Nerd-Worthy Metal: Blind Guardian

In my memory, there are very few moments that I consider to be life-changing: the day of my wedding, the births of my children, discovering role-playing games, watching the first episode of Firefly. Among them is hearing the music of Blind Guardian for the first time.

A few months after it was officially announced that The Lord of the Rings would be brought to film by Peter Jackson, my roommate told me that a German heavy metal band had offered their services to provide music for the films. Blind Guardian’s website had a few short clips of their music available for listening on their website, and I clicked the link for the song “Mirror, Mirror”. Thirty seconds later, I was a metal fan. Thanks to the existence of YouTube, I can share the whole song with you. Go have a taste. Don’t worry, I’ll be here when you come back. If you come back…

This is one of my favorite tracks of all time, and comes from the album Nightfall in Middle Earth, which tells many tales of the First Age of Middle Earth from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. Nearly every Blind Guardian song is based on fantasy and science fiction literature. J.R.R. Tolkien’s work warrants an entire concept album as well as a number of songs appearing on other albums. The most recent album, At the Edge of Time, prominently features Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series as well as George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (which came out well before the HBO TV series A Game of Thrones was announced). “Time What is Time“ from the album Somewhere Far Beyond portrays the plight of Blade Runner’s Replicants. If you don’t think someone could create an awesome metal song about Peter Pan check out “Fly” (see below).

Blind Guardian has been making music since the mid-1980’s and has been very prolific. With over thirteen albums to choose from, deciding where to start might be a bit overwhelming. With that in mind, I have a few suggestions:

“Mirror, Mirror” from Nightfall in Middle Earth (1998) – Based on The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

(above)

“Wheel of Time” from At The Edge of Time (2010) – Based on The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

“Fly” from A Twist in the Myth (2006) – Based on Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

“And Then There Was Silence” from A Night at the Opera (2002) – Based on Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey

“Mordred’s Song” from Imaginations from the Other Side (1995) – Based on Arthurian Legends

“Time What is Time” from Somewhere Far Beyond (1992) – Based on the movie Blade Runner

There are so many more I’d like to share, but I will stop there (for now). Perhaps at another time I will revisit my favorite metal band. I will leave you with a quote from the lyrics of “The Bard’s Song: In the Forest“, which I have sung with the band each time I have been lucky enough to catch one of their shows in the US. This passage communicates the essence of Blind Guardian in a few lines:

In my thoughts and in my dreams,

They’re always in my mind,

These songs of hobbits, dwarves, and men, and elves

Come close your eyes

You can see them too…

You can connect with Blind Guardian on their Facebook and Twitter pages. If you do, tell them their fan club at Nerdy Minds Magazine sent you!

Please consider checking out our other posts on nerd-worthy music! Know of some other nerd-worthy music you’d like to see us cover? Let us know, and who knows… Maybe we’ll even have you cover it for us in a guest-post!

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***The views expressed above are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Nerdy Minds (Magazine) as a whole. But they might.***

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