Being fresh out of Helloween, Kai Hansen had one thing in mind: make a tribute band paying homage towards his previous valor. Sadly, this is what Gamma Ray was about when Ralf Scheepers and other goons nobody remembers joined Hansen’s effortless project, essentially resulting in “Heading For Tomorrow” in 1990. Now when I had my first Gamma Ray experience with “Land of The Free,” I was blown away, and arriving at this destination blew me right back to my initiation phase; honestly reaching into opposite ranges of emotion. Truth is, “Heading For Tomorrow” suffers a similar fate to that of “Road of Perdition” when Tom Hanks sees Daniel Craig fucking around, and quickly puts a bullet in his head without him having a clue. In other words, this feces-absorber was already deceased before it even knew death was in question.

Posing as a brainchild of a former Helloween mastermind, “Heading For Tomorrow” dances on an opposite spectrum promoting the enemy of substance. It doesn’t take perfect hearing to notice Kai Hansen’s epic conjurations on Helloween’s first set of legendary records diminished into rehashed versions of his grand speed/power metal diamonds without venturing into the exciting atmosphere he could easily reproduce in years prior. Lacking the incredible attitude and potency of tunes like “I Want Out,” Hansen plunges into simple, expected riffs lacking memorable qualities such as speed or strength; solos usually found misplaced, boring, or simply unnecessary toward whatever fleeing musical direction; useless harmonies trying to ride off Helloween’s set of synchronized magic, and several other bugging attributes, all of which can be found in his guitar playing alone. As for percussion, it has no real purpose besides dishing out easy bass-snare patterns, along with an absent set of fills or variety. Essentially, “Heading For Tomorrow” is the poster-child for generic power metal; a dull release showing you exactly what you’ve been shown a million times before. Thanks Gamma Ray, but I’d rather listen to my parents having sex.

But of course, Ralf Scheepers’ terrible vocals act as a poor addition to these bland songs, often times hammering in the last straw of patience. Really, he’s the total package when it comes to being a shitty vocalist: we’ve got sloppy notes, poor pitch control, annoying whines, sub-par wails, and a naturally bad voice known for its average tendencies all in one session. Ironically enough, Ralf’s lackluster usage of his waste-of-tissue larynx is nothing compared to the childish, agitating lyrics found throughout a number of the disc’s “chirpy” anthems. Most noticeably, we have “Money” and a fork-in-eye abomination entitled “Free Time. Both are gems soaked in elephant piss:

“It only makes me sick and makes the people turn to fools.
It only gives you power and, power makes the rules.
Don't wanna be an asshole that sits on dollar bills.
Ha, ha, ha, I know you'll take it no matter how you feel.” – Money

"The sun goes down, we're gonna see a movie.
How happy life could be without any work.
There ain't no doubt we're gonna have a party,
'Til Monday morning, no one can disturb.” – Free Time

I’m left wondering who shall accept these writing credits: Kai Hansen, or Pee-Wee Herman. Just another one of life’s eternal mysteries, I suppose.

It’s rather ironic how Gamma Ray is often considered a fundamental enterprise in the general fertilization of power metal’s sound and imagery, because they openly bow before all those annoying, repetitive plagues like mindless sheep during “Heading For Tomorrow” and the stupid content within; not a warming gesture at all, if you’re looking at them for material greatness, of course. Whether it was Scheepers receiving a nice shoe in the ass or Hansen finally getting a grip on his writing abilities, Gamma Ray has gone on to do bigger and better things, yet I must say this album has only proven to be a shallow atrocity in a sea of greatness. As a matter of fact, you can honestly skip over “Heading For Tomorrow” and the remaining Ralf Scheepers-era records and still feel like a true Gamma Ray fan; it’s not like you’re missing much to begin with.