Chameleon

There was a tumult to the band after this album, the guitarist compares it to the Beatles white album, this album has been universally panned. FOR GOOD REASON! ...And while this album looks like a colossal failure from the outside, it was exactly what this immature band needed and it resulted in a tumble and not a fall en route to forever cementing its place in the great annals of power metal. And hey, Gamma Ray started cooking right after this album so you know all is fair and just.

Because as we see from the Beatles reference, instead of fame and stardom this band has been plagued with misunderstanding and what-ifs in its later years. And while they haven't made a ton of money relative to Metallica or Iron Maiden or gained a massive amount of worldly fame they have had the privilege of doing what they like for the entirety of their career and their talents are understood among the true fans of power metal. They have been put in the exact position they were destined, no soul selling.

But the album is an atrocity in the face of power metal. Sure we are human and some people like to celebrate the mistakes humans often make. And this album seems to have been necessary. But you can't present fecal matter and profess it to be gold with the scent of roses. The album is tiring and boring, delivered flinchingly and unconceived. It is hard to judge it sonically because well, it is not a power metal album.

Now I do like the more powermetally song Giants, this was a video single and if you only heard that one song it might cause you to mistakenly purchase the album. And the weird rock song When the Sinner gets stuck in my head, it is odd with horns and stuff but whatever, most of this stuff is too shallow. If you are in the mood to not listen to power metal most of it will pass somewhat, but I'm always thirsting for power metal so this album seems like a giant void... the rest of the album is sad boring, vacuous music.

First Time is an uninspired hard rock track, I don't Wanna Cry No More could be on maybe a Skynyrd album, Crazy Cat is 60's Sinatra inspired rock, Revolution Now sounds like the corniest of 80s era Sabbath with some yodeling and uninspired solos. It gets worse from there, In the Night is a completely directionless soft acoustic song with an annoying wah the way through, Music is an attempt at dramatic horn-filled AOR, Step out of Hell starts acoustically and has at least a few power metal ideas, but still is directionless and poor. I Believe is basically a power ballad with by far the band's worst ballad chorus. Longing maybe is a Led Zeppelin reference, just an orchestral acoustic track with a piano.

The album has a pretty good production compared to the last few albums, but they squandered it with the poor songwriting and a decision not to make an album that sounds like their previous albums. There were a ton of bonus tracks for this recording session as well Red Socks and the Smell of Wet Trees (yeah that's the title) is an attempt at 70s jam rock, Ain't Got Nothing Better is a blues rock song, Introduction is literally nothing but a joke track that should never been released, Cut in the Middle is more blues rock with a bit more hard rock, Get Me Out of Here is a charming and catchy blues rock song but not belonging on a Helloween album. Kiske does his own thing this entire time, he plays by his own rules, tons of Elvis posturing. The guitarists just seem like they one-timed everything and were just messing around. I Don't Care That You Don't Care is like a Led Zeppelin song with double bass, and Oriental Journey is actually a decent instrumental power metalish/heavy metal song. No matter if you took these bonus tracks, yeah nearly a whole album's worth of them, and put them on the album proper would they make a coherent anywhere close to power metal album. This is a maniacal hodgepodge.

In the end the legacy of this album is simply how poor, unaware, and untimely it was. All of the tracks I mentioned were pieces of crap to be thrown at a wall to see what sticks, it is abundantly clear with the wide variety of slop presented here. It was necessary though, yeah we might have got a premature Keepers Part 3, but after this band failed they sure did pick themselves up. If you're ever feeling depressed though throw on Windmill, you will know you will never be that pitiless and weak, then throw on All Over the Nations after that and you will forget your worries.

Oh boy. Here we go. "Chameleon" continues right where "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" left off. It's also the last album to feature Ingo on drums, and the last to have Kiske on solo vocal duties. This album could have very well been the death of Helloween. The record has one of the worst reputations in power metal history, and even among general metal, "Chameleon" even gets some mentions as being one of the worst. I, however, find "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" a good bit worse. "Chameleon," despite being a bad record, at least sort of understands its identity and knows what it's trying to do. "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" is just a complete mess of absolutely no ideas mashed together. "Chameleon" is not a metal album, and isn't really a good album in general, but there's still a bit of fun to be had here, which is more than could be said for "Pink Bubbles Go Ape."

I'll use "Crazy Cat" as my first example. The horn section that just explodes across the song and the zany atmosphere and upbeat energy across it make it an interesting listen. The chorus is really powerful in that 'show-tunes' kind of nature, and there's some nice lead guitar work behind it. Now, "Crazy Cat" is NOT a metal song, nor does it capture a true Helloween feeling to it. It's also not a song I listen to with any regularity. But as a one off listen on this album, and maybe an occasional playback when the mood hits, "Crazy Cat" is a fun tune. It's better than anything off "Pink Bubbles Go Ape." I also think "First Time" is a legitimately good song. Again, it's not standout Helloween, but the riffs remind you who it is you're listening to. Kiske's melodies are, again, extremely fun, and have a great build. The verses are more addicting than the chorus is. The chorus is pretty strong too. "First Time" isn't a song to give to a purist, and it might not even be something every Helloween fan can get into, but the fun and the great melodies make this a memorable track.

"Chameleon" has a few songs that were SO close to being special, too. "I Believe" honestly has some of the most sinister and dark riffs of Helloween's entire career. The riffs are absolutely incredible on this track, but Kiske does NOT fit them. Michael Kiske has absolutely no ability to sing across such dark, doom-y riffs. His soon-to-be replacement Andi Deris could have KILLED it on this track, but Kiske ruins it. You have these slow, dark riffs, and Kiske is still trying to soar over them. He has no ability to match the atmosphere of the amazing riffs, and tries to do his own thing. His verse melodies just get in the way and detract from the band. "I Believe" is honestly so close to being an absolute Helloween classic, but Kiske's lack of versatility as a singer stopped it dead. "Step Out of Hell" has an addicting chorus, but that's it. This is another example of a song where, the chorus gets stuck in my head for a few days after just one listen to it. Unfortunately, there really isn't anything else going on in this song besides that chorus. The intro is really sappy and overly optimistic and doesn't really lead to much when the verses start. The verse melodies themselves are sappy pop verses that could put you to sleep. The song is an overall very mediocre track with one very strong saving grace. It could have been a LOT more.

Four ballads. Quite literally, one third of this entire album is ballads. That is simply inexcusable. Now, none of these four ballads are particularly good. All four of them are subpar at their best, and an awful waste of space at their worst. But the one that gets the most hate is actually probably the best of the four. "Windmill," (which was referred to by the band themselves as "Shitmill") is still not good. But the emotion and effort is there, at least. "I Don't Wanna Cry Anymore" is your generic sappy 'feel-good' ballad. If you like pop music, you might enjoy it, but I'm going to make the assumption that you're not a huge fan if you're on this site reading this review. If my assumption is correct, then this song will be absolute garbage for you. The song is so sappy and has no substance musically that I can't see anyone but massive ballad and/or pop music fans enjoying it. "In the Night" is almost the exact same deal, but the verse melodies are even more annoying. They're repetitive and have even less effort in their construction as a song. So at the core of "Chameleon," you pretty much have a third of an album that doesn't need to exist.

The rest of this release is just plagued with overly long messes. A lot of the remaining songs have small bits and pieces that can be somewhat enjoyable, but the band stretched so much into 6-7 minute tracks. These kinds of songs just don't have what it takes to have a runtime like that. "Revolution Now" has a pretty generic rock riff, and a decent-at-best bass groove under it. It's definitely not horrible, but you've heard rock songs just like this one several dozen times before. Kiske is shouting over the chorus, and the melody isn't his worst, but isn't stellar, much like the guitar work. The chorus actually has some power behind it, and coupled with Ingo's cymbal smashes, kind of gets you feeling the song. But the song starts running out of steam before it even hits the half way point. It just doesn't have the gas to be worth eight minutes of your time. The same could be said for "Music," but the song is more boring in general. The bass work is a bit better, but the melodies just exist to progress the song to the next section. There's no substance to them. The chorus is okay, and the horns that hit during the chorus add a decent extra layer behind the song and make it feel bigger, but just like "Revolution Now," a decent triumphant chorus by itself doesn't justify the rest of the song being extremely weak and stock. The song shouldn't be seven minutes.

"Chameleon" is another great example of an album that gets maybe a bit TOO much hate, but also isn't good enough to really muster up a defense for. Honestly, if you cut out at least two of the ballads, and shorten a lot of these songs by two minutes or so, this might turn into a passable album. There are definitely moments across "Chameleon" that are worth at least one listen, and might even capture you enough to come back for, but there's just not enough of those moments. I would throw "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" under the bus any day of the week instead of "Chameleon," though. Fortunately, as well, "Chameleon" spelled the end of Michael Kiske. As I mentioned before, I have great respect for Kiske and what he established, but I think Andi Deris is the singer Helloween needed. Deris would go on to essentially save Helloween, although their first effort with him wouldn't be the best the group had to offer, either.

With the release of 1990’s Pink Bubbles Go Ape, German power metal titans Helloween entered a phase of turmoil that could have imploded the band if measures weren’t taken. They were, and with the release of 1994’s Master Of The Rings they entered a phase of resurrection, a phase that has continued to this day. But between the fall of Pink Bubbles and the rise of Master, the band managed to crank out one more album, and album that, if anything, signaled the band’s desperate need for change. This album was Chameleon, released in 1993.

I want to say that Chameleon was an experiment that went wrong, but in reality it wasn’t. If you experiment you need to have an idea, a vision that you want to achieve. Chameleon doesn’t have an idea. It’s just a mess. The direction either is non-existent or, if you want to put it that way, going in every way possible. The best word to describe this album is “schizophrenic”, and that’s something I don’t write with delight considering what was going on with the band’s drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg at the time. What you have on Chameleon is three individuals, namely vocalist Michael Kiske and guitarists Michael Weikath & Roland Grapow, that want to give their own flavor to the album. The result of this ideological power struggle is an album that has everything but, at the same time, nothing.

I want to call this album an absolute piece of dogs**t, but if I’m being honest; is it really that bad? Partly yes, partly no. Because in the directionless wasteland that is Chameleon, the band actually managed to crank out some good material. The opener for example, “First Time”, is a solid heavy metal anthem with a catchy chorus and a pretty good riff. It’s not a song to rave about in the long run, but at least it gives the listener hope for the album as a whole. As does the second track, “When The Sinner”, which is an odd song for the band considering it sounds more like… I don’t even know. It's hard to describe the song in terms of genres, but it’s an entertaining song anyway. Definitely one of the best songs on the album. Need I say that Kiske sound amazing too…? No, that goes without saying. The highlight of the album though, is the 5th song “Giants”. That song is just amazing! With an incredible performance by Kiske and an overall epic feel, “Giants” is the only song on Chameleon that I consider to be top-shelf Helloween and worthy of being under the Helloween banner. Perhaps “When The Sinner” too.

Sadly, here is where the good stuff ends. Songs like “I Believe” and “Step Out Of Hell” are decent I guess, but they are basically Helloween by numbers and wouldn’t go above the average tier in the Helloween ranking for me. Then there are the songs that are either dumb, bland or just awful. “I Don’t Wanna Cry No More” and “Windmill” are lifeless ballads that easily could have been shelved for better, more upbeat material. “Windmill” in particular is just unacceptable. A lullaby about windmills on a Helloween album? Are you kidding me? “Crazy Cat” is another unacceptable mess. Horns and trumpets?! Seriously? What do you even call stuff like this? Jazz metal? I don’t care. It’s s**t either way.

Chameleon has understandably gotten a lot of s**t over the almost 20 years it has existed, but the question remains. Is it that bad? There are bad songs and moments on the album, no question about that. However, I think that buried in the mess that is this album, lies the basis for what could have been a good album. The album has 2 great songs, 2 decent songs and a handful of awful songs. On the other hand, same thing can be said about this album’s predecessor, Pink Bubbles Go Ape (That album doesn’t have the lows of Chameleon but it’s still pretty bland and lifeless). I think that if you would have combined the best songs from both of those albums, you would have had an amazing album.

Sadly, they exist on their own, and on its own, Chameleon is nothing but a chaotic mess obviously plagued by musical conflicts of interest, with only sporadic glimpses of past glory. Luckily, Helloween would start to sort things together after this album. By switching vocalist and drummer, they would lay the foundations for their long-awaited redemption and renaissance a couple of years later, a renaissance that still continues to this day.

Chameleon is widely considered the nadir of Helloween's career, even more lowly than Pink Bubbles Go Ape, and I can entirely understand and even sympathize with that sentiment...but I don't agree with it. Like its esteemed predecessor, I had to find this one on import, because if the 90s musical trends weren't enough to stick a fork in the trajectory of a European power metal band, Pink Bubbles certainly was. Aesthetically it's another instant facepalm moment, the four splashes of paint and the quaint little logo placement and title font make this look like some sort of 80s prog pop album by someone like Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel or The Police. It does not inspire confidence, and it's not the only weird choice made for this album, but at least when I look at it I don't want to leap off a building like when I saw the prior album artwork. It's just a boring minimalism that only slightly matches up with the qualities of the music.

I have to disclose here that I do have a soft spot for Chameleon because it contains one track which I count among my all-time Helloween favorites, and that is "Giants". Atmospheric, gorgeous, and powerful, it has this more airy feel to it than anything I had heard them do before, but still driven with a great, heavy guitar riff and a similar anthemic melodic nature, just delivered in a more spacious format. That chorus sends an emotional chill right down my spine, the bass playing is great with the fills, it's got a cool orchestrated breakdown in the bridge, and there's just not a second I'd change of it, sheer excellence. And it's this atmosphere which actually extends across a lot of the album, also showing up songs like "First Time". This feels like a Helloween evolved (or devolved), for better or worse, and its offering something its predecessors didn't. It's not exactly experimental, but it definitely dips its toes into a little of the proggier rock that the cover hints at, and the band even tries some non-ironic attempts at pop or soft rock with cuts like "I Don't Wanna Cry No More", "In the Night" and "Windmill", and I'm not so much a fan of those, but the band does a reasonable enough job with them that I can't bring myself to hate it.

Other cuts like "Revolution Now" bring in a bluesy, Zeppelin hard rock influence and mesh that in some some of the spacious, acoustic moments and it's at least catchy the first few times through. It's almost like Chameleon is trying to live up to its namesake, and that is ultimately one of the reasons I still count it among the lower rungs of their studio efforts, because it's all over the place, and other than the general mood created by the production, it's often incoherent. Like with Pink Bubbles, I could put together a good EP's worth of material that I like to revisit, and an even better one here ("First Time", "When the Sinner", "Giants", and "Step Out of Hell"), but it's really not one where I find myself ever wanting to listen straight through. "Giants" will always remain in my Helloween playlist, but I don't think anything else here is quite so vital to me. Certainly I could understand how so much of this was a turnoff for a lot of fans who were probably already dismayed with the fourth album and were digging Helloween a plot that was two feet wide and six feet deep. As history would dictate, though, nobody should've been too quick to lay on that topsoil.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I’ll never forget the day when this friend of mine, a most avid Helloween fan, came to my house with the cassette of the album reviewed here, freshly released, so that we could listen to it together. I couldn’t last beyond the third track so I politely excused myself that I had something to do and I couldn’t, for the life of me, believe that he was actually finding something to like here… the same guy with whom we used to headbang like demented on “Walls of Jericho” including a few weeks earlier, before the occurrence at hand.

A totally surreal situation, to the point that I had to take some time and look around in order to make sure that I wasn’t experiencing some major crack in our reality and hadn’t involuntarily entered some parallel dimension where people’s musical (and not only) perceptions had been altered radically, not necessarily for the better. It didn’t help much when other metalheads I knew also started talking fondly of this album later, deepening the “Alice in Weirdland”-like environment.

The one thing I was grateful to my friend was that he spared me the 10/12 USD I was going to pay for the cassette if I had seen it in the shop first. Man, wasn’t that some of the best spared money in my life as a metal fan… on the other hand, now that I think of it, I may have at least tested it in the shop beforehand as both the cover and the album-title were already a warning that this might as well be a different animal… a chameleon, that is. And this cover… I’m sure the guys had received quite a few copyright claims at the time by parents whose 2/3 year-old children had come up with something similar during their first artistic endeavours.

I wasn’t exactly salivating over the “Pink Bubbles”, the previous instalment, but I by no means pronounced it a flop as it still preserved some of the power/speed metal swagger of the earlier recordings, and it was a mildly entertaining listen if nothing else. Quite a few years later, staring at half the colours of the rainbow on the cover here, I’m trying to figure what exactly the band tried to achieved with this… and then suddenly, literally out of the blue rainbow-less sky, it dawns on me; like these abrupt, unexpected illuminations that you only hear/read about but never actually experience:

Imagine this idyllic pastoral picture in which you, your beautiful wife and your cherubic kids go on a picnic somewhere in a forest, or a mountain nearby, on a sunny warm afternoon, season unspecified… with a windmill possibly in sight. You find a small lawn with a solitary tree; you sit under the tree and spread cloths (clothes too) on the grass, on which you put food and drinks, and you let the children run and jump around, chasing butterflies and picking flowers. You look at them and at your wife, and can’t help but smile feeling quite content, and also proud of yourself largely because you haven’t forgotten to bring the tape recorder, and the perfect musical accompaniment to this blissful utopian setting…

yes, you guessed right; the album reviewed here; socially-aware music for the average middle-class family to play during lunch/dinner gatherings, family re-unions and other similar happy occasions; definitely not Halloween. The family members may get shaken, and probably a bit stirred by “First Time”, mind you, which sounds like a leftover from the preceding showing with its bouncy, still welcoming rhythms; nothing too rowdy, just to get all into the mood before the whole family sings the chorus on the ultimate crowd pleaser “When the Sinner”, preferably holding hands, separating in pairs for the balladic soother “I Don't Wanna Cry No More”. No, no one wants to cry here, not yet anyway, and hopefully there will be a few Elvis-wannabes at the party cause “Crazy Cat” is for them, a rock’n roll merry-go-rounder with sax tunes amply provided all over that may even compel all the bears to dance around if played in a forest/mountain environment.

“Giants” sounds like a near-masterpiece after the preceding ballroom dance fiesta, a much more officiant, heavy balladic composition, not exactly the metalhead’s paradise, but the pummelling riffage finally ensures the stage on which Kiske’s traditionally strong passionate vocals can shine. Almost sounds like a half-deal after several serious false starts, but let me tell you about this “Windmill” that comes next, the one that even Don Quixote wouldn’t want to fight with; like the previous ballad wasn’t enough, now there’s another one thrown in, the ultimate romantic pacifier that reminds me so strongly of a tune used on a Bulgarian children’s TV show from the 80’s where a group of kids were happily singing the chorus, shaking their heads in unison… only that the heads here will start shaking in serious doubt after which the fan will stop listening, and will delete (that was possible during the cassette period) this album, and in his/her frustration he/she will delete the “Pink Bubbles” as well almost immediately, and just before he/she turns to the second “Keeper” with the same intentions, he/she will decide to give it one last chance, and most likely the soaring speed metal tunes of “Eagle Fly Free” will save it.

Yes, it’s that off-putting, this “Windmill” here, making the fan seriously re-consider his/her stay in the Pumpkins’ camp afterwards; also making the rest of the album ultimately redundant to describe in details. Cause there’s not much to describe, truth be told, the blasé 8-min sprawling rockabilia “Revolution Now” adding more to the shameless parody after which all decorousness falls off and the guys completely sever all ties with their past with a string of most embarrassing blueses/ballads/acousticisms and other non-metal related sounds among which the otherwise pretty mediocre “Step Out of Hell” sticks out like a sore thumb being a more dynamic sing-alonger.

Only that there would be very few really compelled to sing-along at the end of this leisurely assembled quasi-progressive rock opera; cause there’s no metal here save for a few isolated moments. The guys had discovered some passion for the rock roster, probably as a knee-jerk reaction to the numetal vogues, in the midst of the 90’s and had decided to contribute to the already over-voluminous pool of Totos, Kansases, Genesises, Jethro Tulls, Styxes, Chameleons, and other insalubrious outfits. The thing is that this effort is so blatantly ordinary by any conceivable standards of said roster that it boggles the mind again as to what its purpose was… like a reviewer has written it so well earlier here, it doesn’t fit into any of the two major periods from Helloween’s career, the first one between the self-titled EP and “Pink Bubbles Go Ape”, and the second one commenced shortly after it, the Andi Derris period that has lasted up to this day. It dangles awkwardly in the middle wanted neither by its siblings nor its creators.

Cause if anyone genuinely cared about this album, there would have been at least one distinguished chameleonic follow-up to it. I’m pretty sure such an option was not even remotely entertained by the guys; they realized their mistake only too early, and never repeated it. Cause a realized mistake is only half-mistake, as people say; and a timely served apology (“Master of the Rings”) also helps to keep the audience on the forgiving side; and last but not least, it also prevents a failed experiment of the kind from turning into an effective career terminator like it happened (“Cold Lake”/Celtic Frost; “Strange & Beautiful”/Crimson Glory) on a couple of cases in the now distant past.

Listening to the indomitable first “Keeper” in our house in the countryside, sitting on the balcony, getting into the mood for the Halloween celebrations by singing and moshing on the monumental composition of the same name… I look around and can’t help but notice the inordinately big number of windmills in the area… these constructions have started springing up like mushrooms after a summer shower; like white ghosts waiting to join the oncoming festivities. What could have caused the sudden increased interest in those, I wonder…

Ah, Helloween's most hated and spited album, Chameleon. Certainly, the reputation of this album turns many away from it. To clarify, this IS NOT a metal album at all. Going into it expecting 12 rehashes of "Eagle Fly Free" will only leave you disappointed. I remember finding this album, and reading on Wikipedia about its varied nature, decided to get it as my first Helloween album with Michael Kiske. I was absolutely confused when I listened to it on the drive home, as I did not foresee what it was going to be; I thought it would still be power metal. No; Chameleon is mainly a collection of rock tunes, with four being written by Roland Grapow, four being written by Michael Weikath, and four being written by Michael Kiske. Every one of the twelve songs on this album is far different from one another. Ignoring the metal-purist's hatred of this album, you will find masterful performances from every member of the band, with almost no filler to be found.

I'll begin with the flaws on this album to get the negative out of the way (If you can even call it that). The only major issue is the fact that the song "Revolution Now" (written by Weikath) perhaps could have been cut down in length by a few minutes. Otherwise, there is no glaring issue with Chameleon. I know many don't like the poppy "When the Sinner" and the Disney-like "Windmill". However, as a general fan of music, these songs are still very satisfying to the ear, and they definitely earn their place on the album.

Anyways, besides the previously mentioned issues, all of the tracks are very unique and interesting. On Chameleon, you'll find perhaps the best song Helloween wrote with Michel Kiske, entitled "I Believe". A slower, progressive rock song, Michael Kiske is constantly using his higher register, pleading with God to make him better. The main riff of this song is extremely well done and memorable. This is a forgotten Helloween classic that deserves its place among songs like "Halloween" and "The Dark Ride". Another standout track is "Giants", with another remarkable main riff and incredible verses by Kiske. The lyrics are also very peculiar as well, be sure to concentrate on those as well.

Speaking of Kiske, his vocal performance on this album has to be his most heartfelt and emotional yet on any Helloween album. While the previous albums definitely had a greater technical emphasis on Kiske's voice, on this album he sounds more relaxed and confident than ever before. While Grapow and Weikath came up with very interesting riffs and solos, Grosskopf and Schwichtenburg don't do anything that really stands out on this album, mostly playing to the riffs and the guitars in general. Anyways, this album also has much better production than the previous album, Pink Bubbles Go Ape. I'm not exactly certain what was wrong with Pink Bubbles in terms of its production, but it did not sound too great. This album is very clear and concise with its production, which works favorably for the lighter focused songs. The rest of the songs are also very great and unique, be sure to check them out. I recommend "In the Night" and "Revolution Now" as the other major successes. "Longing", however overrated it may be, is still a very good song (it reminds me of "Yesterday" by the Beatles).

The 2006 expanded edition of this album contains some pretty good tracks. "Oriental Journey" is a nice proggy instrumental which is very pleasing. "Introduction" is quite an entertaining experience, be sure to listen to that as well, along with the following track "Get Me Out of Here". However, most of these songs do feel like they are B-sides (which they were), but they do add on good content to the base album despite not being too varied. "Red Socks and the Smell of Trees" is a failed attempt at a sort of jam between instruments, sadly. It mostly just falls flat.

So, in the end, Chameleon is actually an awesome and terrific album. The boys in Helloween, despite being in a state of peril at the time, still managed to create of the greatest albums the band has ever released to date. Don't listen to the haters, be sure to add this to your collection.

Standout Tracks: All of them except "Red Socks and the Smell of Trees"

Misunderstood, underrated and underappreciated are the verbs to describe Helloween’s 1993 album, Chameleon. At this point, Helloween had not one but two big hits with their dual albums in the form of “Keepers of the Seven Keys Pat I and Part II”. It’s going to be hard for the band to have better follow-ups. “Pink Bubbles Go Ape”, such a strange album title name, was decent with some good to even great songs but it’s been awfully forgotten. But now, we have “Chameleon”, which, at this point Kai Hansen had already departed and Michael Kiske on the borderline leaving the band, got snuffed by many and consider the album the worst Helloween album yet. I, personally, disagree.

It’s very interesting that each track has its own rules like the song “When The Sinners” which sounds very Bon-Jovi-esque Hard Rock vibe to it but still enjoyably to listen too. “First Time” is a very solid opener but the middle section of the album has a solid streak of excellent songs starting from “Crazy Cat” which is weird but highly energetic with its explosive chorus but then, you have “Giants” is an incredible song. “Giants” is the best song on the album with pounding guitars and even an epic feel to it. It sounds special compared to the other songs on the album and sounds something you could hear from the “Keeper” records. The only gripe that I have against this album is that there are 3 to 4 ballads which make not favor everyone. My favorite ballad is “Windmill” which is surprisingly calm and soothing yet beautifully written and has its charm. So, those three tracks are the highlight of the album with really excellent music back-to-back. “In The Night” sounds like a 60’s rock ‘n’ roll which feels very Elvis-ish which does not technically works.

The last portion of the album goes into epic length territories with “Music” hitting the 7 minute mark which is musically impressive with some great vocal delivery from Kiske and the guitar soloing is incredible. “Step Out of Hell” is fun and quite sunny, which is the best way to describe this song. The album switches from Power Metal to Pop/Rock or even Rock ‘n’ roll. Some songs do work other are just “meh”. “I Believe” is the longest track clocking in 9 minutes and it’s as impressive with its mood and atmosphere. There’s something creatively composed in the song and guitar soloing is brilliant.

Overall, the album has been put effort throughout and it does show. It may not be appealing at a first listen but needs to be given several chances until it does have some quality music. The album’s reception by many has been unfair to describe it as Helloween’s “St. Anger” which is not NEARLY as bad as that album. If it didn’t work out at first time, it’s worth giving it many spins to witness that it isn’t as bad many had perceived it. As I’m listening to it right now, I’m enjoying it. So, take it as it is… as for me, it’s a really damn good album with a fantastic track called “Giants”.

Can an album so criticized like "Chameleon" be the favourite Helloween album so far for a sane person? Well, maybe I'm not sane at all, but Helloween has been one of my preferred bands since when I was 14 and my opinion hasn't changed at all in all these years. Along with its maybe-even-more criticized predecessor, Helloween's fourth full-length "Pink Bubbles Go Ape", "Chameleon" is a unique gem of creativity and awesomeness - acoustic/soft/catchy awesomeness, I would add. Two things I have to point out even now: I'm not going to talk about the greatness that characterized Helloween's first three albums, and I'm not even going to talk about all the huge story that involved vocalist Michael Kiske's departure from the band some time after the release of "Chameleon", concerning its bad sales and the contrasts Kiske had with the band and, especially, with guitarist Michael Weikath and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg, unfortunately deceased two years after the recording of this album. This review is going to talk only about the music. Oh, another clarification: I'm going to exclude the masterpieces included in the expanded edition of "Chameleon", so I will simply tell you to listen to every one of them, especially Cut in the Middle, Get Me Out of Here and Ain't Got Nothing Better. These songs appear as B-sides even in the four singles that this album produced.

Here we have 12 songs which I divide into a group of seven that are "rock" songs, and a group of five that are "ballads, acoustic, or slow" songs. Yeah, as you can see there's no metal at all here...maybe this is the great thing of the whole album. If you want power metal, you have to listen the "Keeper" and, of course, all the great discography of Andi Deris's Helloween. Back to our album, I'm really convinced that another point of greatness is that "Chameleon" is pretty much the only Helloween experiment of a "soft-rock-no-metal-at-all" kind, if we exclude their good "Unarmed - Best of 25th Anniversary" album, of course. And I, as a worshiper of Mr. Kiske's voice, am even more convinced that it has been good both for Helloween and for Kiske himself to kick him out of the band after this masterpiece. It's the only thing they could do, and they did it really well if we listen on the one hand to Kiske's solo masterpieces and on the other hand to the extremely enjoyable Deris's Helloween discography. Sorry for the adoration, but I love Helloween a lot if you haven't understood it yet.

The album opens with First Time, written by guitarist and founder Michael Weikath (side note: on this album, all the songs were written by only one member each, musically and lyrically), a great and catchy rock song that talks about, yeah, the "first time" we all know. The happy mood of the song is, of course, Helloween's trademark, but here we have a pure "(hard) rock" track with no metal at all, even if Weikath's writing style is always unmistakable. Solos by Weikath and the other guitarist, the talented Roland Grapow, are present in this song along with Kiske's unique voice. The second song, When the Sinner, is written by Kiske and comes with a not-really-unmissable video. It's another rock song, a pretty long one to say the truth, and it's one of the songs I love the most. The guitars are great here and you can hear choruses and aerophones, trumpets, and so on appearing in it. I Don't Wanna Cry No More is composed by Grapow and is dedicated to his deceased brother, Rainer. It's an acoustic song that's great to listen both in the musical and in the lyrical aspect. Crazy Cat comes next, another Grapow song with aerophones, funny in the cat-related lyrics and greatly played by Kiske's voice, and always fits in pretty much every situation. Giants is a very solid hard rock song whose strength resides not so much in the lyrics as in the music. It's one of my favourite Helloween songs of all time. Windmill is the main ballad of the album. I have been loving this track since the first time I listened to it. It's dominated by a piano melody, but the acoustic guitars play an important role in this little masterpiece. In the expanded edition of "Chameleon", there's a not-good-at-all Windmill demo track. The original will have to suffice. Revolution Now is a Giants-like song, written by Weikath in a not-too-unusual Kiske style. You're going to love Ingo's drumming here. In the Night is a Kiske song with great instrumental parts that's always acoustic, but faster than the other acoustic pieces on this album. Music is related to Grapow's experience, and even if it can be described as one of the non-awesome songs on the album, it's still very enjoyable, but Kiske's voice plays the primary role in making the song really beautiful. Step Out of Hell is a special song that talks about drummer Schwichtenberg's drug and alcohol related problems that will lead him to suicide two years after the release of "Chameleon". It's not so strong lyrically, but it's an extremely enjoyable hard rock song with a catchy refrain as always. Next we have two Kiske songs that tell us a lot about his solo career: I Believe and Longing. I Believe is somewhat faster, heavier, and catchier than the last one which relies only on Kiske's great voice, but I still prefer Longing because of its lyrical aspect. But yeah, even I Believe is worth listening to: 9 minutes with great guitars and drumming you can't afford to forget.

Songs you need to listen to:

Helloween is one cool band. I love Helloween, catchy speed/power metal with a good eye for melody, silly lyrics, but great riffs. You can divide them into 2 eras: The Walls of Jericho to Pink Bubbles era, and from Master of the Rings and on. Yes, a division marking their change of singers, whence they started releasing a much more formulaic brand of power metal which they have stuck with since the coming of Andi Deris. You may have noticed something important, though; for between the ending of the first era and the beginning of the second one there appears to be a record scratch! Why would such a thing happen? What piece of music could have been so remarkably bad that it stands on its own in a sea of suckiness in an otherwise (sometimes) immaculate band?

The year was 1993, a year which many regard as a point of cold, cold death to ‘classic’ heavy metal. From here and on, other genres would spawn forward waving the banner of awesome music, but for traditional/thrash/80’s metal, it was pretty much the end of the road. Sure, some albums and bands came later on the decade; but this year, everything was fucked up. I’m not here to list the specific causes for this unfortunate event, though I can assure you that in the middle of the maelstrom, you could have seen Helloween struggling.

Now, many people have it that this band’s previous LP was already a sign of the giant shitstorm to come, but I disagree. Yes, Pink Bubbles has fucking dumb lyrics (Hamsters?), but when was Helloween the pinnacle of lyrical genius? The riffs on that album are there, and it has Michael Kiske delivering like no one, maybe surpassing most of Keeper I in musical and vocal terms. People still trashed it because it didn’t have Kai, who went to release a pair of so-so albums before settling completely with Gamma Ray. Anyways, the songwriting was still there; though the cover was weird.

Along then came Chameleon, and that’s where the historical context ends (but you already knew that all of that shit anyway). It marks a stylistic and aesthetical change in regards of their previous efforts, completely for the wrong. Yes, Helloween struck gold here…and then got busted for it by the feds because it was belonged and was hidden by a group of child molesters who sold said children smack and also raped pitbulls with switchblades for fun. It managed to be different in every single wrong way possible, by throwing standard songwriting ideas away, which they had been using for so long in such an effective way. Also, Kiske sucks in here; no wicked “The Chance” screams, no “Twilight for the Gods” emotion, there’s nothing from him. He was one of the best metal singers in the world, meaning an above average performance is unacceptable; and aside of his newfound “breaking of musical boundaries”, there’s nothing here. Fuck you, traitor one.

The guitar work is poor at best, nonexistent at worse. That’s a huge issue, maybe because metal is aaaall about aggressive guitar riffs—everything else may sound half-assed, but good guitar riffs drive a song forward. “First Time” and “Step out of Hell” kinda try, the former being *almost* good, with a really catchy chorus, amusingly cheesy lyrics, and this simple little main riff at the beginning; its guitar solo is pretty cool as well. The latter sounds like something off a Bon Jovi song; that may be good or bad (actually, bad) but it does have “80’s cheese” written all over it. The glam vibe makes me picture Kiske with lipstick in spandex pants, with his junk clearly visible through them. That grants it points just because it’s hilarious.

Then there’s the rest of the “songs” from this “album” full of “progressive elements” and “artistic merit” and “totally not lame” “ideas”. It sounds as if they just wanted to suck which somehow was a way to show off a new experimental avant-garde view on the music scene which—never mind, it’s all shit. Sometimes it gets around featuring a horn section, which is cute, yet retarded. It’s not used to complement the music, but rather in a cliché’d “Hey, a horn section! I guess that's pretty weird!” way of mixing something exotic (in metal) with a relatively normal element. That’s not creativity, that’s just low, guys. Also, I hate horn sections; they remind me of Mariachis, which wake me at 2 in the morning while giving serenatas to the random girl next door. “When the Sinner” is particularly guilty of random sounding horn sections, and it manages to be 7 minutes long of nothing worthy. “Revolution Now” sounds like something from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, that insipid funk/rock/shitty brand of music, which wouldn’t be as annoying if the awful main riff wasn’t already the whole song. Bonus feature: The same riff for 8 minutes. Guys, you’re soooo like, deep, man, dude am I right?

You know what’s the best (disregard that) part? The ballads. Nearly every damn song manages to be a ballad, or sound like a wimpy ballad, even if they’re not an actual ballad. Also, all of them are like being punched in the gut by a boxing-capable turd, who proceeds to forcibly marry you. Songs like “I Don’t Wanna Cry No More” and “Longing” are the stuff nightmares are made of. I mean, Helloween did write the boring “A Tale That Wasn’t Right”, but these are fucking insulting. When they’re not straight-up ballads, they have a ‘sweet’ part, like “Giants” or the insufferable 9-minute long “I Believe” (I don’t mind religious lyrics, but don’t shove them in my face that way). Oh God this album sucks so much, specially “Windmill”.

In fact, “Windmill” is the worst song in here; the worst Helloween song, and barely falls short of being the worst song ever. Ingo was crazy and all, what’s with jumping in front of trains as a hobby--but he did address to this song as “Shitmill”, and you know what? He was right. It sounds like Disney music from a cheesy movie in which a kid has a friend who lives in a windmill, and they have lots of adventures, and the kid’s friend, named “Benny”, teaches him the true meaning of friendship. Then he dies. This song is put during the credits when all the children are crying.

That’s the kind of stuff you don’t want in your head when listening to an album—any album, not just metal. Albums “recorded” by those robotic disposable teen stars have more balls than half of this album. At this point Helloween was pretty much dead, it would take a singer replacement, because the other one thought he was too fucking special to be singing metal, and an expired drummer later, to put them back on track. I don’t understand what where they trying to prove by releasing this faggotry, but I believe I’m better off without that. This isn’t progressive, this isn’t creative, and it’s too coherent to be avant-garde…No, it’s different in that this band, temporarily, began thinking that heavy metal wasn’t the way to be taken seriously, and that sloppily swapping genres was the way to achieve that credibility. They failed on all of their tasks. Boys and Girls, I present thee Chameleon.

Once a band that sang 'bout bullshit
Everyone could see them fall
They were sure it was their last hit
So they quit with their faggotry and kicked ass again.

Come one, come all, ladies and gentlemen, to the big top, as long-time runners Helloween aim to complete their most daring feat yet!

Ah, here we have one of the most maligned albums in the Metal genre, and for what reason? Did Black Sabbath and Judas Priest lay down their legendary chords in vain, only to have a bunch of thick-headed losers condemn the stretching of a band's figurative creative legs years later? Pressing questions that are on everyone's mind, but that isn't what we're talking about tonight; we're talking about Helloween and their departure from the strict Power Metal sound established on their now-legendary Keeper of the Seven Keys albums. Chameleon was their fifth effort and the last to feature Michael Kiske on vocals - he would later be replaced with the far superior and more creative Andi Deris, but that's another review.

This album is, as previously mentioned, often scorned in Metal circles, seemingly by virtue of "too many slow songs," "one song that is a 1930s big band jam song," and other eccentricities. Indeed, this will not please fans of Metal and Metal only, but really, if you don't care about the genre, Chameleon comes off as a highly intriguing and classy exercise in experimentation, not sounding like anything else before or since. Sure, it's a bit of a mish-mash, but the songwriting is ace - just listen to the stunning "I Believe," which is the best song the band had ever written at this point, or the syrupy, bouncy "When the Sinner" for examples of the tight, original way in which Helloween came out of their shell. As I've stated before, Helloween have always been boundlessly creative, and Chameleon is as strong of an example of this as ever.

Sellouts, you say? Unlistenable, you call this one?

The album is titled Chameleon, so what did you expect? An album full of songs that all adhered to one standard? An album full of Power Metal anthems? Please, go back to the Keeper albums, Helloween gave away their strategy on this album before it was even released, so don't complain about their change in style. Kicking off with the propulsive "First Time," we get the heaviest song here, with riffs stacked on top of one another and a vocal performance that rises like a shooting star, exploding once it hits the catchy, sticky chorus, and then the album pretty much goes into a tangent of three different sectors - songs that sound vaguely like Power Metal, songs that sound like Helloween's takes on various older music styles, and ballads. It all remains exciting though, from the touching "I Don't Wanna Cry No More" to the rocking "Step Out of Hell," the epic ballad "Music," the almost danceable "In the Night," with it's wide, open feel, as if it's being played live in front of an audience, and then the most bizarre twist - the funky swing tune "Crazy Cat," showboating Helloween's often outspoken sense of humor in a decidedly more musical way than usual.

The only real stinker present is the lame, plodding "Revolution Now," which is some sort of homage to 60s rock, and it just isn't a good song, with a weak riff and Kiske moaning the chorus in an agonized and pained manner that just doesn't work for him - stick to crooning, you traitor to metal, you!

At the risk of sounding like one of those pretentious douchebags who will tell you to open your mind when you say you dislike Opeth or Nevermore, well, this isn't a Metal album, and expecting such will only result in disappointment. In fact, that is the primary reason why people seem to dislike this; the fact that it is so spastic and varied and different from the band's previous output. It was perhaps a bit jarring and startling for Metal fans, but hey, Metal is a genre constantly pushing its boundaries, so its fans should be - but really are not - ready and willing to accept an album like this one. Helloween jumped all over the map here, venturing into several new territories alien to Metal fans, aiming to please no-one but those with an imagination and a thirst for good music, and their boldness is commendable, especially in 1993, when everyone was getting into Grunge. Approach Chameleon with nothing but your most threadbare, naked sense of childlike wonder, and you will love it, but be warned, it is quite the feisty beast.

There are so many ways to look at this album. Compare it to the best work with Kiske (the Keeper albums), compare this to the previous album Pink Bubbles, compare it to what Kai Hansen was doing with Gamma Ray or listen to it as if it was an album by an unknown band. To be honest in all cases the album fails to deliver.

When compared to Keeper era Helloween, it just sounds like a different band. Try to compare Pornograffiti to Piece Of mind really. Compared to Pink Bubbles? It’s even slicker and sleazier and fast songs are simply missing this time. Compare it to Gamma Ray at that point in time? Almost just as bad really since Gamma Ray had released Sigh No More which was, midly put, an insult to power metal.

Lately I’ve been comparing this album to what Kiske has been doing on the Supared album. To be honest, his album with Supared was inconsistent but over all so much better and to the point than this. It is just too bad even his vocals couldn’t save “Chameleon”.

Chameleon is an album I’ve had on tape for all these years and recently finally bought on CD just to complete my collection. I’ve known the songs for all these years but just as on tape, when I’m playing the CD I just turn it off after 5 or 6 six songs and pick something else.

The opener “First Time” is quite enjoyable and still reminding of a mixture between Keeper-era and the previous Pink Bubbles album. In fact the second song “When The Sinner” is pretty nice. It really is the production and the horrible saxophone that makes this song sound less good than it actually is. It’s a matter of arrangements and production instead of bad songwriting here.

“Giants” and “Step out of Hell” do have their moments but don’t stand out enough (especially when compared to earlier albums). The previous Pink Bubbles album at least had some stand out songs like “Kids Of The Century” or “Someone’s Crying” but these kinds of songs are simply missing here and could have made the album more diverse and dynamic.

On two thirds of the songs the album just takes a horrible nose dive. Songs become too laid back and none have ‘that excellent chorus’ which grabs the attention. Nowhere on the album one can find those extremely high pitched heroic vocals, nor memorable neo-classical leads and harmonies. Also most songs are simply overlong. It just drags on and on.

Of course the album is infamous for the musical experiments taking place here with other influences but since the average pace becomes so low it actually achieves reaching monotony! This of course is unimaginable from a band that had sounded so diverse on the previous three records.

The argument that three members each wrote 4 songs for this album would have been a cause of it being so experimental, doesn’t work. During the Keeper days it was Hansen, Weikath and Kiske who each wrote songs. This time Grapow is here obviously instead of Hansen. This cannot be an excuse then. Weikath and Kiske had written far better songs on previous records. Three out of four Grapow tracks here are amongst the worst, so the album could have had 9 out of 12 good songs if Weikath and Kiske had delivered. One wonders why Kiske and Grapow hadn’t worked together this time since their co-operation earlier resulted in the classic “Mankind”. Kiske and Grapow both delivered one good track this time and three bad ones. Weikath at least scored 50/50. So all are to blame really.

The album isn’t bad because of experiments but because of dullness! When not thinking about the earlier Keeper-days I’d say: All the albums after this lacked Michael Kiske. This album however lacked the music of later albums. In conclusion: Just get the four songs I mentioned in this review and skip the rest.

This is a highly polarizing album for a number of reasons, but the main one is the heavy amount of experimentation going on. I can say affirmatively that there is no song on this album that sounds like anything ever released by this band. Ultimately, this album is not the horror that many traditional power metal fans view it as, but it does cross the line at times and seems to lose it's own identity.

Lyrically, this album is a 100% departure from the subject matter of previous efforts. Michael Kiske has been something of a spiritual man most of his life, and here he has pretty much thrown back any inhibitions and given us, if you'll forgive the expression, "The God's Honest Truth". Likewise, the personal problems being suffered by drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg (ones that would sadly end up killing him) have found their way into the lyrics in the case of "Step out of Hell". Michael Weikath's songs are mostly comical in terms of wording, almost to the point of being absurd at times. Roland's songs are a bit more sentimental and personal, though not as spiritual as Kiske's.

The music is all over the place, as the boys of Helloween have seemingly discovered Jazz music. Such influences can be found in the cases of the Gospel rockish "When the Sinner", the comical big band number "Crazy Cat" (these guys brough back Swing 3 years before Brian Setzer did and nobody knows it), and the down tempo "Music". All of these tracks contain a horn section, which at times clashes with the heavily distorted guitars.

First time, Giants, and Step out of Hell are probably the closest to traditional Helloween on here, although in all these cases there are differing influences occasionally popping up. Longing, Windmill, and I don't want to cry no more are rather interesting acoustic ballads, the middle one being my personal favorite.

Unfortunately there are 2 rather odd tracks on here that I can't really condone, and those are "Revolution Now" and "In the Night. The former sounds like a quasi-Hendrix influenced 60s rock tune with a rather poor voice track. I'm not sure if lyrically this is supposed to be satirizing or glorifying the 60s movement, but in either case, the words are utterly stupid. I for one get annoyed as hell when bands try to whore themselves off to a political ideology, half the time they're too high to know what they are talking about, and the other half of the time they are too stupid to know what they are talking about. The latter track is an absolute bore, the opening riff is comical, and the rest of the song is sleep worthy.

"I Believe" is probably the greatest track on here musically, loaded with a variety of sectional changes. You've got plenty of heavy guitar sounds, some beautiful synthesizer ambiances, and an amazing vocal display. Depending on your own views of religion, the lyrics might not mesh with you too well, but it's pretty easy to tune them out if you need to.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom of the metal faithful, this album is mostly good, but it is a far cry from the Helloween of the classic era, as well as the one we know today. I can't call it Progressive, or categorize it as anything that is 100% metal, all I can say is that it is different.

Here we are, Helloween's most infamous release, and for good reason. When listening to this one really has to wonder what the hell they were smoking to take such a drastic depature from the genre they helped create(c'mon, I doubt Kiske had so much power as to ruin an ENTIRE album, every member of the band here has to take some responsibilty for this shit). There is only one true Helloween song featured here, which is the opener, "First Time". Absolutely rockin tune, it's up there with the Keeper-era songs, speedy and melodic, just how Helloween should sound. Unfortunatley, the album takes a sharp turn for the worse and never looks back, begining with the second track "When The Sinner". Ugh. This isn't metal. Hell, this isn't even rock. This is POP.

Perhaps this album would be more bearable if the songs weren't usually around six minutes in length. I can take three minutes of pop, having an ex-girlfriend who adored Madonna gives you a stomach of steel when it comes to these things, but this is just too much. And when they throw in jazz during "Crazy Cat"...somebody shoot me, not even the (attempt) to return to speed at the conclusion of the song can save it. Chameleon is just brutal assualt after brutal assualt on your ears, listening to it all in one sitting is surely death. Thankfully, there are some breaks in the attack, most notably "Giants" and "Windmill", the former having a relatively(that is, compared to the other songs on the album) cool intro and the latter sounding like something coming out of a Disney movie. But surprisingly, it's a pretty damn good ballad, Disney-esque or not. Catchy chorus to say the least, and pretty uplifting; two things that Helloween's always been good at.

Still, it's not even worth mentioning how each individual members play, because they're all capable of so much more. Don't expect Ingo to tear up the kit like in "Eagle Fly Free", because all he does here is keep the beat. It's a shame this is his last performance with the band, because this is just the opposite of going out on top. There are absolutely no memorable riffs, save for those found in the opening track. Everything here is just so blah and forgetable. I suppose if I had to choose one positive, it's that Micheal's voice is still as amazing as ever. Regardless, that's not worth anything because you could have Bruce or Halford singing to this music and it would still be shit.

This is not underrated by any means. If you're new to Helloween, skip this and go to Master of the Rings and don't look back. I would only reccomend this to somebody who's heard all of Helloween's materal, and even then, they must be expecting the worst. Every great band has poor releases, and this is Helloween's.

I recently bought Chameleon, which is hated by many. I wanted to get this album since I wanted to know if the album was bad or not and since I enjoyed Rabbit Don't Come Easy, which seems to be disliked by quite a lot, I had a feeling I would enjoy Chameleon and I do enjoy listening to the album. I can understand why a lot of people don't like this album at all, but in my opinion, this is a good album.

There are some great songs on this album such as First Time and Giants. First Time is one of the very few songs on this album that is power metal and is the closest to sounding like Helloween's previous works. Giants is another great song. It's heavy and like First Time, it sounds like the previous stuff from the band and a few songs on their later albums sound a little bit like this song (e.g. Still I Don't Know, a bonus track from The Time of the Oath). The keyboard sounds here are interesting, especially at the start of the intro. The solo is great and it's power metal-ish.

There are some power ballads in this song and I find them very interesting, especially Windmill. I Don't Wanna Cry No More is a great ballad. Good acoustic guitars used here. Windmill is another ballad I like and in my opinion, this is the best song on the album along with First Time. The lyrics go well with the song and while it does sounds a bit like a Disney song, but that doesn't really bother me since this was made by Helloween. Also, Michael Kiske sings brilliantly in this song. I think his singing is great throughout the album and is better then how he sung on the Keeper albums (on the Keeper albums, he sounded almost exactly like Bruce Dickinson).

Now onto some of the songs that aren't as great as the ones I mentioned before, but are good. I like songs such as When the Sinner, Music and Step Out of Hell. When the Sinner is a good song from this album with some pop and jazz influences. Music is also a good song. It's slow and has some cool guitar riffs and solos. However, I think it goes on a bit too long. I think the song should've been a bit shorter. Step Out of Hell sounds Queensrÿche-ish to me since I have listened to Empire and some songs from that album sounds like Step Out of Hell). I find the solos and riffs on this song very good.

I'll now talk about the rest of the songs on the album. Crazy Cat, I think is the weakest song on the album and I also think this is one of the worst songs made by Helloween. It contains 50s rock n' roll influences and it very much reminds me of Rock Around the Clock. So overall, not a good Helloween song, but I find it OK. Revolution Now is an alright song, it sounds very 60s-ish. I only have one problem with this song and that's the track length. I think it goes on a bit too long (8 minutes) and would've be better if it was about 2 minutes shorter. In the Night is another alright song, it's a pop-ish song, but I can tolerate some pop songs. There's some good acoustic works and Kiske sings very good here, but that's about it for this song.

I Believe is the longest song on the album (the original album track list that is and not including any bonus tracks from this album), but it being 9 minutes long I think is too long. The song in the middle makes me think that it could've been with being shorter. However, I like Kiske's singing here. And the album closes with Longing. Another ballad with good acoustic guitars and again, great singing by Kiske. There's also an orchestra playing here, which makes the song sound very good.

Since I own the expanded edition of Chameleon and have listened to the bonus tracks, I will talk about them as well. There are some bonus tracks that I like such as I Don't Care You Don't Care, Oriental Journey, Cut in the Middle and the demo version of Windmill. I Don't Care You Don't Care starts off with a solo that's quite good. I get a bit of a laugh from the chorus. Oriental Journey is an instrumental song. It's heavy, it has great guitar works and bass performance by Markus Grosskopf here is very good. I like the chorus for Cut in the Middle and the guitar riffs. Kiske sounds a lot like Dickinson (like he did on the Keeper albums). Although I don't really care about demos, but the demo version for Windmill is pretty good and it uses an orchestra, but I prefer the album version.

There's a funny interview audio track with Michael Weikath entitled Introduction. I won't spoil it. Basically, Weikath tells the interviewer about a song he wrote and claims it to be very good, but the interviewer disagrees. The song after this interview is Get Me Out of Here, which is the song that was played on the interview, but with different lyrics and Kiske singing. I don't really like the lyrics for this song, but other than that, it's not bad.

There's two bonus tracks that I don't like on this album, which is Red Socks and the Smell of Trees (stupid song title), another instrumental song on this album. This song is about 11 minutes long and is the only 10+ minute song Helloween have ever made outside the Keeper albums. Yet another song I think would be better if it was a few minutes shorter. The other bonus track that I don't like is Ain't Got Nothin' Better. It's an alright song, but there's nothing special about it.

Overall, I think this album is good. It's experimental and very musically adventurous and this is indeed very different compared to all the other Helloween albums. It was more rock than metal, but that doesn't bother me since there were still some metal songs and I liked most of the songs on the album.

While some of those well hated albums from bands I like and hated those albums (e.g. Metallica's St. Anger and Megadeth's Risk), Chameleon is the opposite since I like it. :O I guess I'm able to like it since I really like Helloween a lot and they are my favourite metal band. There are Helloween fans that hate this album, but fair enough since they might only want them to make metal albums and nothing else. Fair enough as long as they have listened to the album a good amount of times and have given it a chance before giving it a verdict.

Just because Chameleon is very different to all the other Helloween albums and is hated by a lot doesn't mean anyone should be put off by it. You don't know what the album is like until you listen to it and given it a proper chance. If you didn't like the album on the first listen or two, listen to it a few more times before actually not liking it since it took a bit of time for me to get into it.

People flat out hate this album. Ever since I started listening to Helloween, all I've heard about this album is that it was a mistake and the low point of the band, and an army of power metal fans will tell you to avoid this album like it's the plastic embodiment of the bird flu. This is my chance to disagree.

Most Helloween fans would have been content if they'd just redone the Keeper albums over and over, but the band decided to experiment here. There isn't a whole lot in the manner of traditional speedy power metal tunes, but there are some very diverse and well crafted songs here. I mostly purchased it to complete my Helloween collection, and didn't expect much out of it after all of the things I'd read about this album, but when I listened to it I regarded it as a lost classic. Helloween really spread their wings here, and tried and succeeded at doing something very different from the past.

In my opinion, Chameleon is Michael Kiske's greatest vocal achievement. He never sounded better than he did on this album, and the album got the best production that a Helloween album had gotten to that point in time. It still sounds great after all these years.

There are some tracks on here that aren't very good, like Krazy Kat, and Windmill falls short for me. I think the band made a mistake including that tune on Treasure Chest, as there are some much better songs here that would have better deserved a second look.

There are some songs here that I regard as triumphs of their career, such as the excellent First Time, Giants, and I Don't Wanna Cry No More (what I feel to be the best ballad they've ever done, and not without some excellent acoustic guitar work by Roland Grapow). Michael Kiske also emerged as a talented songwriter, though some of the lyrics on his songs could make Trouble seem like Deicide. That guy really likes God! Even the little pumpkin graphics in the booklet are in prayer. Not really my cup of tea, but the songs are good enough to make this less annoying.

It does sound at times like 3 solo EPs merged into one album, with 4 penned by Michael Weikath, 4 by Roland Grapow and 4 by Michael Kiske. It's not all that cohesive, but that to me tells that they are masters of writing good songs, and showing that their talents reach past the whole swords and knights material that plagues most power metal acts.

This album is definitely not for everyone, but I still don't think that Helloween should have swept this disc under the rug as they have done. There is genius at work here, and if you're looking for something a little different, this album was written for you. If you're looking for Eagle Fly Free II, you're better off not bothering to buy this one, you won't like it. That being said, this album still stands as one of my favorites.

Well, the reason why I am writing a review for this album is that it's claimed to be a real crap, the worst on Helloween's discography, by many people. I must say that it's far from being my favourite one, but it's not as bad as some people say.

The main thing about "Chameleon" is that it is not completely Heavy Metal, actually it has a strong Hard Rock feel to it. Also, it is kind of mainstream. It is the kind of album even my mother can appreciate (and she does), but as long as I can do the same, it's not a bad thing.

This release has no killer song, no Helloween classic will be found here, but it does have a nice groove to it and many nice songs, especially if you like ballads. It even features a track, "Crazy Cat", with a jazz feeling, something completely new to Helloween songs.

The ballads are where this album shines, if you like ballads here you find some nice ones. "I don't wanna cry no more" and "Windmill" are accoustic and very sad tracks, they do have some feeling and are kinda catchy (especially "Windmill" chorus). "In the night" is also accoustic, but much more happy and groovy, it's a nice song. But the great highlight, in my humble opinion, is "Longing", a totally underrated song. It's just one of the most beatifull songs I've ever heard, it has a real strong feeling to it, paired with great deep lyrics.

Apart from the ballads, the songs worth mentioning are "First Time", "When the Sinner" and "Step out of Hell", which are the ones most similar to typical Helloween songs (the ones from the 80's, I mean). The rest can be kind of boring. Tracks like "Revolution Now", "Music", "Giants" and "I Believe" are not worth any attention.

In the end, "Chameleon" is far from being a great album and it's one of the worst from Hellwoeen discography, but it is not as bad as some people claim too. If you like ballads you will find some nice ones here, if you like Hard Rock you might also like this album, but if you are a diehard Heavy Metal fan keep in mind that this album may sound like shit to you.

Highlights: "When the Sinner" and "Longing".

...but still pretty damn weak, especially considering the potential of the involved musicians. In many ways, this album reminds of a couple of records familiarly known as "The Loads", which similarly marked a complete stylistic u-turn from a band that used to come up with far more intense material, and are just as overlong and inconsistent as this one tends to be. Signs of what was to come were already apparent on a certain Black Album, much like on Helloween's previous full length, "Pink Bubbles Go Ape".
That said, is "Chameleon" really the ultimate pile of swill?

Honestly, I'd say not quite. There is no doubt that this is Helloween at their weakest, and makes absolutely no sense in the context of their discography. The band was facing avery difficult time, which ultimately lead to the disintegration of the line-up not long afterwards, and the writing credits (4 songs by Weikath, 4 by Kiske and 4 by Grapow) reflect the state of interaction between the various member - something similar will be later on witnessed on "The Dark Ride", as the last album with Grapow and Kusch before their parting of ways.
Still, despite the lack of anything that makes Helloween what it is (and I'm really saying ANYTHING here), as well as the overwheliming abundance of pure non-Metal elements, there is still strength to be found in here.
For one, the production is a huge step up frpm the previous album - I don't know what was up with Chris Tsangarides (the man who co-produced "Painkiller", mind you) when he did "Pink Bubbles...", but here everything sounds just about perfect, and powerful. If only the material could match such a killer sound...

As I noted, this album pretty much consists of three different solo artists doing 4 songs each, the only sense of coherency provided by the same line-up performing every song. There is also another red line running through the entire album, though: most of the songs are way too long for their own good, and too slow, too, something which affects not only the ballads, but the "heavier" songs too. "Giants" is probably the best song of this kind on show, with a fairly intriguing atmosphere and a great vocal performance by Kiske. Then there is "Revolution Now", which goes for a similar feeling but loses intensity by the time we reach the middle of the track: I'd never thought I'd say this about a Helloween song, but the instrumental section after the second chorus (which is nothing particularly memorable either - another shock) just plods along for no particular reason. After the brilliant flash of inventive in the form of the "San Francisco" quote in the second bridge, one would expect something up to par.
"Music" suffers a smilar fate, showing some interesting but underdeveloped ideas, while "I Believe", the "epic" song of the album, only fares slightly better in that it is *meant* to be long, but still lacks something to really justify the passing of the 9 minute mark. And then there's "When the Sinner", which is a bad case of songwriting schizophrenia: the verses (where pretty much all of the melody is being carred by Kiske's voice, as there is exactly ONE chord going on) and the solo section seem to try for a somewhat dark, atmosphere, but then the poppiness - and silliness - of the bridge and chorus completely destroy it with godawful backing vocals ("I look here and you look there, I know it's gotta be somewhere"; like, what the hell is this?!) and gratuitious horns that make no sense whatsoever.

Then, there are the "proper" ballads, and here I must agree with the common popular judgement: there are too many of them, even if we pretend this wasn't meant to be a Metal album. The best one has to be the closing track, "Longing", a genuine acoustic guitar and vocals meditation backed up by nice orchestral movements that enhance its intimate atmosphere. Very effective. "I Don't Wanna Cry No More" is also nice, with clever key shifts from verse to chorus, and generally more consistent songwriting on display. And yes, feel free to flame me here, but I can actually stomach "Windmill", if anything because it actually achieves to be what it was meant to be: a light-hearted, singalong-ish and simple song. Too simple maybe, to the point of sounding too naive for its own good, but not entire garbage.
On the other hand, "In the Night" is more upbeat but also more stupid, there's no other way to put it. This could easily be a pop radio hit, it's that uninspired lyrically and musically.

This just leaves the more (relatively) upbeat songs, which easily make up the best that this album has to offer. Album opener "First Time", despite the overtly silly lyrics (well, it's Helloween anyway, but sometimes they kinda push it too far) is a good and catchy 80's style heavy rock tune, as is "Step Out of Hell"... and yes, I like "Crazy Cat" too; here, the horn section makes a lot more sense by fitting with the song's swingy/jazzy concept, and there are also some good catchy riffs and licks to enjoy, with the only real gripe being the unnecessary backing vocals in the chorus.

So yes, this album is weak, and nowhere near the usual Helloween standard, but it has its moments, if you have enough patience and can listen to music that strays from the Metal path. It doesn't really deserve all the flak it gets, yet easily remains the band's most unnecessary release. I'd say don't buy it before carefully checking it out, even (or more so) if you're a die-hard Helloween fan. The disappointment would most likely prevent you from enjoying a single bit of it.

In order to understand and appreciate this album you have to forget what Helloween did in the past, especially in the 'Keeper of the Seven Keys' albums.

Musically the album departs from power/speed metal and concentrates on progressive hard-rock with metal, blues and pop influences. By changing musical direction, Helloween break some more boundaries but in other fields of music...

Chameleon is a long album and surely there are a few weak or even bad songs. But due to the fact that the music style is progressive nothing really bad can be said (everything depends on musical preferences).

In my opinion the strongest and really 'great' tracks on this album are: 'Giants', 'I Believe', 'Music' and 'Longing'. "Giants" is the only true metal song here, a mid-tempo song with great guitar work and fabulous high-pitched vocals. "Music" is a strong blues-rock ballad with smart lyrics and great guitar solos. "I Believe" excides 9 minutes of playing time, truly emotional, heavy, deep lyrics and a great arrangement. "Longing" was the perfect song to close the album. An acoustic ballad nicely mixed with orchestration were the highlight are the vocals, this is Michael Kiske's best vocal performance ever, some of the most deep and emotional vocals I ever heard!

The band is in great shape, wonderful and emotional solos, great vocals by Michael Kiske (as always), good bass and strong drumming throughout. Concerning the vocals, don't except the very high pitched Kiske trademark (Keeper's era). He has improved greatly as a vocalist and sings in a smoother, more emotional way with a few high notes in the wright places.

Being a metal (mostly heavy & power) fan, I hated this album on the first listen, having in mind their previous masterpieces! (this is the reason why this album didn't sell much, it was aimed at the wrong crowd) But when I took metal out of my mind and listened to this album again, I was definitely amazed by some of the songs!!

Which songs are best for each person varies as some songs are more progressive, some more pop, some more metal and some all of the above.

Don't listen to the rumors, check out this album for your self in order to have an opinion.