The Dark Ride

The Dark Ride is the ninth studio album by the German power metal band Helloween, released in 2000. The album's style was quite different than Better Than Raw as it had much darker sound, very tuned down guitars, and gruffer vocals. The album was produced by renowned figures Roy Z and Charlie Bauerfeind. It is also the last studio album to feature guitarist Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch, both of whom were fired after completion of the supporting tour for the album. They went on to form the band Masterplan.

The album contains two singles, which are "If I Could Fly" and "Mr. Torture".

Track listing

On copies of The Dark Ride and Rabbit Don't Come Easy (as a special two for the price of one) the disc has "Mr. Torture" and "All over the Nations" in reverse order so this way "All over the Nations" is track #2. The tracks are also flipped on the Japanese version of the CD.

Credits

• Andi Deris - vocals
• Michael Weikath - guitar
• Roland Grapow - guitar
• Markus Grosskopf - bass
• Uli Kusch - drums

Trivia

• This is one of the band's least favourite albums, due to the lack of creative control, and an absence of the positive themes usually found in their music.
• The Japanese cover art has the "Helloween" logo in the same type of "scratch writing" as the album title.
• Additionally, the Japanese cover art signifies the first time ever that band uses the proper letter "o" in the "Helloween" logo instead of a pumpkin.
• "Do You Feel Good" was originally written during the sessions for The Dark Ride, but would not be recorded until the following album, Rabbit Don't Come Easy.

References

1. ^ The Dark Ride at Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
2. ^ "Helloween - The Dark Ride". Sputnikmusic. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=710. Retrieved 2011-06-22.