Better Than Raw
| Better Than Raw | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helloween studio album | ||||
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Publication |
April 28, 1998 |
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| Label (s) | Castle Communications | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
52 min 58 s |
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| occupation | ||||
|
Helloween and Tommy Hansen |
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|
Studio (s) |
Chateau du Pape + Crazy Cat, Hamburg , Mi Sueno, Tenerife |
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Better Than Raw is the eighth studio album by the band Helloween . It was published by Castle Communications in 1998.
History of origin
The album was the first to be recorded in the studio of singer Andi Deris . Jörn Ellerbrock took part in the album as a session keyboardist . Jutta Weinhold from Zed Yago sang the backing vocals . Tommy Hansen produced the album. The band wanted to go in a more progressive, yet harder direction with the album. In preparation for the album, the band recorded a total of 27 songs, from which they selected 10 and added a classic intro. The band repeatedly highlighted the new found spontaneity that allowed them to experiment more on this album.
The title is a play on words. The band kept getting pumpkins from fans even though they didn't really like them. One of them then made the statement “Well, anything better than raw.” (“Even better than raw.”) The cover motif was then created as a reminiscence of the cartoon series The Smurfs . Gargamel was replaced by a scantily clad witch and the Smurfs in the saucepan with a pumpkin head.
Music genre
On Helloween's eighth studio album, their own style was further developed. Modern elements (e.g. push or revelation ) were added to traditional heavy metal. Again the pieces are harder and the compositions more varied and daring. Some ballad-like songs provide the quieter parts of the album.
meaning
With Better Than Raw the band reached # 19 in the German album charts and stayed in the top 100 for a total of six weeks. The album was a great success in Japan, where it sold over 250,000 copies. It reached # 2 in the charts there. In Finland the album reached # 7 on the charts.
trip
After the album was released, the band went on tour as a special guest of Iron Maiden , which at that time caused badly filled halls with their album Virtual XI and without singer Bruce Dickinson . A short detour towards the end of the year takes the band to America for individual concerts. The album was released there on September 17, 1999.
Track list
- Deliberately Limited Prelude Period in Z (Kusch) - 1:44
- Push (Kusch / Deris / Weikath) - 4:44
- Falling Higher (Weikath / Deris) - 4:45
- Hey lord! (Deris) - 4:05
- Don't Spit on my Mind (Großkopf / Deris) - 4:23
- Revelation (Kusch / Deris) - 8:21
- Time (Deris) - 5:41
- I Can (Deris / Weikath) - 4:38
- A Handful of Pain (Kusch / Deris) - 4:48
- Lavdate Dominvm (Weikath) - 5:09
- Midnight Sun (Weikath) - 6:18
Expanded Edition Bonus Tracks
- Back on the Ground (Kusch / Deris) - 4:39
- A Game We Shouldn't Play (Deris) - 3:38
- Perfect Gentleman [bootleg live version] (Deris / Weikath) - 3:27
- Moshi Moshi / Shiki No Uta [live] (Kusch / Grapow) - 6:53
Single releases
I Can was released in advance on April 6, 1998 as a single with two non-album tracks. The song I Can was released in an edit version.
Hey lord! was released as a single on October 5, 1998 and contains two live songs. The European version also includes a music video for the theme song.
The expanded edition from 2006 contains all songs of the two singles, except for the edit version of I Can , as bonus tracks.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Interview on Hardradio.com
- ↑ Interview on Ballbusterhardmusiv.com ( Memento from January 14, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Review on Metal-observer.com
- ↑ Chart tracking at Musicline.de ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Helloween biography on MusicMight.com ( Memento of the original from November 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Discography on MusicMight.com ( Memento of the original from November 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
