Blind Guardian - Tales from the Twilight World Audio CD
A fair review of the Blind Guardian "Tales from the Twilight World" 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.
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Band: Blind Guardian
Title: Tales from the Twilight World
Rating: 
Release Date: 2009-05-19
Media: Audio CD
Tracks: 1: Traveler in Time 2: Welcome to Dying 3: Weird Dreams 4: Lord of the Rings 5: Goodbye My Friend 6: Lost in the Twilightt Hall 7: Tommyknockers 8: Altair 4 9: Last Candle 10: Run for the Night [Live] 11: Lost in the Twilight Hall [*][Demo Version] 12: Tommyknockers [*][Demo Version]
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Blind Guardian's first true power metal album - remastered Blind Guardians previous albums (Battalions of Fear and Follow the Blind) may have embraced the fantasy themes that are power metal standards, but the music itself was firmly in the thrash/speed metal style. While 1990's Tales from the Twilight World is perhaps not as impressive as later Blind Guardian releases, it is noteworthy in that it is the first album where the band totally embraces a power metal sound.
Tales from the Twilight World is still undeniably fast, but it is a power metal album from start to finish. The lyrical content is still very much in the sci-fi/fantasy realm. The overall songwriting has improved to become more melodic and incorporate more intricate song structures (and some amazing guitar solos). Basically, the Blind Guardian sound we're all familiar with was born here. Songs like Welcome to Dying and Lord of the Rings are fantastic power metal tracks (even though the latter is pretty much an acoustic ballad), and are still considered among the band's best material.
Gamma Ray's Kai Hansen makes another guest appearance on this album, further establishing Blind Guardian's credentials as a major German power metal band.
Overall, the album is not as memorable as Imaginations from the Other Side or Nightfall in Middle Earth (then again, what is?), but it is an important milestone in Blind Guardian's career, and is worth checking out if you're a Blind Guardian fan.
NOTE: The 2007 reissue of Tales from the Twilight World features a much needed digital remastering as well as a pair of bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are demos, and don't really add much, but the remastered sound makes this a must-have for all serious Blind Guardian fans.
Great for a first copy!
The album really doesn't sound that much better remastered, as apparently according to Hansi, the band did not have time to 're-mix' TFTTW like they did with BoF and FTB. I purchased the remastered version of this album after owning a really old copy of TFTTW for a long time and was a bit disappointed. There is minimal improvements in sharpness on this album. . . they still are there but you probably won't notice unless you REALLY play each song side by side and even then it may not be so obvious.
This is my favorite of the speed metal BG albums and so I was quite anxious to listen to a remastered version of it. In the end, if you don't own a copy of TFTTW and want to: buy this one. If you already have one, don't waste your money unless you are an absolute fanatic of this album.
The two extra demo tracks are somewhat interesting also however--"Lost in the Twilight Hall" sounds quite good surprisingly.
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.