Overproduced. Pretentious. Over the top. Epic. Downfall. Magnum Opus.
A lot of things can be and have been said about Blind Guardian 's A Night At The Opera and one can tell they all fit in one manner or another.
Released in 2002, this album managed to split the fanbase of these german musicians into half, leaving one half in total awe of the grandiose setting, blown away by the sheer amount of things going on, whereas the other half couldn't find a way into the album at all as they were beaten down by the musical onslaught.
Blind Guardian - A Night At The Opera
For Blind Guardian, a (Power) Metal-Band from Germany, over the top has already become synonymous with their more recent works. However, on A Night At The Opera, they've outdone themselves in this regard: Multiple guitar layers, choirs singing the majority of text lines, synth lines everywhere and a synthed orchestra added to the mix on top of all.
This leaves the listener with a load to digest, too much for the first listen, too much for the fifth listen, probably even too much for the tenth listen.
From the opening notes of Precious Jerusalem to the fading outtro of And Then There Was Silence, the band never takes a break, leading to the listener being overstrained easily. It takes a lot of time to notice each song's own properties and it is very hard to sit through the album in one go if you're not too familarized with it.
So, is all this work worth it? Is it worth to take the time to make this album 'listenable'?
For me, it has been well worth it, as I consider this album the masterpiece of the band nowadays.
The most striking weakness of the album, the inablity to grasp the music at the first listen, is also a strength in the long run, as one can stumble upon new details in songs you've thought you knew inside-out even months/years later. This together with incredible song-writing adds together to one album, which stays, once it has unfolded.
There's the very solid lead guitar work from André Olbrich, who supports the vocal lines whenever needed, as in the powerful opener Precious Jerusalem or in the melodic beast The Soulforged, provides great, though sometimes not very audible riffs, such as in Sadly Sings Destiny, or adds fitting solos to the mix, which actually add to the song instead of distracting from it.
Then there are the drums, which feature the best drumwork in Blind Guardian's career to date. Whereas on earlier albums, the drums did their job, but were pretty repetive, Thomen Stauch does a good, but most importantly, varied job on A Night At The Opera. There's the usual speed-double-bass drumming, but surprisingly there's more this time around, from more progessive tom beats over awesome drum fills to the drums actually driving a song or two as seen on Wait For An Answer.
Bass and Rhythm Guitar however, don't get to shine most of the time, as the massive production drowns them out fairly often. Still, Marcus Siepen drives a lot of song passages with tight rhythm work, whereas Oliver Holzwarth's Bass is rarely ever audible.
And then there are Hansi Kürsch's vocals. Some people call his voice annoying, others call him one of the greatest vocalists. Again, just like with the album, probably both parts apply and his voice takes a lot of time to swallow. He uses his high vocal range to full effect, singing high notes, which also get amplified by the chorus and similar instrumental work, as heard in Precious Jerusalem's almost angelic chorus - He doesn't hesitate to deliver some energetic vocal lines and screams either, the aggresive Punishment Divine is a prime example of this. And as proved on Age of False Innocence he has no problems singing in lower octaves as well.
You might get turned off by his voice easily, but his energetic singing is ironically a major part of the band's success and actually fits the songs rather well, once you 'get it'.
Supringsly for a Power Metal-album, A Night At The Opera also delivers lyrically. Blind Guardian's always been about telling a story through music, and while their favourite topic is the fantasy world created by Tolkien, most of their stories don't circle around slaying the lord of doom or riding dragons - They actually try to capture a fantasy story itself and retell it.
This album is on one hand no different, but on the other hand offers some interesting changes.
For once, the lyrical themes are more serious and have a greater relation to the real world, with the single exception of The Soulforged, which deals with the Dragonlance book series.
Examples of this are Wait For An Answer, which is a story metaphor about the holocaust or Age Of False Innocence, dealing with the life and burden of Galilei.
On the other hand, the actual lyrics are rather well written, probably featuring the best lines Kürsch has ever thought up ("There's a moment in life / When all the years will pass by / And the eyes filled with tears / We once shed" from The Maiden And The Minstrel Knight, for example).
Another one of Blind Guardian's trademarks, powerful sing-along choruses are not to be forgotten though: Under The Ice's simple chorus is one of the easier parts of the album to get into your head, Sadly Sings Destiny makes you want to sing along, whereas The Soulforged's chorus is just a behemoth and very well crafted.
Whereas The Maiden And The Minstrel Knight (a tale about Tristan and Isolde) and Age Of False Innocence (supported by a sweet piano) lower the pace a little bit in between the album, powerful songs as Battlefield, which features an all-around amazing verse structure, are not to be forgotten and after the aggressive Punishment Divine, dealing with Nietzsche's demise into insanity, the listener will be exhausted.
But there's more.
Closing this album is And Then There Was Silence, a fourteen-minute monster, which features everything this band is capable of and even more. This song is the band's pinnacle - and in my opinion, one of the greatest metal songs ever composed. Revolving about the demise of Troy, this song does not follow the usual formula, but instead creates breaks, flowing passages and multiple climaxes in order to tell about the ancient war.
The execution is flawless - Though it's fourteen minutes long, there is rarely any repeating, the entire catalogue of instruments does an amazing job of keeping the listener busy, while Hansi sings about the probably most well-known mythical tale.
Filled with a grandiose chorus, an immense build-up in the second 'verse', a sing-along part and more, And Then There Was Silence alone offers more variety than some band's studio albums. - It will leave the listener dazzled.
Ending with a beautiful outtro, And Then There Was Silence closes A Night At The Opera, fading, until there is nothing left but silence.
--
Getting into this album is really hard, but it's worth it if it's your genre. I suggest listening to some selected songs first, as the entire album is a huge load to swallow.
Possible recommendations for first listen:
Battlefield
Under The Ice
Wait For An Answer
The Soulforged
----------------------------
Track listing:
01. "Precious Jerusalem" – 6:21
02. "Battlefield" – 5:37
03. "Under the Ice" – 5:44
04. "Sadly Sings Destiny" – 6:04
05. "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" – 5:30
06. "Wait for an Answer" – 6:30
07. "The Soulforged" – 5:18
08. "Age of False Innocence" – 6:05
09. "Punishment Divine" – 5:45
10. "And Then There Was Silence" – 14:05
------------------------------
First review ever, got a 'little' bit too tl;dr, but uh, just could not stop writing.
A lot of things can be and have been said about Blind Guardian 's A Night At The Opera and one can tell they all fit in one manner or another.
Released in 2002, this album managed to split the fanbase of these german musicians into half, leaving one half in total awe of the grandiose setting, blown away by the sheer amount of things going on, whereas the other half couldn't find a way into the album at all as they were beaten down by the musical onslaught.
Blind Guardian - A Night At The Opera
For Blind Guardian, a (Power) Metal-Band from Germany, over the top has already become synonymous with their more recent works. However, on A Night At The Opera, they've outdone themselves in this regard: Multiple guitar layers, choirs singing the majority of text lines, synth lines everywhere and a synthed orchestra added to the mix on top of all.
This leaves the listener with a load to digest, too much for the first listen, too much for the fifth listen, probably even too much for the tenth listen.
From the opening notes of Precious Jerusalem to the fading outtro of And Then There Was Silence, the band never takes a break, leading to the listener being overstrained easily. It takes a lot of time to notice each song's own properties and it is very hard to sit through the album in one go if you're not too familarized with it.
So, is all this work worth it? Is it worth to take the time to make this album 'listenable'?
For me, it has been well worth it, as I consider this album the masterpiece of the band nowadays.
The most striking weakness of the album, the inablity to grasp the music at the first listen, is also a strength in the long run, as one can stumble upon new details in songs you've thought you knew inside-out even months/years later. This together with incredible song-writing adds together to one album, which stays, once it has unfolded.
There's the very solid lead guitar work from André Olbrich, who supports the vocal lines whenever needed, as in the powerful opener Precious Jerusalem or in the melodic beast The Soulforged, provides great, though sometimes not very audible riffs, such as in Sadly Sings Destiny, or adds fitting solos to the mix, which actually add to the song instead of distracting from it.
Then there are the drums, which feature the best drumwork in Blind Guardian's career to date. Whereas on earlier albums, the drums did their job, but were pretty repetive, Thomen Stauch does a good, but most importantly, varied job on A Night At The Opera. There's the usual speed-double-bass drumming, but surprisingly there's more this time around, from more progessive tom beats over awesome drum fills to the drums actually driving a song or two as seen on Wait For An Answer.
Bass and Rhythm Guitar however, don't get to shine most of the time, as the massive production drowns them out fairly often. Still, Marcus Siepen drives a lot of song passages with tight rhythm work, whereas Oliver Holzwarth's Bass is rarely ever audible.
And then there are Hansi Kürsch's vocals. Some people call his voice annoying, others call him one of the greatest vocalists. Again, just like with the album, probably both parts apply and his voice takes a lot of time to swallow. He uses his high vocal range to full effect, singing high notes, which also get amplified by the chorus and similar instrumental work, as heard in Precious Jerusalem's almost angelic chorus - He doesn't hesitate to deliver some energetic vocal lines and screams either, the aggresive Punishment Divine is a prime example of this. And as proved on Age of False Innocence he has no problems singing in lower octaves as well.
You might get turned off by his voice easily, but his energetic singing is ironically a major part of the band's success and actually fits the songs rather well, once you 'get it'.
Supringsly for a Power Metal-album, A Night At The Opera also delivers lyrically. Blind Guardian's always been about telling a story through music, and while their favourite topic is the fantasy world created by Tolkien, most of their stories don't circle around slaying the lord of doom or riding dragons - They actually try to capture a fantasy story itself and retell it.
This album is on one hand no different, but on the other hand offers some interesting changes.
For once, the lyrical themes are more serious and have a greater relation to the real world, with the single exception of The Soulforged, which deals with the Dragonlance book series.
Examples of this are Wait For An Answer, which is a story metaphor about the holocaust or Age Of False Innocence, dealing with the life and burden of Galilei.
On the other hand, the actual lyrics are rather well written, probably featuring the best lines Kürsch has ever thought up ("There's a moment in life / When all the years will pass by / And the eyes filled with tears / We once shed" from The Maiden And The Minstrel Knight, for example).
Another one of Blind Guardian's trademarks, powerful sing-along choruses are not to be forgotten though: Under The Ice's simple chorus is one of the easier parts of the album to get into your head, Sadly Sings Destiny makes you want to sing along, whereas The Soulforged's chorus is just a behemoth and very well crafted.
Whereas The Maiden And The Minstrel Knight (a tale about Tristan and Isolde) and Age Of False Innocence (supported by a sweet piano) lower the pace a little bit in between the album, powerful songs as Battlefield, which features an all-around amazing verse structure, are not to be forgotten and after the aggressive Punishment Divine, dealing with Nietzsche's demise into insanity, the listener will be exhausted.
But there's more.
Closing this album is And Then There Was Silence, a fourteen-minute monster, which features everything this band is capable of and even more. This song is the band's pinnacle - and in my opinion, one of the greatest metal songs ever composed. Revolving about the demise of Troy, this song does not follow the usual formula, but instead creates breaks, flowing passages and multiple climaxes in order to tell about the ancient war.
The execution is flawless - Though it's fourteen minutes long, there is rarely any repeating, the entire catalogue of instruments does an amazing job of keeping the listener busy, while Hansi sings about the probably most well-known mythical tale.
Filled with a grandiose chorus, an immense build-up in the second 'verse', a sing-along part and more, And Then There Was Silence alone offers more variety than some band's studio albums. - It will leave the listener dazzled.
Ending with a beautiful outtro, And Then There Was Silence closes A Night At The Opera, fading, until there is nothing left but silence.
--
Getting into this album is really hard, but it's worth it if it's your genre. I suggest listening to some selected songs first, as the entire album is a huge load to swallow.
Possible recommendations for first listen:
Battlefield
Under The Ice
Wait For An Answer
The Soulforged
----------------------------
Track listing:
01. "Precious Jerusalem" – 6:21
02. "Battlefield" – 5:37
03. "Under the Ice" – 5:44
04. "Sadly Sings Destiny" – 6:04
05. "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" – 5:30
06. "Wait for an Answer" – 6:30
07. "The Soulforged" – 5:18
08. "Age of False Innocence" – 6:05
09. "Punishment Divine" – 5:45
10. "And Then There Was Silence" – 14:05
------------------------------
First review ever, got a 'little' bit too tl;dr, but uh, just could not stop writing.
