Why I love Helloween’s Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt II – by Chris Jericho

In the new issue of Metal Hammer magazine, we celebrate 50 years of metal. As part of this we asked 50 of today’s greatest metal stars to pick their favourite metal albums of the last 50 years. Fozzy frontman and wrestling legend chose power metal pioneers Helloween’s classic 1988 album Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt II. Here, Jericho reveals that his life would have been very different without it…

Chris Jericho: “People ask, ‘What exactly is a perfect album?’ For me, the definition is that every song has to be an A- or better. If every song checks that box, it’s a perfect album. And Keeper Of The Seven Keys – Part II is that for me.

I love Helloween so much that I took my name from their first album, Walls Of Jericho. They created the whole genre of music that’s now known as power metal. But when they first started there was no power metal. Metallica had the speed and Iron Maiden had the harmony guitars, but Helloween put it together – you had the massive double bass beat with these crazy, intricate harmonies.

“They started out as a kind of thrashy band, but when they got Michael Kiske in for the first Keeper…, they introduced a new sound, which they perfected here. I saw them last year, and the guy hits every single note, and sings those songs in the exact key that they were written. Michael is one of the greatest singers in history, and this is the greatest power metal album ever made.”

The new issue of Metal Hammer, celebrating 50 years of metal, is onsale now. As well as the full list of the 50 Greatest Metal Albums Ever as picked by metal's greatest names, it features brand new interviews with Tony Iommi, The Fever333, Gojira and more. And if that wasn't enough, it also comes with a free double-sided Iron Maiden poster and free Metallica beer mats. How cool is that? Order your copy here.

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