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""The Forgotten Tales" is primarily aimed at Blind Guardian fans, but it will also be advised to understand the band's soul and explore all its musical storytelling skills."
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3/5
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One year after "Imaginations From The Other Side", Blind Guardian takes a little break with "The Forgotten Tales", a compilation of rare versions of his songs and covers, which allows the German group to relax while waiting to settle down to his new album. In fact, you have to take this record for what it is: not as a classic compilation but as a gift to fans by gathering songs that are not easy to find on a disc. It is also an opportunity to have fun with 6 performances, all quite far from his usual musical sphere, and to revisit in an acoustic and orchestral way the titles of his career that lend themselves best to it.
We find several covers with many classics from the 60s including "Barbara Ann", already present on the band's second album, and also "Mr Sandman" from The Chordettes, a very beautiful track, popularized in the 80s with the movie "Back to the Future", and that Blind Guardian appropriates well by keeping the cheerful, fresh and original side. The band also tackles the Beach Boys' mythical "Surfin' USA", keeping the spirit of the original song here too before metallizing it, even if this pop-song wonder obviously remains better in its basic version. With "To France", the band attacks a 1984 Mike Olfield classic, a very beautiful pop song, and draws a version with perfectly sung medieval colours. With "The Wizard", Blind Guardian finds his musical roots again for this cover of Uriah Heep's classic ("Demons & Wizards" - 1972), and the version of this superb song is of quality with a Hansi Kürsch close to David Byron's class. Finally, "Spread Your Wings", already present on the Japanese version of "Somewhere Far Beyond", fits well with the group that appropriates this epic and melodic classic of Queen.
The suite offers us alternative versions of the band's songs. "Theater Of Pain" in instrumental and orchestral form is proving to be of very high quality, while "Lord The Rings", in the same colour, is gaining in dramatic intensity and depth, strongly reflecting the story it tells. Then, we find two recent tracks from "Imaginations From The Other Side" in acoustics, that are reworked from riffs to vocal harmonies and verses. "Bright Eyes" gains a superb Latin side, while "Mordred's Song" sees its medieval side accentuated with a beautiful guitar riff. Finally, we find the band's two ballads with "A Past And Future Secret" in its studio version and which fits well into the disc, and a live version of the quiet part of "The Bard's Song".
Of course, this compilation may seem superfluous but it shows another side of the German band. "The Forgotten Tales" is primarily aimed at Blind Guardian fans, but it will also be advised to understand the band's soul and explore all its musical storytelling skills. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Mr. Sandman (02:09)
02. Surfin' USA (02:23)
03. Bright Eyes (04:20) (Acoustic Version)
04. Lord Of The Rings (03:55) (Orchestral Version)
05. The Wizard (03:16)
06. Spead Your Wings (04:14)
07. Mordred's Song (05:16) (Acoustic Version)
08. Black Chamber (01:15) (Orchestral Version)
09. The Bard's Song (04:11) (Live)
10. Barbara Ann/Long Tall Sally (01:43)
11. A Past And Future Secret (03:47)
12. To France (04:40)
13. Theatre Of Pain (04:15) (Orchestral Version)
LINEUP:
André Olbrich: Guitares
Hansi Kürsch: Chant / Basse
Marcus Siepen: Guitares
Thomen Stauch: Batterie
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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(0) COMMENT(S)
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READERS
2.8/5 (4 view(s))
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STAFF:
3/5 (1 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH BLIND GUARDIAN
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