Never quite in the spotlight yet never quite forgotten, Helloween continued to record over a decade and a half after their debut album.
And to some success, actually.
Granted, that success was largely limited to Europe and Japan, but it was enough to sustain the group.
And, weirdly enough, through sheer existence -- continual touring and recording -- Helloween accomplished something very rare indeed for metal bands in their second decade: they actually began to improve.
They never quite managed to hit the peaks of Keeper of the Seven Keys, and the youthful energy of their first albums had long disappeared, but the band continued to refine its sound and push itself into new progressive territory.
Better Than Raw is proof of that and arguably their best album of the '90s.
There still are silly moments -- if you're not a hardcore fan, the "metal will never die" platitudes of "Falling Higher" will rub you the wrong way -- but the music is layered and unpredictable, ranging from metal anthems to metal ballads to neo-classical metal to neo-black metal.
It's an ambitious set, and it's all the more impressive coming from veterans, not a bunch of newcomers.
[Better Than Raw was reissued in 2006 in an expanded edition that included four bonus tracks.].
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PushAndi Deris, Uli Kusch, Michael Weikath | Helloween | Play | 04:47 | 10 MB | 35 MB |
| 2 | Falling HigherAndi Deris, Michael Weikath | Helloween | Play | 04:48 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 3 | Hey Lord!Andi Deris | Helloween | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 4 | Don't Spit on My MindAndi Deris, Markus Grosskopf | Helloween | Play | 04:25 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 5 | RevelationAndi Deris, Uli Kusch | Helloween | Play | 08:23 | 19 MB | 61 MB |
| 6 | TimeAndi Deris | Helloween | Play | 05:45 | 13 MB | 38 MB |
| 7 | I CanAndi Deris, Michael Weikath | Helloween | Play | 04:39 | 10 MB | 35 MB |
| 8 | A Handful of PainAndi Deris, Uli Kusch | Helloween | Play | 04:49 | 11 MB | 36 MB |
| 9 | Lavdate DominvmMichael Weikath | Helloween | Play | 05:12 | 11 MB | 38 MB |
| 10 | Midnight SunMichael Weikath | Helloween | Play | 06:20 | 14 MB | 47 MB |
| 11 | Deliberately Limited Preliminary Prelude Period In Z | Helloween | Play | 01:45 | 4 MB | 12 MB |
| 12 | Back On The Ground (Bonus Track) | Helloween | Play | 04:38 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 59 mins | 136 MB | |||||
| 59 mins | 436 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Cooper | Original Mastering |
| 2 | Andi Deris | Composer, Member of Attributed Artist, Vocals |
| 3 | Simon Fowler | Original Photography |
| 4 | Hugh Gilmour | Reissue Design |
| 5 | Roland Grapow | Composer, Guitar, Guitars, Member of Attributed Artist, Soloist |
| 6 | Markus Grosskopf | Bass, Composer, Guitar (Bass), Member of Attributed Artist |
| 7 | Christina "Biene" Hahne | Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Steve Hammonds | Release Coordinator |
| 9 | Tommy Hansen | Keyboards, Original Mix, Original Recording Producer, Producer |
| 10 | Helloween | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 11 | Uli Kusch | Composer, Drums, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 12 | Rainer Laws | Artwork, Cover Painting |
| 13 | Dave Ling | Sleeve Notes |
| 14 | Henjo Richter | Artwork, Booklet Design |
| 15 | Stefan Thiel | Studio Assistant |
| 16 | Michael Tibes | Engineer, Original Engineering |
| 17 | Michael Weikath | Composer, Guitar, Guitars, Member of Attributed Artist, Soloist |
| 18 | Jutta Weinhold | Vocals (Background) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |