because of this,potential fans will never get a chance to hear about it and its a pity.Personal highlights of the album being Longing,Music and I Believe.

In order to understand and appreciate this album you have to forget what Helloween did in the past, especially in the 'Keeper of the Seven Keys' albums.

Musically the album departs from double bass driven power metal and concentrates on progressive hard-rock with metal, blues, jazz and mainstream influences. By changing musical direction, Helloween break some more boundaries but in other fields of music...

This is considered by many as Helloween's worst album, but I strongly disagree! Most fans and critics disliked and dismissed Chameleon because it didn't follow the band's trade mark power metal sound. While this is true, the album is technically outstanding, it offers tons of variety and is an overall great experimental offering.

Chameleon is a long album and there surely a few weak songs to be found here. But due to the fact that the music is experimental and at parts progressive nothing really bad can be said, as everything depends on musical preferences.

In my opinion, the strongest and most amazing tracks on this album are: "I Believe", "Giants", "Longing", "When The Sinner" and "Music".

"I Believe" is one of the longest songs on the album and one of the heavier ones as well. The best way to describe it would be epic hard rock, with strong riffing, memorable guitar solos, topped with vocal majesty. "Giants" is probably the album's heavier piece and the only one truly deserving the metal tag. The riffs are memorable, the solos are technical and long, the vocal lines brilliant and the chorus catchy as hell. "When The Sinner" is one of the more mainstream influenced tracks, but is very well done, catchy and memorable. "Music" is a wonderful and emotional blues ballad and "Longing" is an orchestral power ballad, which truly shines and ends the album in a melancholic note.

This Expanded edition features an interview with guitarist Michael Weikath and many photos in the extended booklet, together with an extra CD with bonus tracks. The best of the bonus tracks are the rocking "Cut In The Middle" and the groovy "Get Me Out of Here".

Which songs are best for each person varies, as some songs are more progressive, some more blues like and some a little heavier.

The band is in great shape; wonderful and emotional solos, a wide variety of riffs, great vocals by Michael Kiske (as always), good bass playing and strong drumming at parts. Concerning the vocals, don't expect the very high pitched Kiske trademark (Keeper's era) kind. He has improved greatly as a vocalist and sings in a smoother and much more varying way, with more emotion and a few extremely high notes in the right places.

Being a metal fan, I hated this album upon the first listen, as I compared it with Helloween's previous masterpieces! But when I took metal out of my mind and listened to this album again, I was definitely amazed by some of the songs!! Actually the reason why this album didn't sell much, was that it was aimed at the wrong crowd.

Don't listen to the rumors, check out this album for your self in order to have an opinion.

(Definitely not an album for die-hard speed metal and heavy metal fans. But surely not a bad album)