Review: Helloween – March of Time (The Best Of Forty Years)

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Review: Helloween – March of Time (The Best Of Forty Years)

BMG (March 28th, 2025)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

When Helloween releases a career-spanning compilation album (or in this case, three albums!), the question from long times fans will always be, “If I have all of the originals, is this worth it?” In this case, I would say…it depends. Are you a Hansen, Kiske, or Deris fan… or do you love them all?

The first nineteen of the forty tracks in this three-CD set receive a fresh remaster, and this is no “push every level to the top, brick-walled” remaster. Everything breathes as it should, so the songs sound terrific. Never being a huge fan of the debut album, Walls of Jericho, I was impressed by just how clean these tracks sounded. ‘Ride the Sky’ is a clear standout. Had they continued in this vein with Kai Hansen singing lead, it’s clear Helloween could have been one of the “Big Five” thrash bands.  

As it was, Michael Kiske joined the fold for their next several albums, and Helloween became one of the pioneers of power metal. The Kiske tracks match the level of perfection as those sung by Hansen. In fact, I will never listen to another version of ‘Future World’. That track simply exploded from my speakers and brought me right back to high school, when I first picked up ‘Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II‘. The first time I listened to this remaster, I hit repeat, because I could not believe the clarity, power, and depth in the track. Thankfully, there are only two tracks from ‘Pink Bubbles Go Ape‘ and one from ‘Chameleon‘. No remastering could keep them from stopping the momentum of the second CD right in its tracks.

Fortunately for us, the first album with Andi Deris, ‘Master of the Rings‘, also received a remaster.When the one-minute intro to ‘Soul Survivor’ erupted from my stereo, it almost gave me whiplash as I went from nodding off to banging my head. This monster and the dud from ‘Chameleon‘ before it could not be more different.  

This brings me to my most significant criticism of this set. The four Kiske tracks should not have been included on the second disc. The flow of the set is destroyed. With four tracks each from ‘Jericho‘, ‘Keeper I‘, and ‘Keeper II‘, there was no room for these tracks on Disc One, which should have closed out the Hansen and Kiske eras. The Andi Deris era should have started with ‘Soul Survivor’ leading off disc two. My disappointment with the way the track listing is broken out is compounded, because my favorite Helloween album, ‘Better Then Raw‘, is only represented by two tracks. The same goes for ‘The Dark Ride‘, ‘Gambling with the Devil‘, Seven Sinners‘, and ‘My God Given Right‘.

The last four tracks of Disc Three close out the set with the reunion albums seeing Hansen, Kiske, and Deris all share lead vocals. While not a fan of this line up, they needed to be represented, and these tracks do them justice.

So, worth it or not? With the price point of this set on CD only approximately $20 US dollars, you can’t go wrong. The sound is impeccable, and it is truly a career-spanning retrospective with every studio album represented. However, if you are going to drop $150 US dollars on the vinyl box set, you need to be a hard-core Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske fan for this purchase to make any sense.

Track list:

Disk 1

  1. Ride the Sky
  2. Metal Invaders
  3. Victim of Fate
  4. How Many Tears
  5. Eagle Fly Free
  6. Halloween
  7. A Tale That Wasn’t Right
  8. Future World
  9. March of Time
  10. Dr. Stein
  11. Keeper of the Seven Keys

Disk 2

  1. I Want Out
  2. Kids of the Century
  3. Number One
  4. Windmill
  5. Soul Survivor
  6. Perfect Gentleman
  7. In the Middle of a Heartbeat
  8. Why
  9. Forever and One (Neverland)
  10. Power
  11. Steel Tormentor
  12. Hey Lord!
  13. I Can
  14. If I Could Fly
  15. Mr. Torture
  16. Hell Was Made in Heaven
  17. Light the Universe

Disk 3

  1. The Invisible Man
  2. As Long As I Fall
  3. Kill It
  4. Where the Sinners Go
  5. Are You Metal?
  6. Nabataea
  7. Straight Out of Hell
  8. Waiting for the Thunder
  9. Heroes
  10. My God Given Right
  11. Pumpkins United
  12. Best Time
  13. Fear of the Fallen
  14. Skyfall

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