9. Helloween- Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I(1987)- Rock/Metal Album Track Ranking Series

German legends Helloween make their debut in my ranking series with an album which is hugely influential on the growth of European power metal. Out of the 8 tracks on 'Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I', there are two short instrumental tracks- the intro and the outro- which I didn't rate(though I really love the intro), so only six tracks remain to be ranked, and here is my classification:

6. Twilight of the Gods- 7.5(good)

5. A Little Time- 8(solid)

4. I'm Alive- 9(great)

3. A Tale That Wasn't Right- 9.5(fantastic)

2. Future World- 10(stellar)

1. Halloween- 10

OVERALL RATING: 9.00

There could only be one winner on this album: Halloween, a 13-minute monster track of epic proportions which perfectly illustrates how fabulous European power metal can be when performed by the iconic band which basically invented the genre. Everything in this brilliant song- the versus, the chorus, Michael Kiske's unique voice, the fantastic drumming and guitarwork- is pure perfection!

The second place in my ranking, Future World, also gets the highest mark from me thanks to its musical prowess, amazing chorus and the positive effect it has upon me whenever I give it a spin, while the third place, A Tale That Wasn't Right, is also close to perfection thanks to its emotionally charged delivery and great guitar solo which help it reach the top 10 of my favourite metal ballads of all time.

Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I,along with the second part, which I will analyze in a future episode, remains a hugely influential record for the style of European power metal, and an album I will always enjoy listening to along with other fabulous works from German icons 

Helloween!

My Listening Year in Metal Part 1: My Top 10 Most Played Bands of 2021

 In darkness and light, in hope and negativity, in good and bad times rock and metal music has been my constant companion throughout 2021, as it has been for many years, so now it’s time to take a look back at my most played bands, albums and tracks of this year according to the stats provided by Last.FM. I have decided to split this article in 2 parts since it’s probably going to be a little longer than I initially intended.

PART 1 OF 2- MY TOP 10 MOST PLAYED BANDS OF 2021

1. Iron Maiden

2. Helloween

3. Sepultura

4. Overkill

5. Therion

6. Sodom

7.Ozzy Osbourne

8.Megadeth

9.Motorhead

10.Paradise Lost

Iron Maiden took the top spot by a large margin, and how could they not be this year’s winners after releasing this masterful piece of work called “Senjutsu”? In addition to that, I revisited the entire Maiden discography in December, listening to all their studio albums in chronological order because I have decided to post my ranking of their work, so it’s no they wonder they were the detached winners this year, followed by another legendary band, German power metal icons Helloween, which also delighted me in 2021 with their self-titled masterpiece, so it’s great to see that these bands still have a lot of energy and inspiration to create fantastic music.

Things get heavier in the next two positions, occupied by Sepultura and Overkill mostly because I have revisited their early material, without ignoring their last creations either. Anyway, in the case of Sepultura it’s no surprise that I still greatly enjoy their golden years, the period between 1987 and 1993, in which they had a fabulous streak of great albums. As for Overkill, there are two periods of their career I really dig, the former being the late 80s and early 90s, and the latter being the last decade, and especially their most recent creation, “Wings of War.” They never cease to amaze with their vitality after reaching a respectable age as well!

As for the rest of the top 10, Therion keeps symphonic metal in a high position thanks to their accessible last album, Sodom, which also released a pretty good album at the end of last year, represent my most listened to German thrash metal band of the moment, Ozzy is still in the top 10 mostly thanks to the first decade of his solo career, the 80s, Megadeth occupy an honorable 8^th place mostly thanks to their classical period, from the 80s to mid-90s, but I expect them to aim at the top position next year if their new release meets my expectations, Motorhead, although not one of my favorite bands, reach the top 10 since in 2021 I decided to pay more attention to some of the albums in their vast discography which I have ignored in the past, and Gothic metal Paradise Lost add more diversity to this chart since they also have a lot of quality material to revisit from time to time.

Bonus: To see the next 20 positions in my list of bands played in 2021 you can check the playlist at the right sidebar of this blog,