adg211288 You Can't Improve Perfection...

...But You Can Do It Justice.

Blind Guardian re-recording Somewhere Far Beyond, one of their best and most beloved of albums that was originally released in 1992, has to be one of, if not THE most pointless of exercises that any metal band could set-out to undertake. The original album already has a remastered version done in 2007 and it still sounds as good as it ever did in 2024.

I get that the Revisited version of Somewhere Far Beyond is to be treated as something of a (slightly belated) 30th anniversary celebration but that is perhaps something better celebrated with the accompanying live version that is a full performance of the album. That has been released separately as a digital download otherwise it is found on disc in the boxset version along with a blu-ray of the same performance (Rock Hard Festival 2022) and one other (Hellfest Festival 2022). But there feels little reason to buy the Revisited album itself if you already own a copy of Somewhere Far Beyond. The original is power metal perfection. A new version just cannot compare.

But at the end of the day it is still Somewhere Far Beyond, one of the greatest power metal albums anyone ever made and giving it anything less than the full five stars would be mean-spirited. It's actually a cracking performance from a band who are more than three decades older and a couple of line-up changes down the line. They do it justice. There is a moment here and there where the ears pick up and something doesn't feel quite right but a lot of the time it can be forgotten that you're listening to a re-recording. The heaviness of the original hasn't been sacrificed. The production hasn't been too over polished in a modern way. Hansi Kürsch still sounds absolutely incredible, but hey, we knew that from their continued work including their last album The God Machine.

Is it worth owning? If for some reason you can't get your hands on a copy of the original album then absolutely. Definitely if you want the live stuff on disc and not just a download and doubly so if you want the blu-ray, which I think has to surely be the biggest draw the more expensive triple disc package. But I can't lie, I can't see myself personally choosing to listen to it over the original. Somewhere Far Beyond is one of my most played albums of all time. It ranks second on my Last.fm account where Blind Guardian is my most played band overall. To start listening to a new version more than it now would almost feel like some sort of betrayal. Not that Blind Guardian has betrayed their legacy by remaking it, but on a very personal level, for me, it would feel that way. Maybe other fans will get what I mean.

UMUR "Follow the Blind" is the second full-length studio album by German speed/power metal act Blind Guardian. The album was released through No Remorse Records in April 1989, a little less than a year after the release of their debut full-length studio album "Battalions of Fear" from May 1988.

Stylistically the material on "Follow the Blind" pretty much continues the speed/power metal style of "Battalions of Fear", although Blind Guardian have arguably become better songwriters and more skilled musicians since the debut album. It´s still artists like Running Wild, Rage, and early Helloween which are valid references and at this point Blind Guardian weren´t the most unique sounding German act (Kai Hansen even makes a guest vocal appearance on "Valhalla").

Blind Guardian perform their music with great skill and conviction, but lead vocalist/bassist Hansi Kürsch doesn´t have particularly memorable or melodic vocal lines to sing, and that the major issue with "Follow the Blind". As well performed and well produced the album is, the tracks simply aren´t that memorable and they aren´t easy to tell apart because of the lack of hooks. In that respect they are closer to second tier thrash metal than speed/power metal, but this is of course not pure thrash metal.

So upon conclusion "Follow the Blind" is a decent sophomore studio album by Blind Guardian, but it´s a far cry from the quality and uniqueness of their next couple of releases, where the band really found their sound. This is for fans of the above mentioned artists, although you won´t find much here which sets Blind Guardian apart from mid-80s releases by those artists. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Tales From the Twilight World" is the third full-length studio album by German power metal act Blind Guardian. The album was released through No Remorse Records in October 1990. It´s the successor to "Follow the Blind" from April 1989. Just as the case was on the first two albums, "Tales From the Twilight World" was produced by Kalle Trapp.

Stylistically the material on "Tales From the Twilight World" is a developed and more power metal influenced version of the more raw speed/power metal sound of the first two albums. The vocal part of the music has changed quite a bit and now features a lot of harmony and choir parts, and lead vocalist/bassist Hansi Kürsch has now been given much more memorable and melodic vocal parts to sing. He varies the way he sings and he uses more techniques than before, which make that part of the music a lot more interesting than the case was on the first couple of albums. The lead guitar work has also changed and is now more memorable and also features a charming folk influence. The basis of the tracks is still quite powerful and energetic speed metal with sharp speed/thrash metal riffing and pounding fast-paced drumming. It´s the combination of the influences which makes "Tales From the Twilight World" the unique sounding and intriguing album release it is.

Blind Guardian understand how to create drama and epic moments with the use of dynamics, and the album features both hard edged choruses, epic choruses, and even the occasional acoustic folky part. Compared to the two preceding album releases, "Tales From the Twilight World" features better quality production values, and it´s overall a pretty well sounding release. Upon conclustion this is a transitional album for Blind Guardian which points to their epic power metal (near) future but still features a lot of the raw speed metal riffs and rhythms of the first two albums. It´s not a perfect release by any means and Blind Guardian still had a way to go before reaching power metal heaven, but they are definitely well on their way on this album. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

SilentScream213 Blind Guardian’s first full on epic concept album exclusively focused on Middle-Earth lore, and this one seemed to be a breakthrough for them. Overall, the style is a bit softer, focusing more on varied instrumentation (folk and classical acoustics, as well as some keys) and hyper anthemic gang vocal choruses. Power Metal is still the core here, but it’s more progressive and less aggressive, and plenty of songs stray from the genre entirely.

The meat of the album is very strong, compelling, passionate and catchy. The concept story is an added bonus, but the music is plenty entertaining without it, and the tracks totally stand on their own. Despite this, I will say it’s decidedly less to my taste than their more aggressive fare.

In order to make the album flow more like a story, Blind Guardian added short spoken word interludes between almost every track, and I gotta say… I do not think that was the play. The 11 regular tracks are great, but the TWENTY TWO total tracks just makes this ridiculously hard to listen to front to back. It also makes the album very difficult to rate. The main tracks are top quality as usual, but the segues are boring and ruin the flow. Unfortunately I cannot simply ignore them, and they make this probably my least favorite release they had done at the time.

siLLy puPPy Celebrating almost four decades as a band, BLIND GUARDIAN has been one of the metal universe’s most celebrated progressively tinged power metal bands with an amazing consistency of top notch innovation. The band has been quiet for quite a few years however with 2015’s “Beyond The Red Mirror” serving as the last metal based album. The band surprised its fanbase in 2019 with the non-metal cinematic orchestral classical release “Legacy of the Dark Lands” leaving fans to ponder the next step in the band’s ever-increasing move into the world of classical music.

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.