Nightfall in Middle-Earth

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Nightfall in Middle-Earth
Studio album by Blind Guardian
Released	1998
Recorded	Twilight Hall Studios Karo Studios Sweet Silence Studios Vox Studios Air-Edel Studios
Genre	Epic/Power Metal
Length	65:29
Label	Virgin/Century Media
Producer(s)	Flemming Rasmussen/Blind Guardian
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Blind Guardian chronology
Imaginations from the Other Side (1995)	Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998)	A Night at the Opera (2002)

Nightfall in Middle-Earth is a concept album by Blind Guardian, released in 1998.

Many of the tracks from the album are not complete songs, but are merely narratives to advance the story. Every track tells a piece of the story, and contributes to the listening experience. The storyline is exclusively based upon J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, a book of tales from the First Age of Middle-earth. The lyrics range from the theft of the Silmarils to the dawn of the Second Age.

Technically speaking, the music is much more "melodic" on this album, compared to previous works such as Somewhere Far Beyond, and the songs have much more fluency, without losing any of the traditional speed or guitar solos and leads. This album is typically considered to be the band's magnum opus.

Nightfall in Middle-Earth was the first album by Blind Guardian to be released in the U.S.. The sales encouraged Century Media to release their entire back catalog in the U.S. (records such as Follow the Blind and Battalions of Fear).

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Lineup 3 Guests 4 Lyrical references

[edit] Track listing

1. "War of Wrath" – 1:50
2. "Into the Storm" – 4:24
3. "Lammoth" – 0:28
4. "Nightfall" – 5:34
5. "The Minstrel" – 0:32
6. "The Curse of Fëanor" – 5:41
7. "Captured" – 0:26
8. "Blood Tears" – 5:23
9. "Mirror Mirror" – 5:07
10. "Face the Truth" – 0:24
11. "Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns)" – 6:51
12. "Battle of Sudden Flame" – 0:44
13. "Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)" – 4:53
14. "The Dark Elf" – 0:23
15. "Thorn" – 6:18
16. "The Eldar" – 3:39
17. "Nom the Wise" – 0:33
18. "When Sorrow Sang" – 4:25
19. "Out on the Water" – 0:44
20. "The Steadfast" – 0:21
21. "A Dark Passage" – 6:01
22. "Final Chapter (Thus Ends...)" – 0:48

• Bonus Tracks

1. "Nightfall" (Orchestral Version) – 5:38 (Japanese Bonus)
2. "A Dark Passage" (Instrumental Version) – 6:05 (Japanese Bonus)

[edit] Lineup

• Hansi Kürsch – vocals and bass guitar
• André Olbrich – lead guitar
• Marcus Siepen – rhythm guitar
• Thomas "Thomen" Stauch – drums

[edit] Guests

• Oliver Holzwarth – bass
• Mathias Weisner – keyboards
• Michael Schuren – piano
• Max Zelner – flute
• Norman Eshley, Douglas Fielding – narration
• Billy King, Rolf Köhler, Olaf Senkbeil, Thomas Hackmann – choir

[edit] Lyrical references

Since this is a concept album about The Silmarillion, all songs are about different events in the book.

• "War of Wrath" is about the last great battle of the War of the Jewels which results in the imprisonment and banishment of Morgoth the Dark Lord and fallen Vala (angelic spirit overseeing Middle-earth).
• "Into The Storm" explains the events that happened between Morgoth and the great spider-spirit Ungoliant after they destroy the Two Trees of the Valar and stole the Silmarils. Ungoliant, in her hunger, attacks Morgoth to claim the Silmarils and Morgoth calls the Balrog demons for aid.
• "Lammoth" is about the scream of Morgoth before Ungoliant's attack, which is heard from his great fortress, Angband.
• "Nightfall" is about the oath of Fëanor and his seven sons, after they hear about the theft of the Silmarils and the murder of his father, Finwë, the High King of the Noldor, both by Morgoth's hand. Fëanor then decides to chase Morgoth to Angband and quarrels with the Valar for his decision to do so.
• "The Curse of Fëanor" tells about Fëanor's feelings and wrath on his chase of the Silmarils. He commits the Kinslaying, the murder of their fellow Elves, the Teleri, when they do not help their cause. The Noldor kill many of the Teleri and commandeer and then burn their ships.
• "Captured" is a passage which tells about the capture of Maedhros, Fëanor's son, after his father's death. In the passage Morgoth talks with Maedhros.
• "Blood Tears" is about the attempt of Fingon, Maedhros' cousin, to rescue him from a peak of the Thangorodrim mountains, where he is chained.
• "Mirror Mirror" is about Turgon's (Fingon's brother) finding the secret valley of Tumladen and how he builds the magnificent city of Gondolin. Also it includes some part of Ulmo's (the Vala Lord of Waters), attempt to help Turgon.
• "Face The Truth" is about some Noldo's speech to the Noldor about their destiny.
• "Noldor" is about the Noldor's dark fate and Fingolfin's (Fëanor's half-brother) passage from the icy waste of Helcaraxë with the Noldor army. The song is written from his view.
• "The Battle of Sudden Flame" is a passage which talks about the battle called the Dagor Bragollach (Elvish for "Battle of Sudden Flame"), in which Morgoth breaks the Siege of Angband and lays waste to the Elven armies using his Balrogs and the first dragon, Glaurung.
• "Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)" is about Fingolfin, now High King of Noldor after Fëanor's death, and his ride to the gates of Angband to challenge Morgoth to a duel. Morgoth accepts the challenge; they duel in front of Angband. Fingolfin is killed, though he wounds Morgoth seven times.
• "The Dark Elf" is about the "Dark Elf" Ëol who becomes a betrayer at the end of all events.
• "The Eldar" is about the Elven king Finrod and his death after he killed a werewolf, which was about to kill his companion, the Man Beren, with his bare hands.
• "Nom the Wise" is a passage which is about Beren's mourning for his beloved friend Finrod, after his death (Nóm means "wise", it was a name given to him by Bëor.)
• "When Sorrow Sang" is about the Elven princess Lúthien and her lover Beren, their theft of a Silmaril from Angband, Beren's death from the hands of Morgoth's great wolf, Carcharoth and how he returned to the world of living.
• "The Steadfast" is a passage which Morgoth speaks to Húrin the Steadfast, the greatest warrior of Men, after his decisive victory in the fifth battle of the War against him.
• "A Dark Passage" is about the devastating fifth battle, the Nirnaeth Arnoediad ("Unnumbered Tears"), which Morgoth emerged victorious against the Elves. The song is mainly from Morgoth's view as he thinks of the battle.

Blind Guardian
Hansi Kürsch | André Olbrich | Marcus Siepen | Frederik Ehmke
Thomas "Thomen" Stauch | Markus Dörk | Christoph Theissen | Hans-Peter Frey
Discography
Demo albums as Lucifer's Heritage: Symphonies of Doom | Battalions of Fear
Studio albums: Battalions of Fear | Follow the Blind | Tales from the Twilight World | Somewhere Far Beyond | Imaginations from the Other Side | Nightfall in Middle-Earth | A Night at the Opera | A Twist in the Myth
Live albums: Tokyo Tales | Live
Compilations: The Forgotten Tales
Singles: A Past and Future Secret | Bright Eyes | Mr. Sandman | Mirror Mirror | And Then There Was Silence | The Bard's Song (In the Forest) | Fly
Videos and DVDs: Imaginations Through the Looking Glass
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