The Official Blind Guardian Thread v. Yup, Still a Necrothread

[gazinwales]

Nightfall is my fave BG and one of my all time top ten metal albums, love every second of it 

The orchestral album is going to be milked to the hilt by NB, counted at least 10 different versions already.
Looks as though the 4CD set is already gone, get it fast, although we know this stuff is bound to get a reissue somewhere down the line.

I'm a huge fan of metal bands doing orchestral only stuff, Nightwish, Septicflesh and even Sabaton (new album) have done it and quite good too.

[wolfking]

Dunno what to think of this one.  To be honest, I haven't liked much of what BG have been doing since Opera but I'll try this one with an open mind.

[MirrorMask]

The snippets sound amazing!!!

The only very minor downside is that, thanks to the orchestral influences BG used in the latest years, those snippets sound like the rehearsal stage of stuff like Sacred Worlds or Wheel of Time - meaning, that you could almost expect the full band coming in at a point.

I mean, I know it won't happen, it's Hansi + orchestra only, but I hope they will stand on their own without giving away too much the "eh, I can almost imagine here the guitars and the drums" vibe since it sounds really BG-ish so far.

[The Walrus]

Be nice if there's some nuggets in the compositions paying homage towards past Blind Guardian songs. I would love an orchestral snippet that references the chorus of ATTWS for example...

[TAC]

Hopefully there'll be references to what Faythe and Xander are up to.

[wolfking]

The snippets sound amazing!!!

The only very minor downside is that, thanks to the orchestral influences BG used in the latest years, those snippets sound like the rehearsal stage of stuff like Sacred Worlds or Wheel of Time - meaning, that you could almost expect the full band coming in at a point.

I mean, I know it won't happen, it's Hansi + orchestra only, but I hope they will stand on their own without giving away too much the "eh, I can almost imagine here the guitars and the drums" vibe since it sounds really BG-ish so far.

Really?  I didn't know that.  Now I really dunno what to think.  Will check the snippet.

[wolfking]

I watched the trailer.  Can pretty much garuntee that this will be something that doesn't interest me, but the whole thing does seem pretty neat.

[Zook]

If it's Hansi plus orchestra only, it's going to be like We Are Sentinels, and that didn't interest me at all. I need metal with my orchestra.

[ProfessorPeart]

If it's Hansi plus orchestra only, it's going to be like We Are Sentinels, and that didn't interest me at all. I need metal with my orchestra.

Interesting take. I'm not sure what to think. I loved Sentinels, but Barlow is Barlow. Hansi is no Barlow. As I am still new to the world of BG, this is not an auto-buy for me. I will probably wait until I can check out more samples. The completest in me will probably buy it either way but I need a bit more first.

[The Walrus]

If it's Hansi plus orchestra only, it's going to be like We Are Sentinels, and that didn't interest me at all. I need metal with my orchestra.

Interesting take. I'm not sure what to think. I loved Sentinels, but Barlow is Barlow. Hansi is no Barlow. As I am still new to the world of BG, this is not an auto-buy for me. I will probably wait until I can check out more samples. The completest in me will probably buy it either way but I need a bit more first.

This is interesting to me because I thought WAS was boring as hell and Barlow sounded strained, whereas from the clips in the trailer, this sounds phenomenal to me. Hansi's no Barlow, certainly, but he's a god damn legend in his own right.

[gazinwales]

If it is indeed Hansi only (Andre's involvement being?), really it is not a legitimate BG album, and the Blind Guardian name is being used as a 'brand' to sell this?

[The Walrus]

If it is indeed Hansi only (Andre's involvement being?), really it is not a legitimate BG album, and the Blind Guardian name is being used as a 'brand' to sell this?

Andre was heavily involved with the composing of the record as well. Considering the spirit of BG is almost entirely both Hansi and Andre, IMO think this counts as a legitimate BG album. Not a metal record, maybe, but BG for sure.

[wolfking]

If it is indeed Hansi only (Andre's involvement being?), really it is not a legitimate BG album, and the Blind Guardian name is being used as a 'brand' to sell this?

Yeah, I thought this too.  With Hansi and the orchestra only putting the BG name on it is very misleading.

[TAC]

NOT INTERESTED.

[The Walrus]

NOT INTERESTED.

Open your mind! 

[TAC]

It was until I heard it wasn't Blind Guardian playing. I don't like Hansi's voice enough to listen to a symphony (which I also don't care for).

[The Walrus]

It was until I heard it wasn't Blind Guardian playing. I don't like Hansi's voice enough to listen to a symphony (which I also don't care for).

Symphonies rule, brah. Especially the ones about enchanted lands.

[cramx3]

Sad to say, I'm not terribly interested either.  I'll check it out, but right now, I'm not interested in buying it because I really don't think it's something I would continue to listen to.  I thought some of those clips sounded cool with Hansi, his voice is really awesome, but I just have no interest in a full on orchestral album.  Give me the full band and an orchestra and I'll give you money, but this just seems like a project that maybe isn't meant for me.

[gazinwales]

One thing I am looking forward to is the albums actual sonics.
Recent BG albums have had way too much compression on them and sound pretty flat in places.
Without the loud metallic instruments, I hope that Charlie Bauerfeind allows the orchestra to have a huge sound.

[MirrorMask]

If it is indeed Hansi only (Andre's involvement being?), really it is not a legitimate BG album, and the Blind Guardian name is being used as a 'brand' to sell this?

Well, it's Blind Guardian's Twilight Orchestra to be precise.

Andrè helped with the songwriting.

[ErHaO]

Yeah, it has always been a Hansi and Andre thing I think. Perhaps more Hansi than Andre, but I think that just seems so because Hansi is the frontman that usually does the talking. In the past I know they were considering calling it something else than Blind Guardian, but personally I feel that a fantasy themed concept with Hansi singing and big choirs is already very BG. The focus is different, but these elements have also been a part of BG's sound for a very long time. Earlier this year, or last year, Hansi said they had enough material for two albums, but my bet is that they merged it into a two disc release (which is the best option).

Snippet sounds good, anticipation levels are slowly rising. I love the presence of the narrators and the fact they got an established fantasy writer to be involved. Anyways, as someone who listens to game/film soundtracks and classical music fairly frequently, I don't need guitars in my music to love it.

[ProfessorPeart]

Still regularly listening to the first two. Just really enjoying them.

Re-listened to Tales From The Twilight World and liked it much more the second time around. About halfway through Somewhere Far Beyond and no complaints there either.

Went back to the same eBay seller that I got the entire 2019 2-disc studio album set from and picked up the 2019 2-disc versions of Tokyo Tales, Live and Forgotten Tales. Skipped the newest live album for now.

I can't get Majesty and Valhalla out of my head. They are ear worms that I find myself singing constantly.

So, I have been on a bit of a break (for those that care) in my BG journey as I stumbled onto Ihsahn and went and bought his entire solo discography and have been focusing on that.

Here is where I am right now. I have listened up to Nightfall. These are my early rankings based on a very loose scale as it's still early.

Battalions of Fear - Love
Follow the Blind - Love
Tales from the Twilight World - Pretty Good
Somewhere Far Beyond - Great
Imaginations from the Other Side - Pretty Good (I know, people love this. Only 1 or 2 listens so far)
Nightfall in Middle-Earth - Pretty Good (segues are nice the first time, unnecessary after that)

Something cool that I noticed is that since I bought all of the 2 disc 2019 reissues, the spines make up a cool picture on my CD shelf. The thing that bothers me though, is that the last 3 releases that I bought - the 2 live albums and Forgotten Tales - have to be at the end for the picture to work. They can't be placed in release order, yet they are also a part of the image. Drives my OCD a bit crazy. The image is essentially the hooded dude from Forgotten holding up the book in his hands that he is writing in on the cover of that record.

Once I finish my detour into Ihsahn I will return to BG.

[gazinwales]

Would love to hear your opinion on Ihsahn, his solo album's are quite varied.
My fave is Arktis.

[ProfessorPeart]

Would love to hear your opinion on Ihsahn, his solo album's are quite varied.
My fave is Arktis.

Looks like he has his own thread. I will bump that one when I am ready. I have heard 4 of the 7 so far and I am loving his work. I still have The Adversary, After and then I am saving Das Seelenbrechen for the last record as I am aware it is challenging.

[gazinwales]

Yes 'Das' is his most diverse and not what you would expect.
I was playing it on Monday and I though wow how did he ever come up with this stuff?

[Mister Gold]

After considering myself to be a very 'casual' Blind Guardian fan for the past seven years or so, the band finally clicked for me in a big way over the past week. Too early to give my definitive album rankings for the band's discography, but surprisingly I think my current favorite is probably Somewhere Far Beyond. I'd always imagined that album to be significantly 'cheerier' sounding than it actually is, considering its legacy as a power metal album, but I was pleasantly surprised by the album's rather dark vibe. Also IMO the band was already putting in some impressive proggy elements there.

My second favorite, for now, is Nightfall. I really love a lot of the individual songs on Imagination and the darker vibe that album has, but it feels a little... disorganized? The album doesn't quite flow as smoothly as SFB and Nightfall both do IMO, despite its incredible highs. Oddly enough A Night at the Opera, the BG album I typically went to when I was a casual fan, is the album I've been a bit hesitant to revisit.

Also at the risk of being a tad excessive, I picked up all three of the band's live albums. While I need to give Live more time to sink in, I'm head over heels for Tokyo Tales. It's this close to being one of my new all-time fave live albums... if only it had Ashes to Ashes and the title track off of Somewhere Far Beyond on there. I'd be interested in hearing The Bard's Song on there too, but that song's on Live and Live Beyond the Spheres so that isn't as big a loss. I'm tempted to say the same of Live not including And Then There Was Silence, which would probably tilt that into Alive in Athens territory.

[Zook]

After considering myself to be a very 'casual' Blind Guardian fan for the past seven years or so, the band finally clicked for me in a big way over the past week. Too early to give my definitive album rankings for the band's discography, but surprisingly I think my current favorite is probably Somewhere Far Beyond. I'd always imagined that album to be significantly 'cheerier' sounding than it actually is, considering its legacy as a power metal album, but I was pleasantly surprised by the album's rather dark vibe. Also IMO the band was already putting in some impressive proggy elements there.

My second favorite, for now, is Nightfall. I really love a lot of the individual songs on Imagination and the darker vibe that album has, but it feels a little... disorganized? The album doesn't quite flow as smoothly as SFB and Nightfall both do IMO, despite its incredible highs. Oddly enough A Night at the Opera, the BG album I typically went to when I was a casual fan, is the album I've been a bit hesitant to revisit.

Also at the risk of being a tad excessive, I picked up all three of the band's live albums. While I need to give Live more time to sink in, I'm head over heels for Tokyo Tales. It's this close to being one of my new all-time fave live albums... if only it had Ashes to Ashes and the title track off of Somewhere Far Beyond on there. I'd be interested in hearing The Bard's Song on there too, but that song's on Live and Live Beyond the Spheres so that isn't as big a loss. I'm tempted to say the same of Live not including And Then There Was Silence, which would probably tilt that into Alive in Athens territory.

Imaginations Through the Looking Glass is on par with Alive in Athens, and includes ATTWS and SFB.

[cramx3]

Imaginations Through the Looking Glass DVD is the first BG thing I owned.  It blew me away.

[MirrorMask]

Imaginations Through the Looking Glass DVD is the first BG thing I owned.  It blew me away.

I'm on it 

[Mister Gold]

After considering myself to be a very 'casual' Blind Guardian fan for the past seven years or so, the band finally clicked for me in a big way over the past week. Too early to give my definitive album rankings for the band's discography, but surprisingly I think my current favorite is probably Somewhere Far Beyond. I'd always imagined that album to be significantly 'cheerier' sounding than it actually is, considering its legacy as a power metal album, but I was pleasantly surprised by the album's rather dark vibe. Also IMO the band was already putting in some impressive proggy elements there.

My second favorite, for now, is Nightfall. I really love a lot of the individual songs on Imagination and the darker vibe that album has, but it feels a little... disorganized? The album doesn't quite flow as smoothly as SFB and Nightfall both do IMO, despite its incredible highs. Oddly enough A Night at the Opera, the BG album I typically went to when I was a casual fan, is the album I've been a bit hesitant to revisit.

Also at the risk of being a tad excessive, I picked up all three of the band's live albums. While I need to give Live more time to sink in, I'm head over heels for Tokyo Tales. It's this close to being one of my new all-time fave live albums... if only it had Ashes to Ashes and the title track off of Somewhere Far Beyond on there. I'd be interested in hearing The Bard's Song on there too, but that song's on Live and Live Beyond the Spheres so that isn't as big a loss. I'm tempted to say the same of Live not including And Then There Was Silence, which would probably tilt that into Alive in Athens territory.

Imaginations Through the Looking Glass is on par with Alive in Athens, and includes ATTWS and SFB.

Kind of stunned that it hasn't been released on a CD/MP3 format. Definitely a top notch performance from the Bards!

Also, still not entirely sure about my absolute favorite BG album yet, but I've finally checked out A Night at the Opera again and it holds up ridiculously well. Far and away the proggiest the band's ever been and I'd say it's hands down Hansi's finest hour as a singer overall.

[Zook]

After considering myself to be a very 'casual' Blind Guardian fan for the past seven years or so, the band finally clicked for me in a big way over the past week. Too early to give my definitive album rankings for the band's discography, but surprisingly I think my current favorite is probably Somewhere Far Beyond. I'd always imagined that album to be significantly 'cheerier' sounding than it actually is, considering its legacy as a power metal album, but I was pleasantly surprised by the album's rather dark vibe. Also IMO the band was already putting in some impressive proggy elements there.

My second favorite, for now, is Nightfall. I really love a lot of the individual songs on Imagination and the darker vibe that album has, but it feels a little... disorganized? The album doesn't quite flow as smoothly as SFB and Nightfall both do IMO, despite its incredible highs. Oddly enough A Night at the Opera, the BG album I typically went to when I was a casual fan, is the album I've been a bit hesitant to revisit.

Also at the risk of being a tad excessive, I picked up all three of the band's live albums. While I need to give Live more time to sink in, I'm head over heels for Tokyo Tales. It's this close to being one of my new all-time fave live albums... if only it had Ashes to Ashes and the title track off of Somewhere Far Beyond on there. I'd be interested in hearing The Bard's Song on there too, but that song's on Live and Live Beyond the Spheres so that isn't as big a loss. I'm tempted to say the same of Live not including And Then There Was Silence, which would probably tilt that into Alive in Athens territory.

Imaginations Through the Looking Glass is on par with Alive in Athens, and includes ATTWS and SFB.

Kind of stunned that it hasn't been released on a CD/MP3 format. Definitely a top notch performance from the Bards!

Also, still not entirely sure about my absolute favorite BG album yet, but I've finally checked out A Night at the Opera again and it holds up ridiculously well. Far and away the proggiest the band's ever been and I'd say it's hands down Hansi's finest hour as a singer overall.

Technically they did release it on CD, but only apart of that box set. But...

[The Walrus]

The mix of ATTWS on that DVD is bad imo, so I never go to that version. Obviously it's hard to recreate the orchestral depth of that track live, nevermind the choir vocals, but the mix itself just sounds wimpy to me. When I saw them play it in person in 2010, however, that was another story. Right up front for it and it was heavy as hell. I'm still not sure if I prefer the remastered version, because the updated vocals aren't quite as interesting and they're too up front in the mix. I don't think they've ever figured out how to perfect the mix on that song. 

[Zook]

The mix of ATTWS on that DVD is bad imo, so I never go to that version. Obviously it's hard to recreate the orchestral depth of that track live, nevermind the choir vocals, but the mix itself just sounds wimpy to me. When I saw them play it in person in 2010, however, that was another story. Right up front for it and it was heavy as hell. I'm still not sure if I prefer the remastered version, because the updated vocals aren't quite as interesting and they're too up front in the mix. I don't think they've ever figured out how to perfect the mix on that song. 

Yeah, same for the whole album. For the remix, they lowered the drums too much. They did that on IFTOS as well. Brought up the lead guitar, and lowered the drums... I believe I first heard the title track on Live, so when I listened to the studio version, I was disappointed that the lead guitar parts during the chorus weren't there. Nope, they were just too damn low in the mix.

[cramx3]

Since that live DVD was my first time hearing those songs, I kind of disagree, but it may simply be because of that.  When I finally got ANATO after IFTLG, I thought all those layered vocals really were too much when I got accustomed without it.  It goes for all those tracks on both that live album and ANATO.  I'm actually not much of a fan of the production on ANATO at all.  It sounds too bloated to me. 

[The Walrus]

ANATO is easily their worst sounding album, if we just concern the mix, next to maybe their debut and that gets a pass because it was a speed metal about from the late 80s. ANATO was a 2002 record and the band was huge, I'm still puzzled as to how that record came out sounding the way it does