SOMEWHERE FAR BEYOND - REVISITED

In 1992 Blind Guardian released their fourth studio album: it was their major label debut and launched them into the world as they had hit the right formula of speed, heaviness, melodies, drama and choruses on 1990's 'Tales From The Twilight World' and here they honed it even further. Fast forward to 2022 and the band planned to play the whole album live, in sequence, but then they started to worry about what might happen if the shows didn't happen. Perhaps they should ought to record the rehearsals just in case? That led to the realisation that fans would not be happy with such an approach to what is viewed by many as a classic so why not go the whole hog and record it anew, compensating youth with experience but maintaining the hunger of yore. The basic tracks were recorded live, and then the harmonies and melodies were added on top to create something which is vital and true to the original but also feeling like it is from today, although with somewhat less bombast.

Hansi Kürsch (vocals), André Olbrich (lead guitar, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar) and Marcus Siepen (rhythm guitar and acoustic guitar) were all there back in the day, so it is only newbie (he joined in 2005) Frederik Ehmke (drums) who was recording them for the first time, but given that "The Bard's Song (In The Forest)" is the band's most well- known song he has certainly played at least some of them many times in the live environment. It is always hard to review a re-recording of an album which is so well-known, but what I can say is that any fans of Blind Guardian will be glad to have this as the power metal has additional finesses and lightness, along with plenty of crunch, as originally this was recorded by a band yet to make a significant difference to the metal world, while now they are a very known entity indeed.

This is available in multiple versions, and the audio I have is the two-disc set which also includes 'Somewhere Far Beyond ? Live' which is compiled from two different German festivals in 2022 when the band did indeed play the complete album in order. I have not seen the Blu-ray (which is the three-disc version) but I can only imagine Hansi Kürsch stood at times with a massive smile on his face, as at times there was no need for him to be there as the crowd wanted to do his job for him. It is unusual to hear a crowd singing a whole song and not just a few lines, but Hansi gave them the nod and they were more than up for it. It is impossible not to be buoyed by the reaction of the crowd, as they are obviously having a blast hearing a classic album being played in its entirety, and most of them would have been too young when it was initially toured.

I am not always a fan of a band going back and re-recording old material, but there appears to have been a genuine reason behind this and there is no doubt that both band and fans have enjoyed the experience. Classic power metal with Blind Guardian still very much a force to be reckoned with.