Better Than Raw

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Better Than Raw is the eighth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1998. The album spawned the singles "I Can" and "Hey Lord!".

The album was recorded at Chateau du Pape and Crazy Cat Studios in Hamburg and at Mi Sueño Studio in Tenerife. It was produced and mixed by Tommy Hansen at Chateau du Pape and mastered by Ian Cooper at Metropolis, London.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Deliberately Limited Preliminary Prelude Period in Z"	Instrumental	Kusch	1:45
2.	"Push"	Deris/Kusch/Weikath	Kusch	4:45
3.	"Falling Higher"	Deris/Weikath	Weikath	4:45
4.	"Hey Lord!"	Deris	Deris	4:07
5.	"Don't Spit on My Mind"	Deris	Deris/Grosskopf	4:24
6.	"Revelation"	Deris	Kusch	8:21
7.	"Time"	Deris	Deris	5:43
8.	"I Can"	Weikath	Deris/Weikath	4:38
9.	"A Handful of Pain"	Deris	Kusch	4:49
10.	"Laudate Dominum"	Weikath	Weikath	5:10
11.	"Midnight Sun"	Weikath	Weikath	6:19

Expanded Edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Back on the Ground"	Kusch/Deris	4:40
2.	"A Game We Shouldn't Play"	Deris	3:38
3.	"Perfect Gentleman" (live bootleg version)	Deris/Weikath	3:27
4.	"Moshi Moshi~Shiki No Uta" (live drum solo)	Kusch/Grapow	6:53

• M - 2 also appears on the "I Can" single.
• M - 3,4 also appears on the "Hey Lord!" single.

Personnel

Helloween

• Andi Deris - Vocals
• Michael Weikath - Guitar
• Roland Grapow - Guitar
• Markus Grosskopf - Bass
• Uli Kusch - Drums

Others

• Jorn Ellerbrock - keyboards
• Tommy Hansen (producer) - keyboards
• Jutta Weinhold, Ralf Maurer, Christina Hahne and Helloween members - Backing vocals

Trivia

• Hanson have been known to use the album introduction as an entrance to their concerts.
• Laudate Dominum was written as a tribute for the band's dedicated fans in Spain, South America and other Christians countries.
• Midnight Sun is about the ending of a bad relationship.
• The cover was inspired by The Smurfs, with Gargamel changed for the witch and the Smurfs for pumpkins.
• As opposed to the more benign-looking pumpkin used on previous albums, a sinister-looking pumpkin is used to represent the "o" in the "Helloween" logo. Albeit with a few minor tweaks, it is still currently in use.

External links

• Helloween - Better Than Raw (1998) - Poster (Hi Res Scan)