IMAGINATIONS FROM THE OTHER SIDE

Based off of the strength of albums like 'Nightfall in Middle Earth', 'A Night At the Opera' and 'A Twist in the Myth', I'd long- considered Blind Guardian one of my favourite bands. However, when delving into their back-catalogue, I found their earlier albums (and it seems, their more popular amongst fans), to be fairly disappointing. I didn't mind the speed metal influence over their music, it's just that all the albums seemed a bit? repetitive?

With each album though, more and more non-metal influences crept in. Orchestral arrangements, folk passages, more emphasis on vocal harmonies, more story-telling, the band were becoming more and more theatrical and "epic" with each release. Which brings us to 1995's 'Imaginations From the Other Side', the album where Blind Guardian really start to become the band I fell in love with.

Taking things into more progressive metal territory, the band really start to hit their stride here. Songs like 'Mordred's Song', 'Bright Eyes', 'I'm Alive' and the title track all show a band who have broken out of their speed metal shell to add new flourishes to their music, and epic ballad 'A Past and Future Secret' demonstrates the bands orchestral arranging, with beautiful layers of music all intertwining to really bring the world of myths and legends to life.

As you can see by my rating however, while I do like this album, I don't quite regard it as highly as others. Some people consider this one of the best power metal albums out there. I think of it as the album where Blind Guardian really start to break out of the power metal trappings and evolve into something a lot more. No doubt, 'Imaginations?' is a really good album, but the best is yet to come.