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Blind Guardian
With a steady evolution from their early days as a speed metal band to their current, renowned musical alchemy of glory, drama, and grandiosity, Germany’s BLIND GUARDIAN have long since made their mark as the world’s definitive melodic/progressive rock band. For many, they need no introduction, as the band possesses a track record and back catalogue of classic staples that perhaps only Iron Maiden can match. Called everything from heavy metal bards to modern day minstrels, BLIND GUARDIAN possess the ability to transport their legions of fans to new landscapes with their majestic songwriting, fantastically themed lyrics, and their meticulous, emotion-packed music. Founded under the name Lucifer’s Heritage in Krefeld, Germany by vocalist & bassist Hansi Kürsch, lead guitarist André Olbrich, rhythm guitarist Marcus Dork, and drummer Thomen Stauch, the band released only two demos – 1985’s Symphonies Of Doom and 1986’s Battalions Of Fear - before landing a record deal with Remorse Records. Inspired by the Fates Warning album, Awaken The Guardian, band members decided to change their name to BLIND GUARDIAN and soon acquired new rhythm guitarist Marcus Siepen. Produced by Kalle Trapp (Saxon, Grave Digger), their 1988 debut album,Battalions Of Fear, (info | shop) showed a heavy influence by Iron Maiden and Helloween. On 1989’s Follow The Blind (also produced by Trapp, info | shop), they leaned toward Testament’s musical direction, but also experimented with orchestral parts for the first time. More significantly, the album served as their introduction to the Japanese market where they ranked high on the import charts for half a year, poising them for a possible breakthrough with their third release. The band’s reputation continued to grow via word-of-mouth, and when Tales From The Twilight World (info | shop) sold 30,000 copies in their home country alone, BLIND GUARDIAN reached the critical juncture in their career they had hoped for. Not only did they feel they had become better musicians and songwriters; they also penned a very distinct sound in the process, and record labels across Europe began courting them. Signing with Virgin Records in 1992, they were one of the very few metal bands to be signed on a major label. Their Virgin debut, Somewhere Far Beyond, (info | shop) sold over 130,000 copies. After entering the international charts, BLIND GUARDIAN took their first trip to Japan to record their first live album, Tokyo Tales (info | shop). Playing two sold-out audiences to over 4,000 enthused fans, the show captured how strong, special, and symbiotic the relationship between artist and audience can be. The summer of 1994 had BLIND GUARDIAN traveling to Sweet Silence Studios in Denmark to work with Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica) on the Imaginations From The Other Side (info | shop) album. After its release, they toured throughout Europe and secured themselves a very special international honor: they became the third-ever heavy metal band (after Metallica and Bon Jovi) to play in Thailand and received a heroes’ welcome into the country. At this point in their career and with six successful albums in their discography, BLIND GUARDIAN opted not to release a standard “Best Of” compilation. Instead, to give their fans something truly special, they assembled The Forgotten Tales (info | shop) in 1996, a collection of a few cover songs (“Surfin’ USA,” “Barbara Ann,” and “Long Tall Sally”), a live version of the fan favorite “The Bard’s Song,” plus four acoustic versions and one orchestral arrangement of previously released BLIND GUARDIAN songs. Self-professed perfectionists, BLIND GUARDIAN were becoming known for making fans wait a few years for a new album. Honing their creative talents with the production assistance of Rasmussen and drawing major inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Silmarillion, 1998’s Nightfall In Middle-Earth (info | shop) quickly became regarded as a pinnacle achievement in the band’s career. This carefully constructed collection of twenty-two tracks harnessed not only power and speed, but opulent orchestral arrangements, renaissance-styled acoustic sequences, spoken word, and flute & violin passages, all complemented by the jovial stroke of a traveling troubadour’s effervescent spirit. In Europe, BLIND GUARDIAN toured more than ever before, and performed for the first time in new territories such as México, Brazil, and Argentina. While the band was on the road gathering momentum and adding to their ever-expanding fan base, the demand for BLIND GUARDIAN’s music in new markets continued to grow. Thanks to a licensing deal with Century Media Records, Nightfall became the band’s first official release in North America and landed on the Billboard charts. Nightfall went on to sell over 300,000 copies worldwide. Securing a loyal international audience and increasing their album sales over ten times with six studio albums, BLIND GUARDIAN’s obviously lively combination of talent, drive, and unified vision helped them earn their laurels of success and granted them a much-revered reputation in the power metal realm that continues to this day. Making good on a promise made in the spring of 1997, vocalist Hansi Kürsch flew over to the U.S. in June of 1999 to team up with Iced Earth songwriter & guitarist and long-time friend Jon Schaffer on the Demons & Wizards project (the two first met while on tour together in Europe and began a lasting friendship). After the self-titled album was released in early 2000 and following a short European D&W summer tour, BLIND GUARDIAN began to resume work on their seventh studio album, A Night At The Opera (info | shop). With the amount of work ahead of them due to their extensive tracking and the epic nature of the band’s musical orchestrations, the album took nearly seventeen months to complete. Teaming up with producer Charlie Bauerfeind (Helloween, Gamma Ray, Angra) at the band’s own Twilight Hall Studios in Grefrath-Oedt, Germany, the new material showcased a more aggressive version of Kürsch’s strongly emotive vocals, and cleaner, down-tuned guitar sounds. While the storytelling aspect of the band and the epic & grandiose studio performances remained intact, noticeably absent were the Tolkien-themed lyrics, but that would prove to be no hindrance to the success that waited them. The band’s first-ever North American single, “And Then There Was Silence,” (which clocked in at over fourteen minutes, featured fifty vocal tracks, thirty guitar tracks, and took over four months to record) debuted on Billboard’s Top 200 Singles chart with no radio airplay. Metal Maniacs hailed BLIND GUARDIAN as “one of the few bands that consistently create 10-plus minute epics that never bore.” A Night At The Opera went on to debut at #37 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart, secured the #1 album position in Greece, #5 in Germany, #8 in Spain, and entered the Top 100 charts in Sweden, Italy, Austria, and France. Scoring a 9.5 out of 10 review and called “a pervasive and perennial slice of metal’s past, present, and future” by Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles Magazine, it went on to receive universal praise as one of the best albums in its genre. Even Billboard Magazine praised the band’s “larger-than-life sound, which incorporates the harmonies and drama of Queen with an aggressive, modern sensibility.” The success of the album brought BLIND GUARDIAN over to North America for the first time, launched with an appearance at Atlanta, Georgia’s sold-out ProgPower III festival plus additional sold-out shows in major cities. Sparked by the avid interest of their fervent, ever-growing fan base to see the band perform in a live setting (laying credence to Metal Edge’s claim that the band has “reinvented classic metal for a younger audience”), BLIND GUARDIAN released a 2-CD live album, Live (info | shop), in 2003 and a double-disc DVD, Imaginations Through The Looking Glass, in 2004. Of note is that the latter was filmed at the first-ever, two-day BLIND GUARDIAN Open Air Festival in Coburg, Germany with the career-spanning set list voted upon entirely by fans before the festival, which ultimately translated into a truly vociferous crowd of over 6,000 on both days. Early 2005 brought along several significant changes for BLIND GUARDIAN. In addition to signing with Nuclear Blast Records, the band - who managed to keep the same line-up for almost two decades - welcomed new drummer Fredrik Ehmke into the fold following the departure of Thomen Stauch. Once again joined by producer Charlie Bauerfeind at Twilight Hall Studios and diving into production for their eighth studio album, the band set out to create another album’s worth of grandeur. The invigorating music on A Twist In The Myth (info | shop) satisfied on all counts, as demonstrated by the success of the “Fly” single, which debuted at very impressive international chart positions: #1 in Japan; #4 in Spain & Hungary; #29 in Sweden; #32 in Germany; #52 in Austria; and #94 in Switzerland. Debuting at #21 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums and

Songs

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1
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Mirror Mirror (Remastered 2007) E
Blind Guardian
2
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The Bard's Song - In the Forest (Remastered 2007) E
Blind Guardian
3
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Nightfall (Remastered 2007) E
Blind Guardian
4
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Finsterwacht
Saltatio Mortis
5
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Valhalla
Blind Guardian

Albums

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Somewhere Far Beyond (Revisited)

2024
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At the Edge of Time

2010
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Imaginations from the Other Side (Remastered 2007)

1995
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The God Machine

2022
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A Twist in the Myth

2006
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Imaginations from the Other Side

1995
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Legacy of the Dark Lands (No Interlude Version)

2019
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A Night At The Opera

2002
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Beyond the Red Mirror

2015
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Nightfall in Middle Earth (Remastered 2007)

1998

Singles & EPs

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Darkenguard

Single • 2024
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Deliver Us From Evil

Single • 2021
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Violent Shadows (Live)

Single • 2020
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Ashes To Ashes (Revisited)

Single • 2024
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Merry Xmas Everybody

Single • 2020
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Finsterwacht

Single • 2024
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A Voice in the Dark

Single • 2010
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Secrets Of The American Gods (Single Edit)

Single • 2022
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Another Stranger Me

EP • 2007

Videos

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BLIND GUARDIAN - The God Machine Tour 2025 | Recap

Blind Guardian • 3.2K views
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BLIND GUARDIAN - Alcatraz Festival 2023

Blind Guardian • 44K views
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BLIND GUARDIAN - Palladium Cologne 2025 | The God Machine Tour | Recap

Blind Guardian • 7.6K views
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BLIND GUARDIAN - 013 Poppodium, Tilburg 2025 | Recap

Blind Guardian • 2.1K views

Live performances

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BLIND GUARDIAN - Pott Out Festival 2024 Recap

Blind Guardian • 4.3K views

Featured on

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Swords & Sorcery

Playlist • YouTube Music
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Twisted Christmas

Playlist • YouTube Music

Playlists by Blind Guardian

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BLIND GUARDIAN - Full Album Streams

Playlist • Blind Guardian • 13K views
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BLIND GUARDIAN - Somewhere Far Beyond - Revisited | Lyric Videos

Playlist • Blind Guardian • 6.3K views
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BLIND GUARDIAN - Official Music Videos

Playlist • Blind Guardian • 2.1K views

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