This is clearly one of the most interesting and technical albums ever made. It did take me a long time to get into this album but I was literally heavily awarded in the end.
It is very difficult to say what exact style this band and release is all about, a short answer would be quite a lot.
The main element is Power Metal with tons of changing detours coming from what seems as an unlimited treasure chest of overwhelming ideas, resulting in a very complex and detailed sound.
The title track features Hansi Kürsch performing some vivid raw screaming vocals that gets nicely balanced out by the huge multi-sung chorus. A song with so many fantastic changes in rhythm and style that it will never become routine to hear this one through.
I'm Alive starts out with a dynamic fast-slow-fast beginning and before you know it you find yourselves headbanging along to this spectacular and intense piece. The amount of details in the heavy rhythm guitars is astounding and the super aggressive drumming simply kills.
A massive onslaught of pure insanity.
The albums slowest song is the majestic
A Past And Future Secret, a brilliant melody and a medieval atmosphere are the most important ingredients in a pure classic. The harmonious acoustic guitar creates a perfect setting for the song and this melodic tune stays in your head a long time after listening to it.
The Script For My Requiem has one of the most brilliant starts ever; it just invites you to go totally crazy. A heavy bass fundament and some enchanting keyboard passages helps in making this one heck of a furious Metal banger and the myriad of wonderful layered guitar leads at the end only makes things more dynamic.
Gentle acoustic guitars open
Mordred's Song, being a fairly relaxing song with a very powerful refrain and a great guitar solo. A good song that nevertheless lacks some of the expressive nerve found in the other cuts, it becomes a bit too placid if you ask me.
Born In A Mourning Hall has one of my favourite guitar licks of all time, magically catchy.
The bombastic chorus is all-embracing in character and the elaborate and forceful vocal job is some of the best I have ever heard.
Bright Eyes has a fantastic experimental approach that keeps you enchanted from start to finish. Technical drum delivery, groovy bass lines and ingenious guitar soloing all play their important part.
The fast and powerful
Another Holy War is yet another fantastic song full of skillful performances, giving it an additional strength. This is music with lots of clever diversity. The extensive and melodic guitar solo passage appears at just the right moment and the riffing is crisp and very intense.
One of my favourite
Blind Guardian songs is
And The Story Ends with its dreaming atmosphere, clever instrumental elements and a great poetical lyric about finding a way out of all the madness.
The background choir's adds a special epic effect and chorus is just so damn memorable.
The production is very bombastic and filled to the breaking point with a special pure and unbound force, never loosing touch with the transparent overall picture.
Overall the lyrics are very complex and they demand both time and analysis. Generally the album is about fantasy tales and mysterious elements; themes like spirituality, religion (and abuse of it), search for essential questions and inner peace and fighting your way through difficult times.
On the musical side the album offers some fantastic well played songs. Extremely powerful and detailed drumming, some earthshaking guitar riffs, melodic leads, fast and creative bass adventures, and a vocal job of the most unique, expressive and powerful kind.
Another important plus are the striking choruses and background choirs.
Blind Guardian has developed their own special sound, the different inputs are working together in a huge and rich blend and the songs are written in a way that makes them sound very bombastic, a trademark the band masters with amazing grace on this release.
This is a mind-blowing album with very original and at times extremely heavy elements, but also with tons of melody and unbound aggression.
Written by
Tommy Monday, February 28, 2005
Show all reviews by TommyRatingsTommy: 9/10Members: 9.83/10 - Average of 3 ratings.
Member ratings
 | Steen (Staff)
Rating: 9.5/10
I can only agree with Tommy. Imaginations... is my favourite Blind Guardian album and a ti... · Read more · |
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