Blind Guardian Help

[kashford]

I love power metal, absolutely love it. Second behind prog metal. But the thing that gets me, and others, is that I don't necessiarly like, or enjoy Blind Guardian.

The other day, my roommate handed me a copy of Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed it - I really enjoyed it.

Does Blind Guardian have any other albums like this one? I was trying to find some information on their other albums and from what I've read, their earlier stuff is more like speed/power metal.

Any help with recommendations in the vein of Blind Guardian would be awesome!

 

[mëtålspëd]

Paging the dark elf, Curufin...

 

[DoomsdayZach]

First two albums are basically thrash/speed metal, and they fucking own. Great, Great albums. But get nightfall in middle earth. one of the best power metal albums in existance.

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

Well imo they dont have another album that sounds like "Opera".

 

[rms]

No, Blind Guardian hasn't made another subpar album like opera

Tales from the Twilight World now!

 

[FatesFan]

Middle Earth for me is hands down the best BG album. Opera was just OK for me.

 

[kashford]

Sounds great - thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

Sounds great - thanks for the suggestions!

You could always just come over to my apt and listen to all the albums since they are in my possession.

:Smug::Smug::Smug:

 

[actordude]

For my money - Imaginations From The Other Side the ultimate BG disc... So freeking good from start to finish

 

[kashford]

You could always just come over to my apt and listen to all the albums since they are in my possession.

:Smug::Smug::Smug:

Truth. Just wanted to figure out, from a community of experts, which ones, regarding my tastes, which albums are worth my time.

 

[mëtålspëd]

...from a community of experts...

I see you are new here

 

[Sumeet]

Truth. Just wanted to figure out, from a community of experts, which ones, regarding my tastes, which albums are worth my time.

Heh... everyone has their own opinions about the band, and while I am a huge Blind Guardian fan, if I set that aside and try to see where you are coming from... if you are first and foremost a prog metal fan, and have not liked previous stuff you have heard from Blind Guardian, but liked A Night At The Opera, I wouldn't necessarily predict that you would like any of their other albums. Basically, they have the following albums:

Battalions Of Fear - 1988
Follow The Blind - 1989
Tales From The Twilight World - 1990
Somewhere Far Beyond - 1992
Imaginations From The Other Side - 1995
Nightfall In Middle-Earth - 1998
A Night At The Opera - 2002
A Twist In The Myth - 2006

You could try A Twist In The Myth. That has a certain continuity in songwriting style, but is still a bit different. The 2 albums before A Night At The Opera are probably better described as somewhat complex power metal with decided thrash and prog touches. The two before that are more typical Germanic thrashy power metal with some proggy touches, and the first two have a thrash / power vibe, without much proggy stuff going on.

 

[rms]

[ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=daP_Y2DHt1A[/ame]

Follow the Blind, one of their better albums imo and this should let you know if ull like the album.

[ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=UNS79HE3ZE0[/ame]

Probaly the best Blind Guardian song.

 

[DoomsdayZach]

A twist in the myth pretty much sucks asshole.

 

[nailz]

No, Blind Guardian hasn't made another subpar album like opera

Tales from the Twilight World now!

It's ironic that you'd bring up the worst album they've ever released in a suggestion after putting down ANATO.

I will give you though, Altair 4 > And Then There Was Silence

 

[DoomsdayZach]

Tales from the twilight world is FAR from the worst album. It's one of the few i still own... really good songs on that disc. Production leaves a bit to be desired, but the songs make up for that.

 

[Evil Penguin]

If you want to try exploring Blind Guardian, I strongly suggest Nightfall in Middle Earth to start. Good luck.

 

[skyrefuge]

How is it that in 16 responses, Sumeet is the only one to mention 'A Twist In The Myth'? How is that not the obvious answer to the question "Does Blind Guardian have any other albums like this one?" Instead, he gets a whole pile of misinformation!

Do people hear differences between those two albums that I can't detect? If someone was to pick a random track off ANATO and put it on ATITM (or vice-versa), I wouldn't notice at all, since it would fit in perfectly. This would clearly not be the case if someone was to put a track from 'Imaginations...' on 'A Twist...', or from 'Tales...' on 'Imaginations...'.

So yeah, if you like ANATO but don't recall liking BG you've heard before, the clear path would be to try 'A Twist...', and then, go back to 'Nightfall...' and work your way backwards from there, until you ran into something you didn't like. They're a constantly evolving band, but it's all been pretty linear.

Neil

 

[Yippee38]

I agree with everything Skyrefuge said. Try A Twist in the Myth before trying Nightfall in Middle Earth. Even though NFiME is my favorite from them, that's not what you may like.

 

[King Lek]

ANATO is by far my favorite as I like the Phil Specter "Wall of Sound" meets Thrash/Power vibe it has. Just my type of over the top music.

ATITM does continue this sound but kind of loses the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" vibe so for me it falls a wee bit flat...bland....a few good songs but far from the complete album I consider ANATO to be.

Nightfall in Middle Earth is a fantastic album and probably the overall fans choice as best album...and I certainly agree that it is their most complete album...a close second for me to ANATO mainly as it does sound different.

The others have their moments and certainly worthy of exploring later down the line...though none are what I would consider near as complete an effort as Nightfall & Opera.

Hoping they will explore a slightly different path on any new album they may release next.