There can be no doubt about the influence of guitarist and vocalist Kai Hansen on the metal scene. He was one of the crucial driving forces behind Helloween and after he had quit Helloween in 1988 he decided to form his own band: Gamma Ray. Together with Ralf Scheepers, bass player Uwe Wessel and drummer Matthias Burchardt the quintet started the recording for a debut album.
There can be no doubt about the influence of guitarist and vocalist Kai Hansen on the metal scene. He was one of the crucial driving forces behind Helloween and after he had quit Helloween in 1988 he decided to form his own band: Gamma Ray. Together with Ralf Scheepers, bass player Uwe Wessel and drummer Matthias Burchardt the quintet started the recording for a debut album.
At 'Heading For Tomorrow' (1990) Hansen had taken the style of the sound and style of the classic Helloween and developed it a little further. The album contains nine raving power metal tracks and a cover of Uriah Heep's song 'Look At Yourself'. One of the most remarkable song, without a doubt, are 'Heaven Can Wait' and the title track, which both grew out into live classics real fast. In 1990, after several changes in the line-up, the EP ‘Heaven Can Wait’ was released; three of the songs who were included on that EP, you will find on this reissue as bonus tracks. A year later, ’Sign No More’ followed. The album has a somewhat darker sound and feel and with songs like ‘(We Won’t) Stop The War’ and ‘Countdown’ the more sober world view of that time (Gulf War) is flawlessly displayed. In songs like ‘Rich And Famous’, ‘As Time Goes By’ and ‘One With The World’ the albums holds songs in which all elements that Gamma Ray huge are present. As an extra the reissue contains an additional three extra tracks, including ‘Who Do You Think You Are’, which also can be found on the ‘Heaven Can Wait’ EP. With these two albums Gamma Ray had established themselves. They were more than n offshoot of Helloween: they were one of the most promising bands in power metal.
By the time Gamma Ray released their third album, ‘Insanity And Genius’ (1993) the band had gone through some changes in their line-up once again. Nevertheless: the album saw a reversion back into the forthright musical approach from the debut album ('Tribute To The Past', 'No Return', ‘Last Before The Storm’). But there was more: Hansen, who was the original singer of Helloween, took care of the vocals on one track ('Heal me'). As bonus tracks you'll find a longer version of 'Gamma Ray', cover of Judas Priest's 'Exciter' and a live version of 'Save Us' (a song written by Hansen but originally on Helloween's 'Keeper Of The Seven Keys II'). It was in this juncture that Scheepers decided to leave the band. He was hopeful of replacing Rob Halford in Judas priest and after Hansen questioned his commitment to Gamma Ray, Scheepers quit. In the meantime Hansen elected to take charge of the vocals himself after a brief search did not bring the band what they were looking for. So the bands fourth album, 'Land Of The Free' (1995), was the fourth one with a different line-up. One of the most poignant songs is 'Afterlife', contributed to Ingo Schwichtenberg (Helloweens' drummer who committed suicide). The album has guest appearances of Michael Kiske ('Time To Break Free', backing vocals on 'Land Of The Free') and Hansi Kursch ('Farewell and backing vocals on 'Land Of The Free' and 'Abyss Of The Void'). "Land Of The Free" is generally regarded as the most defining album of Gamma Ray and is noted as a true classic within the heavy metal.
All this splendour is now being reissued as two double CD’s and comes with the necessary extras. If you have missed out on the original editions and reprints from 2002 (with the same extras on the CD's) have missed, this is a nice chance for a piece of metal history in our homes. And for just a little bit more than ten Euro per double CD...
At 'Heading For Tomorrow' (1990) Hansen had taken the style of the sound and style of the classic Helloween and developed it a little further. The album contains nine raving power metal tracks and a cover of Uriah Heep's song 'Look At Yourself'. One of the most remarkable song, without a doubt, are 'Heaven Can Wait' and the title track, which both grew out into live classics real fast. In 1990, after several changes in the line-up, the EP ‘Heaven Can Wait’ was released; three of the songs who were included on that EP, you will find on this reissue as bonus tracks. A year later, ’Sign No More’ followed. The album has a somewhat darker sound and feel and with songs like ‘(We Won’t) Stop The War’ and ‘Countdown’ the more sober world view of that time (Gulf War) is flawlessly displayed. In songs like ‘Rich And Famous’, ‘As Time Goes By’ and ‘One With The World’ the albums holds songs in which all elements that Gamma Ray huge are present. As an extra the reissue contains an additional three extra tracks, including ‘Who Do You Think You Are’, which also can be found on the ‘Heaven Can Wait’ EP. With these two albums Gamma Ray had established themselves. They were more than n offshoot of Helloween: they were one of the most promising bands in power metal.
By the time Gamma Ray released their third album, ‘Insanity And Genius’ (1993) the band had gone through some changes in their line-up once again. Nevertheless: the album saw a reversion back into the forthright musical approach from the debut album ('Tribute To The Past', 'No Return', ‘Last Before The Storm’). But there was more: Hansen, who was the original singer of Helloween, took care of the vocals on one track ('Heal me'). As bonus tracks you'll find a longer version of 'Gamma Ray', cover of Judas Priest's 'Exciter' and a live version of 'Save Us' (a song written by Hansen but originally on Helloween's 'Keeper Of The Seven Keys II'). It was in this juncture that Scheepers decided to leave the band. He was hopeful of replacing Rob Halford in Judas priest and after Hansen questioned his commitment to Gamma Ray, Scheepers quit. In the meantime Hansen elected to take charge of the vocals himself after a brief search did not bring the band what they were looking for. So the bands fourth album, 'Land Of The Free' (1995), was the fourth one with a different line-up. One of the most poignant songs is 'Afterlife', contributed to Ingo Schwichtenberg (Helloweens' drummer who committed suicide). The album has guest appearances of Michael Kiske ('Time To Break Free', backing vocals on 'Land Of The Free') and Hansi Kursch ('Farewell and backing vocals on 'Land Of The Free' and 'Abyss Of The Void'). "Land Of The Free" is generally regarded as the most defining album of Gamma Ray and is noted as a true classic within the heavy metal.
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