A Night at the Opera (Blind Guardian album)

Infobox Album
Name = A Night at the Opera
Type = studio
Artist = 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
Reviews =
* [http://soundofmetal.se/ Sound Of Metal] rating|9.5|10 [http://soundofmetal.se/index.php?page=blindguardiananightattheoperareview link]
* Allmusic rating|2.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:by5j8qfpbtm4 link]
* "Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles" (9.5/10) [http://www.bravewords.com/hardwares/1000324 link]
* "Hard Radio" (9/10) [http://www.hardradio.com/reviews/reviews012299.html link]
* "Lords of Metal" (100/100) [http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=1164&lang=en link]
* "MetalReviews.com" (100/100) [http://www.metalreviews.com/reviews/detail.php3?id=872 link]
* "Metal-Rules" (4.0/5 & 4.9/5) [http://www.metal-rules.com/review/viewreview.php?band=Blind%20Guardian&album=&post_by=&rating=&month=&year=&pos=0 link] [http://www.metal-rules.com/review/viewreview.php?band=Blind%20Guardian&album=&post_by=&rating=&month=&year=&pos=1 link]
* "Tartarean Desire" (9.5/10 & 7/10) [http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/bg_opera.html link] [http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/bg_opera2.html link]
* "The Metal Observer" (9.5/10) [http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=800 link]
Last album = "Nightfall in Middle-Earth"
(1998)
This album = "A Night at the Opera"
(2002)
Next album = "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.Fact|date=June 2008 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. [ [http://www.metal-rules.com/polls/index.php?id=5 Metal-Rules.com ] ]

Track listing

# "Precious Jerusalem" – 6:21
# "Battlefield" – 5:37
# "Under the Ice" – 5:44
# "Sadly Sings Destiny" – 6:04
# "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" – 5:30
# "Wait for an Answer" – 6:30
# "The Soulforged" – 5:18
# "Age of False Innocence" – 6:05
# "Punishment Divine" – 5:45
# "And Then There Was Silence" – 14:05
* Bonus Songs
# "Harvest of Sorrow" (Acoustic Version) – 3:39 (Japanese Bonus)
# "Mies del Dolor" – 3:39 (Spain/North American Bonus)
# "La Cosecha del Dolor" – 3:39 (Argentine Bonus)
# "Frutto del Buio" – 3:39 (Italian Bonus)
# "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 of 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 fictional character who reluctantly helps fufill the prophecy, by doing such things as biulding the cross and weaving the Crown of Thorns.
* "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" is about the story of "Tristan und Isolde".
* "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. [http://www.milan-skoda.cz/blindguardian/rozhovor518.htm]
* "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)

Personnel

Band

* Hansi Kürsch - lead and backing vocals
* André Olbrich - lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars
* Marcus Siepen - rhythm guitar
* Thomas "Thomen" Stauch - drums & percussion

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

* [http://www.curufin.com/bg/harvest/ "Harvest of Sorrow"] (9 versions available for download)

References