May 2020 Feature Release - The Guardians Edition

It's now May which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. Ben & I will certainly be contributing & we look forward to hearing your thoughts too.        

This month's feature release for The Guardians is 1985's classic "Imaginations From The Other Side" album from German power metal legends Blind Guardian. It represents one of the finest examples of the European power metal sound so anyone with even a passing interest in the genre should be all over this. Think German power metal is all cheese? Think again!

https://metal.academy/releases/735

I already did a review of this album, so here's my summary:

Imagination can be fascinating, whether you imagine your own sci-fi/fantasy storytelling world or a world closer to reality. Imagination is important when you create classic albums, especially ones that give the metal genre grace. The 1995 Blind Guardian album Imaginations From the Other Side is what really masters metal imagination, using large amounts of references in music and lyrics in a compact structure, like this band always does. The album is filled with atmospheric epics, speedier songs with blazing aggression, and great ballads of spirited glory that are greater than the previous album's totally overrated "The Bard's Song (In the Forest)". I agree with Blind Guardian fans (on or off) that Imaginations From the Other Side is one of the greatest Blind Guardian albums. Although it's a great flawless album, it seems more connected to Somewhere Far Beyond and doesn't break down as many power metal boundaries as Nightfall in Middle-Earth. I don't mind this album taking a few risks, and those risks are very small and really paid off. Imaginations From the Other Side is an essential album for power metal fans that I would recommend along with Nightfall in Middle-Earth. This is for both old and new fans of Blind Guardian. See you on the other side of imagination!

5/5

Anyone who has much knowledge of my musical taste would probably know that I'm not the biggest fan of European power metal. The major cheese factor manages to turn me off in a pretty major way to be brutally honest however this record manages to transcend all of my concerns. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that it's my favourite power metal studio album of all-time & it sits behind only Iced Earth's "Alive In Athens" triple live set for power metal releases overall.

4/5

This is probably the best power metal album I have ever heard.  It has such a full sound and powerful delivery that you can't help but be impressed by it.  Like all good albums it has real presence, occupying your head not just for the duration of the record but for days after.  It takes the necessary pomp and delivers it with a battering ram instead of light dustings of it being sprinkled everywhere which makes it seem more respectable and acceptable.  They went too far with Nightfall... and in comparison they managed to rein a lot in on Imaginations... and I don't think they have managed it again since.  I have no time for them nowadays with their soft pomposity and unremarkable releases.  At The Edge of Time was the last release I bothered with and I although there are some great tracks on there it is still not a patch on Imaginations...

I may have to check this one out, especially as even Daniel likes it! 

Since 1990's Blind Guardian is one of my favorite bands of all time, I wanted to challenge myself to do a trilogy of reviews for Somewhere Far Beyond, Imaginations..., and Nightfall in Middle Earth, so be on the lookout for that. Just to try and gather my thoughts, I've always preferred Somewhere Far Beyond instead of Imaginations..., and I think it's because Somewhere Far Byeond has a more experimental and varied track listing, dipping more into classic Speed Metal on some tracks, but always returning to their classic and epic Power Metal sound. 

Imaginations From The Other Side, on the other hand, gave Blind Guardian fans exactly what they wanted, with an even more epic, grand, and full sound with less Speed Metal influenced drumming and more use of effects and choir. Hansi's voice is just as powerful as it was on Somewhere Far Beyond, maybe even more so given the less chaotic and more heavy songwriting choices that help to really accent his fantastic capabilities. The band plays extremely tightly and there's so many little nuances in each verse or chorus riff thanks to Blind Guardians amazing use of rhythm guitar that actually trades on and off with the lead to create some seriously fantastic riffs on every single song. I think "A Past and Future Secret" is a little weak compared to the two part "The Bard's Song", but it's still a great slower track that showcases Hansi's range even more. After that it's just hit after hit, with "Another Holy War" being my personal favorite off of the album. Imaginations... was indeed the pinnacle for Blind Guardian's craft in terms of hard hitting Power Metal, but for me Nightfall In Middle-Earth is just behind and Somewhere Far Beyond is slightly ahead of this one. I currently have Imaginations... as a 4.5/5, but that could very well change once I'm done reviewing all three of these fantastic albums. While Somewhere Far Beyond has more memorable moments for me, there's no arguing that Imaginations... is on another level of epic and fantastical prowess compared to other Power Metal bands and even Somewhere Far Beyond. 

I'm really glad that the rest of the Academy seems to be in agreement with this classic. The saturated market of bland Power Metal nowadays can be a really tough sell, but it's great to see an appreciation for the genre from the best of the best, coming from someone who much prefers Blind Guardian over Helloween, Iced Earth, or Rhapsody.

I sure do miss the golden age of power metal. Now granted, I wasn't around for most of it, but I mean that simply from the standpoint of someone who has only experienced bland, paint by numbers power metal for the better part of two decades. Whereas Blind Guardian are a group that have been evolving and changing the game for the better part of three decades.They have been one of this genre's most consistent acts throughout the years, and Imaginations From the Other Side is the band at their peak.

And looking back on it today, I can hear how the thrash metal genre was formed out of the power metal scene. Lots of fast grooves, palm muted guitar passages and big drum work. Unlike a lot of thrash metal though, Blind Guardian have an uncanny knack for infectious melodies and phrases, making them instantly recognizable among their peers. And Hansi Kürsch sounds incredible on this record as well. His booming voice is strong and powerful, which adds to the layers of machismo that this album is covered in. Sometimes Hansi's vocals do get in the way of the pieces themselves, but those only occur on the slower tunes, and even then, it's only a minute detail.

I am glad to see that Power Metal gets its respect when it's most famous names are brought up, and in the case of this record, are generally reviewed favorably. Unfortunately, besides Helloween, this genre is usually blasted for being redundant and boring. But if you're in the right mood for it, Imaginations From the Other Side is a monumental achievement in the subgenre.

9/10

Challenge done! It was really fun to try and write 3 extended reviews and being able to dust off the old normal writing skills for the fantasy intros. I tried to make the intro stories as closely connected to the albums as possible, so there's a lot of parallels and metaphors in there, or at least I tried to put them in there. I'm glad I did this since going back to 90's Blind Guardian really reminded me of how good their big three albums were. (Not counting Tales From the Twilight World) So there are now three pretty lengthy reviews for Somewhere Far Beyond, Imaginations From The Other Side, and Nightfall In Middle-Earth from me!