  rabbit don't come easy is the tenth studio album by german power metal band helloween, released in 2003. it is something of a return to roots for the band. the album combines many old classic helloween elements with newer sounds and modern production. this is the first helloween album to feature sascha gerstner on guitars, who replaced roland grapow. no drummer is listed in the band line-up for this album. mark cross was hired for the position before recording, but only managed to complete two tracks ("don't stop being crazy" and "listen to the flies") before being forced to leave due to illness. mikkey dee of motÃ¶rhead played on the rest of the songs on a session basis. the japanese version contains a cover of accept's "fast as a shark," with the band's new drummer, stefan schwarzmann. about the album title, bassist markus grosskopf explained in 2003 that "it's based on that english saying, pulling a rabbit out of the hat. pulling this rabbit [the album] out of this hat [in reference to recent line up changes] wasn't that easy this time. that gave us the idea of just calling the album rabbit don't come easy. [laughs] it's not to be taken too seriously. we were joking that statement around, and then i suggested we actually call the album that". helloween interview (10/2003) - metal storm about the recording of the album, singer andi deris said in 2003 that producer charlie bauerfeind "shows on this new record that he is the biggest fan of our genre of music because he knows how to separate the frequencies and knows where the power has to be. you have to imagine that this type of music is so packed with frequencies that it is nearly impossible to mix because it is so overloaded and you have to single out all of the instruments so you can hear them all". [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=article&
2003_albums Helloween_albums Nuclear_Blast_albums