Far Beyond Gold Sydney Mclaughlin Book

Right on time for their show at 2024's edition of Wacken Open Air, Blind Guardian proudly present "Somewhere Far Beyond Revisited" which includes a complete re-recording of this classic of 1992's "Somewhere Far Beyond", a landmark record for Germany's heavy metal titans.
After three albums on No Remorse Records, it was the band's major label debut coming out via Virgin Records and opened doors to the Japanese market resulting in a wider availability and presence on the global metal scene. After finding the right balance of speed, heaviness, melodies, drama and irresistible choruses on 1990's "Tales From The Twilight World", "Somewhere Far Beyond" honed this approach to perfection, evolving further on a conceptual level and increasingly daring take on Blind Guardian's sonic range…

Somewhere Far Beyond has all the elements of classic Blind Guardian: fantasy and horror-story tracks inspired by the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien and Stephen King; speedy double-bass riffing; and searing melodic vocals punctuated by anthemic group choruses. Bassist/vocalist Hansi Kürsch seems to possess several different voices, which serve his band's dynamic purposes well. From regal tales of dragon warfare ("The Bard's Song: The Hobbit,") to minstrel ballads ("The Bard's Song: In the Forest,") to Blind Guardian's trademark early-'90s speed metal matrix of hyper riffs and melodic multi-voiced choruses ("Journey Through the Dark," "Ashes to Ashes," and "Somewhere Far Beyond,") every pompous, excessive base is covered…

Somewhere Far Beyond is the fourth studio album by German power metal band Blind Guardian. It was released in 1992 and produced by Kalle Trapp. The cover artwork was created by Andreas Marschall, who also drew the artwork for other Blind Guardian's releases (Tales from the Twilight World, Nightfall in Middle-Earth, etc.). The album saw the band creating its own original sound, while still employing most of their speed/power metal techniques. "The Piper's Calling" contains the first 3 parts of the Great Highland Bagpipe 2/4 March, "The 79th's Farewell to Gibraltar", written by Pipe Major John MacDonald of the 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameronian Volunteers). Part of this composition also appears as a section of the title track, this time played on a different type of bagpipe. The album was acclaimed by power metal fans all across Europe and especially Japan, allowing them to tour for the first time outside Germany. Somewhere Far Beyond was remastered and re-released, with bonus tracks, on 15 June 2007.

On Chris de Burgh's debut album, his gentle, beguiling vocal style is introduced, which instantly trademarks him as a genuine master of the soft ballad. de Burgh's engaging dominance of words and lyrics carries both his love songs and his simple light rock tunes to a higher level, thanks to the attention and care given to each of his pieces. As an inaugural album, the songs hold well as they are delicately cushioned by his voice, but are substantially thin where melody or appealing choruses are concerned. Both "Windy Night" and "Watching the World" draw the most attention, bringing de Burgh's silkiness to the focal point. "Satin Green Shutters" beautifully illustrates his knack for sounding sincere and charismatic within the boundaries of a love song…