BLIND GUARDIAN – Live

Now just when I almost had given up on the sons of Krefeld, they’re back with a sweet vengeance. I never cared much for their overproduced last effort, and honestly, I was never impressed by their live shows when attending. (It’s amazing to see how they always win the crowd though.) I enjoyed their set at the Sweden Rock Festival a few weeks ago, but come to think of it, it was the thousands of enthusiastic Scandinavian bards who made the show a highlight.

A live CD on the other hand, recorded at several shows, can not fail miserably. First of all, the guardians are all competent musicians, so given a few chances to get it right, they nail it. My problem with the band live was always the lack of power in Hansi Kürsch’s voice. He simply never recreated live what he is able to do in the studio – at least not in the last years. On this live disc though, he pretty much gets it right (sure, if not it wouldn’t have come out…) That’s why I grab my air guitar and sing along. The sound is incredible, the band plays tight, the guitars are more in-your-face than on the average live release, and again; the crowd sings the choruses. In many ways, parts remind me of the best live CD of the nineties, Iced Earth’s “Alive In Athens”, simply because focus is also set on the crowd, not only on the band’s appearance.

As some of you might now, this is the band’s second live CD. I hear “why didn’t they include this song, or that song?”, but why re-record stuff that was on their first? A few classics made it to this double speed fest, and thank God “Valhalla” and “Welcome To Dying” did, but I must say the song selection is pretty wise. The only one I really miss here is “I’m Alive”, which they played a few weeks ago. The songs from “A Night At The Opera” work better live as well, at least that’s how I see it. Highlights are, apart from the old classics I mentioned, the sing-a-long mellow songs “The Bard’s Song (In The Forest)” and “Lord Of The Rings”, but also “The Script For My Requiem”, “Mordred’s Song” and “Nightfall” work well when Hansi is dead on – like he is throughout these discs.

A few comments on how this CD could have been just as good as that Iced Earth album mentioned; first of all, Hansi should have kept in mind that the tapes were rolling also at the German shows, and therefore have spoken English. That way, the album wouldn’t have seemed so “sliced up”. And more than 3 minutes of audience cheers after “The Bard’s Song” is not really called for on a release. It works when you’re attending the show, but not when you play the CD.

This double live treat of one of the finest speed metal bands out there is essential in every collection that holds an album with fast double bass drums. Now my hope is that the band does a more stripped down metal album next…