BLIND GUARDIAN

The covers in particular, are all pretty fantastic. Paying homage to the likes of the Beach Boys, Mike Oldfield, Queen, Little Richard and Uriah Heep, these are unlikely artists to cover, but the Germans have stamped their sound all over them, and truly made these songs their own.

There are also live and orchestral versions of some Blind Guardian classics, and again, these work wonderfully. Especially considering the themes of the music, they really add a new depth to the bands writing and ability to tell stories.

Overall, this might be a bit hit-or-miss for casual listeners, but for die-hard Blind Guardian fans this is an absolute treat. Tracks like 'Surfin' USA', 'Mr. Sandman', 'Barbara Ann' and 'To France', as well as new renditions of 'Bright Eyes', 'Mordred's Song' and 'Lord of the Rings' are all excellent reasons to get this album. And while the band would delve into more ambitious, progressive territory after this release, this works as a great bookend at that point of their career.

With each album though, more and more non-metal influences crept in. Orchestral arrangements, folk passages, more emphasis on vocal harmonies, more story-telling, the band were becoming more and more theatrical and "epic" with each release. Which brings us to 1995's 'Imaginations From the Other Side', the album where Blind Guardian really start to become the band I fell in love with.

Taking things into more progressive metal territory, the band really start to hit their stride here. Songs like 'Mordred's Song', 'Bright Eyes', 'I'm Alive' and the title track all show a band who have broken out of their speed metal shell to add new flourishes to their music, and epic ballad 'A Past and Future Secret' demonstrates the bands orchestral arranging, with beautiful layers of music all intertwining to really bring the world of myths and legends to life.

As you can see by my rating however, while I do like this album, I don't quite regard it as highly as others. Some people consider this one of the best power metal albums out there. I think of it as the album where Blind Guardian really start to break out of the power metal trappings and evolve into something a lot more. No doubt, 'Imaginations?' is a really good album, but the best is yet to come.

Hansi Kürsch (vocals), André Olbrich (lead guitar, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar) and Marcus Siepen (rhythm guitar and acoustic guitar) were all there back in the day, so it is only newbie (he joined in 2005) Frederik Ehmke (drums) who was recording them for the first time, but given that "The Bard's Song (In The Forest)" is the band's most well- known song he has certainly played at least some of them many times in the live environment. It is always hard to review a re-recording of an album which is so well-known, but what I can say is that any fans of Blind Guardian will be glad to have this as the power metal has additional finesses and lightness, along with plenty of crunch, as originally this was recorded by a band yet to make a significant difference to the metal world, while now they are a very known entity indeed.

This is available in multiple versions, and the audio I have is the two-disc set which also includes 'Somewhere Far Beyond ? Live' which is compiled from two different German festivals in 2022 when the band did indeed play the complete album in order. I have not seen the Blu-ray (which is the three-disc version) but I can only imagine Hansi Kürsch stood at times with a massive smile on his face, as at times there was no need for him to be there as the crowd wanted to do his job for him. It is unusual to hear a crowd singing a whole song and not just a few lines, but Hansi gave them the nod and they were more than up for it. It is impossible not to be buoyed by the reaction of the crowd, as they are obviously having a blast hearing a classic album being played in its entirety, and most of them would have been too young when it was initially toured.

I am not always a fan of a band going back and re-recording old material, but there appears to have been a genuine reason behind this and there is no doubt that both band and fans have enjoyed the experience. Classic power metal with Blind Guardian still very much a force to be reckoned with.

Well fears of Hansi Kürsch steering the band into the world of musical soundtracks have been put to rest with the band's 13th album THE GOD MACHINE which finds the band once again releasing its inner beast and cranking out the symphonic power metal that made the band famous in the 1990s. This fine return to form also finds newbie bassist Johan van Stratum joining the team for a satisfying assault of the senses in pure adrenaline fueled top of the line power metal. Comparisons to the band's 90s albums ranging from "Tales From The Twilight World" to "Imaginations From The Other Side" are fairly accurate as the band has jettisoned the overly progressive complexities for a more straight forward head banging approach.

In other words it's back to the basics for BLIND GUARDIAN but with top notch songwriting and stellar vocal and musical performances, it has been easy to forget what amazing power metal powerhouses the guys in this band have been and with all excesses trimmed down to more hard-hitting directness, BLIND GUARDIAN has delivered an excellent set of nine tracks reminiscent of the 90s run only improved upon in many ways including a stellar modern production job and a reminder that these guys haven't lost all that music magic that made them the superstars they are.

THE GOD MACHINE basically delivers two styles. First there are the thrash fueled power metal tracks that blow the roof off the house including the opening "Deliver Us From Evil," "Violent Shadows" and the soul-crushing "Blood Of The Elves." Of course BLIND GUARDIAN has also been adept at crafting slower harmony led track and in this case excels with the mid-tempo rocker "Life Beyond The Spheres" and "Let It Be No More." The pacing of the album is well balanced and the dramatic intros that lead up to the power metal fury is all crafted into a perfect blend of modern vs old school power metal splendor.

Like many such retreats into past glories, THE GOD MACHINE certainly garners the criticism that the band is simply retreading that which it has done before and in that regard all is certainly true but when a band is fueling all its fiery passion and delivers the goods so compellingly well then it is indeed a welcome return to the no frills approach that has been adapted to the modern world. While not the pinnacle of BLIND GUARDIAN's discography in terms of originality, the quality of this album is absolutely astounding and for that reason i'm finding this to be quite a welcome return to form indeed although i must say that i have also been a fan of the band's more experimental moments of the last decade.

All in all these metal veterans play with the zeal of their youth of several decades ago and do so without missing a beat. True that this style of power metal is predictable and by the books in pretty much every way but when performed so well by seasoned veterans sometimes it's much preferable to eschew the progressive orchestral excesses for the sake of just rocking out. The band spent many years crafting the intricate melodies and the time spent paying attention to the details has more than paid off.

Time What is Time kicks off the album and is one of the all time great metal songs from my perspective. The song erupts with energy very quickly after its fun acoustic intro and basically doesn't slow down at all. The way this escalates so intensely is electrifying, doing it at such a rapid pace that it hits the point of having a certain erratic quality to it, but it also knows the perfect point to peak and ground the song with the chorus, stopping it from feeling a bit too full-on. The chorus itself really seals the deal as well, it's incredibly fun, with Hansi's vocal performance bringing so much conviction to it all. While the album follows a pretty similar pattern for the most part, the majority of these songs do something distinct and interesting enough to differentiate themselves from the pack. Examples include the more consistent pacing of Theatre of Pain combined with its orchestral flourishes, the folky sounds of The Bard's Song - The Hobbit or the mournful tone of Ashes to Ashes. All of these varying directions taken contribute to Somewhere Far Beyond having a lot of personality without sacrificing any of its defining traits, the melodies remain grandiose, and the riffs remain incredible.

Despite all of what's been said, I feel that the thing that truly elevates this to something even greater is the was it can slow down once in a while without feeling like a low point in the experience. Both the Quest for Tanelorn and The Bard's Song - In the Forest are perfect pace breakers that keep the epic imagery and atmosphere going strong, both being able to pain vivid pictures of this rich, detailed fantasy world. Overall this is just a consistently great album without much of a lull in its quality, bringing in a certain aggression that makes the incredibly dramatic nature of it feel way more appealing to me. While I feel like Somewhere Far Beyond ends up being a bit long winded, with this sort of dense music all blending together a bit by the end, even with the aforementioned pace breakers alleviating this issue to a degree, I cannot deny that every song has its place here, and that Somewhere Far Beyond is an excellent showcase of Blind Guardian's talent.

This album was originally plagued by an awful mixing job. Flat, loud and simply to dense to listen to. In late 2018 the band released a vinyl re-release that was remixed and remastered. This vinyl record sounds a whole lot better! Even the recording of this vinyl to digital sounds way better than the original cd. Another problem I had with this album was the relative weakness of the last few tracks. This problem was also solved by the vinyl, since you can just skip the fourth side of the 2LP. This brings the album down to what it always should have been; that brilliant string of songs and interludes that last for 52 minutes - which is more than enough for me.

By restoring this album the band created - 20 years after its original recording - a really enjoyable masterpiece in a very tricky genre (fantasy inspired power-metal). In 1999 the first Demons & Wizards album was released, a collaboration of Blind Guardian and Iced Earth, which is also a warmly recommended record for listeners of this genre.

Recorded whilst touring for 1992's 'Somewhere Far Beyond', it was at this point that the band would begin to incorporate a wider range of influences in their music and focus on concept albums, more ambitious arrangements and lavish orchestrations. However, while 'Tokyo Tales' covers pretty much all the best songs those early albums have to offer, it's still a bit too samey for my tastes.

With songs like 'Banish from Sanctuary', 'Majesty', 'Welcome to Dying' and 'Lost in the Twilight Hall', the set list is pretty good. The sound is great, and is pretty similar to the studio albums, and the audience is truly alive and loving every minute of it. But ultimately this comes down to taste. I'd rather listen to the studio counterparts of these tracks, and even then, I think I'd prefer to listen to 'Nightfall in Middle Earth' or 'A Twist in the Myth' than anything from those early albums.