Helloween – “My God-Given Right” [Album Review]

After more than 30 years in the business, heavy metal stalwarts Helloween, are back with their fifteenth studio release. When I was offered this album I jumped at the chance to cover it as, while I’m not the biggest fan of this type of metal, I have been a fan of the band from the beginning, and wore out at least one cassette version of their 1985 debut, Walls Of Jericho. Over the years their subsequent thirteen other releases have been a sort of hit or miss for me, and My God-Given Right is no different; when they are on point they are better than anyone else in the genre, unfortunately that is not the case 100 percent of the time.

The first three songs, “Heroes,” “Battles Won,” and “My God-Given Right,” are classic Helloween and quickly got me fired-up for what was to come. The let-down begins though with the slow opening, pretty generic-sounding “Stay Crazy,” and from there the series of ups and downs begin culminating in an extremely out of place almost cheesy-sounding ’80s ballad, “Like Everybody Else.” Not sure how this tune made the cut, but with its “lighters-in-the-air-sort-of-mood” it proves to be a total vibe-breaker. The good news is that the disc’s last two tracks, which also happen to be my favorite, really go a long way to restoring balance to the record.

As much as I hate to say it, I feel that My God-Given Right is a mixed bag. I really wanted this to be a return to the early years and, while there are definitely a few songs that will make the regular rotation on my iPod, unfortunately the record as a whole will not.

Track Listing:

01. Heroes
02. Battles Won
03. My God-Given Right
04. Stay Crazy
05. Lost In America
06. Russian Roule’
07. The Swing Of A Fallen World
08. Like Everybody Else
09. Creatures In Heaven
10. If God Loves Rock “n” Roll
11. Living On The Edge
12. Claws

Run Time: 61:01
Release Date: May 29, 2015

Check out the song “My God-Given Right” here.