Blind Guardian

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Minstrel X wrote: Blind Guardian's "A Night at the Opera" is probably the great power metal album ever created. And it's clearly influenced by Progressive Music, specially the Epic "And then there was silence" Recommended for Everyone. It's symphonic epic metal - unfortunately not very progressive. It's really just a clever combination of classical songwriting and composition/arrangement and power metal. I like it very much, but it doesn't have anything to do with PROG.

Who cares? It kicks my ass

King of Loss wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: Minstrel X wrote: Blind Guardian's "A Night at the Opera" is probably the great power metal album ever created. And it's clearly influenced by Progressive Music, specially the Epic "And then there was silence" Recommended for Everyone. It's symphonic epic metal - unfortunately not very progressive. It's really just a clever combination of classical songwriting and composition/arrangement and power metal. I like it very much, but it doesn't have anything to do with PROG. Who cares? It kicks my ass

I don't. I love it ... but I think that Nightfall in Middle-Earth is slightly better.

goose wrote: I'd say BG are by far the closest to prog out of any of the popular power metal groups I've heard. Doesn't stop them being incredibly cheesey though  (OK, OK, I still like them. I guess there's a bit of D&D in me after all eh? )

Hey, at least they base their music upon a sane story (Silmarillion) rather than inventing cheesy stories about unicorns, magic dragons and emerald swords.

Being a Tolkien fan (of the serious, scholarly type, I hasten to add) I obviously know about BG, and many of my friends adore them. Unfortunately, I don't - I just managed to get halfway through Nightfall... before turning the CD player off in disgust. As to A Night at the Opera, I only got to the opening song, which was not bad but rather heavy going, with all those multilayered vocal harmonies and somewhat confused structure. Kursch's voice is one of the problems, but not the only one. I don't like Rhapsody either (though they're my fellow countrymen, but then I'm not patriotic at all). I'd very much rather listen to DT, even with LaBrie's vocals.

R.Darkmoon wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: goose wrote: I'd say BG are by far the closest to prog out of any of the popular power metal groups I've heard. Doesn't stop them being incredibly cheesey though  (OK, OK, I still like them. I guess there's a bit of D&D in me after all eh? ) Hey, at least they base their music upon a sane story (Silmarillion) rather than inventing cheesy stories about unicorns, magic dragons and emerald swords. C'mon Rhapsody is not THAT bad... sure, they aren't prog but the first 2 cds are one of the best in Power Metal history... even with the cheesy lyrics Anyway BG... Nightfall in Middle Earth is a good album, haven't listened A Night in the Opera so... I don't know what to think about the new BG and now with their drummer gone. And I like Hansi's voice more than Labrie's more agressive XD

I like Rhapsody very much ... but I also admit that they're cheesy. I have no problem with liking cheese.

"And so the Order of the White Dragon decreed Khaas the hero of the middle lands. He and princess Lothen from the kingdom of the ancient waterfalls,
together with Tharish, elven king of the caverns and myself, Iras Algor from Hor-Lad, would travel the path of incredible danger and great adventure.
Dargor the shadowlord would lead us through the ancient underworld of Dar-Kunor. Finally the time had come to find the legendary seventh black book, that
containing the worst of all the known prophecies"

"NAIRA... ORIEL...TARNA...
Majestic winds of the northlands...
protect our heroes from the deadly Naroth...
cover their tracks with snow...
Rage on with all your fury...
NAIRA... TARNA... ORIEL-NIRNAAN..."

I wonder who invented all those words and names ... Tolkien was a linguist, the elven language and all the words and labels from the Silmarillion make sense. The words in the Rhapsody lyrics are just nonsense.

Like I said above: I like it. But I often find myself imagining how much better Rhapsody could be with sane lyrics and WITHOUT the italian accent ...