{"id":19986,"date":"2012-05-11T22:13:58","date_gmt":"2012-05-12T03:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=19986"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:04:20","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:04:20","slug":"blind-guardian-memories-of-a-time-to-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/blind-guardian-memories-of-a-time-to-come\/","title":{"rendered":"Blind Guardian | Memories of a Time to Come<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"It\u2019s almost impossible to believe that there hasn\u2019t been a Blind Guardian \u201cgreatest hits\u201d collection until now. Blind Guardian is arguably the biggest and most important band in power metal, and their career spans a quarter-century and nine studio albums (plus a host of live albums, singles and b-side collections). Fans finally get a \u201cbest of Blind Guardian\u201d collection in the 2-disc Memories of a Time to Come<\/em>. This deluxe set isn\u2019t your everyday anthology either. Instead of just tossing together tracks from each album (and maybe a new song or two), the band opted for something a bit different. All of the older songs on Memories of a Time to Come<\/em> have either been remixed for this collection or re-recorded completely, which means that even the most dedicated Blind Guardian fans \u2013 the ones who already own all of the band\u2019s albums \u2013 will get to hear these classic power metal songs in a new light.<\/p>\n

Blind Guardian has always tended towards longer songs, so even though Memories of a Time to Come<\/em> spans two CDs, there are only 16 songs total. This means we can argue endlessly about the songs that made the cut and especially those that didn\u2019t. The collection does cover all the main albums (some more than others), but there are some notable absences, like \u201cA Past and Future Secret,\u201d \u201cLost in the Twilight Hall\u201d and more recent singles like \u201cFly\u201d and \u201cAnother Stranger Me.\u201d Still, the songs that did make it more than deserve to be here. Honestly, a true \u201cbest of\u201d set that pleased just about everybody would probably span 3-4 discs!<\/p>\n

As far as the remixed songs go, for the most part the changes are pretty subtle. It\u2019s more noticeable on the Battalions of Fear<\/em> and Follow the Blind<\/em> songs, and almost impossible to tell on the songs from A Twist in the Myth<\/em> and At the Edge of Time<\/em>. The new recordings are where you see the real changes. On the two \u201cThe Bard\u2019s Song\u201d tracks the new versions may actually be an improvement on the originals, but the new version of the 14-minute epic \u201cAnd Then There Was Silence\u201d seems somehow colder and more sterile than the original.<\/p>\n

Memories of a Time to Come<\/em> does a good job as a career retrospective, and makes an effective introduction to Blind Guardian for newcomers (of course, picking up Imaginations from the Other Side<\/em> and Nightfall in Middle Earth<\/em> works just as well). Long time Blind Guardian fans should at the very least find this collection interesting for the new recordings, though whether that\u2019s worth the price of the entire set probably depends on how die-hard a fan you are. <\/p>\n

Genre: Power Metal<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n\tDisc 1
\n1.\tImaginations From the Other Side (2011 remix)
\n2.\tNightfall (2011 remix)
\n3.\tRide Into Obsession (2011 remix)
\n4.\tSomewhere Far Beyond (2011 remix)
\n5.\tMajesty (2011 remix)
\n6.\tTraveler in Time (2011 remix)
\n7.\tFollow the Blind (2011 remix)
\n8.\tThe Last Candle (2011 remix)<\/p>\n

Disc 2
\n1.\tSacred Worlds (original version)
\n2.\tThis Will Never End (2011 remix)
\n3.\tValhalla (new version)
\n4.\tBright Eyes (2011 remix)
\n5.\tMirror Mirror (2011 remix)
\n6.\tThe Bard\u2019s Song (In the Forest) (new version)
\n7.\tThe Bard\u2019s Song (The Hobbit) (new version)
\n8.\tAnd Then There Was Silence (new version)<\/p>\n

Label: EMI<\/p>\n

Website: www.blind-guardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines Staff Writer — It\u2019s almost impossible to believe that there hasn\u2019t been a Blind Guardian \u201cgreatest hits\u201d collection until now. Blind Guardian is arguably the biggest and most important band in power […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[361,1097],"class_list":{"0":"post-19986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-emi","8":"tag-power-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}