A Night at the Opera (Blind Guardian album)

A Night at the Opera
Cover art by Paul R. Gregory
Studio album by Blind Guardian
Released	25 March 2002
Recorded	January–December 2001 at Twilight Hall Studios, Grefrath and Hammer Music Studios, Hamburg, Germany
Genre	Progressive metal[1] power metal[2]
Length	67:01
Label	Virgin/Century Media
Producer	Charlie 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
"And Then There Was Silence" Released: November 12, 2001

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Exclaim!	favorable[2]
Rock Hard	(9/10)[3]

A Night at the Opera is a 2002 album by the German power metal band Blind Guardian. 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.

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. As a result, drummer Thomas Stauch would leave the group, citing dissatisfaction with the direction the group was going in.

Album content

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

All music written by Olbrich and Kürsch except where noted. All bonus tracks written by Marcus Siepen, Kürsch and Thomas "Thomen" Stauch. All lyrics written by Kürsch.

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 and his temptation in the desert.
• "Battlefield" is based on Song of Hildebrandt, an old German tale of a father and son who find themselves in a duel to the death. It is an homage to Jesus Christ Superstar.
• "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" is 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 character who reluctantly helps fulfil the prophecy, by doing such things as building the cross and weaving the Crown of Thorns.
• "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" is based on an episode from the story of Tristan und Isolde.
• "Wait for an Answer" is a story Hansi wrote about an unusual friendship between a hare and a fox. They both have to avoid the genocide created by a tribe of crows in a story about hope and war.
• "The Soulforged" is based on the Dragonlance saga's tales of the mage Raistlin Majere.^[4]
• "Age of False Innocence" is about Galileo Galilei.^[5]
• "Punishment Divine" is about Nietzsche's decline into insanity where he imagines himself being judged by a court of saints.
• "And Then There Was Silence" is about Cassandra's visions of the coming Trojan War. It was inspired by Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid.
• "Harvest of Sorrow" is based on Tolkien's tragic story of Túrin Turambar, which appears in the Silmarillion.

Chart positions

Album – Billboard (North America)

Lineup

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

Guest musicians

• Oliver Holzwarth – bass guitar
• Mathias Wiesner – keyboards & orchestral arrangements
• Michael Schüren – piano on "Age of False Innocence"
• Pad Bender, Boris Schmidt & Sascha Pierro – keyboards and sound effects
• Rolf Köhler, Thomas Hackmann, Olaf Senkbeil & Billy King – The Choir Company

Personnel

• Charlie Bauerfeind – production, mixing, recording
• Nordin Hammadi Amrani – assistant engineer, additional recordings
• Clemens von Witte – recordings (backing vocals)
• Detlef – recordings (backing vocals)
• Paul Raymond Gregory – cover painting
• André Olbrich – front cover concept
• Dennis "Sir" Kostroman – booklet design
• Axel Jusseit – photos

References