The finest album ever constructed

 Happy WMW, It is I, your glorious head master, jashens, for this special occasion. Is that a broken sentence? Is this the the worst way to start a Wacky Music Wednesday of all times?  Did I use two "the"s in a row in that last sentence?  Omfg, I feel like I'm getting ahead of myself.  Perhaps it's because I'm super excited..  Because today we're looking at the VERY BEST ALBUM of all time!  And, I'm not kidding either. Don't look at me that way, I'm using my serious tone and everything!!

In the 80s this band called Helloween was formed and I won't claim to be the most knowledgeable of their work, but what they spawned in their recording studios, along with who they made music with will go down as the perhaps the greatest collaboration of rockers to ever exist!  Kai Hansen co-founded Helloween, as their lead singer. He also would go on to help found and join bands like Iron Savior and Gamma Ray in the 80s and 90s building brancing legacies. Considered part of the Helloween Tree, even more acts would form from former members bouncing around, and ALL becoming leaders in the power metal industry. 

Here's a short list of bands under the Helloween tree: (Either members have founded, produced, or toured with each other in some way over the years)  Queensryche, Manowar and Paragon!, Iron Savior, Gamma Ray, and even 90s Judas Priest!  They all influenced each other and evolved into such an amazing Tree of Power Prog, you truly have to discover more about this web of amazing collaborations and creativity!

BUT!  Today, we're just talking about Gamma Ray. One can only define Gamma Ray as kind of this space age or sci-fi breed of power metal. They kind of meshed all walks of classic and power metal into all of their work. Think a dash of Sonata Arctica in the style of Judas Priest....  No better example of this is the incredible masterful work known as "Power Plant". 

Today's metal passage is what I consider perfection. There are no flaws to be found whatsoever.

I mean, just listen to this absolute banger that opens the album 18 seconds into it, and you get the calm setting that erupts into an absolute blistering mastery of machine gun riffs. There are more transitions, shifts in tempos, octave climbs than I've ever experienced before. AND THIS IS JUST THE FIRST DAMN SONG!! I give you "ANYWHERE IN THE GALAXY"

Just enjoy it. What is this? Am I enjoying the intro credits of a Saturday morning cartoon in the 80s, is this Judas Priest with Rob Halford shrieking to the heavens towards the end? Or all mashed into one?  YES!

Not to mention, Power Plant is still listed as one of the very few PERFECT albums that scored a 100/100 on Metal Reviews. Not that the review was all that well written, but it still checks out. After my first few listens I felt like a belligerent fool trying to coherently share my views, which most likely just came across like "It's rilly gud, put your head phones on and listen!!"

So now what, you've heard "Anywhere in the Galaxy" and now you've gone down the rabbit hole have you?  You should listen to ALL of Power Plant, then bounce over the the incredible Battering Ram by Iron Savior. Find stories and characters intertwined with callbacks to Helloween, Queensryche, and even Judas Priest!  Consider yourself enlightened, and also warned!  You may not have the ability to judge another prog-power album the same after enjoying Power Plant. It's a genuine hidden gem with enough nostalgic mastery to make you burn your entire MP3/Playlist or album collection and start over with just Power Plant.

I'm your WMW gaslighter, Jashens, and I'll keep the light on for ya.  Til- next week!!