''Master of the Rings'' is the sixth studio album by German

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band

Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Wei ...

, released in 1994. It is the first to feature new members Andi Deris and

Uli Kusch Ulrich Kusch (born 11 March 1967) is a heavy metal drummer. He is best known for playing with Helloween, Gamma Ray, Masterplan and Holy Moses, among others. He is known for his technical style of playing, fast-paced speed metal-like rhythm, an ...

. This album contains four singles, which are " Where The Rain Grows", " Mr. Ego (Take Me Down)", " Perfect Gentleman", and " Sole Survivor", with corresponding videos for the first three. "Mr. Ego" was dedicated to the band's former singer,

Michael Kiske Michael Kiske (born January 24, 1968) is a German singer and lead vocalist for the German power metal band Helloween. Kiske has released four solo albums, two albums with the hard rock band Unisonic, has participated on various metal and rock ...

, and was released as an EP in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Context and recording

and vocalist

had reached the end of the road during the touring of 1993's " Chameleon". Michael Kiske's replacement was Andi Deris, formerly with

Pink Cream 69 Pink Cream 69 is a German hard rock/ heavy metal band founded in 1987 in Karlsruhe by Andi Deris, Dennis Ward, Kosta Zafiriou and Alfred Koffler. The band gained their first contract by winning music magazine ''Metal Hammer''s newcomer compe ...

. After an alcohol and drug-related incident in Japan, drummer and co-founder of the band

Ingo Schwichtenberg Ingo "Mr. Smile" Schwichtenberg (18 May 1965 – 8 March 1995) was a German drummer and one of the founding members of the power metal band Helloween. Biography Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow said about Schwichtenberg in an interview 1999: ...

was replaced first by the session-drummer Richie Abdel-Nabi, then on a more permanent basis by former Gamma Ray drummer

, who only arrived when most of the album was already written. After two highly controversial studios projects and a live album, Helloween parted company with EMI records, aligning themselves with the more modestly sized Raw Power (an imprint of

Castle Communications Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's product ...

). Nevertheless, the effect of Deris and Kusch was to re-energize their collective fortunes. In Japan, "Master of The Rings" sold more than 120,000 copies.Sunday Old School: Helloween
/ref> Commenting on the recording sections for the album, bassist Markus Grosskopf said: According to Roland Grapow's comments in the liner notes, the lyrics for "Take Me Home" were written by his wife Silvia (the song is simply credited to "Grapow" in the album).

Track listing

Expanded edition (disc 2) track listing

*M – 1 and 2 also appear on the " Mr. Ego" and " Where The Rain Grows" singles. *M – 3, 4 and 5 also appear on the " Perfect Gentleman" single. *M – 6 and 7 also appear on the " Sole Survivor" single.

Personnel

Helloween

* Andi Deris – vocals * Michael Weikath – guitar *

Roland Grapow Roland Grapow (born 30 August 1959 in Hamburg) is a German professional guitarist and music producer. Grapow is best known for his time in the power metal band Helloween, with which he played for 12 years after replacing founding member Kai Han ...

– guitar, lead vocals on "Closer to Home" *

Markus Grosskopf Markus Grosskopf (born 21 September 1965) is a German musician who is the bass guitarist, backing vocalist and a founding member of the power metal band Helloween. Biography Grosskopf started playing bass at the age of 15 when he became friend ...

– bass *

– drums

Others

*George Chin – photography *Ian Cooper – mastering *Jorn Ellerbrock – programming *Tommy Hansen – production, mixing, programming *Michael Tibes – sound engineering

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Helloween albums 1994 albums