Welcome back to Throwback Thursday! This is the place where we get to indulge in nostalgia and wax poetic about excellent metal of years past. For TBT number 34 we wrap up power metal April with an absolute beast of a band. A pioneer in the metalverse, Helloween have been recording and touring for over a mind-blowing three decades. Better Than Raw is an developmental power metal album that helped forge the power genre and cement the lurid and evocative concepts found in power metal album cover art. Pumpkin heads unite and light the fires within in the honor of…
HELLOWEEN'S BETTER THAN RAW
Release Date: April 1998
Record Label: Castle Communications
Better Than Raw isn't the album Helloween is best known for (Keeper of the Seven Keys is), and yet it is hands down one of the German group's best recordings. Often described as experimental, Better Than Raw features a dynamic set of songs that not only diverge drastically from one other, but stand out from the rest of the discography in a really memorable and bitchin' way. Originating in Hamburg, Germany, Helloween formed way back in 1984. Better Than Raw is the band's 8th studio album, and features Andi Deris on vocals instead of founding member Kai Jamsen or fan favorite Michael Kiske (known best for his performance on Helloween's most commercially successful song "I Want Out").
Better Than Raw is a true kitchen sink of musical parlances. The opening overture, while sounding typically power metal with its dramatic production and grandiosity, does not prepare you for the surprise that is the rest of Better Than Raw's content. Check out the first two tracks of the album "Deliberately Limited Preliminary Prelude Period in Z/Push":
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoAGemn0qBk][/youtube]
Let's unpack what is going on here. The instrumental opening, presented to us with gloriously synth-y electric piano and foreboding tinkling wind chimes, segues into a true power metal 'rising from the ashes' battle moment – only to end abruptly with intensity from the chug-a-thon of riffs from the beginning of the second track "Push". Upon listening to "Push" in 2018, I am struck with the song's timelessness. The track sounds like it could be recent release, and yet the song (and the album) turned 20 this year. The traits which identify the track with older trends, including the cat-screech-like vocal falsetto and overly reverb-y solo, are emulated quite often in modern music (only with slightly different 'packaging'). "Push" might be my favorite track off of the album – it just kicks so much ass.
Third track on the album"Falling Higher" is the most straight forward power sounding cut on the entire album. It rips:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4JefucHKYU][/youtube]
On paper, the huge array of stylizations throughout Better Than Raw read as disjointed and unfocused. The album is so diverse in terms of mood, tempo, intensity and even instrumentation. Power metal nuances such as soaring vocalizations, symphonic overtones, and multi-layered harmonies are solely what tie the album together. Featured single "Hey Lord!" feels like it came to the turn-of-the-century metal party about 10 years too late.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDzIez1uYmw][/youtube]
Yet, somehow Helloween make it all work together for Better Than Raw. Simply put, the album is organized chaos. Power metal, the genre Helloween is most often associated with, has such drastic signature hallmarks that their exploration of expanding the genre is fascinating to listen to. Better Than Raw is exciting to listen to for that reason, and while it is no doubt a transition album, so many elements are executed so well that the journey is enjoyable.
Tracks like "Laudate Dominum" marry double-picking, chorus effects that bring to mind the term 'butt rock', and an undeniable silliness together all in the name of covering Mozart in a way that only the 80's should've been able to offer:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwR47IAIOdA][/youtube].
There is some really clean guitar playing on this track, from solo to riff. The song feels flowy and appealing and it hits the ears like a welcome palette cleanse.
Moments that have the potential to sound ordinary or even boring are livened by the two subtle superheroes of the album: the compelling, low-key drumming and the noodly, super expressive bass lines. Track "I Can", the second of two featured songs from the album, is a great example of this:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1KfDkPmB-8][/youtube]
Somehow over the last 30 years, Helloween have never taken a long sit in the heavy-hitting, spotlit throne in the halls of metal fame. Yet, the band has maintained enough popularity to continuing touring. Most recently, Helloween reunited with original singers Henson and Kiske for the Pumpkins United World Tour. In fact, they are on tour right now. In the event this TBT has completely knocked your socks off and you are now the world's number one Helloween fan – you're in luck – you can to see them live. Better Than Raw is a foundational album whose presence most certainly built power metal into a more substantial and popular genre. They've been going hard for 34 years, but all good things must come to an end. Now might be the opportune moment to see a piece of metal history before it disappears for good.
