Past In Different Ways | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 9, 2008 | |||
Genre | Rock, power metal, acoustic rock | |||
Length | 52:43 | |||
Label | Frontiers | |||
Producer | Michael Kiske | |||
Michael Kiske chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Hardrock Haven | [1] |
Dangerdog | [2] |
Past in Different Ways is the fourth solo album of vocalist Michael Kiske. It features acoustic renditions of songs written by Kiske during his time in Helloween and one new track.
The album received a rather mixed critical support. Most reviewers were excited about the new acoustic arrangements and especially about Kiske's still powerful voice and wide vocal range. Other reviews criticized the album for the fact that it lacked any major innovative arrangements. [3] [4]
It was released on 9 May 2008 with cover art credited to Carl André Beckston.
According to Michael Kiske, Past In Different Ways "on one hand shows that I don't reject my past just because I'm a different person today, and on the other hand it can maybe give people who were part of that past a different view at those songs. It's my music, I can still identify myself with its spirit...I generally brought each song down to its basics, threw out useless weight and sometimes changed the key to make them sound better as acoustics; and I was surprised how well they worked like that". [5]
Kiske said in 2006: "The good first HELLOWEEN years (with Kai Hansen) were also absolutely great; I don't reject them at all! And I think it was a good idea from Serafino (Frontiers Records) to give my songs of the past a new acoustic sound that fits me today. Because on one hand this shows that I don't reject my past; and on the other hand, it can also give some (more open and intelligent) people another perspective at those songs. And if anyone doesn't like that idea. No one forces him or her to listen to it! These new recordings will NOT AT ALL sound like HELLOWEEN or metal, so it is VERY stupid to put it the way some do." [6]
All songs by Michael Kiske, except "How the Web Was Woven" by David Most and Clive Westlake.
Band members
Guest musicians
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. It is said that the band is one of the most influential European heavy metal bands of the 1980s. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weikath and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. By the time Hansen quit Helloween in 1989 to form Gamma Ray, the band had evolved into a five-piece, with Michael Kiske taking over as lead vocalist. Schwichtenberg and Kiske both parted ways with Helloween in 1993; Schwichtenberg died two years later as the result of suicide. Between then and 2016, there had been numerous line-up changes, leaving Grosskopf and Weikath as the only remaining original members. As a septet, their current lineup includes four-fifths of the Keeper of the Seven Keys: Parts I and II-era (1987–1988) lineup, featuring three additional members, vocalist Andi Deris, guitarist Sascha Gerstner and drummer Daniel Löble.
Kai Michael Hansen is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of another power metal band Helloween, which he rejoined in 2016. He is a prominent figure in power metal and has sold millions of albums worldwide. He is regarded as "the godfather of power metal", having founded two seminal bands in the genre. In 2011, he joined the band Unisonic featuring former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. Hansen and Kiske reunited with Helloween in 2017 for a world tour with all current members, celebrating the 30-year anniversary of release of the albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I and II.
Gamma Ray is a German power metal band from Hamburg, founded and fronted by Kai Hansen after his departure from power metal band Helloween, in 1989. He is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist and chief songwriter. Between 1990 and 2014, Gamma Ray recorded eleven studio albums.
Masterplan is a German power metal band founded by guitarist Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch upon leaving Helloween in 2001.
Michael Kiske is a German singer and co-lead vocalist for the 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 related projects, such as Avantasia, Place Vendome and Kiske/Somerville and has also performed with numerous bands as a guest vocalist.
Chameleon is the fifth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1993. It is their most musically adventurous release, but also their least commercially successful, and is their last studio album to feature singer Michael Kiske until 2021's self-titled album, as well as their last with original drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. It was Schwichtenberg's last album to be recorded during his lifetime. This was also the last album on EMI Records.
Pink Bubbles Go Ape is the fourth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1991. It marked the departure of guitarist Kai Hansen, with Roland Grapow replacing him. It was also the first album released on EMI Records.
Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy is the eleventh studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 2005. It is the first album with new and current drummer Dani Löble and a continuation of their 1987 and 1988 albums Keeper of the Seven Keys, Parts I and II. The album is a double CD with nearly 80 minutes playing time and comes in a digipack with 6 flaps. It was produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and features Blackmore's Night singer Candice Night on the track "Light The Universe". The album's opening track, “The King for a 1000 Years” is, to date, the longest song released by the band.
Helloween is the debut EP by German power metal band Helloween. It was released on 29 April 1985 on Noise Records.
Instant Clarity is the first solo album of vocalist Michael Kiske, formerly of Helloween. The album was released 1996 and features guest appearances by Kai Hansen, formerly of Helloween, Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden, and compositions with Ciriaco Taraxes.
Andreas "Andi" Deris is a German singer, best known as one of the three co-lead vocalists of the power metal band Helloween, and co-founder and former lead singer of the metal band Pink Cream 69.
Keeper of the Seven Keys is a four-part album series by Helloween, composed of the band's second, third, and eleventh full-length studio albums as well as their third live album.
"Windmill" is a song and a single made by German power metal band Helloween taken from the album Chameleon. This single has the same b-sides as the single Step Out of Hell, and the same cover. "Windmill" was released in Europe and "Step Out of Hell" in Japan.
"I Want Out" is a song by German power metal band Helloween from the album Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2, that was released as a single in 1988.
SupaRed is an album by SupaRed, a band led by ex-Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. It was released on Helloween's former record label Noise Records.
Place Vendome is a German melodic hard rock / AOR project, founded in 2004 at the direction of Frontiers Records president Serafino Perugino.
Unarmed – Best of 25th Anniversary is the sixth compilation album by German power metal band Helloween. It is a compilation in celebration of the band's 25th anniversary, which contains re-recorded versions of Helloween songs in an acoustic/symphonic style. It includes a 70-piece Prague Symphony Orchestra performing "The Keeper's Trilogy", a 17-minute medley consisting of the songs "Halloween", "Keeper of the Seven Keys" and "The King for a 1000 Years". Many guest musicians are featured on the tracks.
Unisonic was a German hard rock/power metal supergroup, founded on 10 November 2009 by Helloween singer Michael Kiske alongside Dennis Ward and Kosta Zafiriou from Pink Cream 69 and Mandy Meyer, formerly in Asia and Gotthard. In 2011 the band was joined by Gamma Ray leader and Helloween co-founder, Kai Hansen.
Skeletons & Majesties Live is the fourth live album of the metal band Gamma Ray. The album was recorded during Gamma Ray's 2011 concert in Pratteln (Switzerland) and contains acoustic renditions of the songs Rebellion in Dreamland and Send Me a Sign as well as the guest appearance of then ex-Helloween and Unisonic vocalist Michael Kiske on 3 tracks.
Helloween is the sixteenth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released on 18 June 2021. The album is the first released with the "Pumpkins United" line-up, which marked the return of original member Kai Hansen on guitars and vocals and Michael Kiske on vocals in 2016, in addition to the five-member line-up active since 2005.