Fortunately for us, the music have not aged that much, building on that high octane power that we saw from "The Dark Ride", excluding the dark bits. It certainly has that Helloween feeling of pure power metal epicness that has made a lot of people falling in love with the band, and a lot of this comes from the massive amounts of fun this band seems to have playing this record, even slipping in some naughty lines in the lyrics like "Something's growing in my pants as I look into her eyes". It is silly, but what did you expect from a bunch of pumpkin heads.
The ideas has been flowing as well, with twelve songs coming together for just over an hour of run time. It is a meaty album for sure, but it goes by quite quickly with all the cool songs making you forget all about time. We have a bunch of really catchy songs in here that might make you scream, like the opening duo "Just A Little Sign" and "Open Your Life", the mid tempo groove item "Never Be A Star", and the heavenly "Hell Was Made In Heaven". There is definitely a chance your vocal chords will scream and beg for you to stop, so make sure you do not get too carried away while listening to this record.
The most impressive thing about this album though is the diversity of it, having the strength to show off a complete set of different moods, tempos, and styles. "Don't Stop Being Crazy" for example is a 90's Metallica style ballad that works as an excellent change of pace in the middle of the record, or how about "Liar" which is the exact opposite, a heavy, hard hitting steam roller of galloping riffs and pure anger. "Back Against The Wall" is heavy as well, but in a more fluent way where the drums commands the show more than the guitars. And to add a little nostalgic touch as well, we have "The Tune" that will surely make the old school fans happy.
The two most interesting songs in this record though can be found at the very end, starting with "Listen To The Flies" that has a great structure to it, building up to this neck hair rising chorus where the falsettos are on point, striking high on the epic scale. Still, it has some slower and melodic moments, making it an interesting case of metal goodness. Then we have "Nothing To Say", one of the strangest Helloween songs I have ever heard, just for the fact that it mixes so many different genres. We got this classic rock vibe that is very reminiscent of Def Leppard in the verse, which then goes into straight up reggae in the bridge, only to become slightly more modern rock in the chorus. It is strange, but it flows actually quite well, making it incredibly intriguing. The thing though that takes this song from being good to awesome is the ending, where the band goes full on "Stargazer" with its headbanging drive and epic feel. I am not kidding on this one, they even say "I see a rainbow rising", making it obvious that this is a full on tribute to the Rainbow classic. What a way to end a record.
So if you have not caught up to what I have said yet, "Rabbit Don't Come Easy" is a fun record, and while it is a tad bit long and have a couple of fillers, it is still a hell of a Helloween record, overflowing with neat ideas and memorable moments. It might be the most innovative Helloween record up to this point in their careers, which is impressive knowing what kind of struggles they had leading up to it. Well, they obviously had fun making "Rabbit Don't Come Easy", and it is just as fun listening to it.
Songs worthy of recognition: Listen To The Flies, Just A Little Sign, Open Your Life, Nothing To Say
Rating: 8/10 Liars
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