Rabbits Don'T Come Easy [VINYL] [Import]

A number of factors could have spiralled the end of the pumpkin kings career…their last album Dark Ride ’99 was a radical change in style similar to Chameleon of ’93 where this time they overproduced and took a darker edge to their sound and lyrics. Furthermore the emergence of ‘Nu-Metal’ in the last 3 years could have called end to classic speed metal …and finally a line-up change that saw the drummer and a guitarist leave coupled with a lot of confusion with the new drummer(s) for the album…

So onto the songs…. an interesting title and album cover indeed….

Just a Little Sign
Classic Helloween…fast, melodic, twin double drum base assault, catchy chorus
5/5

Open Your Life
A good mid tempo song with a decent chorus and hard hitting sound that still retains melody with a razor’s edge
4/5

The Tune
A poor song that lacks structure and direction. Andi’s voice drops a tone or two but this is forgettable
2/5

Never Be a Star
A wonderful track that is reminiscent of the riff in Perfect Gentleman – lyrically this ditty say 18 releases and over 20 years in music – but Helloween will never be famous…. but they are who they are and they are where they are. Contains one of the most emotional guitar solo’s on the album
5/5

Liar
A brave move….heavy and hard thrash with growling deep vocals….the nature of the song is about love but the aggression and brutality of the music is a stark contrast. I am still not convinced on it – although the opening & closing riff promise so much more
3/5

Sun for the World
Metal bands like a reference to the “promised world” or the “babylons” and “Egyptian promise”. This slice of eastern metal is quite good with a great build up and introduction drum and riff – not in the same vein as efforts by Iron Maiden or Helloweens’ new young pretenders, Edguy.
4/5

Don’t Stop Being Crazy
Some acoustic at last …..Helloween are known for some classic metal ballads…this is a heartfelt song that almost reaches the emotions of Middle of a Heartbeat
4/5

Do you feel Good
The album loses a little direction with this effort. Nothing groundbreaking to write home about and comes across as a filler 3/5

Hell was made in Heaven
Half expected this to be a KISS cover…but it very good. Chorus is good and the guitar playing is excellent. The subject is about love again but done in a tongue in cheek manner – surprisingly good
3.5/5

Back against the Wall
An odd song…has some industrial sounding machinery ringing through the song – which is a distraction. It sounded odd at first (a common theme on the album) but starts to feel in place as you hear it more often – again a contestant for a filler
3/5

Listen to the Flies
This is a great song…the intro is great … the build up is momentus..and the atmosphere is evil. A good pace song with fine guitar work and well sung lyrics
5/5

Nothing to Say
Well what is this all about !?! I expected an epic like Helloween or the keeper etc…but this is a real mixed bag…there is reggae style guitar…some pipes that remind me of Windmill from Chameleon…all mixed up with a classical acoustic piece in the middle….i don’t get it…but I like it
4/5

Overall
It took some growing and I feel there a number of fillers that ruin the flow of the album. I think this is a good album that is classic Helloween with an almost new coating of confidence that allows them to mix up their styles more than ever before….and get away with it. You know if you like Helloween – this will be played again and again! The pumpkins are still flying …..

Let me tell you what I do like about Helloween - heavy, high-speed guitar with a an over-the-top singalong chorus. Changing the formula is fine but I like it best when they do what they do best. I've never liked the style of songs Andi Deris favours, so I was dubious that the opening song was one of his. I couldn't have been more wrong. Super fast, some great guitar and a chorus to die for. A superb beginning. Followed by a bearable second track. But then track 3, The Tune. To me, this is heavenly, the chorus is so ridiculously over the top that it made me laugh out loud, but I loved it. Then it's back mediocrity with 'Never Be A Star', which is Helloween's answer to 'Jenny From The Block'. When this was followed by another song which did nothing for me, I knew my hopes for the greatest Helloween album ever had been premature. It did pick up again with 'Sun 4 The World' and 'Do You Feel Good', but then it all disappears into mediocrity until 'Nothing To Say', which just disappeared right into the abyss. It should really have been called 'Nothing To Play' because, for me, this is Helloween at their absolute worst. Take the lowest point of 'Pink Bubbles...' and multiply it by the lowest point of 'Chameleon' and you'll be in the right area. Michael Weikath has written some of my favourite songs of all time, one of which is on this album. But he's trying something quite different from his usual style here and it's just not for me. It could be me that's the problem - I love his traditional style and when he veers from it I'm disappointed. Maybe other more open-minded people will love it.

I really miss Uli's songwriting which was really showing itself as something great on The Dark Ride.

Two superb songs. Two good songs. Some ok songs, a couple of awful ones. It was worth buying for the 4 I really liked, so it still gets 3 stars. I love this band and I'm sure I always will, so I hope I'm in the minority with the overall feeling of disappointment and that they keep flying the flag for this style of music.