Line #110 Music/GammaRay


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/01_no_world_order.jpg]]
2	[-[[caption-width-right:350:Your reaction is probably; "Ghosts with laser swords, flying pyramids, [=UFOs=] and the very [[EarthShatteringPoster Earth at stake]]! HOLY SHIT!" [[ButForMeItWasTuesday But for 'Ray, it's just tuesday]].]]-]
3
4	-->''By moonlight there's way... FOR REBELLION!''\
5	''Here, the world has gone astray... REVOLUTION!''\
6	''Now, the time has come to pray... HALLELUJAH!''\
7	''Deep, inside our minds we wait... FOR REBELLION!''\
8	''Here in dreamland we will not obey the masters...''\
9	-- '''Rebellion in Dreamland'''
10
11	Gamma Ray is a power metal band from north Germany, founded by former Music/{{Helloween}} guitarist, singer, and songwriter Music/KaiHansen.
12
13	In 1988, after four years with his former band, guitarist and songwriter Kai Hansen decided, for reasons that are still the subject of much debate, to leave the band. Hansen claimed that Helloween had [[CreativeDifferences become too big for him to handle]], although the group's troubles with financial issues and the record company most likely played a part as well. He proceeded to do some studio work with Music/BlindGuardian. Eventually, Hansen decided to form his own project with long-time friend Ralf Scheepers from Tyran Pace. This two-man project grew into a four-man band with the addition of Uwe Wessel (bass) and Mathias Burchard (drums). Thus was Gamma Ray born, bearing a sound understandably close to that of Hansen's former band, Helloween.
14
15	One of notable features is that their style is very non-uniform , thus sometimes, e.g. ''Insanity and Genius'' but not ''Power Plant'' will be to one's taste, or vice versa. This was especially noticeable in the first five albums, which had at least one member different from preceding album, but the style still changes with each album.
16
17	Speaking of members, one fun thing to note is that, while there has been a relatively little change in the line-up over the years, there has been several member-changes ''within'' the band. After Ralf Scheepers left Kai Hansen took over the vocals (while continuing on guitar) for the next 20 years, and Dirk Schlächter started with guitar but changed to bass in 1997.
18
19	Band Members:
20	* Music/KaiHansen - Guitar (1989-), Vocals (1994-2015)
21	* Henjo Richter - Guitar, Keyboards (1997-)
22	* Frank Beck - Vocals (2015-)
23	* Dirk Schlächter - Guitar (1990-1997), Bass (1997-)
24	* Michael Ehre - Drums (2012-)
25
26	Studio Albums:
27	* 1990 - ''Heading for Tomorrow''
28	* 1991 - ''Sigh No More''
29	* 1993 - ''Insanity and Genius''
30	* 1995 - ''Land of the Free''
31	* 1997 - ''Somewhere Out in Space''
32	* 1999 - ''Power Plant''
33	* 2001 - ''No World Order''
34	* 2005 - ''Majestic''
35	* 2007 - ''Land of the Free II''
36	* 2010 - ''To The Metal''
37	* 2014 - ''The Empire of the Undead''
38
39	Gamma Ray songs include:
40	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l_nHcIa9OY Lust for Life]]"
41	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rpCVgI1BJ4 One With The World]]"
42	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOsBh2HckkY Last Before the Storm]]"
43	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUz-oOUTngQ Rebellion In Dreamland]]"
44	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Fxq8p_yyk Beyond the Black Hole]]"
45	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mJr_0MwcuU Send Me A Sign]]"
46	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD3I0HB09uo Eagle]]"
47	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Hck3UMDiU Into The Storm]]"
48	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92WdCOXVNBg To The Metal!]]"
49	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohR6c1nFC4A Empathy]]"
50	----
51	!!Examples
52
53	[[foldercontrol]]
54
55	[[folder:Song tropes]]
56	* AlbumIntroTrack:
57	** ''Heading for Tomorrow'' starts with the aptly-named "Welcome", a powerful intro piece leading onto "Lust for Life".
58	** ''No World Order!'' begins with "Induction", a calling out of the Illuminati and those who would seek to control others, which leads up to "Dethrone Tyranny."
59	* AncientAstronauts: "Valley of the Kings" and its intro track "The Landing" on ''Somewhere out in Space'' is about aliens arriving on Earth in ancient times and being seen as gods by early humans.
60	* AudienceParticipationSong: "Heavy Metal Universe", from ''Powerplant'', is transformed into pure pantomime live, with the audience being divided into thirds to sing various sections, along with a call-back section that keeps getting higher and longer until Kai is the only person in the room who can do it without dying. "Blood Religion" and "To The Metal" are following the same path.
61	* {{Bowdlerisation}}: "Your Tørn Is Over", from ''Insanity & Genius'', has the following lines in the booklet:
62	--> Think I better keep an eye on you
63	--> Cause you're a liar that's what they tell
64	--> There's nothing in the world that you can do
65	--> I'm gonna take you down to hell
66	--> And I don't care just what you do or say
67	** Yet in the song itself, these are the sung parts:
68	--> Think I better keep an eye on you
69	--> On every move that you make
70	--> Cause you are motherfucking liar , uuuh
71	--> Well, everybody knows you're fake
72	--> And I don't give a shit what you say
73	* BreakupSong: "Leaving Hell", from ''Land Of The Free II''.
74	* ConspiracyTheorist: It's pretty obvious from the lyrics and album covers.
75	* CasanovaWannabe: "Who Do You Think You Are?", from the ''Who Do You Think You Are'' EP and the ''Sigh No More'' remaster, mocks this trope.
76	* CoverVersion: [[Music/JudasPriest "Exciter", "Victim of Changes"]], [[Music/{{Rainbow}} "Long Live Rock 'n Roll"]], [[Music/PetShopBoys "It's A Sin"]] and [[Music/ThinLizzy "Angel of Death"]]. Also the various Helloween covers they've done live, such as "Save Us", "Victim of Fate", "Future World" and "I Want Out".
77	* CoveredUp: [[Music/UriahHeep "Look At Yourself", "Return To Fantasy"]], [[Music/BirthControl "Gamma Ray"]] (from where the band got its name) and [[Music/{{Holocaust}} "Heavy Metal Mania"]].
78	* DaysOfTheWeekSong: "Opportunity", from ''Land Of The Free II''.
79	* EpicRocking: Up to fifteen minutes with "Heading For Tomorrow", from ''Heading For Tomorrow'', but eight-minuters are more common, such as "Rebellion In Dreamland", from ''Land Of The Free''.
80	* GriefSong: "Afterlife", from ''Land Of The Free'', is dedicated to Ingo Schwichtenberg, the late drummer of Helloween.
81	* HeavyMeta: The gloriously cheesy "Heavy Metal Universe", from ''Powerplant'', and "To The Metal", from ''To The Metal''.
82	* HeavyMithril:
83	** ''Somewhere Out In Space'' and ''Powerplant'' deal with space themes. This would be followed by ''Music/IronSavior''.
84	** "Space Eater", from ''Heading For Tomorrow'', may be foreshadowing the above. It seems inspired by ComicBook/{{Galactus}}.
85	* LargeHam: Kai Hansen.
86	** Ralf Scheepers before him.
87	* LongestSongGoesLast:
88	** ''Heading for Tomorrow'' ends with "Heading for Tomorrow" (14:30)
89	** ''Powerplant'' closes with "Armageddon" (8:48)
90	** ''No World Order!'' ends with "Lake of Tears" (6:48)
91	** ''Majestic'' ends with "Revelation" (8:30)
92	** ''Land of the Free II'' ends with "Insurrection" (11:33)
93	** ''...To The Metal!'' ends with "No Need To Cry" (5:56)
94	* LoveHungry: ''Empress.''
95	* LyricalDissonance:
96	** "Real World", from ''Land Of The Free II''. Although it depends on your worldview:
97	--> ''God is an illusion and there ain't no paradise!''
98	--> ''And there is no underworld below!''
99	--> ''Out there is no heaven, and there ain't no Antichrist!''
100	** "Hell Is Thy Home", from ''Majestic'':
101	--> ''Hell is thy home!''
102	--> ''Darkness thy destiny!''
103	** Or singing about the Apocalypse (or Rapture?) to the happy bounce of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wDig7BQM9c Gardens of the Sinner]]", from ''Powerplant''. They're a happy bunch.
104	** "Armageddon", from ''Powerplant'':
105	--> ''And now, my brothers,''
106	--> ''annihilation is foretold!''
107	** "Hold Your Ground", from ''Heading For Tomorrow'':
108	--> ''Come to plague me,''
109	--> ''rape and take me,''
110	--> ''freeze me up! Freeze me up!''
111	** Also, "Blood Religion", from ''Majestic'', a happy bouncing with [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a dark vampyric lyric]].
112	** "Empathy", from ''To The Metal'':
113	--> Take me down to the place below
114	--> Can't you see I'm falling?
115	--> Pain has come and the world keeps going on
116	--> in empathy...
117	* MoneySong: "Money", from ''Heading For Tomorrow'', it's about a person with ideals arguing with another who may seem as a CorruptCorporateExecutive.
118	* NatureMetal: "To Mother Earth", from "Land of the Free 2", is an environmentalist-themed song.
119	* TheNounAndTheNoun:
120	** ''Insanity and Genius'' (both the album and the song)
121	** "Rich and Famous", from ''Sigh No More''
122	** "Father and Son", from ''Sigh No More''.
123	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: "Blood Religion", from ''Majestic'', is all about this.
124	* SelfBackingVocalist: ''The entire band'' on "Induction". As Kai Hansen has noted on the liner notes to ''Gamma Ray: The Best (Of)'', the gigantic-sounding choral part really is just the four members.
125	* ShoutOut:
126	** "Wings of Destiny", from ''Powerplant'', as in "''[[Music/JudasPriest Sad]]'' [[Music/JudasPriest Wings of Destiny]]"
127	** "Fight" contains the following lines, both of which come from the songs "The Wall" and "Carry On Wayward Son" by Music/{{Kansas}}.
128	---> ''The path I've chosen now has led me to a wall''
129	---> ''And though my mind could see I still was a blind man''
130	* SkywardScream: "Razorblade Sigh", from ''Powerplant''.
131	* StepUpToTheMicrophone:
132	** Dirk Schlachter is the one singing in "Your Tørn Is Over", from ''Insanity & Genius''.
133	** Prior to becoming a full-fledged vocalist, Kai sung "Heal Me", also from ''Insanity & Genius''. Until then, he was a backing vocalist.
134	* * TakeThat:
135	** The [[NoExportForYou Japan exclusive]] "Wannabees" (one of the bonus tracks for ''To the Metal'') parodies elitist attitudes.
136	** The RockStarSong "Rich and Famous", from ''Sigh No More'', is one against {{Money Song}}s and similar aspects of the rock star lifestyle.
137	* TomatoInTheMirror: "All Of The Damned", from ''Land Of The Free''.
138	--> ''I see a face in my mirror on the wall,''
139	--> ''and I don't know what it can be.''
140	--> ''I see a face inside the rainbow.''
141	--> '''''At the end of the dream,'''''
142	--> '''''the face in the rainbow is me.'''''
143	* WelcomeToTheRealWorld: "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Real World]]", from ''Land Of The Free II'', invokes the trope's name in the lyrics.
144	* TheXOfY: Mostly between ''Land Of The Free'' and ''No World Order'', plenty of titles such as "Wings of Destiny", the eponymous "Land of the Free", "The Guardians of Mankind" and "The Heart of the Unicorn".
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:Misc tropes (videos and other stuff)]]
148	* IAmTheBand: Kai is the band's [[Music/{{Megadeth}} Dave Mustaine]], as he's the one who compose almost every song of the band, and is the most recognizable member of it.
149	* FuturisticPyramid: ''Heading For Tomorrow'', ''Somewhere Out In Space'', ''No World Order'' and ''Land Of The Free II'', among the examples.
150	* LongRunnerLineUp: Kai Hansen, Dirk Schlächter, Henjo Richter and Dan Zimmermann, from 1997 to 2012 (when Zimmermann left).
151	* {{Mascot}}: Fangface, who appears on their album covers, as well as the cover of the first Helloween album and EP.
152	* NewSoundAlbum: ''Empire of the Undead'', which has far more of a thrash metal -feel than the previous albums.
153	* NonAppearingTitle: ''Powerplant''.
154	* [[RealMenWearPink Real Men Play Pink Guitars]]
155	* TheRival: Helloween. Originally not on very friendly terms, the bands now tour and even play encores together.
156	* ShoutOut: The booklet designer for ''To The Metal'' must be a ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}''[=/=]''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' player, given the use of the same font as the menus and even the yellow and white scheme of such.
157	* StartMyOwn:
158	** This is how Music/GammaRay started. After quitting from Helloween, Kai Hansen went to work on some other thing (such as producing Music/BlindGuardian's first album) before forming the band.
159	** Ralf Scheepers went to form Music/{{Primal Fear\|Band}} with several members of Music/{{Sinner}}.
160	* {{Workaholic}}: Kai Hansen. At some point, he was in THREE bands at the same time (working with Music/{{Avantasia}}, Gamma Ray and ''Music/IronSavior'') and spent as much work on Music/GammaRay as he did in other bands!
161	[[/folder]]
162	----
163	''"Heeeeere in Dreamland we will not obey... THE MASTERS!"''

Context Music / GammaRay