[b]WARNING: HUGE AMMOUNTS OF WIKIPEDIA COPY-PASTE[/b]
[img]http://i49.tinypic.com/26vl2.jpg[/img]
Thanks for the new logo go to Dcalde78.
Gamma Ray is a power metal band from northern Germany, founded and fronted by Kai Hansen after his departure from Helloween. Hansen is the current lead vocalist, guitarist as well as the chief songwriter.
[u][B]BIOGRAPHY[/B][/u]
[B]The Beginning[/B]
[quote=Wikipedia]In February 1991 the band began rehearsing for the recording of their second album in a small, remote house in Denmark. With some brand new songs written, Gamma Ray entered the studio under the supervision of producer Tommy Newton, and produced their second album Sigh No More, which was released in September 1991. The style vastly differs from that of Heading for Tomorrow, featuring darker lyrics as a result of the Gulf War that was raging at the time. A 50-date worldwide tour followed.
After the Japanese tour at the beginning of 1992, Gamma Ray were in the media again, but this time with no good news for the fans: the rhythm section (Uli & Uwe) left because of a personal disagreement and were replaced by Jan Rubach (bass) and Thomas Nack (drums) of one of Hamburg’s old bands, Anesthesia. The band also began to build their own studio, so work on their new album didn't start until 1993. The album Insanity and Genius was released in June 1993, with a style which was closer to that of Heading for Tomorrow than Sigh No More. In September, Gamma Ray, along with Rage, Helicon and Conception embarked on the Melodic Metal Strikes Back tour. The tour contributed to the release of the double CD The Power of Metal, and the videos Power of Metal and Lust for Live, in December.
More changes in the lineup were to follow. Scheepers lived quite far way away from Hamburg, meaning that the band could only rehearse weekends, which was preventing progress with the new album. Since Scheepers submitted his application for the job of vocalist for Judas Priest, and he had a good chance of getting the position, Hansen asked him if he really felt that staying with Gamma Ray was the right thing to do. In the same time Hansen and Schlächter began to compose their own songs for the new album "Insanity and Genius" which also was not healthy for the relationship. Hansen and Scheepers decided that it would be for the best if Scheepers left the band, and so, with no hard feelings on either side, Scheepers left Gamma Ray (he later failed to be recruited in Judas Priest and then started his own heavy metal band, the acclaimed Primal Fear). Hansen then began to search for a new vocalist, but due to demand from friends and fans took on the guitar-vocal duties as he had for the first Helloween EP and album.[/quote]
[B]The Land Of The Free & Somewhere Out In Space[/B]
[quote=Wikipedia]In 1995 the fourth album, Land of the Free, the first to feature Hansen on vocals, was released. Critics around the globe were ecstatic. The tour following the album, Men on a Tour, brought the recording and release of the live album Alive '95 in 1996.
Dan Zimmermann
Soon after, there was yet another major lineup change. Jan Rubach and Thomas Nack both left in order to return to Anesthesia, and in came new drummer Dan Zimmermann, who was also the drummer of Freedom Call. Schlächter wanted to drop the guitar and pick up the bass duties as that was his original instrument, as can be seen on the earlier Heading for the East video when he and Wessel switch instruments for a few songs, and Schlächter performs a bass solo at one point. Henjo Richter came in to fill the second guitar spot. This lineup survives to this day.
Work started on the next full-length album, and 1997 saw the release of Somewhere Out in Space, which marked the beginning of the band's thematic concentration on space. The album featured the hit "Valley of the Kings". After two years of touring came the album Power Plant, which was a continuation of Somewhere Out In Space's lyrical approach, but a new direction musically. The album was highly acclaimed throughout the world.[/quote]
[B]Blast From The Past, No World Order & Skeletons In The Closet[/B]
[quote=Wikipedia]The time came for a "Best Of..." album, and Hansen decided to do things differently: he let the fans decide by voting on their website for their three favorite songs on each album, then the band went back to the studio to re-record the old classics on the first three albums and made remixed versions for the songs on the later ones. Blast from the Past was the name chosen for this double album.
After a break of one year where Hansen concentrated on his side project Iron Savior, the band was ready for the recording and release of the album No World Order, with a lot of heavy riffs like classic NWOBHM bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, just as rumored. Yet again the album was highly praised. The No Order World Tour saw the band visiting dozens of European countries and Japan. After resting from the tour, the band went on with the Skeletons in the Closet tour, which saw the band performing songs that they never or rarely played live before. Once again, the setlist was voted by the fans on the band's website. Only a few shows were played but two of those were recorded for the live album Skeletons in the Closet.[/quote]
[B]Hell Yeah - The Awesome Foursome, Majestic & Land Of The Free II[/B]
[quote=Wikipedia] live DVD, "Hell Yeah - The Awesome Foursome (And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal" was recorded on May 6, 2006 at Le Medley in Montreal, Quebec. The setlist contained songs drawn from all of their albums upto Majestic (excluding Insanity and Genius) and also a cover of the Helloween hit I Want Out. The DVD finally saw release on November 4, 2008. It entered the German media control charts at #9 and the Swedish charts at #1, according to the band's official website.
Land of the Free II was released in late 2007 as a sequel to the hugely successful Land of the Free album. To promote the album, Gamma Ray were the "very special guest" on Helloween's Hellish Rock 2007/2008 World Tour, on some shows along with the band Axxis. For the final encores of the evening, Kai and members of Gamma Ray joined Helloween to play a couple of songs from when Kai was in the latter band. Kai would also regularly join Helloween co-founder Michael Weikath at center stage to the delight of fans of both bands.[/quote]
[B][U]MEMBERS[/U][/B]
[B]Current[/B]
[list] Kai Hansen - Guitars (1988-Present), Vocals (1994-present)
[*] Henjo Richter - Guitars, Keyboards (1997-Present)
[*] Dirk Schlächter - Guitars (1990-1997), Bass (1997-Present)
[*] Dan Zimmermann - Drums (1997-Present)[/list]
[B]Former[/B]
[list] Ralf Scheepers - Vocals (1989-1994)
[*] Uwe Wessel - Bass (1988-1993)
[*] Jan Rubach - Bass (1993-1997)
[*] Mathias Burchard - Drums (1989-1990)
[*] Uli Kusch - Drums (1990-1992)
[*] Thomas Nack - Drums (1993-1997)[/list]
[B][U]DISCOGRAPHY[/U][/B]
[B]Heading For Tomorrow[/B]
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/masters_in/HeadingForTomorrow.jpg[/img]
1. Welcome
2. Lust For Life
3. Heaven Can Wait
4. Space Eater
5. Money
6. The Silence
7. Hold Your Ground
8. Free Time
9. Heading For Tomorrow
10. Look At Yourself
[B]Sigh No More[/B]
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/masters_in/SighNoMore.jpg[/img]
1. Changes
2. Rich & Famous
3. As Time Goes By
4. (We Won't) Stop The War
5. Father And Son
6. One With The World
7. Start Running
8. Countdown
9. Dream Healer
10. The Spirit
[B]Insanity & Genius[/B]
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/masters_in/InsanityandGenius.jpg[/img]
1. Tribute To The Past
2. No Return
3. Last Before The Storm
4. The Cave Principle
5. Future Madhouse
6. Gamma Ray (Edited Version)
7. Insanity & Genius
8. 18 Years
9. Your Turn Is Over
10. Heal Me
11. Brothers
12. Heroes
[B]Land Of The Free[/B]
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/masters_in/LandOfTheFree.jpg[/img]
1. Rebellion In Dreamland
2. Man On A Mission
3. Fairytale
4. All Of The Damned
5. Rising Of The Damned
6. Gods Of Deliverance
7. Farewell
8. Salvation's Calling
9. Land Of The Free
10. The Savior
11. Abyss Of The Void
12. Time To Break Free
13. Afterlife
[B]Somewhere Out In Space[/B]
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/masters_in/SomewhereOutInSpace.jpg[/img]
1. Beyond The Black Hole
2. Men, Martians and Machines
3. No Stranger (Another Day In Life)
4. Somewhere Out In Space
5. The Guardians Of Mankind
6. The Landing
7. Valley Of The Kings
8. Pray
9. The Winged Horse
10. Cosmic Chaos
11. Lost In The Future
12. Watcher In The Sky
13. Rising Star
14. Shine On
15. Return To Fantasy
[B]Powerplant[/B]
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/masters_in/Powerplant.jpg[/img]
1. Anywhere In The Galaxy
2. Razorblade Sigh
3. Send Me A Sign
4. Strangers In The Night
5. Gardens Of The Sinner
6. Short As Hell
7. It's A Sin
8. Heavy Metal Universe
9. Wings Of Destiny
10. Hand Of Fate
11. Armageddom
12. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
[B]No World Order[/B]
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/masters_in/NoWorldOrder.jpg[/img]
1. Introduction
2. Dethrone Tyranny
3. Heart Of The Unicorn
4. Heaven Or Hell
5. New World Order
6. Damn The Machine
7. Solid
8. Fire Below
9. Follow Me
10. Eagle
11. Lake Of Tears
[B]Majestic[/B]
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/masters_in/Majestic.jpg[/img]
1. My Temple
2. Fight
3. Strange World
4. Hell is Thy Home
5. Blood Religion
6. Condemned to Hell
7. Spiritual Dictator
8. Majesty
9. How Long
10. Revelation
[B]Land Of The Free II[/B]
[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/masters_in/LandOfTheFreeII.jpg[/img]
1. Into the Storm
2. From the Ashes
3. Rising Again
4. To Mother Earth
5. Rain
6. Leaving Hell
7. Empress
8. When the World
9. Opportunity
10. Real World
11. Hear me Calling
12. Insurrection
[B][U]TO THE METAL![/U][/B] (Will be released January 29th)
[img]http://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/5/8/9/258927.jpg[/img]
1. Rise
2. Deadlands
3. Mother Angel
4. No Need To Cry
5. Empathy
6. To The Metal
7. All You Need to Know
8. Time To Live
9. "Shine Forever"
10. "Breaking Away"
So, what do you think about them?
Gamma Ray RULES. I love Kai Hansen. Their best albums are, in my opinion, [i]Land of the Free Pt.1[/i] and[i] Somewhere out in Space[/i]. [i]Valley of the Kings[/i] is definitely on my Top-5 best songs ever.
German Power Metal at its finest. :rock:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJjmMbllcXk[/media]
Somewhere Out In Space was one of my favorites too, I loved Beyond The Black Hole.
[QUOTE=Hakita;16583244]Somewhere Out In Space was one of my favorites too, I loved Beyond The Black Hole.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, very cheesy guitars in that one. Lovely.
That is my opinion again. Wich is usually different from other's. :wink:
I thought this thread would be about the Beck song Gamma Ray.
I would never make a whole thread just for one song. Waste of space, I must say.
Power metal makes me laugh.
In fact, a lot of metal makes me laugh.
Anyways, I don't like it.
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Don't like - Don't post." - Kazumi))[/highlight]
Same for me but with over-screamobrutalcore.
[QUOTE=Hakita;16583381]Same for me but with over-screamobrutalcore.[/QUOTE]
Amen.
This never got a second page? :saddowns:
I was going to make a thread about Gamma Ray if I couldn't find one, but this is one quality thread.
And not to post without content:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42tNzEhS3hU[/media]
Into The Storm in pretty awesome :buddy:
Gamma Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!
and heaven can WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!
my favorite power metal song of all time (other than ride the sky maybe)
first album is pure gold. The Heading for the East DVD is great.
I don't care really for anything else by them lol
I like how you can see that they couldn't decide on a logo for the first few albums and then they eventually settle on one.
New album will be released on 29th of January this year.
[img]http://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/5/8/9/258927.jpg[/img]
[b]To the Metal[/b]
Be sure to catch their upcoming promo tour in central Europe along with [i]Freedom Call[/i] and[i] Secret Sphere[/i]. Why won't you come to Sweden!? :gonk:
It appears that Dcalde has bumped my thread.
Plus, I love you Rad McCool for posting that. The cover art is fucking awesome.
New World Order is a kick ass song
[QUOTE=Tugger;19544109]New World Order is a kick ass song[/QUOTE]
Its a pretty good album too. One of my favorites.
I like Power Metal, and therefore I like this band. Such a cool band.
[QUOTE=metalhead121;19551746]I like Power Metal, and therefore I like this band. Such a cool band.[/QUOTE]
Well, it is one of the best.
Gamma Ray is the shit. Hopefully they'll come stateside for a tour with the new album.
I want to add them, Iced Earth, and Kamelot to the list of bands that hardly tour the U.S. that I've seen.
Already saw Stratovarius :smug:
[QUOTE=Hakita;19540186]It appears that Dcalde has bumped my thread.[/QUOTE]
Damn right :colbert:
[quote=SolidSnake52]Gamma Ray is the shit. Hopefully they'll come stateside for a tour with the new album.
I want to add them, Iced Earth, and Kamelot to the list of bands that hardly tour the U.S. that I've seen.
Already saw Stratovarius :smug:[/quote]
Is there a list of where they are coming?
[quote=dcalde78]Damn right :colbert:[/quote]
I'm proud of you, son.
[editline]06:09PM[/editline]
Added info about To The Metal in the OP.
actually forget that, I'm gonna work on it some more
it looks crap :v:
[QUOTE=dcalde78;19554920]actually forget that, I'm gonna work on it some more
it looks crap :v:[/QUOTE]
Work on what more? What looks crap?
What did I miss?
[QUOTE=nos217;19555176][IMG]http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t259/nos217/gammaray.png[/IMG]
:colbert:[/QUOTE]
I used it because it was transparent :saddowns:
Well then wait until I'm finished.
Will do.
[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/26vl2.jpg[/IMG]
[editline]06:57PM[/editline]
And an avatar:
[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/10dwt1z.jpg[/IMG]
Comparison:
[img]http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/images/stories/interviews/Gamma%20Ray%202006/kai08/gr-logo.gif[/img]
[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/26vl2.jpg[/IMG]
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