BLIND GUARDIAN — The Forgotten Tales (review)

BLIND GUARDIAN — The Forgotten Tales album cover Boxset / Compilation · 1996 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
martindavey87
‘The Forgotten Tales’ is a 1996 compilation album by German power metal band Blind Guardian. Rather than a retrospective look over their five-album career (at that point), this gathers up all the loose ends, in particular, singles b-sides and bonus tracks from various different releases, but of course, there’s a number of new recordings too. Varying from covers, acoustic renditions and live recordings, it’s quite a mixed bag, but it’s very definitely Blind Guardian through and through.

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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Wither Death-Doom Metal
SLUKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Wails Of Ten Thousand Sludge Metal
OLD SKIN (CO)
Buy this album from MMA partners
Thunderhunter Sludge Metal
KARLA KVLT
Buy this album from MMA partners
Black Rain Falls Atmospheric Sludge Metal
WREN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lifespring Sludge Metal
HELLVETIKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

To Obey A Tyrant - "Obsidian Sol" (Official Music Video)
TO OBEY A TYRANT
Bosh66· 14 hours ago
DESTROY HUMANITY - Cats of Ulthar (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
DESTROY HUMANITY
Bosh66· 1 day ago
DESTROY HUMANITY - Isolation (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
DESTROY HUMANITY
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Destroy Humanity - Grabbing the Cow by Its Tail (Lyric video)
DESTROY HUMANITY
Bosh66· 1 day ago
HAG - Gods of Famine (Official Music Video)
HAG
Bosh66· 2 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed