Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side
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 Tommy

Ratings

Tommy: 9/10

Members: 9.83/10 - Average of 3 ratings.



Member ratings

Profile pictureSteen (Staff)

Rating: 9.5/10
I can only agree with Tommy. Imaginations... is my favourite Blind Guardian album and a ti... · Read more ·
Profile pictureDark Lord

Rating: 10/10
No review was posted
This profile has not added a picturePowerMetalKevin

Rating: 10/10
Masterpiece. That's all I have to say about this album.... · Read more ·

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RevelationZ Comments


Comment by Tisgoed (Anonymous) - Sunday, October 27, 2002
A real classic in my opinion, great stuff!!!


Comment by guarrior (Anonymous) - Friday, November 22, 2002
for the best is tales from the twilight world i think is the best this with somewhere far beyond


Comment by delnaja (Anonymous) - Thursday, May 1, 2003
I agree totally. The best album by Blind Guardian IMHO!!


Comment by kris s (Anonymous) - Friday, September 26, 2003
perfect 10/10


Comment by Fear (Anonymous) - Monday, November 3, 2003
BG is the best band in the power metal scene. They have created their own unique sound and still managed to evolve their styles. This alone sets BG high above mediocre power metal bands.

Intense guitar walls with nice melodies and riffs give their music fuller sound. Double bass is not in such a dominant role. That is a good thing. Vulcan autocannon -level bass kicking becomes annoying when it's the only thing keeping up the intensity.

Vocals are well executed, being far more interesting than most basic high-pitch hero-metal yells.

Lyrically fantasy- and scifi themes are dominant. Compared to for example Rhapsody's pathetic elves and trolls crap, BG certainly seems to give more thought to their texts.

Imaginations... as an album is closely related to their Somewhere Far Beyond album. I feel Imaginations... more energy charged product than its predecessors.

A very nice piece of metal!


Comment by Mr Torture (Anonymous) - Thursday, July 22, 2004
One of my fav Guardian albums! I'd rate it 10/10! And please not forget Bright Eyes!


Comment by nihilist (Anonymous) - Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Album is a true masterpiece, 10/10, one of the best Blind guardian albums


Comment by kris (Anonymous) - Thursday, March 10, 2005
just great!10!!!!!


Comment by Warlord (Anonymous) - Thursday, March 10, 2005
A fantastic album and the first one by BG that I bought. A true metal classic that puts these guys high above the competition! Do youreselves a favor-see them live! It´s magic!


Comment by Carsten Olsen (Anonymous) - Monday, March 14, 2005
The best BG album ever they´ll never top that i am sure


Comment by Karizma (Anonymous) - Thursday, October 27, 2005
Brilliant, it is easily one of the best Blind Guardian albums in existance. The only complaint I have is how long it is:

Not anywhere near enough.


Review by Steen (Staff) - Monday, December 2, 2002
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Comments: 518
I can only agree with Tommy. Imaginations... is my favourite Blind Guardian album and a timeless classic. The music has an incredible feeling of power and it is unlike anything else. The album has so many amazing moments, and my personal favorite, "The script for my requiem" is sheer genius all the way through.

Rating: 9.5/10

Posted by Steen (Staff)
Monday, December 2, 2002

Review by PowerMetalKevin (Member) - Wednesday, October 14, 2009
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Comments:
Ratings: 3
Masterpiece. That's all I have to say about this album.

Rating: 10/10

Posted by PowerMetalKevin
Wednesday, October 14, 2009










Review by Tommy
None

Released by
Virgin - 1995

Tracklisting
1. Imaginations From The Other Side
2. I'm Alive
3. A Past And Future Secret
4. The Script For My Requiem
5. Mordred's Song
6. Born In A Mourning Hall
7. Bright Eyes
8. Another Holy War
9. And The Story Ends


Style
Power Metal

Related links
Visit the band page

Blind Guardian - Official Website

Blind Guardian - The Following - Unofficial Blind Guardian fan community

Other articles
Band information - (Mads)

Nightfall In Middle-Earth - (Mads)

Live - (Hashman)

Somewhere Far Beyond - (Tommy)

A Twist in the Myth - (Alanna)

At The Edge Of Time - (Nina)



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Ratings
1 - Horrifying
2 - Terrible
3 - Bad
4 - Below average
5 - Average
6 - Good
7 - Very good
8 - Outstanding
9 - Genius
10 - Masterpiece
666 - Unrated

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