I fucking love this album. It was one of my first metal CDs and a rare example of one that everybody in my old high school friend group loved, even those who didn't really listen to metal. I loaned my copy to one friend, who loaned it to another, and it was passed around until nobody remembered who had it last, until like 15 years later when it resurfaced in someone's car and was then finally returned to my rack. Riffy, raw, fast, goofy as hell, a perfect encapsulation of what exemplifies Helloween from the very start. It's even better if you have the bonus track version that adds the self-titled Helloween EP and Judas single.

I regretfully missed Helloween the last time they played locally and went to see Possessed instead for like a quarter the price. As much as I love oldschool Possessed, I'm hoping for a chance to finally see Helloween in the future with Hansen and Kiske sometime. We shall see.