Kai Hansen – XXX – Three decades in metal

Kai Hansen is a German heavy metal legend as a member of Helloween and then Gamma Ray, and more recently his work with Unisonic.  This album celebrates his 30 year career in metal.  Rather than just doing a Gamma Ray album he’s done a solo album, and alongside him on the album are Alex Dietz (Heaven Shall Burn) on bass, Eike Freese on guitar and Daniel Wilding (Carcass) on Drums.  That’s a good lineup but that’s before the special guests are added to the mix.  Guests on the album include Dee Snider, Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Marcus Bischoff (Heaven Shall Burn), Clementine Delauney, Tobias Sammet (Avantasia, Edguy), Michael Kiske (Unisonic), and Michael Weikath (Helloween).  Now that’s how to celebrate 30 years in metal.

The album consists of 10 songs on the first disc, and a second disc containing demo versions where Kai Hansen does all the vocals rather than the guests.  The album itself is great and delivers pretty much what you’d expect from Kai Hansen, so fans of Helloween and Gamma Ray are going to love it.  There’s enough variety to keep it interesting and the special guests work really well.  The second disc is far better than I expected – Kai Hansen does a great job on the vocals and it’s great to hear a different take on the album.  I’d have been happy with the album if he’d just released it with him on vocals, but with the way he’s done it, giving us both versions that makes it even better.

A great album that will appeal particularly to fans of Gamma Ray and Helloween.

Disc: 1

1. Born Free
2. Enemies Of Fun
3. Contract Song
4. Making Headlines
5. Stranger In Time
6. Fire and Ice
7. Left Behind
8. All Or Nothing
9. Burning Bridges
10. Follow the Sun

Disc: 2

CD 2 is a bonus disc with all songs on the album as pre-productions/roughs with Kai Hansen on vocals.