Blind Guardian

Together with Jon Schaffer - leader and founder of Iced Earth - Kürsch is part of a side project called Demons and Wizards. Although they never played live originally, they have played together live twice since, once in 1998 and once in 2004. The single for "And Then There Was Silence," for example, reached #1 in Spain and #7 in Canada, despite its length. Horn said he chose "The Buggles" for the band's name because, "It was the most disgusting name I could think of at that time.". Blind Guardian's popularity has continued to grow from an initial following in Europe and Japan to one of the most well-known power metal bands in the world. The band's sound was characterised by a deliberately synthetic quality, in keeping with the technological subject matter of their songs. On several occasions the audience has been known to sing along even to André Olbrich's guitar solos. They recorded two albums, the second of which was released after Horn and Downes had replaced Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, respectively, in Yes.

Considering the already anthemic and singalong quality of their choruses, it is unsurprising that the band's 2003 live album, Live, sounded much like their studio recordings: although the overdubs of vocalist Hansi Kürsch were lost, the live audience reproduced them faithfully and enthusiastically. The video for the song, directed by Russell Mulcahy was - quite appropriately - the first video aired on MTV North America. This technique, especially notable in the guitar and vocal tracks, creates the impression of a vast army of musicians playing in unison and singing in harmony. The novelty value of the song led to them being perceived as one-hit wonders, but its success was sufficient to launch both members of the band on successful careers. Blind Guardian's music is characterized by the classic fast guitars and double bass drumming of power metal, but is relatively unique in its use of overdubs to create an extremely dense, "epic" sound. The Buggles shot to fame with their first single released in late 1979. The 1998 album Nightfall in Middle-Earth, for example, is a concept album based on Tolkien's The Silmarillion, while the 2002 album A Night at the Opera features a 14-minute song about the Trojan War, titled "And Then There Was Silence." Over the years, a running theme has developed associating the band members with traveling bards. The Buggles were a pop/rock band formed in 1977 consisting of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, early on including Academy Award-winning film composer Hans Zimmer (who left after the success of Video Killed the Radio Star).

Tolkien and other fantasy authors, as well as traditional legends and epics. Adventures In Modern Recording (1981). R. The Age of Plastic (1980). R. From the very beginning, Blind Guardian have been inspired by the fictional worlds of J.

Before calling themselves Blind Guardian, the band released a demo under the name Lucifer's Heritage in 1986. Blind Guardian is a power metal/epic metal (more recently) band started in the mid-1980s in Krefeld, Germany. Imaginations Through the Looking Glass (DVD) (2004). Live (2003).

A Night at the Opera (2002). Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998). The Forgotten Tales (1996). Imaginations From the Other Side (1995).

Tokyo Tales (1993). Somewhere Far Beyond (1992). Tales from the Twilight World (1990). Follow the Blind (1989).

Battalions of Fear (1988). Lucifer's Heritage (demo) (1986). Oliver Holzwarth - bass (touring member). Thomas "Thomen" Stauch - drums.

Marcus Siepen - guitars. André Olbrich - guitars. Hansi Kürsch - lead singer and (formerly) bass.