Description

Their third studio album ldquoInsanity amp Geniusrdquo, which arrived at the stores in late summer 1993, presented Gamma Ray from an even tougher and more experimental side than their 1991 predecessor release ldquoSigh No Morerdquo had done.On top of that, an incisive lineup change had taken place in the Gamma Ray camp during the runup to the production drummer Uli Kusch and bassist Uwe Wessel had left due to personal differences and were replaced by Jan Rubach bass and Thomas Nack drums, formerly of Luumlbeck band Anesthesia. Hansen ldquoThose two were used to much harder stuff from Anesthesia, but they fit in perfectly because wersquod already seen a change of direction on lsquoSigh No Morersquo and were open to new ideas. And of course Jan and Thomas worked together excellently.rdquoBassist Jan Rubach immediately contributed compositional inspiration and his remarkable songwriting skills, penning the title track and sections of the opener acuteTribute To The Past, among others. Thomas Nackrsquos powerful drum style brought a fresh feel to Gamma Rayrsquos material, taking the band to occasionally almost brutal levels of hardness on ldquoInsanity And Geniusrdquo.Kai Hansen himself calls the recording ldquounusually colourful and experimentalrdquo. With that, the Gamma Ray founder is referring to the title track, the occasionally spacey, rocking sound on acuteThe Cave Principle, and acuteHeal Me with its cabaretlike arrangement. By contrast, there are also typical Gamma Ray numbers such as acuteTribute To The Past and acuteLast Before The Storm, which Hansen speaks of as ldquorevisiting my Helloween pastrdquo. Another highlight on the album is the single release acuteFuture Madhouse about the aftermath of the Gulf War, described by Hansen as ldquoQueen on speedrdquo ldquoacuteFuture Madhouse has that kamikaze mentality which was typical of us at the time.rdquoThe song acuteGamma Ray, cover version of a classic by German rock group Birth Control and obviously the namesake of the band from Hamburg, plays a significant role.rdquoInsanity And Geniusrdquo was a commercial success particularly in the Far East and the topselling Gamma Ray album in Japan with almost 100,000 copies sold, missing a gold award by a hairrsquos breath. It was also the final studio recording featuring singer Ralf Scheepers, who left in 1994 to launch Primal Fear, Kai Hansen going on to replace him as the grouprsquos lead vocalist.The 2016 anniversary rerelease of Insanity amp Genius includes, along with the eleven original tracks remastered by producersound engineer Eike Freese Dark Age, Deep Purple, additional demo material of acuteMoney, acuteThe Silence and acuteSail On, an extended version of acuteGamma Ray and a rough mix of acuteSpace Eater, plus the Judas Priest cover acuteExciter as well as live interpretations of acuteValley Of The Kings and acuteHeaven Can Wait, which were recorded 2016 at the Chameleon Studios. Gamma Ray CD is available for home delivery from Vinyl Records London, only £12.99