Editing Helloween (section)

=== Hansen, Schwichtenberg and Kiske's departures (1989–1993) ===
Hansen officially left Helloween on 1 January 1989, and the band chose [[Roland Grapow]] to replace him.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Garza |first=Janiss |title=The Heavy Metals |magazine=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]] |volume=52 |issue=39 |date=8 April 1989 |location=New York City, New York |publisher=Cash Box Publications |page=13 |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/80s/1989/CB-1989-04-08-OCR-Page-0013.pdf |access-date=10 December 2023 }}</ref> Grapow was originally discovered in a club in Hamburg, Germany playing with his band Rampage. Helloween guitarist Michael Weikath, who kept Grapow's name in mind in the event Hansen would potentially leave.

Grapow, who was a [[Auto mechanic|car mechanic]] at the time, stated in 2017 that, if Weikath had not happened to ask him to join the band, he would have kept his job and given up on his dream of becoming a professional musician.<ref>{{cite web|title=ROLAND GRAPOW Says HELLOWEEN Doesn't Want Him To Take Part In 'Pumpkins United' Tour|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/roland-grapow-says-helloween-doesnt-want-him-to-take-part-in-pumpkins-united-tour/|publisher=[[Blabbermouth.net]]|date=20 August 2017|access-date=19 October 2017}}</ref> Grapow said in 2020: {{cquote|
"''Weikath called me in August 88 with the question if I was still playing guitar, because he saw me at a Rampage show, He asked me if I'd like to join Helloween after they will finish the European tour, because Kai wanted to leave the band…so I started learning the songs and in December I was playing five songs with them at the rehearsal room. Some weeks later I was already on tour in America with them and then we went to Japan after that."''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.musikholics.com/masterplan-and-former-helloween-guitarist-roland-grapows-interview/|title=MusikHolics – Masterplan and former Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow's interview|website=Musikholics.com|date=30 December 2020|access-date=19 July 2021}}</ref>}}

The inaugural [[Headbangers Ball Tour]] started in April 1989 with Helloween joining [[San Francisco Bay Area]] thrash metal band [[Exodus (band)|Exodus]] in support of headlining act [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tosse2.se/helloween_tour.htm|title=Helloween|website=Tosse2.se|access-date=19 July 2021}}</ref> The band was slotted in the prestigious second spot, right before Anthrax's set. On the heels of this exposure to U.S. audiences, the band achieved worldwide success. Kiske reflected at the time: {{cquote|''"I can see why it made sense for us to get involved with MTV but I really don't think we fit this bill at all. We're playing our hardest songs every night, but we're not thrash."''}}

At the height of their success Helloween decided to sign with then-major label [[EMI Records]] after being urged to do so by their management company Sanctuary, who also managed [[Iron Maiden]]. Their former label [[Noise Records]] sued them for breach of contract which effectively put the band on hold. Between June 1989 and April 1992 they did not play one show. All the momentum the band had built up came to a halt.

Their first album with new guitarist Grapow ''[[Pink Bubbles Go Ape]]'' was released on EMI in the spring of 1991 in Europe and Japan. In the rest of the world as well as the band's home country Germany the album was delayed until April 1992 due to the ongoing legal battle between the band's current and former labels. By that time the music landscape had changed drastically. It also did not help that Helloween moved even further away from their speed metal roots and further embrace the hard rocking side of their sound. As a result, ''Pink Bubbles Go Ape'' failed commercially and tensions started to build amongst the band members.<ref name="official">{{cite web|title=Official Helloween Website: History |url=http://www.helloween.org/band/history.html |access-date=17 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415013244/http://www.helloween.org/band/history.html |archive-date=15 April 2009 }}</ref>

They played their first show on their "Quick Hello Tour" in Hamburg 30 April 1992 and continued with some more dates in Europe and the band also went to Japan in the autumn of 1992.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 July 2021|title=Helloween tour|url=http://tosse2.se/helloween_tour.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Helloween Tour Book|year=1992}}</ref>

The follow-up ''[[Chameleon (Helloween album)|Chameleon]]'' was released on EMI in the summer of 1993. The very experimental album was a commercial failure. The band's diversion away from the sound that had made them famous alienated a large portion of their fanbase.

The original drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg was then fired from the band due to his deteriorating mental state.<ref name="official" /> {{cquote|''"We started to notice something was wrong with him when we were on tour, with all that road pressure"'' remembers Weikath. ''"Ingo had a strange behavior... he did strange things and we noticed something was seriously wrong with him. We lived with him and we could see his changes".''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kingofdrums.net/biography.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101000914/http://www.kingofdrums.net/biography.php|url-status=usurped|archive-date=1 January 2014|title=Memory of Ingo Schwichtenberg|website=Kingofdrums.net|access-date=19 July 2021}}</ref> }}

Grosskopf said 1996: {{cquote|''"It was like he had two people in his mind: the good and the evil. He told me the evil was always talking to him. It was very strong in him, he was very depressed. We decided to give him professional help, 'cause we could not help him. It was too serious."''}}

Schwichtenberg could not be part of the band anymore until he recovered from drugs and alcohol abuse and took his medications against [[schizophrenia]]. After a long telephone call with Weikath, in which he explained why they had made that hard and painful decision, Schwichtenberg was asked to leave Helloween.

He was replaced by session drummer Ritchie Abdel-Nabi on a temporary basis to finish the ''Chameleon'' Tour. Also many of the European dates were cancelled. Helloween played in half-filled venues and their decision to focus the setlist mostly on ''Chameleon'' and ''Pink Bubbles'' songs did not help either.

Weikath said 1994 about Kiske and the ''Chameleon'' Tour: {{cquote|"''During that tour we played seven concerts and cancelled the rest. Kiske said he had a throat illness, but we all thought it was panic. Your voice disappears when you are frightened or on panic. It looked like he just stayed static on stage, and when I said to him to move and give a better impression to the audience, he said that I was diminishing his authority on stage. I didn't find that fun, because he did his acts on stage, and they weren't spontaneous like before, he was just standing still to sing better, and that showed us that the songs from "Chameleon" weren't good for shows. I understand, the album could be interesting, but on the eyes of the fans we weren't able to play it live. It was like rice for us: Sticky, but not tasty!"''<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.truemetal.org/kaleidoscope/abouthim/interview06.html|title=Kaleidoscope – Roland Grapow's Official Homepage – Intermission Interview|website=Truemetal.org|access-date=19 July 2021}}</ref> }}

Meanwhile, the conflicts within the rest of the band worsened and the decision was made to fire Kiske. His last performance with the band was at a Charity show at [[Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg]] 22 December 1993, until he returned to the stage with Helloween 24 years later.

Kiske did not have any contact with Grosskopf and Weikath for many years. He would later release solo albums with different musical directions. In 2008, Kiske released ''[[Past in Different Ways]]''; an album featuring most of his old Helloween songs, albeit rearranged and re-recorded acoustically. Commenting on Kiske's dismissal, Grosskopf later said:<ref name="MRmarkus">{{cite web|last1=Syrjala|first1=Marko|title=Helloween – bassist Markus Grosskopf|url=http://www.metal-rules.com/metalnews/2011/01/11/helloween-bassist-markus-grosskopf/|website=[[Metal Rules]]|access-date=31 May 2015|date=11 January 2011}}</ref>

{{cquote|''"People thought we were crazy for firing a singer like Kiske, but then after all those years and listening to what he's doing now I hope people will understand why we did that decision. Otherwise he would have pushed us into the direction where he is going now and we didn't want that."''}}

1993 would come to a close for Helloween with no singer, no drummer, and no record contract (EMI released the band from its agreement for the low sales numbers for ''Pink Bubbles Go Ape'' and ''Chameleon'').

Weikath said 1994: {{cquote|''"Well, EMI said we didn't sell enough records for their taste. They had to pay a lot of pre-production costs and sadly we weren't able to sell enough albums for them to have their money back. The fans were disappointed. First with "Pink Bubbles Go Ape", and now with "Chameleon". We still sold 400.000 copies of "Chameleon", but we made a deal with EMI and changed our label."''<ref name="auto" />}}
Grosskopf continued: {{cquote|''"That was a time when nobody understood each other. There was too much arguing. Someone wanted it this way, the other wanted that way. We didn't have anything to lose. The three of us sat down and decided to begin again."''}}