The stigma of Helloween is a hard one to get rid off, as illustrated on Gamma Ray's first three LPs.
Kai Hansen succeeded in creating a band of his own, but he couldn't come up with an idiosyncratic style or even implement it well.
Land of the Free is, however, a complete success considering Hansen's progression.
Land of the Free intriguingly breaks the basic concept that Gamma Ray's contemporaries have used so much.
The opener, "Rebellion in Dreamland," for example, doesn't have a decent structure.
The seven-minute piece is constructed in many different parts, instead of the verse-chorus-verse pattern that is so typical of other metal bands.
Also, most importantly, their large sound is achieved by using synths and sound effects, so Land of the Free offers a lot more than just distorted guitars and high-pitched singing.
The songs themselves have their downsides, but mostly -- because of their structure -- the riffs are very inventive and succeed in being both catchy and diverse.
The actual songs (there are many short pieces between songs) as wholes are flawless, so Land of the Free is an almost-perfect album.
It really serves the definition of power metal well and is indeed one of the most metal albums of the late '90s.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rebellion in DreamlandKai Hansen | Gamma Ray | Play | 08:44 | 20 MB | 62 MB |
| 2 | Man on a MissionKai Hansen | Gamma Ray | Play | 05:48 | 13 MB | 42 MB |
| 3 | FairytaleKai Hansen | Gamma Ray | Play | 00:49 | 1 MB | 6 MB |
| 4 | All of the DamnedKai Hansen | Gamma Ray | Play | 05:01 | 11 MB | 37 MB |
| 5 | Rising of the DamnedKai Hansen | Gamma Ray | Play | 00:43 | 1 MB | 4 MB |
| 6 | Gods of DeliveranceKai Hansen, Jan Rubach | Gamma Ray | Play | 05:01 | 11 MB | 36 MB |
| 7 | FarewellDirk Schlachter | Gamma Ray | Play | 05:11 | 11 MB | 32 MB |
| 8 | Salvation's CallingJan Rubach | Gamma Ray | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 9 | Land of the FreeKai Hansen | Gamma Ray | Play | 04:37 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 10 | Abyss of the VoidKai Hansen | Gamma Ray | Play | 06:03 | 13 MB | 42 MB |
| 11 | Time to Break FreeKai Hansen | Gamma Ray | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 12 | AfterlifeKai Hansen, Jan Rubach | Gamma Ray | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 13 | The Saviour | Gamma Ray | Play | 00:40 | 1 MB | 4 MB |
| 56 mins | 129 MB | |||||
| 56 mins | 406 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catharina Boutari | Choir/Chorus |
| 2 | Gamma Ray | Primary Artist |
| 3 | Hacky Hackmann | Choir/Chorus |
| 4 | Kai Hansen | Art Direction, Choir/Chorus, Composer, Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 5 | Michael Kiske | Choir/Chorus, Guest Artist, Vocals |
| 6 | Hansi Kürsch | Choir/Chorus, Guest Artist |
| 7 | Ralph Lindner | Mastering |
| 8 | John Mortimer | Composer |
| 9 | Axel Naschke | Choir/Chorus |
| 10 | Jan Rubach | Composer |
| 11 | Dirk Schlachter | Composer |
| 12 | Piet Sielck | Composer |
| 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). |