TALES FROM THE TWILIGHT WORLD

Tales From the Twilight World is teh first inclination that BG was moving into unique territoy. While they are still power metal through ad through, Kursch begins to add elements that would come to set the band apart from their guitar-wanking contemporaries. Hansi begins to layer his vocals, though not nearly as much as on Nightfall or A Night at the Opera (as if the Queen influence wasn't obvious enough). Although the band speeds along in power metal fashion, there is a lot more musicality here than on many of their contemporaries' albums.

"Traveler in Time" opens the album with Gregorian chanting and a dirge-like riff before exploding inot power metal ferocity. It's one of my favorite BG tunes. "Lord of the Rings" tries to condense Tolkien's epic masterpiece inot 3 minutes. Bad move, Hansi. Still, the arrangements are nice and it's one of my favorite tracks off this album."Welcome to Dying" and "Lost in the Twilight Hall" are the other highlights of the album, with the latter being another classic.

Tales is the start of something better for Blind Guardian. From here they would add medieval sounds and much more vocal layering. Metal fans can't go wrong with this, but proggies might want to go straight to Nightfall in Middle Earth.

Grade: C