Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Helloween - Pink Bubbles Go Ape (Expanded Edition) - 2006 - Sanctuary Records

Track Listing1. Pink Bubbles Go Ape 2. Kids Of The Century 3. Back On The Streets 4. Number One 5. Heavy Metal Hamsters 6. Goin' Home 7. Someone's Crying 8. Mankind 9. I'm Doin Fine, Crazy Man 10. The Chance 11. Your Turn 12. Blue Suede Shoes (Bonus) 13. Shit And Lobster (Bonus) 14. Les Hambourgeois Walkways (Bonus) 15. You Run With The Pack (Bonus)

The last two Helloween releases to feature Michael Kiske and Ingo Schwichtenberg are very confusing for die-hard Helloween fans. For me, personally, I really stopped listening to the Kiske era after "Seven Keys: Part 2". In all reality Helloween by 1993 had done just about everything they could musically and lyrically. I think what you find with 1991's "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" as well as 1993's "Chameleon" is simply a band that has abandoned their niche in hopes of re-inventing themselves with a new style and approach. Anytime that happens you alienate your core fan base, but still may attract new fans. I don't think that either album really brought new fans to the band's camp, and after playing half-filled arenas and seeing a label like EMI even refuse to stock shelves with the material, Kiske found it appropriate to change directions and leave. We are left with two albums of strange material that really defies description at times. The subject of this review is "Pink Bubbles Go Ape", the first post-Kai Hansen release and first to feature his replacement in Roland Grapow.

"Pink Bubbles Go Ape" has been included in the special "Expanded Edition" series from Castle Music, a run of re-issues that focuses on the Helloween catalogue up to and including "Better Than Raw". This series of re-issues has each album being re-mastered and including additional liner notes, photos, and bonus songs. My favorite aspect of the whole series is the fantastic insight from the members, who take the time to share their thoughts in a print interview found within the "thicker" booklet. For this release Michael Weikath talks with Dave Ling of Metal Hammer/Classic Rock magazine. Among y favorite quotes:

Ling - "How would you describe your own input to "Pink Bubbles Go Ape"?

Weikath - "I've gotta admit that I was getting weary of coming up with heavy metal anthems. I wanted to wimp out and go commercial. That explains the crappy tracks of mine that are on there. Maybe I was unprepared and partying too much.

For me personally these expanded edition re-issues really helps a Helloween fan like myself better understand what was going on in the minds of the members during those times. With the additional extras comes four bonus tracks that includes a cover of Elvis Presley's "Blue Suede Shoes", lifted from the B-side of "Kids Of The Century" as well as the other B-side to the single, "Shit And Lobster".







--EC 05.12.06


Album cover link: http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/810/814914.jpg
Band link: www.helloween.org
Label link: www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk