Blind Guardian – Fly

Rodrigo

Heat in 7
Apr 17, 2001
883
3
18
Southern California
Blind Guardian – Fly
Nuclear Blast Records – NB1629-2 – April 18, 2006
By Rodrigo Escandon

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Blind Guardian’s upcoming album, tentatively titled A Twist In The Myth, won’t be coming out until Fall of this year so in the meantime all we will have of new Blind Guardian material is this new Fly single. After listening to Fly for many times I can say that I am quite excited about what Blind Guardian has in store for us with the new album.

For starters, “Fly” is a return of sorts for the Germans in that it’s got the speed of earlier albums but it still has the song structure used in a A Night at the Opera. That being said while the song may be faster there are some new elements in the guitars that we haven’t heard before from Blind Guardian. For example, the solo that begins at 3:29 is quite different from the solo’s we are used to hearing from André. In addition, at least for this song, Hansi is once again featured more prominently in the vocals and the big choirs used in A Night at the Opera are used sparingly for “Fly”. Personally, I hope this is the way the rest of the new album will work. Finally, new drummer Frederick Ehmke sounds really good and one can only speculate that his performance will be just as good for the rest of the album. The one aspect that does have me worried is the weird electronic sounds that are featured in the beginning and repeated a few times throughout the song. I have gained some acceptance over their use but I hope they are kept at a minimal level for the rest of the new album.

The acoustic version of “Skalds and Shadows” is the typical folk ballad that Blind Guardian has perfected. Think “The Bard’s Song (In the Forest)”, “Lord of the Rings” and “A Past and Future Secret” and you will have the perfect idea of what this song is all about. Featuring flutes, percussion and classical guitars “Skalds and Shadows” ranks right up there with those classic ballads.

The last song featured in this single is a cover for Iron Butterfly’s “In A Gadda da Vida” and Blind Guardian does a very good job in giving this song their own imprint. However, I usually find myself just going back to the first 2 songs rather than listen to this one.

Fly is a good teaser for the upcoming album but its too bad that it wont be released sooner. Fly has some exciting elements and I am really anticipating what Blind Guardian has in store for us in the Fall. I can’t wait!

7/10

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