Follow the Blind [IMPORT]

Blind Guardian

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 18, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Import
• ASIN: B000005RT4
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #351,318 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Inquisition

2. Banish From Sanctuary

3. Damned For All Time

4. Follow The Blind

5. Hall Of The King

6. Fast To Madness

7. Beyond The Ice

8. Valhalla

9. Don't Break The Circle (CD-Bonus)

10. Barbara Ann

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

1991 reissue on Virgin of the German heavy metal band's 1989album for the label with 'Don't Break The Circle' added as abonus track. 10 tracks total, also featuring 'Beyond The Ice', 'Valhalla' and an amusing cover of the Beach Boys' 'Barbara Ann'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mean old school speed-metal, December 10, 2004

By	Ilya Malafeyev (Russia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm amazed at people rating this album so low! I think, we should be appreciating music for what it is, not for what it could have become (or became much later). Does anybody remember, that this is a record from 1989? Does anybody remember what metal scene looked like at that time? That was the time of some mean metal reigning supreme, the time of thrash and speed-metal, the time of death-metal gaining full force. There was no place for anything epic or melodic. So what's the point of rating "Follow the Blind" so low after comparing it to "Nightfall in Middle-Earth", I cannot understand.

With that being said, "Follow the Blind" is a terrific example of darker German speed-metal, with all its attributes in place. It has imaginative riffing, accessible melodies and killer ultra-fast guitars. Rough, melodic, and addictive. Similar to what another German band, Rage, played, but with better vocals. If you follow Blind Guardian's development from their 1988 debut, you'll be struck by how much the band developed in just 1 year! Hansi got more comfortable with his voice, while Thomas improved into a fairly good drummer. Several guitar solos here still send shivers down my spine (like the one on Banished From Sanctuary). The music got more melody, but still not enough to be compared to their later power-metal works. Surely, not every idea works, but for the most part the songs here are very enjoyable. I would highlight Banished From Sanctuary, Hall Of The King, Fast To Madness, and of course the still played live, Valhalla with legendary Kai Hansen of Helloween / Gamma Ray fame providing guest vocals. There are 2 cover songs here. One, titled Don't Break The Circle, was original played by a NWBHM band Demon. It's blazingly fast and a pleasure to listen to for any metal fan. The other one is good, but in another way. It's a cover of I-forgot-whose old rock'n'roll song Barbara Ann, which was turned metal. Lots of fun from this one!

It must be noted that whoever only likes later Blind Guardian's epic minstrel power-metal, most likely won't get into this album, and is better starting from the next BG album, "Tales from the Twilight World". But this one is very important for the band, because it shows their transition from "one-of-the-legion" to world's best power-metal band of the 90s. It's also essential for fans of speed-metal.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Follow The Blind, October 11, 2003

By	Fingolfin (Greece) - See all my reviews

Let me explain why I rated this album 3/5. I am an avid BG fan and own all their albums/singles, enjoying every period of the band for different reasons. In this album BG made their sound heavier and more "professional" so to say. However, it lacks the raw spirit of Battalions Of Fear and the songwriting doesn't consistently deliver. A couple songs stand out while the rest of the album is solid. Their next effort, Tales Of The Twilight World, marks the beginning of BG forging their distinctive style and sound.

If you learned BG from Nightfall.. or A Night At The Opera and love them for their multilayered songs with big choruses and melodies you can skip this cd without any consequences. If you fancy speed metal try the previous or the next album first.

A review of FTB would be incomplete without a mention of the cover of Barbara Ann, which is -amazingly enough- even better than the original. The cover of Demon's "Don't Break The Circle" is another great cover. However, the apex of the album is Valhalla, a song you can still catch BG playing live.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great Blind Guardian CD, June 21, 2003

By	"kage_tsufuremi" (Dalton, Ga United States) - See all my reviews

If your a Diehard fan like myself. You will Love this CD. If you Started listening to Blind Guardian From "Nightfall in Middle Earth" To "A Night at the Opera" Or Even From Imaginations. You will probly Hate this CD. It has much of the same Feel as Battalions of Fear and Gives us the Raw Untamed Feel of Blind Guardian. In my Opinion It doesnt get any better than This. This CD Doesnt have many of the well known songs but it has some Great Songs such as, Valhalla (one of my personal Favorites) Damned For all Time, Follow the Blind and Beyond the Ice. All around a great Album.