Search - Gamma Ray: Heading for the East on DVD

REAL CONCERT, REAL MUSIC!

David J Newman | West Hartford, CT United States | 03/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All I Can say is "WOW!" Whoever produced "Heading For The East" really knew what they were doing. Cool strobing images and interviews intertwined with a stunning musical display by Kai Hansen and company. Par none the best DVD concert I have purchased so far! (I'd say a notch better than Helloween's "High Live.") The band's enthusiam and banter with the Japanese crowd is extraordinary. Ralf Scheepers. This dude continues to impress me with his vocal prowess. I was so excited to get this DVD because of 2 reasons- I had never seen Gamma Ray perform live and I wanted to see how good of a performer Ralf is. He is scintillating. The energy level throughout the concert is high and the band actually SMILES while playing some damn good Eurometal. Of course there's the crowd sing-along part, obligatory in any legit metal show- but this one is actually cool! Very upbeat and alive. The music is colors- swirling, bouncing every which way, space bound, Earth bound, alive! Gamma Ray should be revered, not passed over! Although the concert was from 1990, the music is about 10 years ahead of its time. Amazing musicians in an amazing atmosphere of love, peace, and hope!- David J Newman 2003"

Early era live in the East

Paul Lawrence | Australia | 11/17/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Just like the rest of the hard rock planet during the 70's and 80's Gamma Ray head to the east for this early 90's run through of their early efforts. The band here deliver a fairly tight and straight ahead take on things. A minimalist stage set up accentuates the grit and honesty of the band as it moves through a selection of its' own early barnstormers as well as a medley of Helloween staples to fill out the time.

At a running time of only 55 minutes this can't possibly be the whole gig, but if the band choose to cherry pick then at least they are doing something different. In any event they are truly in fine form on numbers like opener Lust for Life, Heaven Can Wait and the somewhat funky Freetime. The Helloween medley is a great excuse for some real wailing by Ralf Scheepers, Save Us and I Want Out being particularly needy of all of Ralfs abilities.

The extra features here are basically just a selection of comments by Malcolm Dome, noted hard rock and metal journalist and although they're brief they do add a nice little touch to proceedings.

Ultimately at this point in their career Gamma Ray didn't have the material to put out a real barnstormer of a concert but this release is really quite handy for fans who want to see their early incarnation going at it. Pick it up cheap and it'll serve you well."