Helloween Kids Of The Century (1991) (cds, Japan Vicp 15005)

Pendragon has been producing melodic prog for many years, virtually unnoticed by proggers. This release and the following one will touch on areas made familiar by Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, and even Glass Hammer. However, the intelligent, flowing playing and the honesty of the lyrics make it too enjoyable to be derivative. Pendragon are an English neo-progressive rock band established in 1978 in Stroud, Gloucestershire as Zeus Pendragon by guitarist and vocalist Nick Barrett. The Zeus was dropped before the band started recording as the members decided it was too long to look good on a T-shirt. There were a few personnel changes in the early days, but since 1986 the lineup has remained relatively stable (with only the drummer changing twice since then) and the band is still active as of 2016, with a busy European tour.

Pendragon has been producing melodic prog for many years, virtually unnoticed by proggers. This release and the following one will touch on areas made familiar by Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, and even Glass Hammer. However, the intelligent, flowing playing and the honesty of the lyrics make it too enjoyable to be derivative. Pendragon are an English neo-progressive rock band established in 1978 in Stroud, Gloucestershire as Zeus Pendragon by guitarist and vocalist Nick Barrett. The Zeus was dropped before the band started recording as the members decided it was too long to look good on a T-shirt. There were a few personnel changes in the early days, but since 1986 the lineup has remained relatively stable (with only the drummer changing twice since then) and the band is still active as of 2016, with a busy European tour.

Pendragon has been producing melodic prog for many years, virtually unnoticed by proggers. This release and the following one will touch on areas made familiar by Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, and even Glass Hammer. However, the intelligent, flowing playing and the honesty of the lyrics make it too enjoyable to be derivative. Pendragon are an English neo-progressive rock band established in 1978 in Stroud, Gloucestershire as Zeus Pendragon by guitarist and vocalist Nick Barrett. The Zeus was dropped before the band started recording as the members decided it was too long to look good on a T-shirt. There were a few personnel changes in the early days, but since 1986 the lineup has remained relatively stable (with only the drummer changing twice since then) and the band is still active as of 2016, with a busy European tour.

While Helloween can hardly be called a true "singles" band, this hefty box spread across seven discs stands as proof positive that they belong in the conversation of great European metal bands. The band combined the structures of Iron Maiden with the propulsion of Motorhead, stopping just short of thrash or speed metal; compared to contemporaries like Metallica and Slayer they could almost be considered traditionalists. This set covers every era from their 1980s heyday through shifting line-ups and comebacks in the '00s. As this box set is designed with completists in mind, the casual enthusiast might want to start with something more bite-sized.

Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II is the third studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1988. The album sold well, and success bloomed all over Europe, Asia, and even the United States. The album went gold in Germany and reached No. 108 in the US. Two singles were released from the album, "Dr. Stein" and "I Want Out". "Dr. Stein" has a very long and moody solo, played with a blues tinge, very unlike other solos on the album, as well as an organ solo. "I Want Out" remains the band's best-known song, and has been covered by several metal bands, such as Gamma Ray (which Kai Hansen formed after leaving Helloween itself), Unisonic, HammerFall, LORD and Sonata Arctica. It is their last album to feature Hansen until 2021's self-titled album.

Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I is the second studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1987. It marks the first appearance of vocalist Michael Kiske, and is considered the album that created the genre of European-style power metal.

In the world of heavy metal, 1988 may be best remembered as the year that prog metal was born, thanks to such popular and enduring releases as Metallica's …And Justice for All, Queensrÿche's Operation: Mindcrime, and Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. But predating all of these aforementioned titles by a year was Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 1 by Germany's Helloween. Influenced equally by Maiden and Judas Priest, the group specialized in both anthemic metal (with operatic vocals) and tricky musical bits – as evidenced by the epic track "Halloween," which received quite a few spins on Headbangers Ball as an edited version…