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A Night at the Opera (Blind Guardian album)

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A Night at the Opera
Cover art by Paul R. Gregory
Studio album by
Released25 March 2002
RecordedJanuary–December 2001 at Twilight Hall Studios, Grefrath and Hammer Music Studios, Hamburg, Germany
Genre
Length67:01
LabelVirgin/Century Media
ProducerCharlie Bauerfeind
Blind Guardian chronology
Nightfall in Middle-Earth
(1998)
A Night at the Opera
(2002)
A Twist in the Myth
(2006)
Singles from A Night at the Opera
  1. "And Then There Was Silence"
    Released: 12 November 2001
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Exclaim!favorable[1]
Rock Hard9/10[3]

A Night at the Opera is the seventh studio album by the German power metal band Blind Guardian, released in 2002. It is named after the 1975 Queen album of the same name, which is itself named after the Marx brothers film of the same name.[4]

This album continues a stylistic change from power metal into a more progressive sound, with multiple overlaid vocals, choirs, orchestral keys and guitar leads and less emphasis on powerful guitar riffs and heavy rhythms.[5] As a result, drummer Thomen Stauch would leave the group, citing dissatisfaction with the direction the group was going in.[6]

Album content

[edit]

There are seven different studio versions and two official live versions of "Harvest of Sorrow" – 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 (also called "Harvest of the World").

The song "Battlefield" is featured as the music in the heavy metal edition of the Adult Swim game Robot Unicorn Attack.

Track listing

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All lyrics are written by Hansi Kürsch; all music is composed by André Olbrich and Kürsch, except bonus tracks by Marcus Siepen, Kürsch and Thomen Stauch

No.TitleLength
1."Precious Jerusalem"6:22
2."Battlefield" (Olbrich, Kürsch and Stauch)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" (Olbrich, Kürsch and Stauch)5:18
8."Age of False Innocence"6:05
9."Punishment Divine"5:45
10."And Then There Was Silence"14:06
2018 re-release bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Age of False Innocence (Preproduction Mix 2018)"5:42
12."Under the Ice (Preproduction Mix 2018)"5:40
Bonus tracks from Harvest of Sorrow EP
No.TitleLength
11."Harvest of Sorrow (Acoustic Version)" (Japanese bonus)3:39
12."Mies del dolor" (Spain/North American bonus)3:39
13."La cosecha del dolor" (Argentine bonus)3:39
14."Frutto del buio" (Italian bonus)3:39
15."Moisson de peine" (French bonus)3:39

Lyrical references

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

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart (2002) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8] 17
French Albums (SNEP)[9] 67
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 5
Italian Albums (FIMI)[11] 11
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[12] 29
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 44
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[15] 37

References

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  1. ^ a b Stewart-Panko, Kevin (June 2002). "Aggresstive Tendenacies: Metal & Hardcore review: Blind Guardian – A Night At The Opera". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  2. ^ a b "A Night at the Opera - Blind Guardian | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Rensen, Michael. "A Night at the Opera review". issue 187. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b Heim, Frank. "A Night At The Opera". Blind Guardian. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  5. ^ W, Bear (25 March 2022). "(2002) Blind Guardian – A Night At the Opera: Anniversary Special". Tuonela Magazine. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Exclusive Thomen Stauch interview". Drummerszone. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  7. ^ Pizek, Jeff (5 April 2002). "Blind Guardian's new CD has the ring of Queen", Daily Herald, p. 4.
  8. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Blind Guardian – A Night at the Opera" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  9. ^ "Lescharts.com – Blind Guardian – A Night at the Opera". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  10. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Blind Guardian – A Night at the Opera" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  11. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Blind Guardian – A Night at the Opera". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  12. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  13. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Blind Guardian – A Night at the Opera". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  14. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Blind Guardian – A Night at the Opera". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  15. ^ "Blind Guardian Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2024.