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Helloween - Better Than Raw



8.2 | 601 votes |
Release date: 1998
Style: Power metal

Owners:

614 have it
30 want it


Disc I
01. Deliberately Limited Preliminary Prelude Period In Z
02. Push
03. Falling Higher
04. Hey Lord!
05. Don't Spit On My Mind
06. Revelation
07. Time
08. I Can
09. A Handful Of Pain
10. Lavdate Dominvm
11. Midnight Sun

Disc II [2006 Expanded Edition]
01. Back On The Ground [Previously Japan Only bonus]
02. A Game We Shouldn't Play [Taken from 'I Can' single]
03. Perfect Gentleman [Live Bootleg Version. Taken from 'Hey Lord!' single]
04. Moshi Moshi Shiki No Uta [Live Drum Solo. Taken from 'Hey Lord!' single]

Additional info
The original version also contained two bonus tracks: one for the USA and one for Japan.

Bonus track on the U.S. release: A Game We Shouldn't Play
Bonus track on the Japanese release: Back On The Ground

Guest review by
stratorock666
Rating:
7.6
Now, this Helloween lot. A bit unreliable aren't they? They change from album to album, not necessarily always in a good way. "The Time Of The Oath", this album's predecessor was an out and out Power Metal record, more to the style of their original "Keepers..." albums than the albums that came before it. After "?Oath" came this album, "Better Than Raw", and by comparison it is unfocused and patchy. This is still a good album with some classic Helloween tunes on it however. It just isn't as good as its predecessor and, like I said beforehand, suffers from a lack of focus a little bit. The lack of focus doesn't relate to the fact that there is a wider array of styles on this album, it is a good thing that there is variety and that they did not make another album exactly like "?The Oath". But most of the time, it simply feels as if it's a bunch of sounds and ideas thrown all over the place, and as a result the album does not feel as complete or as cohesive as "?The Oath", or hey, even "Master Of The Rings". In fact I don't think I would be exaggerating in saying that this at times feels like a superior b-sides and rarities album. But, as I have said before, this is not a bad album, not at all. The unfocused nature of the album does take the shine away a bit, but underneath this glaring problem is some excellent songs and good variety. Some of the excellent tracks on this album include "Push", which has a blistering main thrashy riff and some excellent nasty high pitched vocals. Push is quickly followed by another classic, "Falling Higher", which is all-in-all an utterly typical Helloween song. It's chorus and basically the melody throughout the song is unbelievably catchy and powerful. "Revelation" is another awesome track with a heavier sound, like Push before it. It also has a great melody, coupled with some fine restrained vocal work from Deri. Also of note is the slow, but excellent, almost slightly depressing "Time" and the endlessly 'humable' and happy sounding "Lavdate Dominum".

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published 08.02.2007 | Comments (12)

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Comments

Comments: 10   Visited by: 435 users
23.01.2013 - 22:33
Rating: 10
bblitz

For me an album with special place in my heart.One of the first
albums i bought when I started listening to metal.The best Helloween album.period.
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15.06.2013 - 19:43
Rating: 9
JÄY
Metal slave
As with a lot of Helloweens releases and special editions the bonus tracks are essential....I love this album!
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07.06.2015 - 06:03
Rating: 3
metal220

I have the Japanese release of this album stickers and all. bought off ebay for 4 bucks. just didn't like it. art work is great though
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19.01.2017 - 00:31
Rating: 7
sbgmetal

Hey this aint bad
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20.03.2017 - 01:23
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Fast and speedy pop music, speed pop something, not so good as previous one, it was so promising, now we drove again into the pop
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Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
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I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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30.06.2017 - 00:33
Rating: 8
musicalkaratekid

Of the three Helloween releases after "Chameleon", I'd say "Better than Raw" is the band's most aggressive and straightforward. Sure, the musical direction mainly follows the same well-trodden path of "Master..." and "Time of the Oath", but there's something about this album that makes me simply want to bang my head with little disregard for any deviation into more melodic territory. That said, this album is less inconsistent than "Master..." but not quite as accessible as "Time of the Oath" in my opinion. Songs such as the epic 'Revelation' and 'Lavdate Dominium' are absolute belters, whereas there are evidently a few filler tracks to balance the awesomeness (namely 'Don't Spit On My Mind' and 'I Can'-these two I found to be the most lackluster). Such sidesteps from the usual Helloween delivery however haven't weighed my rating down any lower-"Better than Raw" is another great album from the band.
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01.07.2021 - 09:44
Rating: 6
GrimReaper85

For me 1st Master Of The Rings, 2nd The Time Of The Oath and this one far 3rd.
Only one listen after a long time, but I think last track Midnight Sun was the best and even that one wasn't that good. I would rate this album 6.5.
I don't think I will listen to it again for a long time, only one more time to find a track or 2 that is at least somewhat good.

EDIT:
Found a few good tracks now:
03 - Falling Higher
06. Revelation
07. Time
10. Lavdate Dominvm
11. Midnight Sun

And first 1:18 I Can, too bad they couldn't came up with any better lyrics to replace those repeating I can'ts.
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23.09.2022 - 16:44
JoHn Doe

Another album i listened to today, after really long time. Forgot how good it was, even the Japanese bonus track is good.
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16.08.2023 - 16:08
Rating: 7
24emd
Theory Snob
Well done Helloween. Round of applause.
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"Music? Well, it's just entertainment, folks!" - Devin Townsend

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17.01.2024 - 15:16
Rating: 9
majormalfunction

I've always loved this album but listening to it now a couple of times I think it's better than ever. If we exclude Lavdate Dominvm, which feels as a filler here, every song seems to get it right in every aspect. There's some more "convential" Helloween tracks, one huge atmospheric ballad (Time) and some agressive yet melodic songs (Push, Midnight Sun, Don't Spit on my Mind). The album never lets go and even the two leftout tracks (Back on the Ground and A Game We Shouldn't Play) is killer. This is probably my favourite Helloween full-length album, only beaten by their debut EP.. but that's a close call.
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