Back to the year of 1988. The message causes a sensation: guitarist Kai Hansen leaves Helloween, the quintett he co-founded, which managed to move 250.000 units of KEEPER OF THE SEVEN KEYS (Part. II) and reach goldstatus in Germany. Still all the world´s gold could not repress Hansen´s desire to realize his personal vision of modern, melodic Heavy Metal under the name of Gamma Ray (which was the songtitle of an old German band called Birth Control).
As a consequence the first few albums HEADING FOR TOMORROW (1989), SIGH NO MORE (1991) and INSANITY & GENIUS (1993) , featuring the vocals of Ralf Scheepers (now with Primal Fear), had more of an experimental character, marking the obligatory quest for an unique style, that differed from Hansen´s former sphere of activity. The band´s definite style emerged at the latest with the release of LAND OF THE FREE in 1995: powerful Heavy Metal consisting of accessible melodies, anthemic sometimes epic songstructures and the unmistakable voice of the guitarplayer, who again took over vocals duties for now and forever like in the days of old Helloween, with his pink Randy Rhoads guitar. ALIVE ´95, recorded in both Spain and Italy, is a fine documentation of the worldtour that followed the album, which also proved, that bands of this genre can be successful outside of Japan, the all-time strong hold for melodic / power metal.
As a consequence the first few albums HEADING FOR TOMORROW (1989), SIGH NO MORE (1991) and INSANITY & GENIUS (1993) , featuring the vocals of Ralf Scheepers (now with Primal Fear), had more of an experimental character, marking the obligatory quest for an unique style, that differed from Hansen´s former sphere of activity. The band´s definite style emerged at the latest with the release of LAND OF THE FREE in 1995: powerful Heavy Metal consisting of accessible melodies, anthemic sometimes epic songstructures and the unmistakable voice of the guitarplayer, who again took over vocals duties for now and forever like in the days of old Helloween, with his pink Randy Rhoads guitar. ALIVE ´95, recorded in both Spain and Italy, is a fine documentation of the worldtour that followed the album, which also proved, that bands of this genre can be successful outside of Japan, the all-time strong hold for melodic / power metal.
