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July 24, 2008 |
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BLIND GUARDIAN - Imaginations Through The Looking Glass
Century Media (2004) |
7.5/10 |
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DVD 1 - The Coburg Show
01. War Of Wrath
02. Time Stands Still
03. Banish From Sanctuary
04. Nightfall
05. The Script For My Requiem
06. Valhalla
07. A Past & Guture Secret
08. Punishment Divine
09. Mordred's Song
10. The Last Candle
11. Bright Eyes
12. Lord Of The Rings
13. I'm Alive
14. Another Holy War
15. And Then There Was Silence
16. Somewhere Far Beyond
17. The Bard's Song (In The Forest)
18. Imaginations From The Other Side
19. And The Story Ends
20. Mirror Mirror
DVD 2 - Bonus Disc
Interview With B.G.
Backstage Scenes - " A Night At The Opera Tour 2002"
Slideshow
The Making Of "The B.G. Festival Coburg 2003"
Bonus Songs:
01. Majesty
02. Into The Storm
03. Welcome To Dying
04. Lost In The Twilight Hall
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Crappy DVD releases are rare. Even bands I don't like shoehorn enough material into their DVDs to make them worthwhile purchases for fans. Although late to jump on the DVD bandwagon, BLIND GUARDIAN have made their first one well worth the wait.
When I bought IRON MAIDEN's last live album, "Rock In Rio", it remained in my CD player for a fair time afterwards. But when MAIDEN released a DVD of the same performance, I already knew what to expect from the show and wasn't thrilled about having to pay twice for the one show. Thankfully, the BLIND GUARDIAN DVD and the band's recent live album are completely different. While the live album is a souvenir from the "A Night At The Opera" tour and covers a variety of dates and countries, this DVD was recorded during the two night BLIND GUARDIAN Open Air Festival in Coburg, Germany. You read that correctly, BLIND GUARDIAN held their own festival on June 13-14, 2003 for the sole purpose of releasing this DVD package. In order to make this festival and DVD special, they resurrected old favorites like "The Last Candle" and "Somewhere Far Beyond".
They also attempt "And Then There Was Silence" in its entirety, a massive feat given the pomp of the studio version. A major lure for me was the inclusion of eight songs from "Imaginations From The Other Side", which is one of my favorite metal albums and should be one of yours. "Born In A Mourning Hall" is the only "Imaginations" track missing, but it was included on the live album, so I can die a semi-happy man.
Disc 1 includes a twenty-song performance from the BG festival. Although the DVD has songs from both dates, they flow together seamlessly as if from the same show. The crowd is large, loud and full of energy, but to my disappointment, their energy is not matched by the band. A major complaint I have is Hansi Kursch's stage presence, or the lack thereof. The stage is huge, but Hansi doesn't move around or work the crowd. He's a great singer, but I'd hesitate to call him a great frontman. Still, many of his gestures and facial expressions are quite funny. There is a catwalk jutting from the stage, which allows Hansi to better interact with the crowd, but overall, I expect more intensity. The guitarists spend most of the concert on their respective sides of the stage, rarely moving around. To distract from the band's tree-like mobility, the cameras angles change quite frequently, often gratuitously, and sometimes out of control.
Another problem I have is the lack of stage banter, and because the show takes place in Germany, the dialogue between songs is entirely in German. One of my favorite aspects of the "Tokyo Tales" live album is Hansi Kursch's hilarious song introductions. They are absent here—a shame, because this DVD had such potential: "You're looking very alive tonight, which makes me alive too...yes, I'm Alive!!!!!"
I can't help but feel sorry for bassist, Oliver Halzwarth. Sure he's not a full-fledged member of the band, but it wouldn't hurt to film him once and a while. He spends most of the set at the back of the stage, exiled like a leper. On those rare moments when he does come to the front, the camera goes out of its way to avoid him. The band uses keyboards to recreate the epic and orchestral feel of their later material, but the keyboardist also gets a thin slice of camera time. Overall, the musicians all sound fine, and seeing Olbrich play makes you appreciate his skill as a guitar player and soloist.
No songs from "Batallions Of Fear" were included, which is a shame, because early material like "Banish From Sanctuary" and "Valhalla" sound better here, reflecting Hansi's growth since those terribly sung first two albums. In fact, "Valhalla" goes over so well that the audience reprises its chorus after "The Last Candle". Unfortunately, Hansi's vocals on the "Imaginations" tracks lack the viciousness of their studio counterparts. Studio-shrieked lines like "In asylum's cage I'm left alone", "I turn off the light and murder the dawn", and "What can I do on this road to nowhere?" are all sung softly here.
Thankfully the set only includes two tracks from "A Night At The Opera". In my opinion, the album was a turgid disappointment and should've been called "Invasion Of The Hansis". With more prominent guitars and only one Hansi on stage, "Punishment Divine" actually sounds like a BLIND GUARDIAN song. "And Then There Was Silence" is by far the greatest song from ANATO, and it takes guts to perform this monster live. Unfortunately, the band got carried away in the editing process: the camera angle changes so often during this song that you're likely to get motion sickness. At some points, the angle shifts with each drumbeat. Watching this song is like being inside that rotating teacup ride. Also, some vocals lines are missing, which makes the song awkward in places, and the band stops after "Holy Light Shines Ooonnnnnn", omitting everything afterwards. Despite these problems, "And Then There Was Silence" sounds as good as a stripped down, live version of the song could sound.
The stage show was better than expected, but I was expecting none. During "A Past And Future Secret," flaming torches lit up allover the stage. Another thing I noticed during the show were the three rings at the top of the stage, which would glow from time to time. Speaking of rings, when I saw Hansi's wedding ring, I couldn't help but think of the evil ring of power.
The second disc includes all the bonus features. First there is a 40-minute documentary about the making of the DVD and the BLIND GUARDIAN open air festival. You need to turn the English subtitles on to understand the band members' commentary, and unfortunately many conversations on the screen do not have subtitles. Still, it's interesting to see the diehard BLIND GUARDIAN fans who camped out at the festival, especially those who were sitting around in a circle, singing "The Bard's Song", while one person played acoustic guitar.
The disc also includes a 24-minute interview with the band, but the questions are strictly about touring and live performances, and again, you need subtitles to understand it. The four bonus songs show the band performing indoors, in front of a smaller audience. Hansi is much more energetic in this atmosphere, and because the four bonus tracks are old songs, they sound on par with or better than their studio counterparts. Lastly, the disc contains a slideshow, showing stills of the open air performance. I see little point to this feature, because you can watch the entire show live on disc 1.
Although the concert is far from perfect, "Imaginations Through The Looking Glass" is a must have for all BLIND GUARDIAN enthusiasts. The DVD features lavish packaging and interactive menus, and the concert can be heard in PCM-Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1. Needless to say, you're not much of a diehard BLIND GUARDIAN fan without it.
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