Gambling With the Devil / Helloween (2007)

1. Crack the Riddle

2. Kill It

3. The Saints

4. As Long As I Fall

5. Paint a New World

6. Final Fortune

7. The Bells of the 7 Hells

8. Fallen to Pieces

9. I.M.E.

10. Can Do It

11. Dreambound

12. Heaven Tells No Lies

After Andi joined the band, Helloween became a different band. Of course, they are the pioneer of Melodic Power Metal band. That status never changed. However, his pop essences and ability as a singer brought much influence in this band. I am not hear to talk about which singer was better than the other. As I mentioned before, they are completely different, and we cannot say one is better. All I want to say is that, this album could be sung only by Andi. He can do dirty scream, high tone, and sometimes even growling voice. He contributed 5 songs out of 12. As a result, this album became full of Andi taste. 

1. Crack the Riddle

Opening Narration

2. Kill It

A brutal tune. It reminds me of "Push" from "Better Than Raw". It is a great opening number. I realized that Andi has been one to write the most (Helloween style) brutal songs in recent albums. 

3. The Saints

A typical Weiki's song. It has a good flowing melody on chorus.

4. As Long As I Fall

A good Andi style pop metal song. This song was also released as a single.

5. Paint a new world

Another strong power metal number written by Sascha. This one was also released as a single. 

6. Final Fortune

From last album, I really like the songs that Markus. This song is my favorite song in this album.

7. The Bell of the 7 Hells

Starts with intense verses and goes to catchy chorus. You can see all attraction of Andi as a singer in this song.

8. Fallen to Pieces

First, you would think this song is a ballad. In some sense, you can say that, but the song has good progression during the middle of it. A dramatic tune.

9. I.M.E.

Andi's writings line up three in row. This is heavy but has good pop essence as well.

10. Can Do It

Weiki only contributed two songs, but they both ended up typical Helloween songs that fans expect. Track 3 was a power metal song, and this one shows the pop side of this band.

11. Dreambound
Another fast tune written by Sascha. Since the beginning of his joint, Sascha has been a good composer of this band (I am pretty sure other members help him with arrangement). He became another pillar of this band's creativity.

12. Hell Tells No Lies
Another great song written by Markus. He and Weiki have been the carriers of the legacy of Helloween in recent albums. 

☆☆☆☆

United Abominations / Megadeth (2007)

1. Sleepwalker

2. Washington Is Next!

3. Never Walk Alone...A Call to Arms

4. United Abominations

5. Gears of War

6. Blessed Are the Dead

7. Pray For Blood

8. A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free)

9. Amerikhastan

10. You're Dead

11. Burnt Ice

Megadeth was not a melodic metal band. It had really sharp edge on every single riff that Mustaine made at the beginning. He called it "Intellectual Thrash Metal". Then, Mustaine developed his skill as a singer, and the band sound started becoming more mellow. Mustaine returned with a great album. It was the most melodious album, in my opinion, in their career. Once again, he proved himself that he was the great riff master and melody maker.

Track 1 reminded me of their early era. He showed the world that he has not edge。In addition to that, the flow from track 1 to 2 is amazing! Even though you are not a Megadeth fan, you would love track 2 unless you hate heavy metal in general. Because the first 3 songs have such strong impact, you may not be as attracted to other songs, but this album's overall quality compares favorably with other albums. This album has the universal appeal to all kinds of metal fans.

☆☆☆☆

Humanity: Hour 1 / Scorpions (2007)

1. Hour 1

2. The Game of Life

3. We Were Born to Fly

4. The Future Never Dies

5. You're Lovin' Me to Death

6. 321

7. Love Will Keep Us Alive

8. We Will Rise Again

9. Your Last Song

10. Love Is War

11. The Cross

12. Humanity

In their early career, Scorpions was not the pop rock/metal band. Their music had really dark tone and beautiful longing melody. Since 80's, their music shifted more pop and catchy, and the dark tone was cast away. However, I think they started coming back to their root as they come to the end of their career. They showed some glimpse of it in the last album, but this album really reminded me of their early songs. The sound is heavier than ever, yet not only sound but song itself became darker. Desmond Child wrote the story line of this album and jointed largely on songwriting as well.

1. Hour 1
I was bit freaked out by the sound. The guitar sound became much heavier compare to their past albums. But, chorus really sounds like Scorpions.

2. The Game of Life
It is super heavy, but you can tell that riff sounds like Rudolf if you listen to it carefully. The funny thing is that he is not credited as one of the composers. I guess these producers also know this band well.

3. We Were Born to Fly
Very heavy yet sensitive and beautiful. The chorus has sad longing melody.

4. The Future Never Dies
They were always great ballad composers. However, ballads songs they wrote in 80's and 90's were very different from 70's (I am not saying they were bad. They were great but different from their early days). I was waiting for this kind of melody. This song is really moving.

5. You're Loving Me to Death
A song start with typical Rudolf's power chord riff. It is amazing how many riffs he can come up with simple power chords. The song features catchy chorus.

6. 321
Intro riffs reminded me of Velvet Revolver and Nickelback. The band started using this kind of heavy riff from 90's, but it sounds much more modern now since their sound is much heavier. This is also a song has good flowing chorus. 

7. Love Will Keep Us Alive
This is not necessarily the one of the songs in this album that reminds me of early days of the band but is definitely one of the most beautiful ballads they have ever written.

8. We Will Rise Again
A song that has good contrast of silence and movement. They used to do this a lot in early career too.  

9. Your Last Song
This song has a lot of modulation. The key switch from minor to major key back and forth. I really love the lead guitar parts in this song.

10. Love Is War
A mid-tempo song featuring acoustic guitar. Another thing really impressed me about this albums is the high-level arrangement. It may be largely counted on Desmond Child.

11. The Cross
Another good rock number. It has good heavy riff and catchy chorus. Pretty straightforward. 

12. Humanity
The leading single from this album. This song is not the most catchy song in this album but well describes this album. It has dramatic beginning, contrast of silence and movement, dark tone, and longing melody. One of my favorites in this album.

Overall, I was fully satisfied. If you like only 80's and early 90's of this band, you may not like this album. Nevertheless, if you are a fan of early Scorpions, please come back and listen to this album. I highly recommend you this album!

☆☆☆☆☆

MK II / Masterplan (2007)

1. Phoenix Rising

2. Warrior's Cry

3. Lost And Gone

4. Keeps Me Burning

5. Take Me Over

6. I'm Gonna Win

7. Watching the World

8. Call the Gypsy

9. Trust In You

10. Masterplan

11. Enemy

12. Heart of Darkness

The second album was the true first album that Masterplan established themselves as a band. However, the gypsy singer, Jorn Lande, left the band. Uli, who was one of the central figures, left the band as well. It was a  big loss for the band, especially Jorn, who was making this band unique among other power metal bands. Make DiMeo (ex-Riot) and Mike Terrana (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen) joined the band. 

Musically, they did not change at all in this album. They kept the same music direction that they were heading in the first two albums. Jorn was a big loss, but DiMeo's voice really matches with the band even though his voice was not as deep as Jorn. Uli was not just a drummer but also a great composer, but I did not find any problem as far as songwriting. The album has catchy metal tunes such as tracks 2, 4, 7, and 11. However, I think their unique identity lies in non-typical power metal songs such as tracks 3, 6, 9, and 12. These songs are not fast but very dramatic and has good melody lines. One thing really bothered me about Uli's play was that he sometimes played "too much". He is definitely a skillful drummer but not very groovy. Terrana is doing good job making groove with the band.

Those two members' departure was definitely a big loss for the band. Nevertheless, they prevented the loss in minimum. They pushed their style and music forward and made another good record.

☆☆☆☆

The Roaring Of Dreams / Pride Of Lions (2007)

1. Heaven On Earth

2. Book Of Life

3. Love's Eternal Flam

4. Langage Of The Heart

5. Let Me Let You Go

6. Faithful Heart

7. Defying Gravity

8. The Roaring Of Dreams

9. Secret Of The Way

10. Astonish You

11. Tall Ships

12. Turnaround

13. I Am My Father (Bonus Track)

Pride of Lions is one of the few bands that I don't have to worry before I listened to new materials because I can rely on them that they always deliver high quality songs. Since they recently released a new album, I thought I should write a review of this album before I listened to the new one.

Jim Peterik, who is known as a former member of Survivor, and Toby Hitchcock formed Pride of Lions in 2003. Their debut album Pride of Lions was one of the best album I listened in that year. His vision to create 80's melodic rock music with modern sound became reality. His song writing skill never declined, and their second album bears comparison with the first record.

However in this album, they reached higher level with creating music. From the first song, they attack you with great riffs, melodies, and thrilling phrases. Toby's vocal became more mellower and stronger. The contrast of Jim's voice and Toby's is better than ever. The album contains full of great rock songs as well as beautiful ballads. Every These people are not just being nostalgic of 80's music. They are moving forward by creating 80's influenced music which is very new and unique in today's music scene. I strongly hope that they will tour Japan. I grantee that I would be there when the day comes.

☆☆☆☆☆