HELLOWEEN / Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy (2005)

What do you do when your band (and livelihood) is slipping into the pit that swallows once-great pioneers? You plunder past glories like a bottom feeder.
Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy (at least they had the good sense not to call it Part III) is a double album that invites comparison to the previous works by name alone. That's perhaps its biggest crime but not its only one: the music is prog metal.
It was an impossible task to replace Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen; I give them credit for trying, sincerely, but I can't recommend the album. It's repetitive and uninspired. Sorry, guys, it was maybe a good idea on paper, but it doesn't live up to the majestic Keeper name in the ways that matter most.

Song of least fail: The King For 1000 Years

1 exciting title, boring music out of 5