Album
Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part II
Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part II is Helloween's third studio album, released in September 1988 on RCA. It follows Part I from the year before and finds the German band at the height of their melodic power metal sound. It sold well across Europe and Asia, went gold in Germany and reached No. 108 in the US.
Two singles came from it. "Dr. Stein" stands out for its long, moody blues-tinged guitar solo and an organ solo, both unlike the rest of the record. "I Want Out" is still one of the band's best-known songs, covered by Gamma Ray, Unisonic, HammerFall, LORD and Sonata Arctica. The title track was Helloween's longest song until "King for a Thousand Years" overtook it in 2005. This was also Kai Hansen's last album with the band until their self-titled record in 2021.
Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part II: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 54:47Tracklist
- 1InvitationMichael Weikath1:07
- 2Eagle Fly FreeMichael Weikath5:08
- 3You Always Walk AloneMichael Kiske5:09
- 4Rise and FallMichael Weikath4:23
- 5Dr. SteinMichael Weikath5:05
- 6We Got the RightMichael Kiske5:08
- 7Save UsKai Hansen5:13
- 8March of TimeKai Hansen5:14
- 9I Want OutKai Hansen4:41
- 10Keeper of the Seven KeysMichael Weikath13:38
- Produced by
- Tommy Newton, Tommy Hansen
- Recorded at
- Horus Sound Studio (Hanover, Germany)
- Recorded
- May–June 1988
- Mixed by
- Tommy Hansen, Tommy Newton
- Mixed at
- Horus Sound Studio
- Engineered by
- Tommy Hansen, Tommy Newton
- Labels
- RCA, Noise
- Length
- 54:47
Line-up
- Markus Grosskopf · bass guitar
- Kai Hansen · guitar
- Ingo Schwichtenberg · drums (drum set)
- Michael Weikath · guitar
- Michael Kiske · lead vocals
Singles
- “Dr. Stein” · 6 August 1988
- “I Want Out” · 31 October 1988
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1988 | 24 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1988 | 108 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1988 | 2 |
| German Albums · 1988 | 5 |
| Swiss Albums · 1988 | 6 |
| Swedish Albums · 1988 | 7 |
| Austrian Albums · 1988 | 9 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1988 | 12 |
| Dutch Albums · 1988 | 26 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1988 | 27 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Germany · 1991 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
74.9
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.7k
ListenBrainz listeners
50k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
—
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 5 September
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Full discography →
Death Metal
1984
Helloween
1985
Walls of Jericho
1985
Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part I
1987
Live in the U.K.
1989
Pink Bubbles Go Ape
1991
The Best, The Rest, The Rare
1991
Chameleon
1993
Mr Ego (Take Me Down) EP
1994
Master of the Rings
1994
The Time of the Oath
1996
High Live
1996
Better Than Raw
1998
Karaoke Remix, Volume 2
1998
Karaoke Remix, Volume 1
1998
Metal Jukebox
1999
The Dark Ride
2000
Treasure Chest
2002
Rabbit Don’t Come Easy
2003
Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy
2005
Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy: World Tour 2005/2006
2007
Gambling With the Devil
2007
Unarmed: Best of 25th Anniversary
2009
7 Sinners
2010
Burning Sun
2012
Straight Out of Hell
2013
My God‐Given Right
2015
Halloween - Live
2019
United Alive
2019
Helloween
2021
Giants & Monsters
2025
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1988-09-05 vs 1988-10-04 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 4 October 1988 | ignored lone early release dated 1988-08-29 |
| Wikipedia infobox | 5 September 1988 | |
| Wikidata | 1988 | |
| US release | 4 October 1988 | earliest US date |
22 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | Noise | 4006030011739 | other |
| 1988 | CA | RCA | 078635852943 | other |
| 1988 | DE | Noise International | other | |
| 1988 | DE | Noise International | other | |
| 1988 | DE | Noise International | 4006030011739 | other |
| 1988 | FR | Noise International | other | |
| 1988 | US | RCA | 078635852912 | other |
| 29 August 1988 | DE | Noise International | original | |
| 4 October 1988 | US | RCA | 078635852943 | other |
| 4 October 1988 | US | RCA | 078635852929 | other |
| 1989 | JP | Victor | 4988002165360 | other |
| 1993 | BR | Century Media | 7897012211721 | other |
| 21 October 1994 | JP | Victor | 4988002301348 | other |
| 2006 | MX | Scarecrow Records | 5050749411792 | other |
| 2006 | RU | Sanctuary Records | 4601250340074 | other |
| 1 January 2006 | XW | Noise Records | 5414939554575 | deluxe |
| 30 January 2006 | GB | Castle Music | 5050749411792 | other |
| 10 February 2006 | XE | Noise Records | 5050159641024 | deluxe |
| 22 February 2006 | JP | Victor | 4988002499229 | deluxe |
| 8 August 2006 | US | Sanctuary Records | 060768642928 | other |
| 26 July 2024 | XW | Sanctuary Records | 4099964053869 | remaster |
| 26 July 2024 | XE | Sanctuary Records | 4099964053876 | remaster |
Cover art sources
fanarttv · upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| fanarttv ✓ | 1000×1000 | upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50) |
| coverartarchive | 953×953 | upscaled |