Memories of a Time to Come

You might be thinking: is this a worthy-of-buying release? And the answer is: "maybe".

The main point is, what are you? An ancient fan of Blind Guardian's magic Tolkien-like tales with a speedy power metal soundtrack? Or are you just starting to navigate into the tempestuous and powerful waters of the band?

If the answer is the first one, then my friend, this thing is a total wreck. Not worthy of any kind of examination at all. Nothing here is better than what you can find in the lps. Not even the remixed songs, because there are some remixes here, overcomes or are good enough to replace the elder versions. In fact, the originals have a magic touch, a taste of the old days when magic and mixing still were something of a craftsman. Now, doing this kind of power metal is easy as the conventions of the style were already met and sound engineers are most of them clever enough to put the right mix, so in that context and even with the mistakes, if any, in the older versions, they are better than the ones here. So, if you are an ancient fan of the Guardian, here we got no more than metal detritus, things we know, we already have and nothing more, nothing new.

But if you are a newcomer and you are witnessing the power of Blind Guardian for the first time, this thing will probably make you fall in love with the band in the blink of an eye. It contains virtually all the hit songs, the fans-popular songs of the band, each and every one of them. Those 30 pieces are the tastiest sample of what you will get if you dare to enter deeper into BG's universe. If you're fan of Tolkien, the thing will be even faster. And that's it. I know several friends who never heard of Blind Guardian before and they always say to me "I entered into Blind Guardian thanks to Memories of a Time to Come". That should work, somehow, as evidence of what I'm saying.

So, for not making this review longer than what must be, because there is nothing else to be said, a final synthesis would be: if you are an old fan of the band, avoid this, it's unworthy for wasting money. But if you want to start something new and have a taste of Blind Guardian's power for the first time, this could be the perfect ticket for entering into the realm.

Giving this album the proper rating was difficult, but I think I'm trying to be the most fair I can be. And considering it is one of the most complete compilation albums I've seen, I gave it a few extra points for it. This release is worthy for newcomers, but nothing more.