Unisonic | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 21, 2012 (Japan) March 30, 2012 (Europe) May 22, 2012 (USA) | |||
Recorded | ICP Studios, Brussel, Belgium, HOFA Studios, Karlsdorf, Hammer Studios, Hamburg, Germany, 2012 | |||
Genre | Hard rock, power metal | |||
Length | 55:20 | |||
Label | earMUSIC | |||
Producer | Dennis Ward, Kai Hansen | |||
Unisonic chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Hard Rock Haven | [1] |
Planetmosh | [2] |
Rock Hard | 8/10 [3] |
Unisonic is the debut album by the hard rock/power metal band Unisonic. It was released in 2012 on earMUSIC. The album is the group's first full-length studio release and since Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II (1988) by Helloween the first album to feature both Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske performing on all songs. [4]
The majority of the songs were written by Dennis Ward and Kai Hansen, with further input from Mandy Meyer and Michael Kiske. [5] A music video was filmed for the song Unisonic on YouTube. [6]
The album was released on 21 March 2012 in Japan, on 30 March 2012 in Europe and on 22 May 2012 in the US, with cover art credited to Martin Häusler. The album became available in several special editions, such as the European (mediabook), [7] the Japanese [8] and the US, [9] each containing a different bonus track.
Unisonic's debut album entered several international music charts, scoring the highest points on the Finnish albums chart, Japanese albums chart, German albums chart and Swedish albums chart. [10]
In Burrn! magazine's 2012 Readers Poll, Unisonic ranked at #2 (behind Accept's Stalingrad ) for Best Album and the title track won Best Song. [11]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Unisonic" | Dennis Ward, Kai Hansen | Mandy Meyer, Hansen | 3:25 |
2. | "Souls Alive" | Ward | Meyer | 5:13 |
3. | "Never Too Late" | Hansen | Hansen | 4:30 |
4. | "I’ve Tried" | Ward | Ward | 4:56 |
5. | "Star Rider" | Ward, Hansen | Ward | 4:16 |
6. | "Never Change Me" | Hansen | Hansen | 3:44 |
7. | "Over the Rainbow (European bonus track)" | Hansen | Hansen [12] | 5:16 |
8. | "Renegade" | Ward | Ward | 4:38 |
9. | "My Sanctuary" | Ward | Ward, Hansen | 4:16 |
10. | "King for a Day" | Hansen | Hansen | 4:07 |
11. | "We Rise" | Ward | Ward, Hansen | 4:43 |
12. | "No One Ever Sees Me" | Michael Kiske | Kiske | 6:13 |
13. | "The Morning After (Japanese bonus track)" | Kiske, Ward | Meyer | 4:03 |
14. | "I Want Out (live at Loud Park) (North American bonus track)" | Hansen | Hansen | 5:34 |
Total length: | 64:54 |
Chart (2012) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [14] | 59 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [15] | 8 |
French Albums (SNEP) [16] | 140 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [17] | 24 |
Italian Albums (FIMI) [18] | 90 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [19] | 19 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [20] | 29 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [21] | 44 |
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 left 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 was a part of from 1983 to 1989 and 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.
Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I is the second studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1987. It marks the first appearance of vocalist Michael Kiske, and is considered the album that created the genre of European-style power metal.
Michael Kiske is a German singer who is the co-lead vocalist for the power metal band Helloween. Kiske has also 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 performed with numerous bands as a guest vocalist.
Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II is the third studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1988. The album sold well, and success bloomed all over Europe, Asia, and even the United States. The album went gold in Germany and reached No. 108 in the US.
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.
Live in the U.K. is the first live album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1989. It was released in Japan as Keepers Live. In the United States, it was released as I Want Out – Live without the track "Rise and Fall", and with a shorter edit of the introduction.
The Best, The Rest, The Rare is the first compilation album by German power metal band Helloween. It was released in 1991 on the label Noise Records.
The Metal Opera Pt. II is the second full-length album by Tobias Sammet's German supergroup project, Avantasia. It is a concept album and a metal opera. The songs carry on the story begun in The Metal Opera, with the same characters. Both albums were written over the course of a year, starting in the last quarter of 1998, and both were produced from October 1999 to June 2000, with the works being interrupted for some weeks so Sammet could produce The Savage Poetry with his other band Edguy.
"I Want Out" is a song by German power metal band Helloween from the album Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II, that was released as a single in 1988.
Place Vendome is a German melodic hard rock / AOR project, founded in 2004 at the direction of Frontiers Records president Serafino Perugino.
To the Metal! is the tenth full-length studio album by Gamma Ray. It was released on 29 January 2010. To promote the album, the band did a tour with Freedom Call and Secret Sphere. The album was recorded in Kai's own studio in Hamburg in autumn 2009. The band has recorded 12 songs. Ten of them were featured on the regular album release, while the other two were bonus tracks appearing on the different editions of the album. The band described some of the songs on the official website, revealing that there would be a full-throttle number called "Rise", a rhythmic and melodically diverse song called "Time To Live", and a multilayered anthem titled "All you need to know", featuring ex-Helloween frontman Michael Kiske. Other songs mentioned are "No Need to Cry", a song written by Dirk Schlächter about the death of his father, "To The Metal", a song they played on various festivals before the album release and the atmospheric and dense "Empathy". It is the last album featuring drummer Dan Zimmermann.
Ignition is the first EP by the hard rock/power metal band Unisonic. It features 2 future album tracks, a demo song and a live version of the Helloween classic "I Want Out". It was released on January 27, 2012.
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.
For the Kingdom is an EP by the rock band Unisonic. It was released in 2014 on EarMusic Edel AG. The album contains one future album track, an exclusive song, and four live tracks recorded during the band's Masters Of Rock Festival performance in 2012. The cover art is credited to Martin Häusler.
Light of Dawn is the second and final album by the hard rock/power metal band Unisonic. It was released on 1 August 2014, with cover art credited to Martin Häusler.
Close to the Sun is the fourth album of the melodic hard rock project Place Vendome. The songwriting for this album was provided by Magnus Karlsson, Jani Liimatainen, Olaf Thörsen, Fabio Lione, Simone Mularoni (DGM), Alessandro Del Vecchio, Aldo Lonobile and Mike Palace (Palace).
Live in Wacken is the first live album by the hard rock/power metal band Unisonic. The album was recorded during the band's performance at Wacken Open Air Festival on August 5, 2016.
United Alive in Madrid is the fourth live album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 2019. The recordings took place during the band's Pumpkins United World Tour (2017–2018), with former members Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen joining Helloween's line-up. This would be the first live album to feature both Kiske and Hansen since 1989's Live in the U.K.. The main concert was recorded on 9 December 2017 at the WiZink Centre in Madrid, Spain and the bonus tracks in Chile, Brazil, Czech Republic and Germany.
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.