Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II is the third studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1988.[1][2] The album sold well, and success bloomed all over Europe, Asia, and even the United States. The album went gold in Germany and reached No. 108 in the US.
Two singles were released from the album, "Dr. Stein" and "I Want Out". "Dr. Stein" has a very long and moody solo, played with a blues tinge, very unlike other solos on the album, as well as an organ solo. "I Want Out" remains one of the band's best-known songs, and has been covered by several metal bands, such as Gamma Ray (which Kai Hansen formed after leaving Helloween itself), Unisonic (co-founded by Michael Kiske, after he left Helloween), HammerFall, LORD and Sonata Arctica. It is their last album to feature Hansen until 2021's self-titled album.
The title track "Keeper of the Seven Keys" remained the band's longest song until being surpassed by "King for a Thousand Years", from Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy (2005).
The recording of the album ran 24 hours a day between May and June 1988. Tommy Newton would work during the daytime and Tommy Hansen took over at night until Karl Walterbach (Noise Records) fired Tommy Hansen from the project. Newton claimed that if he mixed 'Eagle Fly Free' on his own he could make it sound more modern and so wanted to continue on his own. After the preview mix of 'Eagle Fly Free', Tommy Hansen was sent home.[3]
Loudwire named the album at first in their list "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time."[12] The album also ranked in the list "The 10 essential power metal albums" by Metal Hammer[13] and topped their 2019 list of "25 Greatest power metal albums".[14]
