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Helloween - The Dark Ride



8.5 | 760 votes |
Release date: 2000
Style: Power metal

Owners:

709 have it
45 want it


01. Beyond The Portal (Intro)
02. Mr. Torture
03. All Over The Nations
04. Escalation 666
05. Mirror Mirror
06. If I Could Fly
07. Salvation
08. The Departed (Sun Is Going Down)
09. I Live For Your Pain
10. We Damn The Night
11. Immortal
12. The Dark Ride
13. The Madness Of The Crowds [Japanese bonus]
14. Deliver Us From Temptation [Japanese bonus]

Guest review by
Highlander
Rating:
9.0
As the name tells, this album has a really dark atmosphere. Helloween takes you to the latest hour with this one, and the sound is heavy and mean. Andi Deris puts his voice a little lower, and you get a kind of creepy feeling when you listen to it. But the humor is there and tracks like 'Mr. Torture' is kind of funny to listen to. Specially the intro on this album is a masterpiece, once you have heard it, you know what it's all about, that's for sure.

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published 18.09.2003 | Comments (3)

Guest review by
Talvi
Rating:
9.8
They did it! They have made an album that can reach a cult status of The Keepers! Of course that will never happen, because the only ones who like this album were the ones who left Helloween and made Masterplan, so it's a shame, because I would really like to see "The Dark Ride 2 - The Dark Fucking Legacy." Instead of returning to classic names to try to succeed again, they should make a new classic without Kai or Kiske on its name, really.

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published 05.08.2006 | Comments (18)

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Comments

Comments: 19   Visited by: 869 users
22.10.2011 - 07:30
Rating: 7
JÄY
Metal slave
Too many boring tracks....never understood the love for this one. But as a hello-fanboy, I just cant rate it too low....
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02.10.2012 - 17:04
LordHypnos
Account deleted
Mr. Torture's lyrics are so funny! This is a very good album with Andi Deris! I don't know why people hate him, he's an amazing vocalist IMO!
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02.10.2012 - 19:28
Rating: 7
Metal Invader

Written by Guest on 02.10.2012 at 17:04

Mr. Torture's lyrics are so funny! This is a very good album with Andi Deris! I don't know why people hate him, he's an amazing vocalist IMO!

Agree..imo some people hate him just cos he is not Kiske and dosent have kiskes range of voice..imo album is good..few good track and nothing else!
That dark atmosfere and droped gitar tunes is just not Helloween style
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20.10.2012 - 01:02
Andreas

One of the weaker Helloween albums. I was hoping for more after seeing the hype on this website.
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15.01.2013 - 00:21
Rating: 7
Reaper_Redeemer

Just three highlights, but they are extremely good: 02. Mr. Torture 06. If I Could Fly 08. The Departed (Sun Is Going Down)
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26.01.2013 - 15:51
Nemo Atkins

Written by Maco on 23.01.2013 at 19:38

I LOVE IT all the songs are great and the vocals are the best thing on this album

I have to disagree with you about all the songs being great: this album is honestly pretty weak to me. "Mr Torture" and "All Over The Nations" are great tracks, but the rest of the songs vary between boring and decent (but not great) to me. Although, if you like "The Departed (Sun Is Going Down)", you might be interested to hear Beautiful Sin's song "Lost": that's pretty much what Uli (who played drums for them) wanted the song to sound like when it was written.

That said, I agree about Deris' vocals being incredible on this album: I actually think The Dark Ride contains some of his best vocal performances on any Helloween album.

Edit: Just realised I forgot to mention "Salvation": that one's also a good track.
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26.01.2013 - 19:13
Nemo Atkins

Written by Maco on 26.01.2013 at 18:58

Written by Nemo Atkins on 26.01.2013 at 15:51

Written by Maco on 23.01.2013 at 19:38

I LOVE IT all the songs are great and the vocals are the best thing on this album

I have to disagree with you about all the songs being great: this album is honestly pretty weak to me.



alright is your opinion, but for me is the best since keepers

And I respect your opinion. Honestly, I do appreciate what they were trying to do, and I do give them credit for trying it, but I just don't think it turned out that great. That said, I really doubt they would have made their last three albums without this one (and my favourite album by them is 7 Sinners: I never enjoyed the Keepers duo as much as I probably should have), so it's definitely an important album in their discography.
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28.01.2013 - 19:36
Nemo Atkins

Quote:
Quote:
Written by Maco on 28.01.2013 at 01:15


And I respect your opinion. Honestly, I do appreciate what they were trying to do, and I do give them credit for trying it, but I just don't think it turned out that great. That said, I really doubt they would have made their last three albums without this one (and my favourite album by them is 7 Sinners: I never enjoyed the Keepers duo as much as I probably should have), so it's definitely an important album in their discography.


well im not a big fan of them, i just heard 4 albums... maybe i should listen some more then i can compare more of their late works with this album to see if there is any better or not

Well, I'd recommend you look at Gambling With The Devil, 7 Sinners and Straight Out Of Hell, as that's when they took more cues from The Dark Ride.
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09.05.2013 - 14:34
ManiacBlasphemer
Black Knight
This was the ressurection of Helloween. Their best output since the Keeper of the Seven Keys albums. An album that deserves a place in your shelf. Later albums follow the same pattern.
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23.05.2014 - 09:54
Rating: 7
JÄY
Metal slave
Written by deadone on 23.05.2014 at 04:35


wasn't that dark
(summary)



It's just because the word "dark" is on the title....
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30.06.2017 - 14:54
Rating: 8
musicalkaratekid

I always wondered what it would have been like for Helloween's career had they considered going further down the same route that "The Dark Ride" presented, but then again, I guess that's why I perceive this release to be one of a kind in the band's discography. Coincidentally released in the wake of a new millennium, I guess this suggested Helloween as a more experimental force to be reckoned with. The previous three releases were essentially examples of the band returning to what they were known for in the 80s, yet "The Dark Ride" is a direct turunaround, focussing on groove-inflected riffs and more than just a few ventures into the more dark-tinged territory of goth metal. This album features some of my favourite Helloween songs: 'All Over the Nations', 'Salvation' and the near flawless title track. The album as a whole features a couple of stop-start fillers which threaten to cut the flow (weaker songs like 'Departed' and 'Mirror Mirror'), but it's more than made up for with a once again confident musical delivery. Also, I may be in the minority here, but I think this album reflected Andi Deris' strongest vocal performance in his time with Helloween.
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20.07.2017 - 02:50
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Best songs:
Mirror Mirror
If I Could Fly
The Departed (Sun Is Going Down)

album opens up, after those songs get better and better, I didn't like anything before those
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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29.05.2019 - 09:32
Rating: 7
Deadmeat
Necrobutcher
Bad for their standards...
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Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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17.01.2020 - 12:24
Rating: 7
Joppe
Steelemeister
The album has some materials for greatness, but the length works against it. Not all these songs -- especially Escalation 666, Mirror Mirror -- seem necessary at all. Take the best ones, ditch the crap ones and the album looks pretty good. As whole, I don't remember even listening to the album more than a few times, because most of the songs simply aren't anything spectacular.

I used to listen to "Mr. Torture" and "If I Could Fly" shiteloads of times when I getting into "real metal" and these songs seem to stand the test of time very well.
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14.02.2020 - 05:50
Rating: 8
DeathMetal

A little bit too long but it's still enjoyable.
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07.09.2021 - 14:26
Rating: 7
BennyMetGer

I think its...kind of too long. the work is good, but it dont catch me.
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07.09.2021 - 14:43
JoHn Doe

It's indeed a bit too long, but it's still one of my favorite Helloween album with Deris on vocals.
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I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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16.11.2023 - 08:02
Rating: 8
DarkWingedSoul

Another great Helloween album... no more, no less.
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18.01.2024 - 15:45
Rating: 8
majormalfunction

Great great record.. so many killer songs with an overarching atmosphere. There's a few tracks I consider a bit weaker so i'm not sure yet if it's worth a 9, but it's close

Mr. Torture sells pain to the housewives in Spain, he knows just what they crave
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Everything's twice as bright with money in your hands
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