Metal Reviews

Ok so this is not really a complain thread but i can't understand why this album got perfect scores everywhere. 3 reviewers here gave it 100/100 and a couple of other sites gave it a perfect score.

Now don't get me wrong , this is not a bad album by any means but i just can't see how it deserve a perfect score. To me it's one of BG weakest albums and the sound is way too oversatured. I listened to it many times thinking that it would grow on me but it never really did. To me battlefield is the only A song on the album and the rest is filled with B aongs. That and And There Was Silence has to be one of BG most overrated song.

I know opinions are a personal thing but can someome explain me what's the big appeal about ANATO ?

And btw sorry for the flashback to 2002

It's epic.

I pretty much feel the same way,I'd give it and 80 or so.IMO it's their best post millenium album,but inferior to everything prior.

Well, actually there is a really simple explanation here. You're wrong.

It's my favorite BG for sure. It's probably one of those things that if you have to ask about it, you'll never know.

It was the first BG album I heard and really struck a chord, clashing wonderfully with the extreme metal I was heavily into at the time and opening my eyes to just what Power Metal could achieve. Yes, it's overlayered and rather silly, but it's fantastically enjoyable and is pretty much guaranteed to cheer me up whatever my mood. Certainly a future classic.

Totally agree. I like three songs. Can't get through the rest. And Then There Was Silence is akin to listening to grass grow.

Actually, this. My first, except for the just getting into power metal bit... Actually I was just getting into extreme metal when I heard this.

So, for all the guys who think there are only 3 good songs, which songs are the good ones? I'm assuming Battlefield is one of them.

Yeah,Battlefield is far and away my favorite song on the album,really one of my favorite BG songs for that matter.

Precious Jerusalem,Under the Ice,The Soulforged,and Punishment Divine are good songs.

I'm more of a fan of oldschool B.G personally.Tales from the Twilight World is my favorite,but I also dig the hell out of their first two albums.

Solid release. I agree it doesn't deserve a perfect score but it deserves somewhere around 89 to 92.

I hear ya. I love Tales also, so no disagreement there.

I think it's a great album, around 90/100. And I think And then there was Silence is one of the most epic songs of all time. It's not 100/100 though. There's too much weak stuff in the middle after Precious Jerusalem, Battlefield, Under the Ice and before ATTWS comes on.

The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight and Wait for an Answer are the only great songs in the middle.

It's my favorite here, too. Closely followed by Imaginations From the Other Side and Tales From the Twilight World.

Under the ice, soulforged, harvest of sorrow

Yeah, the album varies somewhat in quality but I can not understand the disregard for And Then Was Silence; Sadly Sings Destiny is one of my all-time favorite cheese songs too. This is probably tied with Tales for my second favorite Blind Guardian behind Imaginations.

Personally, id give it 100%.

I agree that this album is mostly full of crap. Battlefield, Soulforged, Punishment Divine, and And then there was Silence are the only songs I can tolerate listening to. Soulforged is a magnificent song though, probably up there with there best songs. And then there Was Silence, despite its length, is a very epic and awesome song, but to make a point, the fact that I can sit through this entire song and not lost interest is a testament to how boring and shitty the other unmentioned songs are, which are significantly shorter.

BG ran out of good ideas on this album (their first one to do so), so they overcompensated with five thousand layered vocal tracks and totally uninspired songs. The Maiden and Ministrel Knight???? WTF, they totall recyled the riff from Mirror Mirror. Precious Jersusalem is boring as hell, all the other songs have one or two cool parts in them, but frankly are not good enough to warrant sitting throughh 5-6 minutes of boring chorus line verses and uninspired stale riffs.

This was the beginning of the end for this band....in my opinion. Just to keep perspective, I know many of you love this album, so this isnt a judgment on your tastes, just an explanation of mine.

In the grand scheme of Blind Guardian it's not a bad album but certainly not one of their best. The overlayering got really out of hand and the sound became overpolished. The songs became less memorable too though there are some that are pretty awesome (Battlefield and Jerusalem stand out).

I'd probably have given it 70-75 out of 100 while Imaginations From The Other Side would be 95/100 and Nightfall In Middle Earth 99/100 - nothing is ever perfect. Tales From The Twilight World wound be 80/100 while Batallions would probably also be a 70/100.

The last two (Edge of Time and A Twist In The Myth) would probably be about 60/100 i.e. average.

Just looked at my score and it's an 88 which I think still stands. It's a great album but definitely not perfect.