PINK BUBBLES GO APE ALBUM
Coming with one of the silliest, cheesiest titles in metal history, the album reviewed here simply begged the audience to not take it, and its creators included, seriously. It opened a huge gap for prejudice and anxiety also having in mind that the band’s major performer Kai Hansen was no longer there. Its predecessor was hardly a masterpiece, and had already traversed some poppy, radio-friendly paths (just remember “Rise & Fall” and “Dr. Stein”), but at least it kept a good balance between those and the hard-hitting moments which clearly dominated. Alas, it was the former that the guys had voted to delve into, and the result of this decision was this “bubble” here…
Things were changing fast and unexpectedly on the volatile early-90’s metal arena so the fans had to accept the fact that their favourite outfits, or at least a large part of them, would simply not sound the same during the 90’s one of which was that Helloween weren’t a speed metal act anymore; a conclusion that must have saddened many a metal soul back then. The band worked really hard to become a premier act, and by 1988 they were pretty much the third most celebrated metal team in their homeland after Scorpions and Accept, and maybe even in the whole of Europe. And, one should also give them credit for being one of the first to play around with the “colour” mania in the album titles although, unlike their colleagues (Testament, Metallica, Overkill), they chose the least appropriate one metal-wise, and the music here handsomely reflects that…
The half-min warm-upper at the beginning that is the country-like title-track already sounds scarily cheesy, but one could do much worse than following up with “Kids of the Century”, an epic crowd pleaser with Kiske in fine form as usual, pouring loads of emotion and pathos over the moderately edgy musical accompaniment. Said accompaniment loses its edge more than just now and then later, but at least on “Back on the Streets” things are not so bad, and this cut can even pass for a mild speed metaller, nothing as sweeping as “Future World” or “Ride the Sky”, but decidedly invigorating. “Number One” is a precursor to the meek pensioners’ rock the guys started playing on “Chameleon”, a perfectly skippable track, only that once you skip it you’ll bump into “Heavy Metal Hamsters”, an uplifting goofy sleazer which at least may make you move your head around in uncertain approval. “Goin’ Home” may be considered a revelation of some sorts, another nod to the band’s speed metal past, only done in an overtly commercialized, friendly manner. I know it may be hard to believe, but “Someone’s Crying” makes it two in a row, and is even more aggressive, a first-rate speedster, the undisputable highlight here that soars high above the remainder which includes the passable, albeit overlong, progressive epicer “Mankind”, the unpretentious merry-go-rounder “I’m Doin’ Fine Crazy Man”, another more successful chance… sorry, attempt at speed metal-ish performance named “The Chance”, and the poignant, semi-soporific ballad “Your Turn” which has the honour of closing the “bubble”.
One plus that this effort should receive, something I had overlooked 26 years ago when I listened to it the first time, is that the band held to the classic metal canons the whole time here, not breaking them even for a split second, something that couldn’t be said about many of the metal productions released at the time. Still, this is a belated afterthought which doesn’t redeem the album, especially coming from someone who considers the band’s first two opuses some of the pinnacles of the whole metal movement. Yes, it was a painful experience listening to it the first time around, as it quickly became evident that the Helloween bubble was also going to burst under the groove/aggro/grunge pressure, and under the single-handed competition provided by none other than their former colleague Hansen whose outfit Gamma Ray were clearly superior that year with the convincing “Sign no More”. Although Kiske was traditionally in his nature behind the mike, and Weikath was unsurmountable (as always) with the four strings prominently reverberating underneath his fingers, without Hansen’s virtuoso, dazzling fretwork there was not much this effort could offer to stay the course, not during these transformational times anyway, even less so as an advocate of a swiftly evaporating cause; it neither had the drive nor the inspiration to provide resistance to the vociferous new vogues. Consequently, it was easily stifled by the latter…
I remember I wished the girl on the cover had been naked back then (not that it was hard to imagine her this way...), clearly as a way to find at least one redeeming quality for the album, and also as a reason to keep the cassette intact rather than recording something else on top of these pink “flamingos”. Having written that, I did manage to tolerate it for more than the obligatory first listen, not without "the help" of the pathetic “Chameleon” that came out after it which makes almost any other album sound like an instant classic (except “Cold Lake” perhaps). Yes, once the bubble burst open, worse, more degrading things occurred in the Pumpkins’ camp, and in view of the immediate aftermath this album can’t possibly be spat on endlessly as it’s by no means the lowest point of their really long career. It’s nowhere near the top, but is a decent, if not dignified response to the mandatory mid-career crisis to which every music practitioner succumbs sooner or later, and one that can be particularly acute and difficult to cure around October 31st.
Daftar lagu
1. Pink Bubbles Go Ape 00:37
Some people are much too smart
They know everything before it starts
Eating wisdom with the pail
No wonder when it sticks
In your darkest hour I will sing this song for you
Cry and tell
And slander
Yell and grumble well
So loud for heaven's sake
Pink bubbles go ape!
2. Kids of the Century 03:52
We poison our hearts
We poison our seas
We burn down the paradise
We're stoppin' good waves
We're losin' our trees
The future looks bright ahead
I don't wonder we'll go under in this river of lies
We're lost in this time--we create so fine
The future we already fear
Seems like no way out, seems like there's no doubt
The future looks bright ahead
We're the kids of the century--we're lost in our games
No time for the memories we look in the haze
We're the kids of the century it wasn't our fault
Ev'rything's done mum, we fall
Let's keep on crying
But sometimes I don't wanna fall
Ev'rytime when you look around things will smile at you
Ev'rytime when you turn around you smell the truth
But you run away from the lies you can't say
Don't run away from the lies you can't say
We're the kids...
3. Back on the Streets 03:23
I've been told in the name of something
I've got to know what it means to play the game
Too many faces around they're talking
They play their parts oh, so well but who's to blame
Back on the streets, that's where we are
Building a fortress of power, yeah! We're coming
You know better than me the rules are:
Getting better or fat in the mania
It's good to know who is who in our game
The speed is faster, it's harder to see where we are
Back on the streets. . .
Please Mister Know-how just bring me the news
I'm waiting so long for you telling me all you can tell
There's one thing about you, you're dying to prove
The master plan is yours and living with knowledge is hell
Back on the streets. . .
4. Number One 05:14
Each time when one more year was over
You refused to hear heavven's bells sound
And the happiness in you heart's been set lower
You were searching for friends but no one seemed to be 'round
You merely should think of the good times
'Cos there are so many ways you can go
Take a look at yourself, you're still very young
And big aims always take very long
Now it's time for happiness, stay hard and trust your fate
Don't forget you're something else you'll never be too late
Trust your fathers' mighty spell you'll never be alone
Fate will always turn out well and you'll be number one
Shout at the world don't care what they say
'Cos your life is now, here and today
Luck is there, ev'rywhere
Go on, reap its goods, that's the way
You wanna have truth, relief from your pain
But life takes its toll again and again
Don't fear the night--your future is paid
And the tracks to your aims are laid
Now it's time. . .
5. Heavy Metal Hamsters 03:28
There are some fellows soft and mellow
Sitting in the field and play like hell
No one knows the way it goes
But all the songs they play they sound so well
Tonight we go to see the Heavy Metal Hamsters
It must feel nice to be a Heavy Metal Hamster
Nothing sets you free like our Heavy Metal Hamsters
A 20th century Fox came by
A gold tipped cigarette high in his jaws
contracts, PDs, Nose-Bags, TV-shows
And everything with no remorse
Things are settled now for our Heavy Metal Hamsters
Fame up to your brows, oh Heavy Metal Hamster
A previously unknown lifestyle Heavy Metal Hamster
The sweet taste of success is strong
And everything inside goes wrong you see
With coloured furs, sunglasses
Tons of nuts to eat, they don't feel free
What is wrong with our Heavy Metal Hamster?
Look what they have done our Heavy Metal Hamsters
Where is the field to run for our Heavy Metal Hamsters
Some things are left undone for our Heavy Metal Hamsters
6. Goin' Home 03:51 Hide lyrics
You think I could be the one to look inside your mind
I don't think we'll have the time, so let us get in line
Another town another bed, another thing to go
By now I learned to take it cool, but I don't wanna know
My head is empty, all the stories that I've known I've told
The situation I escaped from, now it looks like gold
Anyway and anyhow we did it, it was good
But now I take the time to think 'bout ev'rything I should
'Cause after this I'm gone, the show is done
No other town or bed that lies ahead
I'll go home to what I know
I'll go home, home to you
By the time that you think 'bout it twice no spotlight makes you stay
By the time that you feel you don't know, you have to go
(Solo)
The plane is ready in my head, so many things to do
A few more hours till it's over I reach out for you
A kind of peace inside is growing, thinking 'bout the shows
Until the next time I'll be so much better, yes I know
Now this is it I'm gone, the show is done
No other town or bed that lies ahead
I'll go home to what I know
I'll go home, home to you
I'll go home. . .
7. Someone's Crying 04:18
What keeps on telling me to stay on the way I chose
What keeps on giving me all the strength to carry on
Give me some time, can't sleep anymore at night
I wanna show I'm here with an aim of mine
I feel strong, but someone is crying, I know
It's so hard to find a sign of a way to go
Don't need to stone my brain, I need my head for something else
I wanna live and learn, step by step I'm going on
Send me a sign, don't wanna resign too soon
What situation will come I can't endure
I feel strong, but someone is crying, I know
It's so hard to find a sign of a way to go
Send me a sign, don't wanna resign too soon
What situation will come I can't endure
8. Mankind 06:19 Hide lyrics
Here is all mankind so proud of their achievements
There is a stone that is warmer than you
Look how we stand in the stream of illusions
No one says a word
Here you laugh and there you cry
All that makes you move
There's no fear for anything
Anything but you
Animals dying for our vanity
Our world is a beautiful place to be free
Drinking the blood of the weak, it's so easy
No one hears them cry
Here you cheat and there you lie
All that makes you gain
One day we will face His throne
There's nothin' we can say
Prosperity, luxury, fast food is rising
It's the rainforest that dies
Here you laugh and there you cry
All that makes you move
Here you cheat and there you lie
All that makes you gain
9. I'm Doin' Fine, Crazy Man 03:39
Thunder, flash and lightening is working on my back
The tables in the kitchen are tryin' to break my neck
All the late night memories are leaning in my shoes
My mother's old grey leather gloves are singing loud the blues
I can taste what's in the sun
No time to waste 'cause there is none
When I feel blue I see it shine
But still it's true I'm doin' fine
You can't see me 'cause now I'm all free
Now you know I'm through
And all that's not new
Sitting on a paperback 'cause I don't know what really cracks
I'm tryin' to climb my pencil to get high
No one tells me what to do 'cause no one knows what I've been through
You don't know a thing but you can learn
It's time to touch the sky
My mind is free I fly
I can taste. . .
10. The Chance 03:48
We're living in a constant fight
Too much pressure everywhere
And all around
Don't let it pull you down
Hold on tight
Cling to your dreams
Don't you depend on someone else
Think for yourself and win the race
The chance you got comes never twice
Do your best, (and) do it right
Time will come but don't you hide
You are on your way
You're led by God but you're not a pawn
Should live your life, don't care 'bout any scorn
Just let them fool around
No need to cry
Don't give up
Try to be as smart as you can be
I know you own so much ability
11. Your Turn 05:39
Now there is this day, a lot of things are changing
Can't just kick it away, got to get things right
Sometimes it happens fast and nothin' seems to last
The thing that I once started isn't mine anymore
I guess now it's my turn
You've got a face like a child, got a mind like a woman
Your smile is warm and tender
I hear the people say that I should stay away
From you and all the problems you might bring
They'll never know--you
Nobody ever knows what to do
They'll never see you cry
They'll never know why
Now it's your turn to break free
When you want it all you've got to see
Now it's your turn to break free
When you want the life, you've got to see what it means
See the little boy holding mama's hand
His eyes can see the things we've long forgotten
The world is easy now--and somehow
He's right
Until there is this day when Mickey Mouse must go away
It's your turn to break free. . .
This world is crying to be free
This world is dying can't you see
We need a turn to do it right
We need a mind-revolution
To get away from this selfishness
Stop playing blind--break free
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for any of this material!
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and EMI Classic Recordings!
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