Blind Guardian "Imaginations From The Other Side (Holland, Virgin Records, 840 337 2)"

Imaginations from the Other Side is the fifth studio album by Blind Guardian that was released in 1995. The atmosphere of this album is darker in comparison to their earlier works, such as Battalions of Fear, which had a relatively light tone. This album also marks the first since Battalions of Fear in which Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray) did not guest on vocals or guitar, and the last album to feature vocalist Hansi Kürsch as bassist. It was also their first album to spawn off any singles, in the form of "A Past and Future Secret" and "Bright Eyes". It was remastered and re-released on 15 June 2007, with bonus tracks and videos.

Having experienced much success from their previous releases, Somewhere Far Beyond and Tokyo Tales (their first live album), the band was optimistic as they began writing for a new album once again. They soon noted how slow the process was advancing in comparison to previous writing sessions. For these new songs, personal standards were raised for which parts should make the cut, and ideas that weren't satisfactory were therefore scrapped. However, after the first two songs, "Imaginations from the Other Side" and "The Script for my Requiem", were demoed, the bandmembers were pleased by their exceptional quality, and once the next two songs, "I'm Alive" and "A Past and Future Secret", were written and added to the demo tape, they were confident in moving forward. Having not been satisfied with the production on their last two releases, Somewhere Far Beyond and Tokyo Tales (both produced by Kalle Trapp), Kürsch and Olbrich soon began searching for a new producer whilst traveling around Europe.

At their first stop, Denmark, they met producer Flemming Rasmussen, who had previously worked with bands Rainbow, Pretty Maids, and Metallica (a predominant influence on the band's style). After visiting other studios throughout the summer, even ones in which albums of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were recorded, the two felt that Rasmussen, who had been noticeably impressed by the demo tape, was the obvious choice. Despite him expecting more out of the band than they were previously accustomed to with Trapp (specifically in rhythm guitar and vocal performances), there was a noticeable chemistry between Rasmussen and the band. Rhythm guitarist Marcus Siepen would later reflect that he "took [them] to a completely different level, in any aspect."

Following the footsteps of the band's previous albums, Imaginations continued to stray from purely speed metal tendencies. In addition to fast guitar riffing, high-pitch distorted singing and extreme drumming (signature of speed metal) came catchy chord progressions and clean singing - components reminiscent of classic European folk music. Two tracks, "A Past and Future Secret" and "Mordred's Song" (comparable to their previous album's "The Bard's Song (In the Forest)" by similar use of acoustic guitar), could even be considered to be a "ballad" and "power ballad", respectively.

In 2005, Imaginations from the Other Side was ranked number 373 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

Loudwire named the album at second in their list "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time" and Metal Hammer ranked it at third in a similar list.

Track listing

All songs written by Hansi Kürsch and André Olbrich, except for where noted.

1. "Imaginations from the Other Side" 7:19
2. "I'm Alive" 5:31
3. "A Past and Future Secret" 3:48
4. "The Script for My Requiem" 6:09
5. "Mordred's Song" 5:29
6. "Born in a Mourning Hall" 5:14
7. "Bright Eyes" 5:16
8. "Another Holy War" 4:32
9. "And the Story Ends" 6:00

Time:  49:17

The lyrics are mostly based on Arthurian legends and general Camelot folklore, a subject Hansi Kürsch had been reading extensively about just prior to the writing sessions for the album.

A video was made for Bright Eyes . The band had wanted to make a video for "A Past and Future Secret" instead, but Virgin Records chose the former.

Another, mostly live, video for the song Born in a Mourning Hall , was included on the "Imaginations Through the Looking Glass" DVD.

The title track references the works of L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, J M Barrie, JRR Tolkien, Michael Moorcock and, like the rest of the album, Arthurian legends.

Recording information:

Recorded, mixed, and mastered at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark, from August to November 1994 and January to March 1995.

Backing vocals recorded at Karo Studio, Brackel, Germany in December 1994.

Andreas Marschall – cover paintings

Ulf Thürmann – photos

Flemming Rasmussen – producing and mixing

Flemming Rasmussen and Piet Sielck – engineering

Henrik Vindeby – assistant engineer

Flemming Rasmussen and Cuni – drum tech

Blind Guardian "Battalions Of Fear (2007 Reissue, Remastered, Germany, Virgin Records, 0946 3 96512 2 1)"

Battalions of Fear is the debut album by German metal band Blind Guardian released in 1988. The album is a raw and unpolished speed metal effort that touches on thrash metal. It lacks many of the stylistic flourishes that would mark the band's music in later years, focusing more on speed and aggression. The opening track "Majesty" remains a fan favorite and is often featured in the band's live performances. This album was remastered, remixed and re-released on 15 June 2007, with the whole first demo tape, Symphonies of Doom, of the band (at the time called Lucifer's Heritage) as part of the bonus tracks. The album was again re-released as part of the A Traveler's Guide to Space and Time boxset with minor adjustments to the mixing and with new mastering.

The songs "Majesty" and "Run for the Night", as well as the titles of instrumentals "By the Gates of Moria" and "Gandalf's Rebirth", are based on J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Parts of "By the Gates of Moria" are derived from Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World".

"Majesty" opens with a barrel organ version of Johann Strauss II's waltz The Blue Danube.

"Guardian of the Blind" is based on Stephen King's It.

"The Martyr" is about Jesus Christ's passion.

"Battalions of Fear" refers to US president Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative.

"Wizard's Crown" is about Aleister Crowley. The song was originally titled "Halloween" on the Symphonies of Doom demo tape (1985) while the band was still Lucifer's Heritage. The song name was changed probably to avoid confusion with a song of the same name by fellow German power/speed metal band Helloween.

"Brian" is about the film Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Tracklist:

1. Majesty 07:31   
2. Guardian of the Blind 05:12   
3. Trial by the Archon 01:45
4. Wizard's Crown 03:50
5. Run for the Night 03:36   
6. The Martyr 06:18
7. Battalions of Fear 06:09
8. By the Gates of Moria 02:53   
9. Gandalf's Rebirth 02:10
10. Brian (Demo) 02:53
11. Halloween (The Wizard's Crown) (Demo) 03:39   
12. Lucifer's Heritage (Demo) 05:00
13. Symphonies of Doom (Demo) 04:24
14. Dead of the Night (Demo) 03:45   

Time:  59:05

Part of the 2007 Remasters done by Virgin Records.

Track 9 was originally recorded for the Lucifer's Heritage second demo "Battalions Of Fear" (1986).

Tracks 10 to 14 form the original first Lucifer's Heritage demo "Symphony's Of Doom" (1985) in a different order.

Recording information:

Recorded, mixed and mastered at Karo Studio, Munster, West Germany in October/November 1987.

Kalle Trapp – production, engineering, mixing

Holger Schreiber – engineering on "Gandalf's Rebirth"

van Waay Design – cover art

Blackstar "Barbed Wire Soul"

Blackstar was a British hard rock band, formed as a retooling of the band Carcass in 1995 without Bill Steer along with former Cathedral guitarist Mark Griffiths. The band name comes from a Carcass song off the Swansong 1996 album. Thus far they have released only a single album. After a while the band was forced to change its name to Blackstar Rising. The band dissolved because Ken Owen suffered from a brain haemorrhage.

Barbed Wire Soul is the only studio album by English rock band Blackstar, released on 9 June 1998 by Prosthetic Records. In the USA, the band was credited as Blackstar Rising.

Recording information:

Recorded at Parr Street Studios, March 1997.
Mixed at the Chapel Studios, April 1997.

Mastered at Battery.

Black Sabbath "13 (2 CDS Deluxe Edition Digipak, USA, Vertigo, 602537349586/B0018538-72)"

13 is the nineteenth and final studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath. The album was released on 10 June 2013 in Europe and 11 June 2013 in North America, via Vertigo Records and Republic Records in the US, and via Vertigo Records worldwide. It is the only studio album released by Black Sabbath since Forbidden (1995), and was their first studio recording with original singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler since the live album Reunion (1998), which contained two new studio tracks. It was also the first studio album with Osbourne since Never Say Die! (1978), and with Butler since Cross Purposes (1994), the first since Never Say Die! not to feature longtime keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, and the first since The Eternal Idol (1987) on the Vertigo label (outside the US and Canada).

Black Sabbath's original line-up first began work on a new studio album in 2001 with producer Rick Rubin. The album's development was delayed over a ten-year period, as Osbourne resumed his solo career while the rest of the band members went on to pursue other projects, including GZR and Heaven & Hell. When Black Sabbath announced the end of their hiatus on 11 November 2011, the band announced that they would restart work on a new album with Rubin. In addition to original members Osbourne, Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi, they were joined at the recording sessions by drummer Brad Wilk, of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, following original drummer Bill Ward's decision to not participate in the reunion, due to a "contractual dispute". The album became available for streaming on iTunes on 3 June 2013.

Black Sabbath released their eighteenth studio album, titled Forbidden, in 1995, and it picked up mixed to negative reviews by critics. The following several months left the group at a crossroads. After a series of reunion tours from 1997 to 1999, which included mostly shows at Ozzfest, the original line-up of Black Sabbath began work on a new album with producer Rick Rubin in the spring of 2001; however, the sessions were halted when Ozzy Osbourne was called away to finish tracks for his solo album Down to Earth, which was released in October of that year. Tony Iommi recalls, "It just came to an end. We didn't go any further, and it's a shame because [the songs] were really good". Iommi commented on the difficulty getting all of the band members together to work on material:

It's quite different recording now. We've all done so much in between. In [the early] days there was no mobile phone ringing every five seconds. When we first started, we had nothing. We all worked for the same thing. Now everybody has done so many other things. It's great fun and we all have a good chat, but it's just different, trying to put an album together.

After one more reunion tour in mid-2001, where they again headlined Ozzfest, Black Sabbath went back on hiatus. In March 2002, Osbourne's Emmy winning reality TV show The Osbournes debuted on MTV, and quickly became a worldwide hit. The show introduced Osbourne to a broader audience, and to capitalise, Sanctuary Records (who own Black Sabbath's back catalogue) released the live album Past Lives, which featured concert material recorded in the 1970s, including the previously unofficial Live at Last album. The band remained on hiatus until mid-2004, when they returned to headline Ozzfest 2004 and 2005. In November 2005, Black Sabbath were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and in March 2006, after eleven years of eligibility, the band were inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

While Osbourne was working on his new solo album in 2006, Rhino Records released Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, a compilation of songs culled from the four Black Sabbath releases featuring Ronnie James Dio. For the release, Iommi, Geezer Butler, Dio and Vinny Appice reunited to write and record three new songs as Black Sabbath. The Dio Years was released on 3 April 2007, reaching No. 54 on the Billboard 200, while the single "The Devil Cried" reached No. 37 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Pleased with the results, Iommi and Dio decided to reunite the Heaven and Hell era line-up for a world tour. Because the line-up of Osbourne, Butler, Iommi and Bill Ward were still officially called Black Sabbath, the new line-up opted to call themselves Heaven & Hell, after the album of the same name, to avoid confusion. Ward was initially set to participate, but dropped out before the tour began due to musical differences with "a couple of the band members" as well as a "contractual dispute". He was replaced by former drummer Vinny Appice, effectively reuniting the line-up that had featured on the Mob Rules and Dehumanizer albums. After releasing their only studio album The Devil You Know in 2009, Dio died after a battle against stomach cancer on 16 May 2010, and following a tribute concert with former Black Sabbath vocalist Glenn Hughes, Heaven & Hell disbanded.

On 11 November 2011, Black Sabbath hosted a private announcement ceremony at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood, California. Hosted by former Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins, the event featured all four original Black Sabbath band members. At the event, Black Sabbath announced they would be officially reuniting, following months of rumours. The reunion was said to feature an appearance at the 2012 Download Festival, and a newly recorded studio album by Rubin expected to be released in late 2012. When Rollins asked the band why they chose to reunite now, Iommi responded "It's now or never. We get along great. Everything's really good." Butler also commented that the new material sounds like the "old Sabbath style and sound." Osbourne said he was "blown away", and "I don't understand why it's happening. I mean, 45 years down the road and we've got a really great album to put out." On 18 November 2011, Black Sabbath announced that they would be touring Europe in May and June 2012.

On 9 January 2012, it was announced Iommi had been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma, which was not expected to impede the group's activity. Because of his cancer diagnosis, work sessions for 13, which were supposed to take place in Los Angeles, California, were moved to Iommi's home in England. On 2 February 2012, Ward publicly announced that he would not participate in the Black Sabbath reunion unless he was given a "signable contract." The following day, the other group members announced they had "no choice but to continue recording without him," but also said "our door is always open" for Ward to return to the band. In February 2012, the band announced that they would not continue the world tour but would play the Download festival in June 2012. Instead of Black Sabbath, the tour would feature Osbourne and a revolving line-up of guest musicians, billed as "Ozzy and Friends". On 11 April, Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell announced that Black Sabbath would perform at Lollapalooza 2012. Farrell said this would be Black Sabbath's only American concert in 2012.

On 15 May 2012, Ward posted on his website that "after a final effort to participate in the upcoming Sabbath shows a failure to agree has continued" and that he would not be participating in the reunion shows, but would "remain with an open mind and a position of willingness to negotiate 'signable' terms with Sabbath's representatives in the future." On 18 May 2012, Ward was cropped out of photos on blacksabbath.com. On 19 May 2012, Butler released a statement expressing sadness at Ward's decision. He further unveiled that drummer Tommy Clufetos was rehearsing with them in England.

On 2 June 2012, Osbourne told NME that Black Sabbath had written "about 15 songs so far". He also said that 2013 was a good clue as to what the album would be called. The band returned to the studio to continue work on the album on 23 August 2012. An interview that October confirmed the title of one of the new songs, "God Is Dead?". On 12 January 2013, Black Sabbath announced that the album would be called 13 and was expected to be released in June. It was also announced that drummer Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave joined in during the recording sessions to complete the drum tracks for the album.

In a January 2013 interview at NAMM, which took place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, Butler stated that 13 was not the final title of the album and it would possibly be changed; however, this turned out not to be the case. The band released a brief documentary on their time in the studio via YouTube in February 2013. In it, the group stated that they felt excited to work with producer Rubin and emphasized their desire for a "raw" sound.

On 4 April 2013, Black Sabbath unveiled the cover artwork for 13. The artwork was created by Nick Dart and Neil Bowen of Zip Design in London. Zip commissioned sculptor Spencer Jenkins to create an 8-foot-tall "13" from wicker, which was then set on fire in the Buckinghamshire countryside. The flames were visible for miles. The image was shot by photographer Jonathan Knowles. A behind-the-scenes video, also shot by Jonathan Knowles's team, was released by Zip Design, showing the numbers' construction.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Geezer Butler except "Methademic" by Ozzy Osbourne; all music is composed by Tony Iommi, Osbourne and Butler.

Standard Edition

1. "End of the Beginning" 8:05
2. "God Is Dead?" 8:52
3. "Loner" 4:59
4. "Zeitgeist" 4:37
5. "Age of Reason" 7:01
6. "Live Forever" 4:46
7. "Damaged Soul" 7:51
8. "Dear Father" 7:20

Total length: 53:34

Deluxe Edition Bonus Disc

1. "Methademic" 5:57
2. "Peace of Mind" 3:40
3. "Pariah" 5:34

Total length: 15:11

Release dates:

- Germany: June 7th

- Europe: June 10th

- USA: June 11th

- Japan: June 19th

All music by Black Sabbath.

Released as Standard Edition CD in jewelcase, 2CD Deluxe Edition with bonus disc, LP and Super Deluxe Box Set featuring deluxe double CD album (without Naïveté in Black, however snippets of this songs are featured in the DVD documentary), 12" heavyweight (180g) vinyl album in a gatefold sleeve, exclusive DVD containing "Black Sabbath - The Re-union" documentary, plus 5 behind-the-scenes videos, Limited Edition Art Print, 13 exclusive photographic prints, hand written album lyrics.

DVD tracklisting:

1. Making of "13" - 25:04

2. In the Studio - 3:02

3. Working with Rick Rubin - 2:56

4. Together Again - 3:23

5. That Sabbath Sound - 3:09

6. Drummer Brad Wilk - 3:20

Best Buy, German Media Markt and Saturn exclusive bonus track (on CD2):

4. Naïveté in Black (3:50)

Japan (on both standard and deluxe edition), German Media Markt and Saturn exclusive (on standard 1CD version) bonus track (on CD1):

9. Naïveté in Black (3:50)

Spotify bonus track

12. Dirty Women (Live 29.04.2013 in Melbourne, Australia) (7:21)

The recording date of "Dirty Women" was discovered by listening and comparing available bootlegs from Black Sabbath's 2013 Australian shows.

Black Sabbath performed the song "End of the Beginning" on the season finale of the TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation that aired on May 15th, prior to the album release. The footage of the performance was released as a live video on June 11th.