Blind Guardian, "Imaginations from the Other Side"

First, a confession...I never listened to Blind Guardian until the 2000's. I was one of those American metal fans from the 1980s who transitioned to grunge and alternative music in 1991. I could write a whole post about what I liked about 1990's alternative music -- and could probably write many posts about my disappointments, but that's not my purpose here. I need to write a little something about how unfortunate such a lengthy departure from metal was. I missed Blind Guardian!

And, really, I never should have missed them. They put out two solid speed metal-ish records in the 1980's and they should have come up on my radar. But by 1989, my side-journey was already beginning: Faith No More and Jane's Addiction had started the transition. But I think I would've incorporated Blind Guardian into my full-time collection had I heard "Tales from the Twilight Hall" in 1990. "Traveler in Time" and "Lost in the Twilight Hall" are killer songs and may have kept me interested enough to pick up their 1990's releases. But, alas, my social network was only as broad as the people I knew personally. (No metal blogs were around to persuade me to stay).

When I did get around to listening to Blind Guardian in 2002, I was not impressed. I had read some fantastic reviews of their current album, "A Night at the Opera," so I picked it up. I liked the first song, "Precious Jerusalem," but then I lost interest. The production really bothered me. The lead guitar, with its thick and cloying sound -- and the fact that it was ever-present through the songs (even the vocal parts), was really annoying. I wanted more oomph in the rhythm guitar. Instead, it seemed like an over-orchestrated mess.

Funny thing? I still have the same feeling about "A Night at the Opera." Obviously, I've come around to some of the songs. It's not half bad. But it's clearly not their high point. For me, their high point is 1995's "Imaginations from the Other Side." The vocal melodies are incredibly memorable -- and powerful. Some died-in-the-wool metal people grimace when they hear that a band has "catchy choruses," but a song's catchiness says nothing about its power. These guys know how to be heavy and aggressive, but the melodies are strong and they stick with you.

When the whole chorus of background vocals come in, everything sounds perfect. A great example is in "The Script for My Requiem," which has one of those rousing, gang-vocal backgrounds. The vocals emerge from a speed-metal pace to a slow and powerful, half-time beat with that stellar melody.

What's great about this album is that it's strong all the way through. It starts on a great note with "Imaginations from the Other Side," which has the feeling of a tribal incantation. But where a lot of great albums use up their good ideas in the first few songs, this album continues to pummel you. My favorite songs are the last three: "Bright Eyes," "Another Holy War," and "And the Story Ends." "Bright Eyes" is especially strong. I love the eerie intro, those chanted background vocals, and then the lead vocal, which holds that one powerful note while the rest of the music stops at about 45 second in. Perfect. Then the subversive repetition of "watching you, watching you, watching you" in the background -- very freaky. It gives me chills. But again, it all comes down to the chorus: very memorable and beautiful, without lacking in power.

This album has to go down as one of the best metal albums of all time. For those of you who gave up on metal in 1991, you totally missed out!

Yngwie Malmsteen, "Marching Out"

The other day I woke up with Yngwie Malmsteen's "I Am a Viking" in my head. I don't know what put it there, but I couldn't dislodge it all day long. The song is the perfect combination of a powerful riff and badass lyrics. The riff is slow and simple, but it sounds massive in the way that the early Black Sabbath riffs seared themselves into your consciousness. And the lyrics:

I am a warrior
My mind is set to kill
Life or death is on the line
I am a slayer
And you will taste my steel
I've got your life right in my hand

Jeff Scott Soto has a voice both pure and aggressive enough to make you believe those words. The melodies are memorable, but sung with an intensity that separates the music from garden-variety melodic hard rock. The song ends with several layers of ethereal guitar parts doing a sort of call-and-response, almost like it is a hymn sung after battle. This is a fitting end to a well-crafted song.

The other songs are great across the board; there's no filler. As a matter of fact, the "second side" of the album is perhaps better than the more well-known collection of songs at the beginning. My favorite song is "Soldier Without Faith," which has a crawling, arpeggio-laced verse riff, then a very good chorus with tasteful keyboards in the background. The eerie, plaintive quality of the song fits its lyrical content perfectly.

And here's the crazy part: I haven't mentioned the guitar solos yet! Did I mention that Yngwie Malmsteen is one of the best there is? His solos here are typically classical and fast as hell, but they're a bit more memorable than a lot of his more recent albums. In "Soldier Without Faith," for example, he puts some echo effects that pan from speaker to speaker to achieve a wonderfully eerie sound. The acoustic intro to "Disciples of Hell" still blows my mind. Can he really play that fast?

The album is really well-constructed, managing the emotional content and variety from beginning to end very well. I especially appreciate the outro instrumental "Marching Out," which again serves to contextualize the aggression and power that preceded it. A truly touching song.

I don't know how "power metal" got its start or what its commonly understood lineage is, but Malmsteen's "Marching Out" is what prepared me for it. I wouldn't have been led to bands like Blind Guardian, Helloween, or Stratovarius without first going through Malmsteen.

Appreciation: Motley Crue, "Too Fast for Love"

I plan to share brief impressions of some of my favorite metal albums. It's tough to find a place to start, but something propelled me to begin with Motley Crue's "Too Fast for Love." Not because it's a very early album or because it really started anything new, but I think it's an important album in sonic terms.

What I love most about it is how raw the recording is. The guitar is especially prominent in the mix, and it basically sounds like a mic in front of a Marshall. Nothing fancy, but very direct, balls to the wall. Recordings ever since the mid-90s have been trying to get farther and farther into the amplifier. Guitars sound more electronic or even digital now than they used to, like it's not a real thing but just a simulation.

With "Too Fast for Love," you get guitar -- right in the face. They made an important decision to not overdub the rhythm guitar tracks during the guitar solos, which means that the solos stick out that much more. And Mick Mars' solos are so emotionally powerful and melodically pure that they deserve the extra emphasis. (The music journalist Chuck Klostermann once observed that Dokken guitarist George Lynch was great, but he couldn't remember any of Lynch's solos; I don't think anyone would have that problem with the guitar solos on "Too Fast for Love).

And it's not just the guitar that has a full, raw, in-your-face sound. It's the same with the drums. Tommy Lee's playing, though not fantastic, is pure rock and has a great, raw sound. The ride cymbal sounds great, and, let's face it, you gotta love the cowbell. ("I got a fever, and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL").

I also love fact that the songs have almost no space between them. One song ends and the next starts after a millisecond pause. They must have had so little money that they couldn't afford the extra tape....

My favorite song on it is "Starry Eyes." All the "ballads" are particularly strong and memorable, but "Starry Eyes" takes it to the next level. That opening guitar chord is so rich and puzzling, I'm just blown away. And the guitar solos are so awesome. It's not how many notes you can squeeze in, but how much you can squeeze out of each note. And these solos are downright moving.

So while I'm not suggesting "Too Fast for Love" is the greatest metal album of all time or anything, I believe it is the album with perhaps the greatest metal purity. It sounds like you're in the garage listening to them play. So when you find yourself listening to new albums that all sound too full, too polished, and too bland, this album is a great antidote.