before i bought this record of helloween i heard zero music of the band. the name was prominent of course, because helloween is a big name in the power metal scene but to be honest, that kind of metal was never my favourite. i mean, i do enjoy my regular dosage of iron maiden but in my perspective this something different. maiden plays in their very own league above the rest.
so what made me buy this record in the first place? well, it was a mixture of eighties colour vinyl and the cheap availability. i came across this auction on ebay and thought if i could get this for a steal, why the hell not? in the end i won this for something like fifteen bucks. this was approximately a tenner under the usual discogs going rate. so it is not that rare or sought after but i am happy with the purchase nevertheless.
originally the blue copies came with a poster of the "pumpkins fly free" tour in 1988. mine is missing that poster which probably explains the low price. anyway, i am not too keen on getting the poster. the nice blue vinyl will do. musically i think this is pretty entertaining power metal. i like the record from start to finish and i see why this was one of their best selling records and gave way to the band's first u.s. tour.
"keeper of the seven keys" was actually planned as a double album. unfortunately the label thought this would lead to the diminishing in sales and that is why helloween split up the album in part one and part two. i really like the artwork, adds a mystical touch to the record. the album was actually released in 1987 and my copy is part of a re-press from a year later. noise records. 1987/1988.
