A Night at the Opera (Blind Guardian album)

All you want to know about A Night at the Opera (Blind Guardian album)

A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera cover
Studio album by Blind Guardian
Released March 4, 2002
Recorded October 2000-December 2001 at Twilight Hall Studios, Grefrath and Hammer Music Studios, Hamburg, Germany
Genre Power metal
Symphonic metal
Progressive metal
Length 65:29
Label Virgin/Century Media
Producer Charlie Bauerfeind
Professional reviews
Blind Guardian chronology
Nightfall in Middle-Earth
(1998)		 A Night at the Opera
(2002)		 A Twist in the Myth
(2006)

A Night at the Opera is a 2002 album by the German power metal band Blind Guardian. The album has been highly praised by many a reviewer and fans alike.[citation needed] There was some backlash to the album regarding the production of the album, however it was still held in high praise. Metal-Rules.com named this the best metal album of 2002. As a result this probably became their most successful album of all in terms of their musical style of multilayered and overdubbed voices.[1]

Contents

Track listing

  1. "Precious Jerusalem" – 6:21
  2. "Battlefield" – 5:37
  3. "Under the Ice" – 5:44
  4. "Sadly Sings Destiny" – 6:04
  5. "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" – 5:30
  6. "Wait for an Answer" – 6:30
  7. "The Soulforged" – 5:18
  8. "Age of False Innocence" – 6:05
  9. "Punishment Divine" – 5:45
  10. "And Then There Was Silence" – 14:05
  • Bonus Songs
  1. "Harvest of Sorrow" (Acoustic Version) – 3:39 (Japanese Bonus)
  2. "Mies del Dolor" – 3:39 (Spain/North American Bonus)
  3. "La Cosecha del Dolor" – 3:39 (Argentine Bonus)
  4. "Frutto del Buio" – 3:39 (Italian Bonus)
  5. "Moisson de peine" – 3:39 (French Bonus)
  • "Harvest of Sorrow" has seven different versions in addition to two live versions: two in English, two in Spanish ("Mies Del Dolor, La Cosecha Del Dolor"), one in Italian ("Frutto Del Buio") , one in French ("Moisson de Peine"), and one in a mix of all of the versions except the English acoustic and Italian.

Lyrical references

The album features the concepts and themes familiar to Blind Guardian fans, such as historical battles and religious references.

  • "Precious Jerusalem" is based on the final days of Jesus of Nazareth
  • "Battlefield" is based on the Hildebrandslied, an old German tale of a father and son who find themselves in a duel to the death.
  • "Under The Ice" has connections to the Iliad, focuses on Cassandra and what happened to her after the Trojan War, particularly from The Oresteia.
  • "Sadly Sings Destiny" based on the religious aspect of the Messiah in the Old Testament, and tells of the crucifixion of Jesus from the point of view of a character who reluctantly helps fulfill the prophecy, by doing such things as building the cross and weaving the Crown of Thorns.
  • "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" is about the story of Tristan und Isolde.[citation needed]
  • "Wait for an Answer" is a story Hansi wrote about hope, but also about war.
  • "The Soulforged" is based on the Dragonlance saga's tales of the mage Raistlin Majere.
  • "Age of False Innocence" is about Galileo Galilei.[1]
  • "Punishment Divine" is about Nietzsche's decline into insanity.
  • "And Then There Was Silence" is inspired by the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid.
  • "Harvest of Sorrow" is based on Tolkien's tragic story of Túrin Turambar, which appears in the Silmarillion.

The album's title is a reference to the Marx Brothers' 1935 film A Night at the Opera, and Queen's 1975 album A Night at the Opera.

Chart positions

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
2002 Top Independent Albums #37

Personnel

Band

Guest musicians

  • Bass guitars: Oliver Holzwarth
  • Keyboards & orchestral stuff: Matthias Wiesner
  • Piano: Michael Schüren (Age of False Innocence)
  • Keyboards and sound effects: Pad Bender, Boris Schmidt, Sascha Pierro
  • The Choir Company: Rolf Köhler, Thomas Hackmann, Olaf Senkbeil, Billy King

Technical staff

  • Charlie Bauerfeind - production, mixing, recording
  • Nordin Hammadi Amrani - assistant engineer, additional recordings
  • Clemens von Witte - recordings
  • Detlef - recordings
  • Paul Raymond Gregory - cover painting
  • André Olbrich - front cover concept
  • Dennis "Sir" Kostroman - booklet design
  • Axel Jusseit - photos

External links

References

  1. ^ Metal-Rules.com
v • d • e
Blind Guardian
Hansi Kürsch · André Olbrich  · Marcus Siepen · Frederik Ehmke
Thomen Stauch · Oliver Holzwarth · Markus Dörk · Christof Theißen · Hans-Peter Frey
Studio albums
Compilations
Singles
DVDs
Other
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Night_at_the_Opera_(Blind_Guardian_album)"

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