Never of my likings is both the band and the genre but I really appreciate that they are not exhausted of music even after all these years of existence and survival. Liked 'Best Time' for the simple basic melody.

There are some good songs on this album. Angels is really good. The chorus is skyfall is very melodic. Also the 1st half of the album is more tight than the latter half. But with too many songs, cheesy lyrics, this album really averages out for me.

I really wanted to love this but I just can't. I'm genuinely surprised so many enjoy this album and actually compare it favourably with Helloween's brilliant albums from the 1980s. Sorry, but this is not in the same league as Keepers or Walls of Jericho.

It's way too long and gorgonzola-flavoured - even for Helloween - and there are way too many melodic interludes that sound like cheesy Eurovision music.

To appreciate or not an album you have to dedicate time listening to it. No more excuses. The majority of those who leave a comment here have hardly given a full spin to the album their comment is about. Helloween it's a truly very good album. There are 4-5 songs on it that easily could have been in both keepers. Especially in keepers part two. The rest of the songs are from decent to very good. What else can anyone ask from this band in 2021?

Written by Dorian75 on 01.09.2021 at 21:20

To appreciate or not an album you have to dedicate time listening to it. No more excuses. The majority of those who leave a comment here have hardly given a full spin to the album their comment is about. Helloween it's a truly very good album. There are 4-5 songs on it that easily could have been in both keepers. Especially in keepers part two. The rest of the songs are from decent to very good. What else can anyone ask from this band in 2021?

Are you suggesting that whoever criticizes the album didn't listen to it properly?How about someone who listened to it 10 times an gave it a 7?

Written by Daniell on 06.09.2021 at 12:46

Written by Dorian75 on 01.09.2021 at 21:20

To appreciate or not an album you have to dedicate time listening to it. No more excuses. The majority of those who leave a comment here have hardly given a full spin to the album their comment is about. Helloween it's a truly very good album. There are 4-5 songs on it that easily could have been in both keepers. Especially in keepers part two. The rest of the songs are from decent to very good. What else can anyone ask from this band in 2021?

Are you suggesting that whoever criticizes the album didn't listen to it properly?How about someone who listened to it 10 times an gave it a 7?

You obviously didn't dedicate yourself to it enough Daniell

I feel like the 'you need to listen to an album X times' is such an inane argument to begin with; it's evident that you will discover new elements of a song as you familiarize yourself with it across repeated plays, but in my experience, how I broadly feel about a song or album on first listen is a very strong indicator of how I will feel about it after many listens. I've found a very reliable phenomenon from the various reviews that I've written to be that the songs that initially stand out end up being the ones I consider to be the strongest after plenty of further replays, and that applies to this album as well; Skyfall impressed me most on listen 1, and it impressed me most on listen 10. Anything that you force yourself to listen to a dozen times to try and 'get', despite not getting anything from it on the first try, is not worth it - there's going to be some experimental/avant-garde/proggy stuff that might not click on first listen, but even then, for the stuff that will ultimately work, there's usually something in the initial reaction to it that's strong enough to draw you back, even if that strong feeling doesn't necessarily feel positive at the time. As far as something that is as relatively straightforward and traditionally-sounding as this record is concerned, the idea that you have to force yourself through repeated intense listens to 'get' it is ridiculous - if someone doesn't like this the first time they hear it, I can't imagine that 10 replays will change that opinion.

And as stated in the initially quoted comment 'the rest of the songs are from decent to very good' - if some of the songs are only 'decent', why rate the album as '10', i.e. 'perfect'? No wonder people get so upset by other people's ratings when they have such a distorted opinion of how to apply ratings to begin with. I would agree that this album has a couple of excellent songs, with the remainder ranging from decent to very good (well, I'd say Mass Pollution is less than decent), and that's why I gave the album a score around '8', i.e. 'very good'.

Yes, first impression is usually the last one, until and unless the album really grows on you.

Out for the Glory 4:30-5:30 really is something very few bands can achieve after more than 30 years on the scene. I even use it to test headphones, it has a little bit of everything.
I mean, just look at what Metallica and Iron Maiden made in last 15 years, it's no comparison. Same goes for power metal bands.

My expectations were very high. this album is kind of overrated. Its very good power meta, but not legendary

This is quite a delightful album, and I am saying that as someone knowing about nil on Helloween (I may or may not have played I Want Out at full blast on the last day at my previous job, but I digress ).

I am fond of mutli-vocalist bands though so this album appeared interesting enough to check out.

The outro of Skyfall

The Pumpkings have done it again! This a fantastic reunion album and a dream come true. How many other bands out their exist that could come back together like this and have such good chemistry? Skyfall, in particular, is an instant classic and a new personal favorite.

Easily the best release of 2021 for the power metal genre and not only! We have waited so long for this reunion and it has worked perfectly on new release! I can't wait for more music by the 7 pumpkins

I've actually grown to like this more. It could stand to lose 1/3-1/2 of the tracks just to be tighter: none of them outright suck, but clearly there are highlights and then the rest.

Out for the Glory, Fear of the Fallen, Best Time, Angels, Rise Without Chains, Robot King, Skyfall and Golden Times would be a 50-minute album (more than enough) that I'd happily rank among power metal's finest. But then it wouldn't be a reunion album that reconsiders all of their career, I guess (most of the dropped tracks are the Deris-type), I guess.

EDIT: I just realized Golden Times and Save My Hide are "bonus tracks", but since they're on the only version available on Spotify, we can safely assume that the "too long" criticism applies for many listeners. And they are both better than many tracks that made it on the standard version.

Cant be much better than this,,,best album since 1996 Time Of The Oath

I always think the rating scales on sites are a bit dodgy, how can 6/10 be "average" - that makes no sense .

I think this is an excellent album and 8/10. So far beyond almost all power metal releases today - most of which seem to have that same horrible Sabaton or Powerwolf sound that I really don't like. A lot of this sounds like classic Helloween but with some of the best Deris styles from Better than Raw or The Dark Ride. Still, the weakest tracks are the Deris ones and I would have liked even more "Out For The Glory" style tracks - which are more The Keeper of the Seven Keys than the songs we got on The Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy.

This was great though and I hope they all do it again on another studio album

This is good. Not great, the highest I can see my rating changing to is a 7. Helloween hasn't been my fav power metal ever, and I don't like the Keepers too much. At least definitely not the first one. A few good songs, a few awful songs, and in the end there's just a lot more and less that could've been done to improve this album. Skyfall is spectacular though.

Simply a great, perfect album from Hansen, Kiske and Deris!

Gotta give some credit, this took me awhile to get into but it has really grown on me.

My first impressions have worned quite a lot, I thought this was a quite strong record when it was released but now as I listen i'm not feeling it the same way. It's fun that both Kai and Kiske is in the mix but in all fairness not many songs do stand out.