Blind Guardian-Nightfall In Middle-Earth (1998)

The eighth album by the German band Blind Guardian marked the pinnacle of their creativity, while simultaneously being their least accessible and most progressive record. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Silmarillion", Blind Guardian embarked on their most ambitious work, replete with vocal harmonies and multiple layers of guitars with dense and complex sounds. By the time they recorded this album, the band had gone three years without releasing any new material, years in which they had embarked on several highly successful world tours, performing complex songs from their albums "Somewhere Far Beyond" and "Imaginations From The Other Side". These albums, while not explicitly concept albums, followed a similar pattern with progressive leanings, if not so much musically, then certainly stylistically. “Nightfall In Meddle-Earth” is an exciting album from beginning to end, with great intros, outstanding epic compositions and a clear taste towards rock opera, with narrated parts, countless choirs and sublime instrumentation made up of 22 tracks, half of which are songs and the rest narrated or instrumental interludes.