Helloween Walls of Jericho

Helloween followed up their very popular self-titled mini-LP with 1986's even more accomplished Walls of Jericho, a disc that saw the quartet from Hamburg, Germany, outperforming expectations and quickly defining their sonic identity. The instrumental title track soon gives way to amazingly mature and complex compositions like "Ride the Sky," "Phantoms of Death," and the awesome "How Many Tears" (even more ambitious 13-minute epics would soon follow). And although these were heavily reliant on Iron Maiden for inspiration, it was Helloween's speed metal innovations that clearly helped make the songs so special and influential for future bands. Even the album's lyrically challenged, somewhat one-dimensional moments ("Warrior," "Metal Invaders") usually succeed, thanks to the group's uncontainable energy. On the downside, the album continued to expose Kai Hansen's limitations as a singer, but the band would soon remedy this disadvantage by bringing on teenage phenom Michael Kiske as lead vocalist.[The CD reissue of Walls of Jericho offers a complete recap of Helloween's first incarnation by combining it with their eponymous mini-LP and the Judas EP in chronological order.]

Walls of Jericho is the debut studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1985 on LP by Noise Records. It is the only album featuring Kai Hansen as lead vocalist until 2021's Helloween, although he would continue to act as guitarist on the two following albums.

Walls of Jericho is the debut studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1985 on LP by Noise Records. It is the only album featuring Kai Hansen as lead vocalist until 2021's Helloween, although he would continue to act as guitarist on the two following albums.

Crafting fast-paced power metal since their inception in the early '80s, Helloween has followed a very curious and unique path throughout their career. Releasing heady concept albums (the Keeper of the Seven Keys series) and complicated metal anthems while keeping their tongue firmly in cheek, the band managed to stay relevant in a stagnant genre by not being afraid to be different. This two-CD set showcases their career by mixing the tracks together from every point of their existence.

Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg, Northern Germany by members of bands Iron Fist and Gentry. Its first line-up consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bass guitarist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weikath, and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. After the release of a self-titled EP and their debut album Walls of Jericho in 1985, it expanded into a quintet with the addition of singer Michael Kiske, Hansen choosing to focus on guitar instead. Under this line-up, they released the Keeper of the Seven Keys albums (1987 and 1988), which established Helloween as a notable heavy metal band and led to the creation of the power metal subgenre. However, Hansen left the band soon after the release of Part II and was replaced by Roland Grapow. After leaving Helloween Hansen formed Gamma Ray.