Gambling with the Devil
| Gambling with the Devil | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 24 October 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 2007 at Mi Sueño Studio, Tenerife, Spain | |||
| Genre | Power metal | |||
| Length | 57:32 | |||
| Label | SPV/Steamhammer | |||
| Producer | Charlie Bauerfeind | |||
| Helloween chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Gambling with the Devil | ||||
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Gambling with the Devil is the twelfth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in Japan on 24 October 2007, and in Europe on 26 October. The single "As Long as I Fall" is download-only and was released in late September. There was an appearance by Biff Byford
When asked about the album, bassist Markus Grosskopf commented:[1]
It was an album without any concept, but still we had that concept with that little game on it, that little "Crack the Riddle". [...] And then, that was nice, it was a great piece of work and when you do such an output like Keeper III it's like you've got to open your head and empty it at first, close it and then start thinking new for Keeper thing you know, but then it's very, very hard work. You've got to think very different from what you do when you just write the songs so to say, just like writing a normal metal song or rock song, it's very different. But that's what we did with the Gambling with the Devil and I feel very good just doing proper decent songs. You cannot do always like this concept thing. [...] It's never easy, but once you got an idea you don't have to think about "Oh, that's five minutes missing" you know. What do I put in to make it fit for the concept? Fit it to make it fit in the concept of something, it's just like if there's a song of five minutes or four minutes and it's cool, you don't have to think about how is it fitting in the concept, if the song's good the song's good, it goes on the record.
Track listing
[edit]| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Crack the Riddle (intro)" | Andi Deris, Michael Weikath, Sascha Gerstner, Dani Löble, Markus Grosskopf | 0:56 |
| 2. | "Kill It" | Deris | 4:13 |
| 3. | "The Saints" | Weikath | 7:06 |
| 4. | "As Long as I Fall" | Deris | 3:41 |
| 5. | "Paint a New World" | Lyrics: Gerstner, Weikath / Music: Gerstner | 4:27 |
| 6. | "Final Fortune" | Grosskopf | 4:46 |
| 7. | "The Bells of the 7 Hells" | Deris | 5:22 |
| 8. | "Fallen to Pieces" | Deris | 5:52 |
| 9. | "I.M.E." | Deris | 3:46 |
| 10. | "Can Do It" | Weikath | 4:30 |
| 11. | "Dreambound" | Lyrics: Gerstner, Weikath / Music: Gerstner | 5:57 |
| 12. | "Heaven Tells No Lies" | Grosskopf | 6:56 |
| Total length: | 57:32 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "We Unite" (Japanese bonus track) | Grosskopf | 4:34 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Find My Freedom" (European version) | Grosskopf | 6:30 |
| 2. | "See the Night" | Grosskopf | 6:04 |
| 3. | "Never Surrender'" (USA Tour special edition) | Gerstner | 4:50 |
| 4. | "As Long As I Fall (Radio Edit)" (Japanese version) | Deris | 3:45 |
| 5. | "As Long as I Fall (Enhanced Video)" | ||
| 6. | "Trailer" (Enhanced)" |
Critical reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Sputnikmusic |  [3] |
| About.com | [4] |
The album has received mostly positive reviews, with critics hailing it as one of the band's strongest efforts in quite a while.[5] Andi Deris' vocals on the album also got praise for their power, range and emotion.[6]
Personnel
[edit]- Band members
- Andi Deris – lead vocals
- Michael Weikath – guitar
- Sascha Gerstner – guitar, backing vocals
- Markus Grosskopf – bass
- Dani Löble – drums
- Guests
- Biff Byford - spoken vocals on "Crack the Riddle"
- Matthias Ulmer - keyboards
Charts
[edit]| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Czech Republic Albums Chart [7] | 10 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] | 34 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[9] | 103 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] | 38 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[11] | 18 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[12] | 49 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13] | 17 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[14] | 34 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] | 88 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[16] | 18 |
References
[edit]- ^ Syrjala, Marko (11 January 2011). "Helloween – bassist Markus Grosskopf". Metal Rules. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
- ^ Gambling with the Devil at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
- ^ "Helloween - Gambling with the Devil". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
- ^ "Helloween - Gambling with the Devil". About.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
- ^ "Helloween - Gambling with the Devil Review - Thrashpit.com". Rocknworld.com. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
- ^ "Helloween - Gambling With The Devil Review". Heavymetal.about.com. 2007-11-08. Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
- ^ ds. "Čns Ifpi". Ifpicr.cz. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
- ^ "Helloween: Gambling with the Devil" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Helloween – Gambling with the Devil". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Helloween – Gambling with the Devil" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2007. 44. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "Italiancharts.com – Helloween – Gambling with the Devil". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "ギャンブリング・ウィズ・ザ・デヴィル". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Helloween – Gambling with the Devil". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Helloween – Gambling with the Devil". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
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