As the title says: the Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth album is no longer available on Spotify.

As far as I can tell, this is global and not just my region doing silly things.
Anyone have any idea about what is going on?

Update: album is back in its 2007 remaster-version.

And as we're talking, when has this happened to other bands?
I know Judas Priest's Demolition and Jugulator are not available (either because of the label or because the band blatantly ignores the Ripper years), nor is Rhapsody of Fire's Triumph or Agony (the first album on the new name and the last one with Magic Circle Music).

Oh no.

My post killed it.

Why it's important to buy albums you like...

Luckily I have a physical copy and continue to buy, but digital music is an easy way to create playlists.

It wasn't on Spotify for years before it was put on there if I remember right, so I assume whatever agreement got it put on there ran out.

It was reissued by Nuclear Blast in 2017, alongside everything else up to/including "A Night at the Opera". Wonder if that deal's starting to expire (imagine if they're yet another NB band moving to Reigning Phoenix/Atomic Fire or whatever, lol). Could also be temporary and show back up tomorrow, who knows? In any case, I'm glad I have it on CD...

Still available via Nuclear Blast on Bandcamp: https://nuclearblast.bandcamp.com/?filt ... 3327317803

Reminder that every music streaming service is the same as Netflix; you're paying for limited rental access to an ever-changing catalog that can be revoked at any time. If you like something, pay for it and download it. You get to keep it forever while also giving the band actual money instead of $.0000001 per stream.

Luckily I got this on CD a few years ago (the 2007 remaster). I just recently cancelled my Spotify subscription as well.

Other albums I noticed were removed recently - all of Psychotic Waltz's albums apart from the newest one, and Jag Panzer's Ample Destruction.

I hate to sound like an asshat, but... pretty much this.

I'm not saying to buy absolutely everything you feel you might enjoy; plenty of ways to sample things. But at the end of the day, you should buy the music that really means something to you. Remember, you have no say in what streaming platforms decide to do...

BTW, that album in particular is my favourite from Blind Guardian and one of my favourite pieces of music ever.

I wish new cars still had CD players in them. I still have my physical copy of this album but I ain’t exactly breaking those out too often these days.

Full agree. But it's way harder when you live in the ass of the world and the shipping costs are hellish.

In my region the album is also unavailable, Spotify has those things. For example all the Ripper Owen's Judas Priest albums are missing of the platform, same with specific albums of some bands like the first album of High on Fire.

It's on YouTube though, so if you bought premium, you could stream it without ads and with similar quality to Spotify, it isn't the same but is better than spending a lot of money on CDs in 2024, not that Iam against of those who do it, but having a lot of plastic in the house takes a lot of space and I like the instant music display that streaming has vs the old way of putting a cd one by one.

Yeah - sucks that so many places are likely just at the mercy of the streaming services' deals and other choices...

What sucks is that the majority of music fans expecting the entirety of the world's recorded music available to them instantly and for free. Imagine if any other form of media was like this. Folks happily pay $200+ a year to watch their Office and Friends reruns but couldn't even be bothered to toss a band $10 for an album they listen to regularly.

This is true.

Well the streaming services are the equivalent for that for music - the problem is that all of these greedy fucking companies have rigged things so they keep all the profits, while artists get no residuals for the TV reruns and musicians get jack shit for streaming. It's all fucked all the way up the line. I do agree and I still buy music plenty of the time.

Spotify has been removing albums for a while now, it's really dumb. They removed Pharaoh's albums besides their newest one which is a shame

Do people seriously think this is how things work?

Labels and artists control the rights to their music and decide where and how it is offered. If an album isn't on Spotify, it's because the label or artist took it off there intentionally.

Oh look, the whole Pharaoh discography for you to purchase on Bandcamp and keep forever: https://pharaohmetal.bandcamp.com

So true. People who aren't 'music people' value it as a medium and art form so little. People think it should be effectively free

yes, so why do we complain when record is overpriced by label/distros? we can still hear it on there and there, yes, for sure
keep on physical copies and you'll cry just like me when half of release are unavailable to you

Same on the Deezer platform, unfortunately. I'm sure it'll be back soon, but it's annoying how often this seems to happen. Definitely a good reason to make an effort to buy your favourites on physical media.

Hear, hear!!

not only, I do have friends with hundreds vinyl they never listen to because they are in use with modern world car listening and so on, using music on deezer, and they enjoy playing tracks only (not full LP with you know some track you like less)

now I need to order Hammerfall / Nile / Flotsam & Jetsam and I need to wait september and Hammerfall is f*** gold color so more expensive and I can't say if it's THAT good, and I can't complain because all here and there are like "don"t buy it if..." and I'm pretty sure they do consume for free

Still waiting for Panzer Division Marduk, Celtic Winter and Caravan's In the Land of Grey and Pink to return. I'll add this Blind Guardian gem to the list. Nevertheless Spotify is pretty complete if you compare it to Netflix, Gamepass etc.

I just want them to re-release it on vinyl so I can have a copy in that format.

I am kind of casual in my like for Blind Guardian. Would Nightfall in Middle Earth be a top seller?

I have noticed Fifth Angel's debut, the first 2 Yngwie albums, Nuclear Assault's Survive are missing and I figure those are albums people are most willing to buy. On the other hand they don't offer them on the iTunes store.

Survive is one of the most sought-after albums in existence. It's never been officially reissued since it came out. I'm not sure how it ever got onto streaming because I thought there were issues with the rights, but I did find it on Apple Music a couple of years ago, and now it's gone.

I see month by month many reissues for records I can not even sell as original pieces (because of weakness)
records I can't sell 6 euro but reissue is there, splatter, 30euro, just wonder why & how, but that's fine I don't care, just to say Survive is far better than most of these

Crazy vinyl colors are prime for collectors. I do buy some of those but I listen to them as well.

Yikes! I bought the original issue on CD back in 1999, just haven't played it in years due to it being available on Spotify. Guess it's time to dust her off, though I'll probably have to rip it again because my car doesn't have a CD player anymore.

I have my entire collection of 500+ CD's ripped to a USB to play while driving. These days I often by the physical CD (maximal support for the band and it's fun to have something tangible) and listen to a digital version because it's more easy to carry around. But yeah, this thing with albums dissapearing has just reaffirmed me in my belief to keep buying.

It has also happened with the soundtracks to Star Wars some years back. The complete scores for The Phantom Menace, A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi have been removed and replaced by reduced (incomplete) versions. Luckily I have those on disc as well, but I don't know if they're available to buy anymore.

It's almost impossible for me to fully connect with streamed music and so. It' just feel so unnatural for me no matter how this strange sounds.

I kinda feel the same way. I don't have a huge CD collection, but I definitely feel a stronger connection with even the "bad" albums that I own physically than many of the arguably better albums that I only know from streaming. I also find myself returning more often to albums I own versus albums that I don't own.

Fuck digital music,sabotage it…

Only physical format.

I listen to a lot of digital copies of music I own in CD/tape/LP but I can't get into relying only on streaming. I've heard so many people complain that albums are removed, they only get a shitty remaster version, and shit like that. I get the reasons and convenience, and for newer generations that is how music is, something streamed. But I'm a collector and enjoy that part of music.

I feel the same way about all digital communication. I send in all my comments to this forum by mail.

Maybe I’m boomer but digital music sound completely different in bad way respect a vynil,cd or tape…

I bought a my copy a couple of months ago.

...I guess it's back anyway (or they changed it for the remastered version)
https://open.spotify.com/album/7EPGJTyG9MQ6gJWANmL4n3

CDs are literally digital music and no different than downloading WAVs, and unless you have a REALLY discerning ear and great equipment, you can't hear the difference between them and well-encoded streaming from official sources.

You're not alone, however the reason is not the format, is the fact that most digital music has been altered from its original versions, either remastered, re recorded or a mix of both. Some are OK, some are outright offensive (see Rust in Peace remaster edition) Have you ever stumbled upon a track in a streaming platform that suddenly sounds too low? That's probably an original version that didn't have the insane amount of post production and/or volume crank up as virtually all music coming out today. So yeah, you're being a boomer but not in a bad way. Fuck digital music and what it's done to good standards.

edit: dumb typo