{"id":67882,"date":"2019-07-08T13:18:14","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T18:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=67882"},"modified":"2019-07-08T13:18:14","modified_gmt":"2019-07-08T18:18:14","slug":"helix-old-school-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2019\/helix-old-school-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Helix | Old School"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Dan Skiba<\/span>
\n\u2014 Staff Writer \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Canada\u2019s Helix has released Old School<\/em> via Perris Records, which is celebrating over 25 years in existence as (perhaps) the record label most dedicated towards the preservation and advancement of both newcomer and veteran Hair Metal bands. In the case of Helix, veteran status certainly applies since the band was formed in 1974.<\/p>\n

For those unfamiliar with Helix, they have released 13 studio albums prior to Old School.<\/em> Throughout their 35-year history, the band has leaned towards playing Melodic Metal at times, Hair Metal other times (though never fully committing to the 80\u2019s movement), and Garage Band Hard Rock. They\u2019ve had a laundry list of members come and go over the years, but vocalist Brian Vollmer has provided necessary stability as the only original member still on board, and the band remains active today in the Canadian circuit.<\/p>\n

Old School c<\/em>ontains 10 \u201clost tracks\u201d that were never released but were found when Vollmer decided to clean out his closet one day and came across tapes in various stages of completion. After \u201cbaking\u201d the tapes (which provides one final shot to salvage quality sound), Vollmer and his colleagues realized they possessed some real value in these lost gems. So, add in some studio tricks and modern mixing technology, and viola! You have a new \u201cstudio\u201d release to offer the masses just like that.<\/p>\n

This release is an interesting listen, but as you can guess, the songs noticeably vary in production quality, which takes away from a cohesive listening experience. To Helix\u2019s credit, all 10 tracks are indeed \u201cgood\u201d, but as you can also guess, the original tapes got stuffed in a closet for a reason \u2026 and that reason is because there is really no \u201cA\u201d material on offer within Old School<\/em>. As a result, you\u2019ll get plenty of \u201cunpolished\u201d Hard Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll here, but this album is more of a nostalgia ride or collector\u2019s item for diehard fans of the band rather than a must have inclusion for fans of the genres graced by Helix over the years. If you fall into the former, then Old School<\/em> will be a welcomed addition to round out your collection.<\/p>\n

Genres: Melodic Hard Rock, Hair Metal, Garage Band Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nBrian Vollmer \u2013 Vocals
\nChris Julke \u2013 Guitar\/Background Vocals
\nKaleb Duck \u2013 Guitar\/Background Vocals
\nPaul Hackman \u2013 Guitar\/Background Vocals
\nDaryl Gray \u2013 Bass\/Keyboards\/Background Vocals
\nGreg \u201cFritz\u201d Hinz \u2013 Drums\/Background Vocals
\nSam Reid – Piano<\/p>\n

Tracklisting:
\nComing Back With Bigger Guns
\nWhiskey Bent And Hell Bound
\nIf Tears Could Talk
\nYour Turn To Cry
\nTie Me Down
\nCloser
\nGames Mother Never Taught You
\nSouthern Comfort
\nHound Dog Howlin\u2019 Blues
\nCheers+<\/p>\n

Label:
\nPerris Records
\nhttp:\/\/www.perrisrecords.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Website:
\nhttp:\/\/www.planethelix.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 6.0 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Dan Skiba \u2014 Staff Writer \u2014 Canada\u2019s Helix has released Old School via Perris Records, which is celebrating over 25 years in existence as (perhaps) the record label most dedicated towards the preservation and […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":67883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[12794,11794,15021,15022,981],"class_list":{"0":"post-67882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music-reviews","8":"tag-brian-vollmer","9":"tag-helix","10":"tag-old-school","11":"tag-paul-hackman","12":"tag-perris-records"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}