Hey everyone!

Well this isn't a shock for many of you but January's Retro album of the month is none other than Keeper of the 7 Keys Part 1! In the wake of the upcoming tour that includes the current lineup and special guests Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen this was a perfect time for this album to get some spotlight here.

Helloween released a landmark album when this came out. At the time nobody was playing powermetal quite like this. I remember the first time hearing "I'm Alive". I was impressed by Michael Kiske's vocals but when ended up impressing me more was the dual guitar harmonies of Michael Weikath and Kai Hansen. I was floored by their guitarplaying on this album.

There are so many epic tracks on this album especially the song "Halloween" which is easily one of the best heavy metal songs of all time. They set the standard for european power metal and this album had a huge influence over the scene. Probably one of the biggest influences out there when it comes to many albums in the 80s.

Helloween eventually recorded Keeper 2 which as far as kost are concerned is a better album. I disagree with that. While Keeper 2 had a lot of great tracks Keeper 1 was the album that put Helloween on the map and made them a player in the metal scene on par with so many other great bands at the time. While bands like Iron Maiden, Queensryche and Judas Priest were taking the world by storm Helloween surpassed them musically at that time.

 

Keeper 1 became the standard in powermetal. So much so that even all this time it still stands up to all of the stuff that comes out today. That's how you know an album is great by how well it stands the test of time which this one does a great job of doing. Everyone knows of my eventual friendship with the guys in Helloween. I have known them for almost 20 years now and the fact they are bringing Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen along as guests on this tour is an amazing thing. So long ago there was so much tension between both of these guys in the band. So much was said in the press about each other but that is over now. All is forgiven and that is evident by the fact this tour is happening. I can't wait to hear Kiske and Deris singing together!

Keeper 1 is timeless always has been and always will be.

-Tony Webster 1/26/2017

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