1006. Hansen & Friends / XXX: Three Decades in Metal. 2016. 4.5/5

Over the years Kai Hansen has been an inspiration and a leader of the European heavy metal community. Not only has he been a foundation member of several bands, all of which have made their sizable contribution to the metal universe, but he has guested on several other band’s albums with either vocals or guitar or both, or even acted as a producer. His contribution to the cause has been enormous and almost unparalleled. So when he announced that he would be doing this album, which is sort of a solo project and sort of a concept project, one could only wonder just what it would produce that would be different from everything else he had done over 30-plus years.

In moving aside from his other musical commitments in order to put this album out, it had to be a conscious decision that he wanted to be free to make something that couldn’t be held within the framework of the other band’s he has been associated with. He obviously wanted to be free to make decisions with the direction of songs without being held accountable to a band or the fans of that band and judged in that court. So apart from bringing on board musicians from other band’s to lay down the album, he has also invited some special guests and friends to help him out along the way.
I listened to this album a lot in the weeks after its release, and for me there was one glaring difference between it and Gamma Ray. I like this album a lot and listen to it with ease. But, how many songs here jumped out at me so much that I knew them from their opening riff, and knew the lyrics and actually sing along with them every time they come on? The answer is, about half, and that was significantly less than every Gamma Ray album ever, even than last couple which have probably not been quite up to the extremely high standard of the others. Therein lies the rub. It isn’t a Gamma Ray album, it is an obvious attempt by Kai to get out there and do something a bit different from what he has done with his number one band.
The band members here are excellent and perform their jobs accordingly. Eike Freese, the vocalist and guitarist from Dark Age, Alexander Dietz, the bass guitarist and backing vocals from Heaven Shall Burn and Dan Wilding, the current drummer of Carcass all play terrifically and sound fantastic, especially in songs like “Born Free”, “Contract Song” and “Follow the Sun”. Despite this being a Kai Hansen driven album, their contributions should not be overlooked.
All of the songs apart from the opening track feature friends participating, contributing either vocal parts or guitar solos to the mix, which makes it a fun romp throughout. “Born Free” acts as the single and opening track from the album, setting the scene for what is to come. “Enemies of Fun” combines the appearance of original Gamma Ray and current Primal Fear vocalist Ralf Scheepers and lifelong friend and Iron Savior frontman Piet Sielck for vocals. This is followed by “Contract Song” which has quite a bit of anger and angst behind it, and Dee Snider from Twisted Sister along for the ride. Yes, you can happily spit out the lyrics in this song, the venom behind them is obvious and somewhat joyous to sing along to. “Making Headlines” enables Tobi Sammet to return the favour Kai offered him on the first two Avantasia albums by combining his great vocal strength alongside Kai’s. This is followed by “Stranger in Time” which has another great combination of talent, with Tobi joined by current Gamma Ray part-time vocalist Frank Beck and also Michael Kiske, with some great harmonies and melody lines.
Into the middle of the album, and there is a change in tack and direction. “Fire and Ice” starts the process – and has anyone else picked up the similarity towards the end of this song to the end of Halford’s “Silent Screams” from his Resurrection album? That had to be deliberate, surely! “Left Behind” is the best example of a change in style for Kai and his music, with the writing feeling as though it was very much driven for the vocals of Clémentine Delauney initially before the introduction of the growl/scream vocal combination from Marcus Bischoff and album bass guitarist Alexander Dietz from Heaven Shall Burn. This is exacerbated by the very power ballad stylings of “All or Nothing” where Kai and Clémentine combine their vocal talents again. The changes in style here for me are the most difficult to get used to. It’s not that they are bad. In fact, they are performed fantastically. What I like most is that Kai has taken the opportunity of doing this on his own album rather than within the framework of his main band. I only wish other bands would do the same thing rather than mixing their song styles.
“Burning Bridges” helps to pick up the slackening tempo, but it is still very much in a straight forward hard rock song, with a simplified rhythm and drum basis and Kai not extending his vocal range in any way, keeping to a mid-range almost all the way through the song. The vocal talents of Eike Freese are also utilised here. The album finishes on a highlight though, with “Follow the Sun” rifling along with a great riff and drum pattern, and the awesome vocals of Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kürsch leading the charge with further help from Marcus Bischoff. This is almost the most energetic song on the album, and it is an excellent way to bring it to a close. Those vocals from Hansi and Kai here are awesome.

Since the first moment I heard him sing and play on a Helloween album, and when I first held in my hands the vinyl release of Gamma Ray’s Heading for Tomorrow album, Kai Hansen has been one of my music heroes, a man who seems to make magic flow from his fingers and vocal chords. Every other project and guest appearance he has made has always improved and lifted because of his involvement. This album did take a while to grow on me, but it has become one of my favourites in recent times. In the long run, that is no surprise whatsoever.

Rating:  “The key to your own heaven and the hell of your demise”.   4.5/5