''Long Way to Heaven'' is the fifth studio album by the Canadian heavy metal band

Helix A helix () is a shape like a corkscrew or spiral staircase. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is formed as two intertwined helices, ...

. This album was their third for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, and there were bigger expectations from the band after the success of the previous ''

Walkin' the Razor's Edge ''Walkin' the Razor's Edge'' is the fourth studio album by the Canadian heavy metal band Helix. It was released on the Capitol Records label in 1984, reaching No. 27 on the Canadian RPM Album Chart, and selling 100,000 copies in Canada and 400, ...

'' (featuring the hit "Rock You"). The first single was "Deep Cuts the Knife", co-written by

Paul Hackman Paul Wayne Hackman (November 14, 1953 – July 5, 1992) was a Canadian guitarist who performed with the rock band Helix from 1976 until his death in a road accident. Among the hits which contain his playing are the #32 Canadian single "Rock You ...

and

Bob Halligan Jr Robert Sidney Halligan Jr. (born January 3, 1953) is an American singer, musician, music producer and songwriter who has collaborated with many artists, particularly in the hard rock/ heavy metal genre, throughout his career. He is currently the le ...

. The song received heavy airplay in the U.S., gaining "double breaker" status, and in Canada was added to heavy video play on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

. Q107 in Toronto had the song riding at number 1 for several weeks on their "Top Ten at Ten". Their first tour to kick off the album was in Sweden where they became the first Canadian rock band ever to tour that country extensively. For this they achieved their first number 1 album in that country. Returning to North America, they toured with

Accept Accept may refer to: * Acceptance, a person's assent to the reality of a situation etc. * Accept (band), a German heavy metal band ** ''Accept'' (Accept album), their debut album from 1979 * ''Accept'' (Chicken Shack album), 1970 * ACCEPT (or ...

and

Keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

, as well as headlining dates. They also played odd one-off dates with

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

and

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

. While headlining in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, a local band called KAOS opened for Helix. This band featured Rainer and Cindy Wiechmann, who joined Helix 19 years later in 2004, on lead guitar and backup vocals respectively. The second single released from the album was "The Kids Are All Shakin, a song inspired by a fan letter from Poland. The album went platinum in Canada and they headlined their first Canadian tour with the

Headpins Headpins are a Canadian rock group, founded as a side project in the late 1970s by then Chilliwack members Ab Bryant and Brian MacLeod. Macleod was impressed by the vocal talents of Vancouver rock singer Denise McCann, and asked her to join his ...

as the supporting act. The ''Long Way to Heaven'' album was released for the first time on CD in September 1999.

Track listing

# "The Kids Are All Shakin (Paul Hackman / Brian Vollmer) - 3:48 # "Deep Cuts the Knife" (Paul Hackman /

Bob Halligan Jr. Robert Sidney Halligan Jr. (born January 3, 1953) is an American singer, musician, music producer and songwriter who has collaborated with many artists, particularly in the hard rock/heavy metal music, heavy metal genre, throughout his career. He i ...

) - 4:01 # "Ride the Rocket" (Halligan / Brian Vollmer) - 3:24 # "Long Way to Heaven" (Daryl Gray / Paul Hackman / Brian Vollmer) - 3:34 # "House on Fire" (Paul Hackman / Brian Vollmer) - 4:15 # "Christine" (Brent Doerner / Paul Hackman / Brian Vollmer) - 3:34 # "Without You (Jasmine's Song)" (Brent Doerner / Paul Hackman / Brian Vollmer) - 3:40 # "School of Hard Knocks" (Brent Doerner / Daryl Gray / Paul Hackman / Brian Vollmer) - 4:06 # "Don't Touch the Merchandise" (Brent Doerner / Brian Vollmer) - 2:47 # "Bangin' Off-A-The Bricks" (Brent Doerner / Brian Vollmer) - 3:15

Video version

There was a remix made of "The Kids Are All Shakin which was used in the music video. The audio track was not available for purchase until the Helix '' Deep Cuts'' compilation of 1999.

Personnel

Brian Vollmer Brian Vollmer (born June 30, 1955) is the lead singer and only remaining original member of Canadian hard rock group Helix. Since the band's inception in 1974, Vollmer had gone from lead singer to ''de facto'' leader of the band, weathering numero ...

– vocals *

– guitar and vocals * Brent "The Doctor – guitar and vocals * Daryl Gray – bass and vocals * Greg "Fritz" Hinz – drums

Additional personal

* Ken Sinnaeve – additional bass

Production

* Produced by Tom Treumuth and co-produced by Paul Hackman * Mixed by David Whittman * Robert Meecham – technician * Heather Brown – art direction

Charts

Album

Singles

References

External links

Sleaze Roxx
{{Authority control Helix (band) albums 1985 albums Capitol Records albums