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The Forgotten Tales

Blind Guardian - The Forgotten Tales Audio CD

A fair review of the Blind Guardian "The Forgotten Tales" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Blind Guardian reviews here, or go back to the Blind Guardian tabs.

Band: Blind Guardian
Title: The Forgotten Tales
Rating:

Release Date: 2005-02-08
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Mr. Sandman 2: Surfin' USA 3: Bright Eyes 4: Lord Of The Rings 5: The Wizard 6: Spread Your Wings 7: Mordred's Song 8: Black Chamber 9: The Barb's Song (Live) 10: Barbara Ann / Long Tall Sally 11: A Past and Future Secret 12: To France 13: Theatre of Pain

Killer Collection of Blind Guardian Rarities
The Forgotten Tales is basically a compilation of the various cover songs the band has performed as well as some alternate versions of some (at the time) recent Blind Guardian songs. Originally released in 1998 (and re-released in 2005), the Forgotten Tales is one of my absolute favorite Blind Guardian albums, even though it's not one of their proper studio albums. The various demo/acoustic/live/instrumental versions are cool enough - and the live version of the Bard's Song is pretty spectacular - but I love this album because of the cover songs.

If there's one thing that Blind Guardian does better than any other band, it's their ability to record the most diverse (yet always powerful) covers. Well, that and the whole epic power metal thing that they do that no other band will ever touch even in their wildest dreams, but you get the general idea. From oldies like Mr. Sandman, Surfin' USA and Barbara Ann, to classic rock tracks like the Wizard (Uriah Heep) and Spread Your Wings (Queen), Blind Guardian always delivers unique cover songs. Some are obviously done just for laughs (you have to chuckle at a speed metal version of Mr. Sandman), and others, like the Uriah Heep and Queen songs are done to pay tribute to bands that had a profound influence on the band's sound. Whatever the reason, I've yet to hear a less than great cover song from this band, and it's particularly nice to have so many collected in one place.

My only gripe about this disc is that it doesn't capture all of the band's cover songs. It is missing the band's version of Don't Break the Circle (Demon). Their breathtaking covers of Judas Priest's Beyond the Realms of Death and Dio's Don't Talk to Strangers are also absent. I know they were released after the Forgotten Tales, but they would have made great bonus tracks on the 2005 reissue.

Omissions aside, the Forgotten Tales is a fantastic collection of unique material from the best power metal band on the planet. I wouldn't recommend it to new Blind Guardian fans right away, but once you have a handful of the band's great studio albums, you owe it to yourself to check this compilation out.

NOTE: There is a version of this album with a 14th song - a live version of Lord of the Rings - added as a bonus track.

if only for one song, everyone should have this.
so just skip all of those. first of all, Blind Guardian does really bad cover songs. You want to get this album for the wonderful variations of Blind Guardian originals. And for that, EVERYONE NEEDS THIS ALBUM. "Lord of the Rings", acoustic/orchestral version, is the greatest single nugget of song perfection ever. incredible vocals, a chorus that will break your soul into pieces, and masterful arrangements (some of the instruments are out-of-tune -- i think it was self-produced, but either way it add HUGE character to the sound). oh whatever, you don't even have to get this album -- just hear this disc's version of "Lord of the Rings" at all costs! sell your soul if you have to. i will buy it. I HAVE NEVER HEARD A BETTER SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! who would have thought a song about magic rings, dwarves, elves, and evil dark lords would be the greatest thing ever.

Very good, but very overlooked and ignored.

I would say that this is a CD to start off with when listening to Blind_GuardiaN. Very good CD, but a very ignored CD.

This has all their slow stuff, and a lot of their Medievialish style of music as well.

Although, they did put 2 Brutal Power Metal versions of the 50's songs "Mr. Sandman" and "Surfin' USA". (Headbanging to 1950's songs).

"The Wizard" almost reminds me of Zeppelin acoustic song.

"To France" is a great slow song as well, very catchy song actually.

There are also some rare acoustic versions of some classic Blind_GuardiaN songs on here as well. Acoustic version of "Bright Eyes" and acoustic version of "Mordred's Song" are awesome sounding. (I actually like the acoustic versions a whole lot better of these 2 songs than I ever did of the original versions).

.

UNFORTUNATELY PROPHETIC
Sadly, it appears that this album has indeed been forgotten by many music-listeners out there. The title of this album by the German band Blind Guardian is, as you see, "The Forgotten Tales". But that doesn't mean that this album is all bad. Although there is no original material here I prefer some of these versions compared to the originals on previous albums. Out of 13 total tracks I only really (but sometimes REALLY) liked 4 of them, hence my rating of 2. 5 stars.

MR. SANDMAN: A song with an identity crisis. Starts off as a tame but mostly faithful version of the original by the Chordettes but then halfway through it the guitars go a bit overboard and everything just gets loud. Don't get me wrong, I love hard and heavy music, but why do it to a song that is meant to be soft and dreamy-sounding?

SURFIN' U. S. A: Yet again, another lyrically faithful version of the original by the Beach Boys, except that there is one part where the guitars go a bit overboard but not as bad as on the previous track. Still, there is no reason why I would recommend this version over the Beach Boys.

BRIGHT EYES: An acoustic version. Three other versions exist: One each on the albums "Imaginations From the Other Side", "Mr. Sandman", and "Live 2003". For me though, this song was neither good nor bad, just "blah".

LORD OF THE RINGS: This is it! My favorite track and in my opinion THE BEST Lord of the Rings-related song out there. This song is just chock-full of magic, excellent vocals (great chorus!). There is no way you can listen to this song and not feel uplifted. As a sidenote, this song first appeared in their album "Tales from the Twilight World" yet I always seem to bump into this version (maybe this is the better of the two since it's orchestrated).

THE WIZARD: An OUTSTANDING Blind Guardian version of a song originally by Uriah Heep. I actually like the Blind Guardian version better! Very upbeat and the whole band comes across as being very comfortable with this song--after all, it's about a WIZARD and that is totally up Blind Guardian's alley.

SPREAD YOUR WINGS: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Queen did the original of this song. I haven't heard the original so I'm unable to say how it compares, but after a listen or two it's just another "blah" track for me.

MORDRED'S SONG: An acoustic version. The original Mordred's Song is found on their album "Imaginations From the Other Side". Good piano work.

BLACK CHAMBER: An orchestral version. Originally comes from their album "Somewhere Far Beyond". At scarcely over a minute in length this song doesn't have much opportunity to impress.

THE BARD'S SONG (IN THE FOREST): A live version of one of Blind Guardians more successful, sing-along-friendly songs. Just listen to how crazy the Germans go over it at the beginning! Hell, Hansi scarcely sings in this one, the crowd sings half of it! A really good fantasy ballad that will transport you back to the age of Hobbits and wizards. The original was on the album "Somewhere Far Beyond".

BARBARA ANN / LONG TALL SALLY: Yup, you're reading that right. For this track they sing Barbara Ann for about a minute and then it seamlessly turns into Long Tall Sally. Both are pretty peppy but for me Little Richard's version of Long Tall Sally will always be the best from having heard it in the movie "Predator".

A PAST AND FUTURE SECRET: I just love the medieval sound to this song. The title of the song provokes one to think of T. H. White's "The Once and Future King" and King Arthur. Check out "Imaginations From the Other Side" if you want to hear the original of this. This version is very good and a welcome addition to this album.

TO FRANCE: Not one of the songs I like. Nevermind the subject matter, I just don't think it's a great song to begin with. Originally done by Mike Oldfield.

THEATRE OF PAIN: A purely orchestral piece. No vocals whatsoever. Unfortunately I found the title of the song and the music itself rather poorly suited to each other. Nothing about this song makes me think about a supposed "Theatre of Pain. " And why you would want to listen to this song AGAIN is beyond me--there were already two different versions of it on "Somewhere Far Beyond". .

Soft and satisfying!!!
The covers aren't the best, but still pretty cool. Although this album has gotten bad reviews in the past, I found it to be awesome!!! Some of the songs aren't as satisfying as their original versions, their still awesome.

I highly reccomend this CD to anyone who likes ballads.

You can see a complete list of all Blind Guardian discography, or go back to the Blind Guardian tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.