Helloween/YMMV

See also: Awesome Music - Helloween


 * And the Fandom Rejoiced: The reaction towards Michael Kiske's incorporation to the band.
 * Broken Base:
 * Andi Deris or Michael Kiske (or Kai Hansen)?
 * Or those who only like Keeper Of The Seven Keys 1 & 2 and Walls of Jericho, and those who like these and almost everything else.
 * Critical Research Failure: The music video for "Light the Universe", from Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 3: The Legacy, is so determined to live up to the album title and uphold this legacy that it prominently features the titular... um... Seven Keepers of One Key Each?
 * Critical Backlash: Sure, as Chameleon shows, lighter prog-rock with pop elements is the wrong genre for Helloween. However, if you happen to be into that sort of thing, it's surprisingly not-so-bad for its reputation.
 * Crowning Moment of Funny: Several videos have this, but the video for "Dr. Stein" (the Unarmed version) is the winner.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Due to his appearances in both "Dr. Stein" (the Unarmed version) and "Are You Metal" (from the upcoming 7 Sinners album) videos, the "Dr. Stein" impersonator is on the way to become one of these.
 * Even Better Sequel: Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt. 2 in the Keeper saga. And Keeper Pt. 1 in their whole discography, after Walls of Jericho.
 * Fandom Rivalry: Helloween vs. Gamma Ray.
 * Fan Nickname: "Michi" for Michael Kiske, and "Weiki" for Michael Weikath.
 * Fanon Discontinuity: Aside from Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon, many fans choose to dismiss the entire Andi Deris' Era, and claim that the band didn't released anything since Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight:
 * After being fired from Helloween, Michael Kiske declared that he was tired of heavy metal and that he would never be involved in any other metal album. A few years later, he has a guest appearance doing vocals for Avantasia, Edguy, Gamma Ray, ("Land of the Free", "Time To Break Free" and "All You Need To Know") Masterplan, ("Heroes") and basically any metal band that will have him.
 * Kiske was also only offered the vocalist position for Masterplan, something he accepted, but only if he wouldn't have to tour, so, as Grapow and Kusch weren't interested in hiring session singers for tours, they rejected him.
 * Ditto for Sascha Gerstner, who left Freedom Call saying that he would never be in a Metal band again, yet he joined Helloween a year after his departure.
 * Pink Cream 69 was the former band of Andi Deris, before joining Helloween. Ten years later, Michael Kiske would start the Place Vendome project (now a full-fledged band called Unisonic) with three (now two) members of Pink Cream 69.
 * Take the lyrics of "Rise And Fall", from Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt. 2. That song gets funnier when you remember everything Kiske went through after getting sacked from Helloween.
 * Ho Yay: Andi Deris & Markus Grosskopf has some moments.
 * Jumping the Shark / Ruined FOREVER: Several moments. When Kai left, after Keeper' 2; when Kiske left, after Chameleon; and now, after Unarmed.
 * Lyrical Dissonance: Despite the presumably grim fate of its subject, the song "The Game is On" is enough of a typically catchy, bouncy, upbeat Helloween song that it comes across as "video games are fun! :D" That YouTube video is an absolute celebration of Retro Gaming.
 * Large Ham: Andi Deris.
 * Mis Blamed: Weikath, for Hansen's quiting and Kiske's firing, despite that now both Hansen and Weikath are in very good terms. He's also misaccused for being the only egotist in the history of the band, despite the fact that Kiske had almost completely taken over the band after Hansen left, and the only way he'd let go was for Weikath to fire him.
 * Nausea Fuel: Arguably, "Reptile", from Walls of Jericho.
 * Replacement Scrappy: There are a number of fans who still do not accept Andi Deris as the vocalist, despite the fact that it's been over fifteen years and he's been with the band longer than Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen combined! Nevermind that there's no chance that Michael Kiske will ever return to Helloween.
 * So Bad It's Good: Kai Hansen could barely sing on key on the first album, but his absurdly over-the-top wails fit the music so perfectly it's still beloved by most fans.
 * Tastes Like Diabetes: "Future World", from Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt. 1, a song so happy (in fact, it was the reason why Power Metal was seen as "Happy Metal" at some point) that it has it's own hatedom, despite being in one of the band's most acclaimed albums ever.
 * Tear Jerker:
 * "Forever and One (Neverland)". The Unarmed version is even more dramatic.
 * "A Tale That Wasn't Right" after Ingo died. Again, the Unarmed version kicks it Up to Eleven.
 * They Changed It, Now It Sucks: There's a very vocal group of fans who revile the silliness that Large Ham Andi Deris brought into the band. However, Michael Kiske was just as silly live, as the Live in the UK live album proves. And they brought out an album called Pink Bubbles Go Ape with a song called "Heavy Metal Hamsters" on it before he was mercifully booted out.
 * The reaction to Unarmed was... less than enthusiastic. Bear in mind, again, that said album was non-canonical, as mentioned above.