Unlike "Heading for Tomorrow" which at least attempted to progress the power/speed metal roots of Helloween, "Sigh no More" takes two steps back. If I said this sounds like Poison or Aerosmith half the time, you'd probably call bullsh*t, but I kid you not: this is loaded with regurgitated rockers that could level mountains with their sh*tness. Hell, the songwriting remains so dull, predictable, and embarrassing that I can't think of a snazzy metaphor to compare it to. There's never a blast of fresh air from the novice structuring and half-assed chorus of "Changes" to the insipid abomination of a ballad that is "Father and Son," and song after song fails to become memorable, intelligent, or even remotely listenable; just the same hard rock trash recycled without mercy. Pretty much the whole scope of creativity was stupefied to sound like Poison or some similar hard rock garbage, no joke.

It quickly becomes an exercise of one's patience. Listen to something with flare like "No World Order" or "Somewhere out in Space" and then try sitting through the bath of poo that covers the plodding "One With the World" and those useless percussion additions, or perhaps the fan-favorite "Rich and Famous," which is so musically and lyrically stupid that I'm sure I drop four I.Q. points every time hear it. The infamous Ralf Scheepers once again delivers a mediocre vocal performance that is often mired by the metallic soundscape and his lackluster chemistry within the group, and Kai Hansen's guitar work looks rushed and lacking. There are some semi-passable numbers, particularly the flashy NWOBHM touches on "Start Running," although the song is still not Gamma Ray-tier despite its neatness. "Dream Healer" unsurprisingly endures its legacy as the album's best song, using dark and perplexing compositional pieces and sensational guitar work to make it a special tune; Scheepers doesn't sound too shabby either. Hell, it may be one of the finest fossils of the Scheepers era.