I'm the opposite of Kmorg. I love the Deris years.

I don't have Metal Jukebox. I heard it a long time ago and can't say I thought too much of it.

The Dark Ride is a real good disc though. Maybe not the best Deris-era Helloween album, but very solid. And it's doesn't sound too heavy to me either. The sinister cover art and booklet do kind of emphasize the slightly more heavy approach on certain songs. Still, it's 100% Helloween all the way through and I like Roy Z's production, too.

Originally I had some trouble - like many others, I guess I was expecting Better than Raw II, and was slightly let down. But it got me after awhile, and it's amazing how consistant Helloween has been ever since Master of the Rings.

I love that rotten pumpkin, too, as you probably figured out already. I have a Dark Ride shirt, too.

Favourite tracks: The Departed, If I Could Fly, Immortal

I'm not sure what the problem is with the Dark Ride either cause I think it's the best of the Deris era. The title track,Ecalation 666 and Mr. Torture are the best tunes. I have a chinese version of this cd that includes the extra track Madness of the Crowds (an awesome song in it's own right).

I picked up The Dark Ride about a year ago mostly because of recommendations from the members of this board. I like it a lot. Just spun it last week. I'm no Helloween expert, but I think it's a good album overall.

After Roland and Uli were fired from the band Helloween set out to once again look for replacements. They found a drummer in former Metalium member Mark Cross and also Sascha Gerstner a guitarist from the band Freedom Call. With new members intact, in 2003 the band began to record their next album entitled Rabbit Dont Come easy, but during the recording sessions Mark Cross was diagnosed Mononucleosis. He was able to complete two songs, "Don't Stop Being Crazy" and "Listen to The Flies", but was forced to leave due to his condition and not being able to play. A session drummer was brought in to finish the recording and it was none other than formerly of King Diamond and current Motorhead drummer (My favorite drummer in the whole world) Mikkey Dee. It was a long time since Dee recorded this kind of style of music but he fit the bill perfectly and turned out to be a great choice for a session drummer. This also featured the first song written by Sascha called Open Your Life.

About the album title, bassist Markus Grosskopf explained in 2003 thet "It's based on that English saying, pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Pulling this rabbit [the album] out of this hat [in reference to recent line up changes] wasn't that easy this time. That gave us the idea of just calling the album 'Rabbit Don't Come Easy'. [Laughs] It's not to be taken too seriously. We were joking that statement around, and then I suggested we actually call the album that".

This album gave the fans what they wanted, the familiar Helloween sound. The songs were happier and heavier even than the previous album. Stefan Schwarzmann was brought in to tour with the band on drums and also recorded one song from one of Schwarzmanns previous bands Accept called Fast As A Shark that was released with the single Just A little Sign which was also released as a video.

A Dvd was also released again of their videos also this time with some bonus behind the scene footage and a more recent video for the song Just A Little Sign called The Hellish Videos.

The album sold well and the band completed a very successful tour around the world. Stefan Schwarzmann decided to leave the band after the tour but stayed throughout the preproduction for the next album until the band found a replacement.

Again another great album. The songs Just A Little Sign, Open Your Life (which became my aol screen name just spelled differently), Never Been A Star, The Tune are definetly favorites off this one.

Yep, another good one. I like this one alot (although I'm a big fan and feel Helloween can really do no wrong).I dpn't think there's really a weak song on here,but stand outs are Just A Little Sign,Back Against The Wall and Nothing To Say (with the reggae-like chorus). My version comes in a slip case with a pop-up cover and the extra track Far Away (a good tune as well).

got the same version. pretty cool!

No let down here as the boys keep doing what they do best. Giving catchy songs that stick with you. It's amazing they keep putting out albums that are worth a listen from beginning to end.

A return to the Helloween of old, was the rumor spread prior to this release. I'm not so sure that was true. I find nothing that reminds me of the 'Keeper...'-albums on 'Rabbit Don't Come Easy' (why on earth no one told the band that the title is spelled wrong is also a mystery to me). So I have to confess that I was a little disappointed with it at first. And that was a shame. Because the CD is, in it's own right, really quite good. Just not as good compared to my favorites by this band. No single songs stand out that much. And if I put the CD away for a week, I would have a hard time humming along to any of the songs, without putting it in my stereo. On the upside though, this disc is very well produced. The band sounds tight, and they have once again found their humor (for better or for worse). All in all I like this album. It brings in many fine elements, combining fast guitars and melodic melody lines. You get humor, ballads and even a reggae inspired bridge in "Nothing To Say"!! I still say Andi Deris was better in Pink Cream 69. My special digipak version comes with a bonus track, and a pop-up rabbit! Helloween had some Spinal Tap issues during the recording of this album. That resulted in that the initial drummer, Mark Cross (Metalium), only plays on 2 tracks. Mikkey Dee (King Diamond, Motörhead) stepped in to finish the other tracks, and did a blistering job! Now the band have recruited Stefan Schwarzmann (UDO, Running Wild), but he doesn't play a note on the album. New guitarist, Sascha Gerstner, was stolen from Freedom Call.

Killer tracks: Open Your Life, Liar, Sun 4 The World, Nothing To Say

Rabbit Don't Come Easy was an instant pleaser. It has all those characteristics that make fans love Helloween.

I remember on tour Andi said the title of the album comes from a Spanish phrase directly translated into German and then English, and that it originally meant kitten Don't Come Easy.

Anyway, great tracks all around here. Probably the only two I don't like are the Tune and Do You Feel Good. Coincidentally both written by Weikath. Speaking of songwriting, Gerstner really proves himself right off the bat with his first album as a member of the band - he gets credit for four terrific songs. His playing is also solid.

Liar is real heavy and there's great catchy choruses to be found on pretty much every song. There's a small Rainbow/Dio tribute bit in the end of Nothing to Say where Andi starts ad-libbing and the song kind of turns into Stargazer.

Favourites: Hell Was Made in Heaven, Liar, Nothing to Say, Listen to the Flies

RABBIT DON'T COME EASY is another strong album from The Pumpkin Boys. I wasn't expecting much from this one after hearing all the news about rampant lineup changes (Uli Kusch in particular had been a strong songwriting presence over the last couple of albums so I was sorry to see him go) and the goofy title made me think "Oh Gawd no, this is gonna be PINK BUBBLES GO APE PART II." I shouldn't have worried, though, because as soon as "Just A Little Sign" blasted forth from my stereo I was like "Woo hoo!"
Other killer tracks include the catchy-as-hell "Open Your Life" and the damn-near-thrash "Liar," which is probably the heaviest song Helloween had done since the WALLS OF JERICHO days.
The closing track "Nothing To Say" is the only curve ball on this album - it's got tinges of reggae, blues, and even some progressive rock in it. When I reviewed this disc for Detritus years back, I think I described that song as "It sounds like Badlands and the Police got into a horrible van accident on the way to a Yes concert."

I remember seeing this one for dirt-cheap in the used bins at some shop I was in, so I snagged it. I hadn't heard a note from it, but I figured I'd take a shot. It's not often I see Helloween discs used.

As for the disc, I like it well enough. Not usually the 1st one I reach for, but sound decent enough when I'm in the mood.

Just when things seem to always be getting back on track with this band someone leaves or gets fired. Ingo got depressed was fired in came Uli Kusch. Uli was fired in came Mark Cross. Mark got sick and had to leave in came Mikkey Dee to do studio recordings, then Stefan Shwarzmann and he eventually left during the recording of the next album because he supposedly couldnt handle the time changes of the new songs. Once again Helloween was on the look out for a new drummer. Shortly they would find one in ex-drummer of Rawhead Rexx Dani Löble who also worked with Blaze Bayley. Dani brought a new style to the band with his drumming leaning more towards progressive than power metal with the previous albums.

During the recording there was rumors the next album would be a double album and also Part 3 of the Keepers album. This led to a lot of speculation if the band would be able to pull something like this off. With only two original members left in the band there was some doubt from fans that this would work. A few months later it was official the thirteenth studio album was going to be called Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 3- The Legacy. Keepers 3 was released on Halloween day in most of the world in 2005 and was indeed a double album. It was also the first album to feature a female guest appearance by Candice Night from Blackmores Night on the song Light The Universe which also became their second video and single, the first single and video being Mrs. God. Originally the first single to be released was going to be Come Alive but was shortly changed to Mrs. God.

The album brought more critical acclaim to the band and was received well throughout the world. The success of the album and it’s subsequent tour was so strong the band released a double live DVD and double live CD. In 2007, to commemorate their last two years of success, Helloween released a double Live CD entitled "Keeper Of The Seven Keys - The Legacy World Tour 2005/2006 - Live In Sao Paulo" and a double live DVD entitled "Keeper Of The Seven Keys – The Legacy World Tour 2005/2006 - Live On 3 Continents".

After hearing this was a continuation of the Keeper theme I couldnt wait to get my hands on this. The funny thing about this album is that its a double cd but yet all songs would perfectly fit onto one disc. Im guessing the reason behind it being a 2 disc is because of the original idea of Keeper 1 and 2 being a double disc but ended up being shot down. So this gives it the feel of a double album, who knows.. Either way it is yet again another great album and they completely out did themselves on this one. Not only did it prove they could pull this album off without most of the members who were around for the original Keepers albums it also proved new members Sascha and Dani are more than capable to be in the band.

Liking all the other ones before this, I was anxious to pick this one up and got it as soon as possible (Best Buy pulled though on that one-couldn't be said about the next one). I enjoyed this one but I feel it is the weakest of the Deris albums that I've heard. Favorite songs are King For A Thousand Years, Pleasre Drone, Mrs. God, Light The Universe, The Shade In The Shadow, and Come Alive.

KEEPER: THE LEGACY....meh. Wasn't bad, but wasn't as good as the album before it (or after it) either. I thought it was kinda unnecessary to do yet another KEEPER tie-in, nearly twenty years after the last one (and with an almost entirely different lineup to boot). I do like a couple of songs "Occasion Avenue" is excellent, as are "Mrs. God" and "Light The Universe" with Candace Night) but overall I don't play this one a heckuva lot.

I wish they hadn't called it K III because it's not the same band and doesn't sound like those albums. In it's own right it has some decent songs, King For A Thousand Years and Light The Universe being outstanding, but I agree with FF that the album before and after were better.

The name thing doesn't bother me. It's a good cd put out by a great band that's been around for a long time. Long songs usually bore me (with a few exceptions),but the King For A Thousand Years and Occasion Avenue are terrific.