|
||||||||||||||||
It speaks volumes that Follow The Blind and this were the only Blind Guardian albums left uncovered by my predecessors – despite both being excellent albums, they aren’t exactly first to mind when discussing the band’s greatest achievements. I dealt with Follow The Blind elsewhere; today it’s Somewhere Far Beyond’s turn to receive the re-examination that it deserves. Wedged into the Blind Guardian discography between Tales From The Twilight World and Imaginations From The Other Side, and something of a transitional album between their old speed metal and later power metal sounds, Somewhere Far Beyond is nonetheless an album more than worth your ears. As with all the other albums in this band’s catalogue up to (and in my opinion, including) A Night At The Opera, there’s very little to seriously criticise – Somewhere Far Beyond’s sound is rich and crisp, well-produced and complex. It’s perhaps one of the best attempts I’ve heard to meld the heavy and cheesy aspects that Power Metal is on a constant quest to balance, mixing the thrashing steel from early Blind Guardian with their fantastical interests to create a united approach that simply works. Hard as it is picking standouts due to the overwhelming quality of the album, it would be harder still to ignore some of the amazing tracks here. Album opener Time What Is Time has to be at the head of the queue, a gentle acoustic introduction soon erupting into heavy riffing and back to melody as Hansi’s powerful vocals storm in. The track is complex, yet never less than wonderfully listenable, and that the following Journey Through The Dark is possibly even better only goes to show what excellent songwriters the band are. This quality is kept to a high standard throughout the album, through ballads like Black Chamber and epic symphonic stompers like Theatre Of Pain and Quest For Tanelorn. From the anthemic Ashes To Ashes to the acoustic The Bard’s Song – In The Forest, Blind Guardian succeed at everything they turn their hands to, even The Piper’s Calling’s bagpipes. I’ll avoid my usual waffle of naming each band member and praising them in turn, as it should be pretty clear already that Blind Guardian are a well-oiled unit. I do prefer Somewhere Far Beyond’s broader palette to, say, Tales From The Twilight World’s more purist approach, although I’ll avoid the mistake of saying that I prefer the songs here! Everyone will have their own favourite Blind Guardian album, and it’s unfair to start putting them in order of quality, as each has much to recommend it. Power Metal fans should already be more than au fait with Blind Guardian’s early nineties material, as it is among the best that the genre has to offer, and Somewhere Far Beyond is no exception. |
||||||||||||||||
Killing Songs : All |
Goat quoted CLASSIC | |||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
There are 23 replies to this review. Last one on Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:10 pm
View and Post comments