1164. Blind Guardian / Somewhere Far Beyond. 1992. 4/5

Blind Guardian had spent several years making a gradual build from their earliest beginnings into a popular and well received band. Their initial albums had been heavily influenced by Helloween and other speed metal bands of the era, and their earliest recordings reflected that. Their third album, “Tales from the Twilight World” had begun to incorporate more melodic pieces in their songs, and coming off the success of that album the direction of their writing for their fourth album, “Somewhere Far Beyond”, actually looked to push that a little further again.
Given the time this was written and recorded, it provides a stark contrast as to the way heavy metal music was heading at the time. As has been noted on other episodes, 1992 really saw American music following the influence of the popularity of the grunge movement with many bands gravitating in that direction to hold on to their popularity and so-called relevance, whereas in Europe bands like Bind Guardian just kept pushing their boundaries in a different direction, as far away from that scene as was possible.
Once again, lyricist and lead singer Hansi Kursch delved deep into his literary material to come up with the lyrics for the songs. His love of fantasy and science fiction meant that he drew inspiration from the writings of Michael Moorcock and his ‘Eternal Champion’ which features in two songs on the album, as well as the writings of Philip K Dick and Stephen King and JRR Tolkien. For me it was one of the best part of early Blind Guardian, having these influences in the lyrics of these great songs.

This album starts off in a typical Blind Guardian fashion, with the speed metal hybrid of the opening track “Time What is Time”, which is written about the movie Blade Runner, but from the perspective of a replicant rather than a human, then careering into “Journey Through the Dark”. Both showcase where Blind Guardian had brought their fame, with fast double kick drums driving these songs with fast riffing guitars and vocals that are melodically just perfect for the songs as they are written. Why then, I always ask when listening to the album, is there the short momentum killer of “Black Chamber” placed here following these two opening tracks? It acts as a speed bump, something that doesn’t feel as though it was needed. No matter, the album is redeemed immediately with “Theatre of Pain” and “The Quest for Tanelorn”. As he had done on earlier albums, Kai Hansen makes a guest appearance here on “The Quest for Tanelorn”, offered a co-writing credit as well as playing the lead solo on the song. You don’t need to ask me twice to listen to anything Kai is involved in. “Ashes to Ashes” mixes in classic Blind Guardian with personal feelings for lyric composer Hansi Kursch, who wrote this song about the death of his father. I guess a lot of artists would be pulled in the direction of a ballad, or at the very least a power ballad if they were to write a song about their father’s death. Nothing could be farther from that here, another brilliantly fast and powerful song.
Perhaps the best known songs from the album come here in the middle of the album, “The Bard’s Song – In the Forest” and “The Bard’s Song – The Hobbit”. In fandom, the songs are generally now just known as “The Bard’s Song” and “The Hobbit” to eliminate having to say the full title of the songs when discussing them. “The Bards Song” is one of the most requested Blind Guardian tracks and they rarely play a gig without it being in the set list. The style of the song, with the acoustic guitar and harp and violin, brings visions of ‘Lord of the Rings” to the album, and indeed is something that was progressed a few years down the track. This is complemented by the return to a heavier version of this style with “The Hobbit”. It’s interesting that “The Bards Tale” is inspired by the computer game of the same name from the mid-1980's, and of course “The Hobbit” is based on the Tolkien novel, but the way the band creates both of these songs with similar bases but different takes is really quite ingenious.
For some reason, just like with “Black Chamber” earlier, we have the short interlude of “The Piper’s Calling”, a bagpipe track that breaks up the haunting piece of the two Bard’s, before the closing song of the album, the title track “Somewhere Far Beyond”, which relates to the first two books of Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” series, “The Gunslinger” and “The Drawing of the Three”. It is another great song, and the perfect way to end the album, with a high-quality track that befits closing out a high-quality album.
The album then does contain some bonus cover songs, both great versions of the original songs. First is their version of Queen’s “Spread Your Wings” which is perfectly reproduced, along with “Trial by Fire” by NWoBHM alumni Satan.

I came into Blind Guardian far too late, another of those bands that I really should have discovered a lot earlier than I did. As a result of this, it wasn’t until the turn of the century that I finally began to track down the bands and its albums. This was then delayed slightly again as the first album I bought, “A Night at the Opera”, was one that did NOT enthuse me at the time at all. Eventually I found my way at the start of the Blind Guardian journey, discovered the speed metal base that they began with, and found the hook, progressing through the albums with joy. And it was really three albums that especially caught my attention, and Somewhere Far Beyond was definitely one of those. It was before they developed their absolute affinity to the folkish side of their music that they brought forth with their love of Tolkien’s written works, and before they infused a more power metal base into their music and the grandiose vision with orchestral arrangements and creating albums that sounded like they were operas. They dabbled with the folk ballad here with “In the Forest”, but in the main stuck with the tried and true that had gotten them to this point of their career. And that’s what lights this up for me, the power and speed of the twin guitars, the terrific drumming here to support that, and as always Hansi Kursch’s amazing vocals with their unique sound and brilliant range of emotion.
When it comes to European metal from the 1990’s and beyond, many of the bands in this category can sometimes sound a bit samey, that they follow the same template and go for the same overreaching vocal or keyboards to harness their strengths. But Blind Guardian have always been unique in that respect, and “Somewhere Far Beyond” again showed the terrific ability this band has to write and record an album that is their own. It has the powerful singalong choruses but it has those hard riffing head banging moments as well. 30 years on, and it has stood the test of time wonderfully well. Whether you are a long time fan or just a new person on the block, “Somewhere Far Beyond” has something here that will grab you and drag you in. And once you are in, there is no turning back.

1163. Ozzy Osbourne / Live at Budokan. 2002. 4/5

Given that Ozzy Osbourne had proclaimed that he was going to retire from touring a decade earlier than this live album was released, it seems unnecessary to suggest that a bit had gone on in that ten year span. Those that are avid readers of this blog will have recently read of the debacle that occurred at the end of Black Sabbath’s “Dehumanizer” album, where the four original members of the band reunited for an encore at what was to be Ozzy’s final ever live gig. Well, those plans soon faded, no doubt due to the dollar signs in everyone’s eyes, and the album “Ozzmosis” followed, as well as the following album “Down to Earth” in 2001. Avid readers will also have read the entry dedicated to THAT album on this blog.
The same foursome who recorded that album, Ozzy, guitarist Zakk Wylde, bass guitarist Robert Trujillo and drummer Mike Bordin all toured on this album, and subsequently ended up on the live gig that makes up this album. It was an interesting idea to release a live album and DVD from this tour. Ozzy’s first two live albums had been the Black Sabbath-induced “Speak of the Devil” and was followed by the “Tribute” album in 1987. Then came the “Live and Loud” double live album from that “No More Tours” era, which tied up all the strings nicely. This one, just two albums later, seemed like a marketing decision rather than an opportunity to showcase the band in their element, but then again, Iron Maiden seem to release a live album after every studio effort, so certainly in comparison now, it isn't such a bad decision.

As always, live albums can be split and categorised with the following denominators – the songs from the latest studio album, songs that have not appeared on a live album prior to the one being released, and the old favourites that appear on practically every live album the band or artist releases. And in this way, you can get a feel for just how unique or stock standard the live album is.
Here on “Live at Budokan”, there are three songs that come from the “Down to Earth” album, and it is probably fair to say that they all sound better here in the live environment than they do on the studio album. Those songs are “That I Never Had”, “Junkie” and “Gets Me Through”. Not only does the band sound great playing these live, the songs are enhanced by having Zakk singing on back up vocals. It especially sounds great in “That I Never Had”, a song that would have been the lesser without him helping Ozzy out.
Interestingly, there are four songs from “No More Tears” played here, more songs than from the album they are promoting, and from any other Ozzy album as well. There is no problem with that. “No More Tears” the song is a no brainer, and “Mama I’m Coming Home” given its commercial success is also one that was played a lot on tours following its release. “Road to Nowhere” and “I Don’t Want to Change the World” are probably strange selections, though again Zakk’s backing vocals on “I Don’t Want to Change the World” enhances this version of the song immensely. “I Don’t Know”, “Believer” and “Mr Crowley” pepper the first half of the album, while you Can’t finish an Ozzy gig without “Crazy Train”, “Bark at the Moon” and “Paranoid” now, can you? And perhaps it is a small point, and a bit of a nit-picking point, but “Believer” for instance had appeared on “Tribute”, and while this version is also terrific, wasn’t there an opportunity to play a different track, maybe from the “Ultimate Sin” or “No Rest for the Wicked” era? Because neither of those albums had a song from them in this set list, and it would have been great to have had them represented. On the other hand perhaps, maybe Ozzy was already moving into his habit of playing the same songs and rarely diverging to give other great songs from his past an opportunity, because of the difficulty of representing them live in a fashion that they deserved. I don’t know for sure, but it would have been great to have.

I first heard this album several months after its release. I didn’t rush out to buy it, at the time I was at a stage where I was listening to other music, and having heard the “Down to Earth” album I was at an ambivalent stage. I eventually saw the DVD on a trip out west to a mates house, where we discussed how great most of the songs were, and how average the new ones were, and that maybe if Zakk Wylde had been involved in the writing process it would have been a whole lot better. First impressions are always interesting.
I now own a copy of this album but not the DVD. I have been listening to it through streaming services for the purpose of this episode, and I can find the video online if I feel the need. But I really don’t. No, this isn’t a bad live album. Bordin and Trujillo are brilliant musicians, and they are great here. Ozzy sings well, and Zakk is still at a peak as a guitarist. But the problem here is that there isn’t anything special brought to the table to inspire you to either purchase it or listen to it. I’ve enjoyed listening to this album again over the last couple of weeks. And I believe that if you put it on, you’ll enjoy it too. The problem is, much like the plethora of Iron Maiden live albums, if you want to listen to an Ozzy live album, then you are either going to reach for “Tribute” to listen to those early songs and Randy Rhoads shred, or you are going to reach for “Live and Loud” that has every great Ozzy song on the two discs and perfectly performed. There hasn’t been as need for me to own this, because apart from this reviewing of the album, I’m just not likely to reach for it on the shelves. And that will always be the conundrum of a live album – no matter how good it sounds and the songs that are on it, if it isn’t one of the better one or two released by the band or artist, it is going to get ignored.