Description

A strictly limited-edition box set with 15 cds in 13 high-quality digipacks and only 8000 copies is made. Looking back over Blind Guardians career from the here and now in 2013, you see a success story gone global, the likes of which very few other German metal bands have ever experienced. This band from Krefeld has been just about everywhere, conquering the North American market in the same way as they stormed the charts in Asia or packed concert venues in South America and even South Africa. From their (at that point purely) German beginnings with debut album, "Battalions Of Fear" (1988), followed by their first international recognition with the second album, "Follow The Blind" (1989) and the euphoria which went round the world when "Tales From The Twilight World" (1990) and "Somewhere Far Beyond" (1992) came out, right through to their masterpiece of composition in "A Night At The Opera" (2002), the name of the band developed to become an unmistakable world brand. There are lots of reasons for this, but no doubt much of it is down to the extraordinary skill of everyone involved, their virtuoso dexterity and that gift for bringing mystical themes in tune with unusually complex metal directives. Something else which really makes Blind Guardian stand out is the way they have always kept so close to their fans. ‘A Travelers Guide To Space And Time’ not only includes all the albums released during the so-called Virgin years (the record company brought out all the bands' records between 1988 and 2004) but also all their previously unreleased demo recordings, rare bonus tracks and alternative versions of famous pieces from this era, and all of them have been remastered and some even remixed. To be precise; it includes the seven studio albums "Battalions Of Fear", "Follow The Blind", "Tales From The Twilight World", "Somewhere Far Beyond", "Imaginations From The Other Side", "Nightfall In Middle-Earth" and "A Night At The Opera", and on top of all that you get the live albums "Tokyo Tales" and "Live" as well as "The Forgotten Tales" compilation, all of them now with 2012 mastering and some of them with new mixes. Above and beyond that, the band have dug deep into their archives and come up with some real treats: in "Imaginations Through The Looking Glass" for the very first time the phenomenal concert they put on in Coburg, Germany in June 2003 appears in audio format on two cds. And another first, in a special edition of "Nightfall In Middle-Earth", the musicians also present the legendary 1998 studio album without any breaks (including a new mix of "Blood Tears"). This precious box is rounded off with "An Extraordinary Tale", which includes so-far-unreleased demo versions of the pieces "Welcome To Dying", "Lord Of The Rings", "The Bard's Song (In The Forest)", "The Bard's Song (The Hobbit)", "Theatre Of Pain", "Trial By Fire" and "I'm Alive" and the never-before-released, around-90-seconds-longer version of the song "The Quest For Tanelorn" as well as the comparatively rare number "Harvest Of Sorrow". So, there is so much to find, enjoy and rediscover in this outright opulent deluxe box which is accompanied by a 20-page glossy booklet (size: 27cm x 27cm) containing comments from the members of the band and more than 100 rare and mainly unpublished photos belonging to the musicians. A limited-edition and numbered Blind Guadian art print on special paper (sized 27cm by 27cm) and a guitar plectrum engraved with the band's logo have also been added to the box. And as Hansi Kursch put it: ‘We poured our heart and soul into 'A Traveler's Guide To Space And Time', making it a well worthwhile box for our fans which fully meets the demands we make of ourselves as well as those of our fans. And that is exactly what we were aiming for’. Track listing: Disc 1: Battalions Of Fear-2012 remastered version 1. Majesty 2. Guardian Of The blind 3. Trial By The Archon 4. Wizards Crown 5. Run For The Night 6. The Martyr 7. Battalions Of Tear 8. By The Gates Of Moria 9. Gandalfs Rebirth-2013 mix Disc 2: Follow The Blind-2012 remastered version 1. Inquisition 2. Banish From Sanctuary 3. Damned For All Tme 4. Follow The Blind 5. Hall Of The King 6. Fast To Madness 7. Beyond The Ice 8. Valhalla 9. Dont Break The Circle 10. Barbara Ann Disc 3: Tales From The Twilight World-2012 remastered new mix version 1. Traveller In Time 2. Welcome To Dying 3. Weird Dreams 4. Lord Of The Rings 5. Goodbye My Friend 6. Lost In The Twilight Hall 7. Tommyknockers 8. Altair 4 9. The Last Candle 10. Run For The Night-live Disc 4: Somewhere Far Beyond-2012 remastered new mix version 1. Time What Is Time 2. Journey Through The Dark 3. Black Chamber 4. Theatre Of Pain 5. The Quest For Tanelorn 6. Ashes To Ashes 7. The Bards song- In The Forest 8. The Bards Song- The Hobbit 9. The Pipers Calling 10. Somewhere Far Beyond 11. Spread Your Wings 12. Trial By Fire 13. Theatre Of Pain-classic version Disc 5: Tokyo Tales-2012 remastered version 1. Inquisition 2. Banish From Sanctuary 3. Journey Through The Dark 4. Traveller In Time 5. The Quest For Tanelorn 6. Goodbye My Friend 7. Time What Is Tme 8. Majesty 9. Valhalla 10. Welcome To Dying 11. Lost In The Twilight Hall 12. Barbara Ann Disc 6: Imaginations From The Other Side-2012 remastered new mix version 1. Imaginations From The Other Side 2. Im Alive 3. A Past And Future Secret 4. The Script For My Requiem 5. Mordreds Song 6. Born In A Mourning Hall 7. Bright Eyes 8. Another Holy War 9. And The Story Ends Disc 7: The Forgotten Tales-2012 remastered version 1. Mr. Sandman 2. Surfin USA 3. Bright Eyes 4. Lord Of The Rings 5. The Wizzard 6. Spread Your Wings 7. Mordreds Song 8. Black Chamber 9. The Bards Song-live 10. Barbara Ann/Long Tall Sally 11. A Past And Future Secret 12. To France 13. Theatre Of Pain Disc 8: Nightfall In Middle-Earth-2012 remastered new mix version 1. War Of The Wrath 2. Into The Storm 3. Lammoth 4. Nightfall 5. The Minstrel 6. The Curse Of Feanor 7. Captured 8. Blood Tears 9. 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 Of The Water 20. The Steadfast 21. A Dark Passage 22. Final Chapter (Thus Ends) Disc 9: A Night At The Opera-2012 remastered new mix version 1. Precious Jerusalem 2. Battlefield 3. Under The Ice 4. Sadly Sings Destiny 5. The Maiden And The Minstrel Knight 6. Wait For An Answer 7. The Soulforged 8. Age Of False Innocence 9. Punishment Divine 10. And Then There Was Silence Disc 10/11: Live-2012 remastered version 1. War Of Wrath 2. Into The Storm 3. Welcome To Dying 4. Nightfall 5. The Script For My Requiem 6. Harvest Of Sorrow 7. The Soulforged 8. Valhalla 9. Majesty 10. Mordreds Song 11. Born In A Mourning Hall 12. Under The Ice 13. Bright Eyes 14. Punishment Divine 15. The Bards Song (In The Forest) 16. Imaginations From The Other Side 17. Lost In The Twilight Hall 18. A Past And Future Secret 19. Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill) 20. Journey Through The Dark 21. Lord Of The Rings 22. Mirror Mirror Disc 12/13: Imaginations Through The Looking Glass Live 2003-2012 remastered version 1. War Of Wrath 2. Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill) 3. Banish From Sanctuary 4. Nightfall 5. The Script For My Requiem 6. Valhalla 7. A Past And Future Secret 8. Punishment Divine 9. Mordreds Song 10. The Last Candle 11. Bright Eyes 12. Lord Of The Rings 13. Im Alive 14. Another Holy War 15. And Then There Was Silence 16. Somewhere Far Beyond 17. The Bards Song (In The Forest) 18. Imaginations From The Other Side 19. And The Story Ends 20. Mirror Mirror Disc 14: Nightfall In Middle-Earth-special edition-2012 remastered new mix version 1. Into The Storm 2. Nightfall 3. The Curse Of Feanor 4. Blood Tears-new vocal mix 2012 5. Mirror, Mirror 6. Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns) 7. Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill) 8. Thorn 9. The Eldar 10. When Sorrow Sang 11. A Dark Passage Disc 15: An Extraordinary Tale-2012 remastered version 1. Welcome To Dying-demo 2. Lord Of The Rings-demo 3. The Bards Song (In the Forest)-demo 4. The Bards Song (The Hobbit)-demo 5. Theatre Of Pain-demo 6. Trial By Fire-demo 7. The Quest For Tanelorn-unreleased extended version 8. Harvest Of Sorrow-rare version 9. Im Alive-demo