Memories of a time to come [BestOf] - Blind Guardian - 3-CD

Blind Guardian fans might have wished for the sleigh and the bells a bit earlier - but finally, Santa has knocked on their doors, too, albeit in February... But hey, the German Metal kings are well-known for their time-consuming productions: the term "haste makes waste" is one of their guiding principles, and nothing slips from their sophisticated quality controls. And you can expect an accordingly overwhelming result when you unwrap the red-hot box "A traveler's guide to space and time" consisting of 15 CDs in your trembling hands! "When we got the order, we underestimated the amount of work once again" front man Hansi Kürsch sighs. "In the end, it turned out to be one of these 'approximately six or seven months' projects we know so well."

Be that as it may - at least, the fans get what they deserve in the Christmas present department: 15 CDs including all bonus tracks ever released so far, from "Battalions of fear" to "An extraordinary tale" (live rarities and demos). The box is limited to 8000 copies worldwide. The featured material is digitally re-mastered (and partially mixed completely new) which is crucial for Hansi Kürsch: "Well, such things take time. We didn't want to offer the fans something imperfect. This matter is too important to us! We really focused on the box material and tried to avoid any differences on the dynamics level. Of course, a demo will sound different from, say, 'Imaginations from the other side' or 'A night at the opera', but you can practically listen to the complete box set and it will still sound somehow organic and homogeneous. After all, you have to take each album as it is, but we have provided a certain transparency nevertheless. We have also re-mixed our more recent studio albums - as a result, you can still detect some new nuances in case you have a modern high-end stereo device. In the past, I have always wondered why people said that 'Batallions of fear' and 'Follow the blind' sounded great on CD. Originally, they had only been released on vinyl and were never scheduled to be appearing as a CD. The first digital mixes were produced only about five years ago. Ok, the other albums after them were all released as CDs right from the start. At that time, the effect wasn't as exciting as before. But of course you will hear the difference right now, even as far as these albums are concerned."

According to Hansi Kürsch, the release of "A traveler's guide to space and time" is something like the end of an era. And as usual, Blind Guardian have committed themselves to another plan immediately: "Our orchestra project is still in limbo - but we think positive and hope to finish it before our 30th band anniversary. Perspective-wise, we're open for anything. Currently, it's still the idea of a classic Blind Guardian album with me as the only vocalist. But we can also imagine a concept, a story, which can also be performed by other guest singers. So, the thought of going on a world tour and staging the whole thing as a Rock opera, is an interesting idea indeed. But we will definitely not hurry - haste makes waste..."

Once again, Blind Guardian let their fans wait: it took them four years to finish their latest album. But with "At the edge of time", their ninth studio output, Germany's Fantasy Metal icons deliver a mighty work which cleverly intertwines their musical past and future, resulting in a very special position among their releases so far. Front man Hansi Kürsch had some time to talk with us. "I think we've managed to redefine us and succeeded in not being mere copycats of ourselves by featuring some of our old fortes", Hansi starts the conversation. "From where did the changes on the new album come? Difficult to say - it is quite a spontaneous album. We started as usual, and, as on the other releases, there are some blown-up songs. While composing, we already noticed that we were heading into a certain direction, but didn't cling to that too much and just let it flow."
Once again, an orchestra was involved in the recordings. Is working with an orchestra the frosting on a musician's cake - does it whet his creativity? "I think so, yes. These days, of course, you can do anything with keyboards, but the result is accordingly so-so. We did that on ,Sacred worlds' - the first version had been recorded for the computer game ,Sacred 2-Fallen Angel', and we had experienced there that with a real orchestra, you can do it much better. Mind you, you need the right people who cannot just deliver the goods on keyboards, but also wield the the big stick correctly." Who had the idea to cover John Farnham's smasher "You're the voice" and to put it on the advance single "A voice in the dark"? "Oh, that was André's and my idea - we're well-known for doing stuff like that from time to time. Just think of ,Dream a little dream of me' by the Mamas And Papas - we covered that one, too. We always ask ourselves if we really love the song in question - and ,You're the voice' is a great song, with that awesome catchy chorus, and went to work at it immediately. During the process, we noticed that it's really hard to realise it - but altogether, we're pretty satisfied with the result." Including the new album, you have stuck to a 4-year break between releases for the last four outputs. Accidentally so, or is that nifty planning? "Well, it is indeed accidentally that it takes us so long - but you can even go back farther, to,Imaginations from the other side' which was also done after almost that kind of break. Maybe it's due to our long tours after an album release - we're on the road for almost one and a half ear each time... And we also need some time until the ideas are flying, I mean ideas which mean a development and not only repetition... And then, the songs also need to be tried and tested... You get my gist - four years just seem to fly by!"

Because of their immense love for details and their unconditional passion, the ring carriers create an individual legend with every new album. It's the adding of these unmistakable ingredients of Blind Guardian brewed together in the songs for their intoxicating mixture that never miss their effect. The genius speaks from every note and brings the fans to euphoria. Also the new album doesn't stop this tradition. "A twist in the myth" builds the bridge between the values of the past and very innovative approaches. Singer Hansi Kürsch and guitarist Andre Olbrich gave some insights into their legendary song smith.
"Working on the new album was a lot of fun, we were all super relaxed and the basic conditions were just perfect. The whole production was without problems and that saved a lot of energy. Now we have all the power we need to concentrate on the upcoming tour", reports Hansi happily. "Listening to the end result I have this absolute feeling of joy and also after several listening sessions I cannot help the goose flesh. The album is just perfect and really makes me proud", adds Andre laughing. The positive conclusion of the works on "A twist in the myth" is almost surprising. The release was postponed for one month because Hansi became ill: "I had septic sinuses and an inflammation of the ear. I didn't realize that in the early stages, I just wondered why I couldn't stay the planned day quota. Consequently I pulled the breaks to really recover. Theoretically, I could have worked on, the difference would not have been big but it's just contradicting to be writing the songs over two years and then not being able to give everything in the studio. Furthermore, you are always in danger that you overtax in such a condition and that your voice suffers on the wider scale." Andre notes: "You definitely sounded different, like with a cold. The nose was stuck which had some advantages, too, because this way you better feel the resonance body and manage to keep the tunes better. Still, it was inadequate to make a compromise in the most important component, the vocals. Working on the perfection of an album you don't want no sick vocals on the album!" Fortunately, producer Charlie Bauerfeind managed to adapt his schedule to this so that the recordings could go on as soon as Hansi had recovered. All these difficulties cannot be heard on the end result, the vocal power and passion with which the exceptional singer masters his job, burst for professionalism and big emotions. "My voice is very polarizing, either you love it or you hate it. Fortunately, the latter isn't occurring very often and if so, it comes from people who don't like the whole package Blind Guardian. The vocals are a big part of the whole concept. I have learned to deal with critique and I think it's ok if people argue about my vocals. Somebody saying that our music is quite ok is more wounding than saying it's crap. Of course, he would have to bring arguments, but being average is really frustrating. We have always watched our uniqueness and never copied our idols", says Hansi. Stylistic finesses are the result of such principles, typical elements that enrich every song so you can always guess its origin.

Lyrically, the fantasy friends finally dare beyond Middle Earth. "The music seemed adequate to bring in new topics. For some songs, different pieces of literature were the source of inspiration, such as 'The dark tower' by Stephen King or 'Wilde Reise durch die Nacht' by Walter Moers. In other songs we just let our thoughts go and brought in all sorts of impressions, like in 'Fly' that is inspired by the movie 'Finding Neverland', 'The edge' deals with the apostle Paulus and the way he created the Christ legend, 'Turn the page' is about the cult of the Wicca witches, so it's a very good mixture. We are still open for Tolkien topics and it may well be that we return to Middle Earth, but on 'A twist in the myth' such stories wouldn't have harmonized with the concept", explains Kürsch. He also recaptures exactly how he got into contact with J. R. R. Tolkien: "I was 14 years old and read only horror novels when a friend of mine recommended Hobbit to me. This book really thrilled me, however, I couldn't afford the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, yet. When I was 18, I got it for Christmas from my sister and then I was bound to the story." Andre met Hobbit in a video game: "One of my first computer games dealt with this story and I was really surprised that Hansi knew so much about it which made the game very easy for him. So he told me to read the novels and I was indeed fascinated." The two also like the spectacular filming of this piece: "Of course the story isn't 1:1 but considering that Peter Jackson had only limited time there is a tremendous lot of details. If he wanted to bring in everything, he would have needed 180 hours of film material. He did a very good job, for me 'Lord of the Rings' is on the same level as 'Starwars'", says Andre, and Hansi confirms drowning in memories: "'Starwars' was the beginning of this merchandise thing, it was the first time that you could buy figures from a film, little robots." Of course, the two could go on talking about their memories of the good old times, the cinema and their memoirs. The interest in that may also be the reason for the band's dear videos in which they always try to bring in their own ideas. Like for the latest clip: "Our next single that we do a video for is 'Another stranger me'. The lyrics deal with schizophrenia and that is supposed to reflect in the pictures. You can let your fantasy go, you don't have to try to represent a hobbit or dress in Czech farmer clothes", giggles Hansi. Czech farmer clothes? The singer and composer explains: "It happens over and over. If a fantasy clip is supposed to be done for a Metal band, the producers tend towards all sorts of carnival costumes. In Czech film productions, the noble sirs or knight always look exactly the same ..."