Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle Earth
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CD Details
Artist: Blind GuardianEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1999-02-09
Music Label: Century Media
Soundtracks:
- War Of Wrath
- Into The Storm
- Lammoth
- Nightfall
- The Minstrel
- The Curse Of Feanor
- Captured
- Blood Tears
- Mirror Mirror
- Face The Truth
- Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns)
- Battle Of Sudden Flame
- Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill)
- The Dark Elf
- Thorn
- The Eldar
- Nom The Wise
- When Sorrow Sang
- Out On The Water
- The Steadfast
- A Dark Passage
- Final Chapter (Thus Ends...)
Music reviews of Nightfall in Middle Earth
Music Review: BG has won me over with this album
Rating: 4 Stars
There are already tons of reviews for this album, but I just felt like I had to add one. I'm coming at this from a somewhat different perspective, for I'm not a fan of Blind Guardian (this being the only album I own by them), nor am I a fan of this genre of music. Yet despite my preferences, I still enjoy this disc enough to give a four star rating, which really says something I think.
I bought this album because I'd read so much about how it was inspired by the Silmarillion, one of my favorite books. At first I was pretty skeptical for a few reasons. For one, it really sounded like a gimmick to me. Lots of metal groups (especially European progressive ones) have theme albums, and they can be quite good, but they can also be exceptionally bad. Specifically Tolkien-themed stuff that's actually good is almost impossible to create, because it's hard to live up to Tolkien's writing abilities, especially considering that in the case of the Silmarillion, Tolkien spent almost his entire life slowly polishing the history of Middle Earth (from 1917 to 1973). I was also skeptical because I didn't see how a fast-paced, heavy metal album could possibly do justice to the content. The Silmarillion has some incredible highs, but mostly it is a tragedy: the tragedy of the Noldor, their "doom" as Tolkien would say. I thought that if anything fit Middle Earth musically, it would probably have to be some kind of New Age/Celtic/Folk fusion, all on a very somber note (maybe with some Mideastern influences).
I could go on, but I was expecting this album to be way off the track. Yet I was proven wrong. The theme album concept worked beautifully because Blind Guardian was smart - they didn't go off on a tangent and make the Silmarillion their own by reinterpreting it. Nor did they do what I expected, and which I would have loathed: utilizing as many placenames, character names, etc as possible just to "suck up" to Tolkien fans. Instead they kept out the gratuitous use of Tolkien's names, and used them but sparingly when necessary. The Tolkien names that Blind Guardian used amount to but a few: Silmarils, Noldor, Feanor, Arda, Vala, Morgoth, Eldar, Valinor, and possibly a couple others. That's it. If you've read the Silmarillion you know it's chocked full of names; the index takes up 80 of the 460 pages in my edition. I really expected this to be a Tolkien love fest, but instead anyone listening can tell that Blind Guardian was truly INSPIRED by Tolkien to write the things they did, they did not just REHASH or regurgitate what he had already written. Yet they didn't reinterpret either, for the lyrics are all pretty spot on with the storyline (once you figure out what's being referred to), they just did it without gratuitously spewing Tolkien at us.
As to the music itself: I'm still hesitant to say I like it. I simply love the choruses: it sounds like a hundred people are singing the words, and it gives the choruses such power. At first the only thing I liked about the songs were the choruses; they were diamonds in the rough, tiny little gems that I had to wade through lots of power-metal to listen to. As time has passed and I've listened to the album more and more, I've begun to like some of the fast paced songs in their entirety. There are a few really great riffs that get stuck in my head, but the choruses remain the most compelling parts of the songs.
"Into the Storm" and "Nightfall" were the first two songs that won me over. The choruses are great, and the rest of the tracks are epic as well. I'd say these are the most popular songs on the disc, and possibly the most popular Blind Guardian songs overall (based on the fact that I was at a BG show for three songs before I had to leave, and 2 of the first 3 were the aforementioned tracks). But surprisingly, I've started to really like other songs as well. The chorus to "Mirror Mirror" is one of the best choruses, and "Blood Tears" has some great moments as well. But right now my very favorite song off the album is "The Curse of Feanor." I can't get enough of this song; it just stays in my head for days. It keeps conjuring the story anew in my mind: Feanor, in his fell wrath, cursing Morgoth and vowing to have his revenge and to regain the Silmarils. Epic is a word that I can't help but use, and though the word applies to much of the album, it is at its high point right here. Another song that has this same epic quality to it as far as the theme goes is "Dead Winter Reigns." This track shows us the Noldor at the pinnacle of their folly, as they have just slain their kindred, and have journeyed far to the north to cross the sea when they are confronted by Mandos, who pronounces their full doom. Fantastic! The music I'm not wild about, but the lyrics are just pefect: `Noldor, blood is on your hands,' `this deed can't be undone,' `can't escape from my damnation,' and especially the whole last part of the song after the final chorus, which I won't spell out here. So many great lines. "The Eldar" is a great slow song - I was surprised BG could write a song like this after listening to the album up to this point (though the vocals get a little breathy in parts). I was so happy to see BG make use of the concept of the "doom of the Noldor" in this track. This is possibly the best song thematically, because the tragic nature of the entire story of the elves that returned to Middle Earth is melded with a very somber sounding song.
There are still some songs I don't like at all (mostly toward the end of the album, if you haven't figured that out yet): "When Sorrow Sang" is my least favorite, followed by "A Dark Passage." I'm not wild about "Time Stands Still" either, though there's a cool acoustic riff in there. And it's taken a LONG time for the narrated tracks to grow on me. If you haven't recently read the Silmarillion, these narrations will mean nothing to you, and will detract from the album as a whole, but in the context of the storyline they're (usually) fairly appropriate.
Well this review is already long enough. On some days I could almost give this a 5, and on some days only a 3. But coming from someone who doesn't like this genre of music, I think 4-stars is a huge success. Blind Guardian has accomplished their goal, and they have given us a soundtrack to the tragic aspects of the Silmarillion.
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