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''Chameleon'' is the fifth studio album by German
power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...
band
Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. The band has at times been called one of the most influential European heavy metal bands of the 1980s. Its first ...
, released in 1993. It is their most musically adventurous release, but also their least commercially successful, and is their last studio album to feature singer
Michael Kiske Michael Kiske (born 24 January 1968) is a German singer who is the co-lead vocalist for the power metal band Helloween. Kiske has also released four solo albums, two albums with the hard rock band Unisonic (band), Unisonic, has participated on ...
until 2021's self-titled album, as well as their last with original drummer
Ingo Schwichtenberg Ingo "Mr. Smile" Schwichtenberg (18 May 1965 – 8 March 1995) was a German drummer and one of the founding members of the power metal band Helloween. Biography Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow said about Schwichtenberg in an interview 1999: ...
. It was the last album Schwichtenberg recorded; he committed suicide on 8 March 1995 by jumping in front of an
S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...
train in his hometown
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. ''Chameleon'' was also the band's last album on EMI Records.


Background

The album contains four singles: " When the Sinner", " I Don't Wanna Cry No More", "
Windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...
", and " Step Out of Hell". The album received negative reviews both critically and commercially, and vocalist Michael Kiske and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg were fired after the subsequent promotional tour. Michael Weikath stated that 'Chameleon' could have been better with a different approach but it was the result of what was there at the time and the intentions they had with it. The band were lambasted with debts of the amount of two million Deutschmarks, and were just trying to get rid of that and thought that if they made the album commercial it would work. "Step Out of Hell" was one of the older tracks Roland Grapow had done with his old band Rampage, which was released originally as a track called "Victims of Rock". Grapow changed the lyrics and he remade it as a song with Helloween. The lyrics dealt with Ingo Schwichtenberg. Grapow's song "Music" was also recorded differently and bluesier with other lyrics by Rampage. It's on the second record they did in 1983 "Love Lights Up The Night". There was a lot of
1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War ...
era in the song “Music” and in his guitar part on “When The Sinner.” He was listening a lot to
Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...
at the time and was also influenced by
Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...
. Grapow stated that 'Chameleon' was something that the band needed to do. Helloween wanted to change the musical direction and try some new material. That was the main reason. There wasn't any pressure from the label or from the outside. Nobody at the label heard the demos, and the band had 100% control. A problem during the 'Chameleon' recording was that Grapow was still new in the band at the time and he didn't know which way he should approach. Grapow was replacing
Kai Hansen Kai Michael Hansen (born 17 January 1963) is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray (band), Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of another power metal band Helloween, which he was ...
, and tried to write songs with a heavy metal direction, which he did on '
Pink Bubbles Go Ape ''Pink Bubbles Go Ape'' is the fourth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1991. It marked the departure of guitarist Kai Hansen, with Roland Grapow replacing him. It was also the band's first album released on EMI Recor ...
'. He thought he did a good job, but the other band members, the songwriters, they had changed. Helloween recorded the successful ' Keeper' albums and then Hansen left, and they tried to do totally different kind of music. Grapow described 'Chameleon' as the three Helloween songwriters' solo record. Bass player Markus Grosskopf stated that 'Chameleon' captured the time and the mood that the band was in, so he doesn't see it as a mistake. Helloween was not able to do anything different, and they weren't interested in doing anything else. Grosskopf thought that 'Chameleon' had to be done like that, to come to a point where the band had to change themselves. Grosskopf thought 'Chameleon' was a cool album, but it sounded a bit weird with Helloween written on it. It was a difficult album to make because they had some serious personal problems at that time. Singer Michael Kiske stated that the best way to describe 'Chameleon' was that it's a three men solo album. There were three songwriters trying to make a solo record. Helloween was dysfunctional and were not functioning as a band anymore. When they did the “Chameleon” record, it was still an honest record, they did the best they could out of the situation, but they were not a band. The members weren't working together to get the songs. Ingo Schwichtenberg was very sick and the album recording was the last thing he did. After he did the drumming he had a breakdown. It was not a pleasant time. But Kiske thinks the record shows that in a way, that there were some very dramatic stuff on it when you look at some of the lyrics.


Track listing

*M – 1,2 also appears on the When The Sinner single. *M – 3,4,5 also appears on the
Windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...
& Step Out of Hell singles. *M – 6,7 also appears on the I Don't Wanna Cry No More single.


Personnel


Helloween

*
Michael Kiske Michael Kiske (born 24 January 1968) is a German singer who is the co-lead vocalist for the power metal band Helloween. Kiske has also released four solo albums, two albums with the hard rock band Unisonic (band), Unisonic, has participated on ...
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
*
Michael Weikath Michael Ingo Joachim "Weiki" Weikath (born 7 August 1962) is a German musician, best known as a founding member and one of the guitarists of pioneering power metal band Helloween. Biography Weikath was born in Hamburg and was musical from a ...
guitars The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
*
Roland Grapow Roland Grapow (born 30 August 1959 in Hamburg) is a German guitarist and music producer. He is best known for his time in the power metal band Helloween, with which he played for twelve years, after replacing founding member Kai Hansen. He subse ...
– guitars *
Markus Grosskopf Markus Grosskopf (born 21 September 1965) is a German musician best known as the bass guitarist, backing vocalist and a founding member of the power metal band Helloween. Biography Grosskopf started playing bass at the age of 15 when he became ...
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
*
Ingo Schwichtenberg Ingo "Mr. Smile" Schwichtenberg (18 May 1965 – 8 March 1995) was a German drummer and one of the founding members of the power metal band Helloween. Biography Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow said about Schwichtenberg in an interview 1999: ...
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...


Guests

*Axel Bergstedt –
conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...
,
church organ Carol Williams performing at the West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or mo ...
in "I Believe" *
Children's choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
of the
Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
"
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
",
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
in "I Believe" *Stefan Pintev –
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
Three of the children of the children's choir are Aminata, Jazz and Sophie from Black Buddafly, who had been 12 and 13 years old when they sang for ''Chameleon''.


Charts


Recording information

*Recorded in 1992 at Chateau De Pape in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
*Mixed in 1992 at Scream Studios in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
*Mastered at Precision Mastering,
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
, United States *Produced by Helloween and Tommy Hansen, assisted by Michael Tibes *Mixed by
Michael Wagener Michael Wagener (born 25 April 1949) is a German retired record producer, mixer and engineer from Hamburg, best known for his work with many popular American hard rock and heavy metal music, heavy metal bands in the late 1980s. He is particularly ...
at Double Trouble Productions Inc., assisted by Craig Boubet *Mastered by
Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and distri ...
*Logo by Michael Weikath and sleeve design by Michael Kiske *All songs are published by Zomba Music Publishers (LTD) S.F. USA


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chameleon (Album) Helloween albums 1993 albums EMI Records albums es:Chameleon#Música