Blind Guardian to Release "Greatest Hits"

[PureXul]

People who don't even like Blind Guardian like Curse of Feanor. It's objective reality.

Wait, there are people who don't like Blind Guardian? I don't understand this concept...

 

[DuchessOfDork]

Battlefield was THE song that got me into Blind Guardian. I own every single album they've come out with though, so really, I can't complain. I'll probably buy this, too..

 

[skyrefuge]

Like I said, going from the older albums to the newer ones there is a distinct difference in sound. I'm sitting at my comp going from Tales from the Twilight World to the newest album and the new one just lacks the clarity of Tales. Vocals are washed out and the volume of the songs are lower.

At first I didn't believe you, but I did this experiment, and yeah, you're right. 'Somewhere Far Beyond' is a lot louder and "clearer" than 'A Twist in the Myth'. Totally not what I remembered.

BUT!

Then I thought, "weren't these older Blind Guardian albums remastered at some point?" And yeah, they were, and I was comparing to the remastered SFB. When I went back to the original 1992 release of SFB, it sounded much more "1992", like I remembered, and then with a similar loudness as 'A Twist in the Myth'.

So I'm guessing you're listening to the 2007 remastered editions? Looking at the waveforms, yeah, the "remastering" gave a serious loudness-boost, with the waveforms slammed right up to the edge (and probably being clipped by that edge at some points) for the entire track. In contrast, 'A Twist in the Myth' stays well clear of the edge and you can actually see the loudness ebb and flow.

On top of that, the later albums may have a tendency towards "muddiness" simply because that's the band's goal. I'm guessing they do way more stacking of tracks now than they did in 1992 (recording a vocal melody or guitar riff 4 times and laying them all on top of each other). The mixing of those similar-but-not-exactly-the-same waveforms creates "depth and power" as well as "muddiness", which are really two sides of the same coin.

Neil

 

[p1driftfiend]

At first I didn't believe you, but I did this experiment, and yeah, you're right. 'Somewhere Far Beyond' is a lot louder and "clearer" than 'A Twist in the Myth'. Totally not what I remembered.

BUT!

Then I thought, "weren't these older Blind Guardian albums remastered at some point?" And yeah, they were, and I was comparing to the remastered SFB. When I went back to the original 1992 release of SFB, it sounded much more "1992", like I remembered, and then with a similar loudness as 'A Twist in the Myth'.

So I'm guessing you're listening to the 2007 remastered editions? Looking at the waveforms, yeah, the "remastering" gave a serious loudness-boost, with the waveforms slammed right up to the edge (and probably being clipped by that edge at some points) for the entire track. In contrast, 'A Twist in the Myth' stays well clear of the edge and you can actually see the loudness ebb and flow.

On top of that, the later albums may have a tendency towards "muddiness" simply because that's the band's goal. I'm guessing they do way more stacking of tracks now than they did in 1992 (recording a vocal melody or guitar riff 4 times and laying them all on top of each other). The mixing of those similar-but-not-exactly-the-same waveforms creates "depth and power" as well as "muddiness", which are really two sides of the same coin.

Neil

I appreciate the post. Yes, the older albums I was comparing to are the remasters.

I like your point about the layering of tracks and the band's goal to have the labums heavier. I'll just leave it at that...

 

[DuchessOfDork]

I'm gonna go ahead and say that personally, Imaginations From the Other Side is my favorite album and I think every moment of that album was perfection. There was something really magical about the whole thing, and I'll be sad if they exempted any of those songs from the greatest hits. Mordred's Song, especially.

 

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

I would have liked to seen "And The Story Ends" and "Blood Tears" on this as they are 2 songs I listen to a lot

 

[nailz]

I'm gonna go ahead and say that personally, Imaginations From the Other Side is my favorite album and I think every moment of that album was perfection. There was something really magical about the whole thing, and I'll be sad if they exempted any of those songs from the greatest hits. Mordred's Song, especially.

In the very first post of the thread, I posted the track listing.

 

[DuchessOfDork]

In the very first post of the thread, I posted the track listing.

I know, that's why I said I'll be sad. As in, I am sad. Sorry for not saying it correctly.

 

[TheLongshot]

Man, "A Night At The Opera" doesn't get much representation here. Granted, "And Then There Was Silence" is on there, but nothing else. Not "Battlefield"? "Wait For An Answer"? "The Soulforged"? Some of my favorite BG tunes....

 

[nailz]

I know, that's why I said I'll be sad. As in, I am sad. Sorry for not saying it correctly.

Ah, gotcha.

I also found it odd that Soulforged wasn't on there, considering it was a song the fans chose the topic for.

 

[TychoCelchu]

The Soulforged is exactly what got my friend into the band; he loves Dragonlance and especially the Raistlin character. I knew it woud be the perfect introductory track, and it worked. He bought the album the day after I played him the song.

 

[DuchessOfDork]

Man, "A Night At The Opera" doesn't get much representation here. Granted, "And Then There Was Silence" is on there, but nothing else. Not "Battlefield"? "Wait For An Answer"? "The Soulforged"? Some of my favorite BG tunes....

Yeah, I'm with you. That was my first BG album, too, and I was so amazed I bought ALL OF THEM.

 

[TheLongshot]

Yeah, I'm with you. That was my first BG album, too, and I was so amazed I bought ALL OF THEM.

My first was actually Nightfall, but there was a lot for me to like on Opera.

 

[spag]

I guess I don't really get a Greatest Hits album from BG. How many BG fans only have a small portion of their catalog? I would imagine most are like me, and if you love the band, you probably already have everything they've done. Maybe not.

I would never buy this though.

 

[DuchessOfDork]

I guess I don't really get a Greatest Hits album from BG.

Because it looks SOOOO COOOOOOOOL.

 

[AngraRULES]

I guess I don't really get a Greatest Hits album from BG. How many BG fans only have a small portion of their catalog? I would imagine most are like me, and if you love the band, you probably already have everything they've done. Maybe not.

I would never buy this though.

I guess you must have not read through the whole thing. It's not just a greatest hits album. There are some songs that are not only remastered, but also re-recorded and even completely reworked/rearranged. There's more to it than a collection of their favorite songs.