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Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth



8.9 | 1470 votes |
Release date: 24 April 1998
Style: Power metal

Owners:

1836 have it
130 want it
1 trades it


01. War Of Wrath
02. Into The Storm
03. Lammoth
04. Nightfall
05. The Minstrel
06. The Curse Of Feanor
07. Captured
08. Blood Tears
09. Mirror Mirror
10. Face The Truth
11. Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns)
12. Battle Of Sudden Flame
13. Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill)
14. The Dark Elf
15. Thorn
16. The Eldar
17. Nom The Wise
18. When Sorrow Sang
19. Out On The Water
20. The Steadfast
21. A Dark Passage
22. Final Chapter (Thus Ends...)
23. Nightfall [orchestral version] [Japanese bonus]
24. A Dark Passage [instrumental version] [Japanese bonus]
25. Harvest Of Sorrow [remastered edition bonus]
26. Doom [remixed and remastered edition bonus] [original lyrics]
27. The Tides Of War [remixed and remastered edition bonus]

Top 20 albums of 1998: 2
Top 200 albums of all time: 58
Featured in "Getting Into: Blind Guardian"

Guest review by
Storchillarn
Rating:
9.2
Power Metal and fantasy - dragons, magic and short, bearded fellows - have been walking hand in hand almost since the creation of the genre. Blind Guardian has strengthened this connection since their first album. Ten years after their initial release the genre-defining group returns with one of their most ambitious projects ever: a concept album based on the epic "Silmarillion" by J.R.R. Tolkien, one of the bands biggest influences. The result? Have they possibly managed to make something memorable and, most importantly, metal of the literary work? Hang on for the answer.

Read more ››
published 01.07.2007 | Comments (19)

Guest review by
Ernis
Rating:
7.7
Blind Guardian is an absolute star of Power Metal and their 1998 release 'Nightfall In Middle-Earth' is a monolithic work. Using the expression "left a mark" isn't enough. Of course this album has left a mark upon all who have listened to it and left a mark in the history of Power Metal and metal in general. And also literature, all in all, being like an asteroid leaving a crater.

Read more ››
published 01.10.2007 | Comments (12)

I'm about a month late for the exact anniversary, but Nightfall In Middle-Earth is 20 years old now, and for the last 10, it has been my favorite album of all time. Andre Olbrich's guitar solos, Hansi Kürsch's vocals, the songwriting, the production, the choirs, the drama, the emotion, the cover art, even the cavalcade of excessive interludes - just about every characteristic of this album is, for me, the gold standard by which that characteristic is measured in all other works of music. I can still clearly remember hearing "Nightfall" for the first time and thinking within the first ten seconds, "This is the perfect band for me." Ten years later, I feel the same sentiments I did that first time. Happy birthday, Nightfall. Happy anniversary, Bards of Metal.

ScreamingSteelUS's picks | More picks ››

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Comments page 2 / 2

Comments: 50   Visited by: 1721 users
26.12.2016 - 16:21
Rating: 9
BlackMetalDay
Well, so many negative comments up here, that's strange for such an excellent album that is also, by the way, around #100 in the top 200 of the best albums of all time on Metal Storm.
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08.10.2017 - 23:32
Rating: 7
DeathMetal
Damn these guys love interludes.
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13.10.2017 - 20:45
Rating: 10
tominator
At best deranged
Contributor
Written by DeathMetal on 08.10.2017 at 23:32

Damn these guys love interludes.

Haha yeah you're right. I don't mind those but I can see how it might be a bit too much for someone elses taste.

Personally I think this is their second best album (after Imaginations From The Other Side).
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29.05.2018 - 23:19
Maco
Pvt Funderground
The previous albums were better
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Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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04.05.2020 - 21:31
Rating: 7
majormalfunction
Decent stuff. Better than Imaginations but not as good as their earlier ones. Into the Storm is a killer track.
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Everything's twice as bright with money in your hands
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05.05.2020 - 00:00
Rating: 6
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by majormalfunction on 04.05.2020 at 21:31

Decent stuff. Better than Imaginations but not as good as their earlier ones. Into the Storm is a killer track.

Only good songs are Mirror Mirror, and time stands still...
Album where bg died
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I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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05.05.2020 - 08:11
Rating: 7
majormalfunction
Written by Bad English on 05.05.2020 at 00:00

Only good songs are Mirror Mirror, and time stands still...
Album where bg died

I think most of the songs here are good, quite rarely it's anything extraordinary but solid. I don't think Blind Guardian ever "died" even if lost interest in them after A Twist in the Myth.
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Everything's twice as bright with money in your hands
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05.05.2020 - 10:12
Rating: 6
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by majormalfunction on 05.05.2020 at 08:11

Written by Bad English on 05.05.2020 at 00:00

Only good songs are Mirror Mirror, and time stands still...
Album where bg died

I think most of the songs here are good, quite rarely it's anything extraordinary but solid. I don't think Blind Guardian ever "died" even if lost interest in them after A Twist in the Myth.

I throw away all albums after this, later checked on Spotify, and understod, that after this, band is shit to me
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I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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06.05.2020 - 21:41
Rating: 10
Cynic Metalhead
Ambrish Saxena
For me, this is one of the best power metal record ever.
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10.06.2020 - 18:49
Rating: 9
TSRodriguez
If you like their previous albums, this is surely a disappointment and probably worth a 6-7. If you like traditional and direct power metal, then this is probably too convoluted and boring with a dozen interludes, worth at most 7-8. If you like epic, symphonic power metal, and you know the story of the Silmarillion, this is the best album ever made. 11/10
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26.04.2021 - 10:43
Rating: 8
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Contributor
I Didn't like the album at first, I couldn't get passed all them short songs, between the tracks, I know some people wouldnt find them a problem, and I'm sure they are there to fit in the album story somehow, but I found they disrupted the album and felt unnecessary to me, this would of been a perfect 10 by me if it wasn't for that.

So I created a play list and took out the short in between songs, and the album then was brilliant, almost on par with Imaginations, apart from a few tracks I enjoyed the majority of the album, highlights for me are obviously the classic Mirror Mirror, Nightfall, As time stands still and Into the Storm.

I slightly prefer Imaginations but this album has grown on me, and I might see me liking this one more eventually.
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26.06.2021 - 21:21
Rating: 9
As a fan of Tolkien this has to me my favorite Guardian album.
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19.08.2021 - 20:25
Rating: 10
Samot
One of the best metal albums ever made on this planet!
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Um, Dois, Três, Quatro! Yeah! PORRA!!!
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13.09.2021 - 16:34
Rating: 8
GrimReaper85
Too long, after 13th track there isn't anything interesting to me. I'm more of a fan of first 3 albums anyway, but second 3 are also not bad. After that it went downhill.
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13.09.2021 - 20:30
Rating: 6
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by GrimReaper85 on 13.09.2021 at 16:34

Too long, after 13th track there isn't anything interesting to me. I'm more of a fan of first 3 albums anyway, but second 3 are also not bad. After that it went downhill.

Only 2 songs are worth to mention Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill), and mirror mirror
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I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...
13.09.2021 - 20:36
Rating: 8
Redel
Moderator
Written by Bad English on 13.09.2021 at 20:30

Written by GrimReaper85 on 13.09.2021 at 16:34

Too long, after 13th track there isn't anything interesting to me. I'm more of a fan of first 3 albums anyway, but second 3 are also not bad. After that it went downhill.

Only 2 songs are worth to mention Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill), and mirror mirror

Yes, indeed, these two tracks, plus Nightfall.
And, yes, overall too long, of course.
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14.09.2022 - 16:14
Rating: 8
qlacs
"The Quaker"
It's strange, the melodic content is similar to ANATO which is one of my favourites but I can't seem to enjoy this record as much. The interludes are boring. The rhythm guitar and the bass are too low in the mix and it's still sounding muddy. Many of the choruses became convoluted or weird. Into The Storm, Mirror Mirror and Blood Tears are definitely highlights for me, maybe even Thorn. The rest could've used some reduction in melodies, solos...

Maybe a full album remix would makes sense here.
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13.05.2023 - 15:21
Rating: 8
JoHn Doe
Listening to this after rather long time, I forgot how good this was.
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I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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02.07.2023 - 03:58
Rating: 7
Jack_Torrance
Their best
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11.06.2024 - 14:28
Rating: 10
Majesty1911
I'm not a big fan of interludes, especially when they are tied to actual songs, like in The Privilege Of Power. Here interludes were done right, they separate, actually working for the story and didn't slow down the flow of the album. Well, back to the point. I adore conceptual albums and fantasy. Silmarillion is awesome (some day I will read it in English, some day...). Guardian here is in the top form both from performance and songwriting standpoints. So yeah, this album is a masterpiece for me, the third in a row. My most beloved songs here are "Mirror Mirror", "Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill)", "Into The Storm" and "Blood Tears". I still love Somewhere Far Beyond and Imaginations From The Other Side just a bit more, but it's a "Nightfall", which is considered by many fans as the most famous and beloved BG album and rightfully so!
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Glory to the Nation!
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