Since writing my recent piece on Helloween, I have purchased the expanded versions of the Kiske-era albums "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" and "Chameleon." These were, to my knowledge, the only Kiske-era Helloween albums that I hadn't heard in their respective entireties. I was familiar with a handful of tracks and what I had heard was pretty good but the negative reviews had piqued my curiosity even further.So here's my concise assessment: They're Helloween albums. That's it. I mean, I think they're generally pretty good. With the exception of the "I Want Out" CD, I have never really heard a Helloween album that doesn't include a stinker or two. "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" and "Chameleon" fit the pattern for sure. But if someone took the best tracks from both albums and released them as an single album, then you would probably have one of the best power metal records ever.
I think "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" is really the weaker of the two albums. But I really, really like the intro/title track, especially because I look at it as a lead-in of sorts to "Kids of the Century." "Kids" is one of my favorite Helloween songs and I regard it as something of a quintessential Helloween song. I like "Number One" despite its occasionally "churchy" lyrics. It reminds me of the old Quiet Riot "rock anthems" from the mid-1980's. "Shit and Lobster" is a great "social commentary" tune and "Les Hambourgeois Walkways" is a terrific instrumental. I had really overlooked "Walkways" the first couple time's through the CD, but I finally picked up on it and really appreciated it and it's now one of my favorite tracks on the expanded edition.
"Chameleon" is really okay, despite all of the bad, bad reviews from years past. "First Time" is a solid Helloween track and it's a great way to kick off the album. I had seen the video to "When the Sinner" on YouTube and I thought the song had a really unique and catchy sound. People are quick to say that it's a jazz-influenced track and that's probably because of the use of a brass section in the track. I can understand why people who listen exclusively to metal might not appreciate it, but I don't see much point in putting a label on the sound per se. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music and I think that "Sinner" is just a good song and that's pretty much it. "I Don't Wanna Cry No More" is a fantastic power ballad and it is a great showcase of Kiske's talent. "Giants" has a monster guitar solo which sounds like vintage Helloween stuff. "Revolution Now" is a powerful song about what has become of the "Flower Children" of the late 1960's. During this very heavy track, Kiske lapses briefly into Scott McKenzie's "If You're Going to San Francisco." Even though it's just a tease of sorts, the brief snippet of the tune leave me wondering how awesome it would be to hear Kiske sing the whole song. "Music" is another powerful track from the album. It's not quite a ballad, but it's slow and pensive and definitely worth a listen. It's something of a departure for Helloween, but not a bad turn by any means.
The bonus tracks on the expanded edition of "Chameleon" include some entertaining selections. "I Don't Care You Don't Care" is one of my favorites – straight up metal music with basic heavy metal lyrics for a bad day : "I don't care / You don't care / We don't care / Shit happens." It ain't Mozart, but it'll do. The "Introduction" track is a great bit of fun that the band (mostly Weikath) pokes at themselves. It's kind of reminiscent of the spoken parts of Iron Maiden's "Black Bart Blues." "Introduction" is a lead in to "Get Me Out of Here" which is still fun and silly sounding, but metal, nevertheless.
In the Beatles "Anthology" documentary, I remember Paul McCartney reflecting on all of the decades of criticism leveled at the legendary "White Album" . He summed it up by exclaiming, "(A)t the end of the day, it's the bloody Beatles White Album! Shut up!" That's probably the best way to look at these two Helloween albums. They are what they are: Helloween albums, plain and simple.
So shut up already!
Horns up!
