Follow the Blind
Encyclopedia
Follow the Blind is the second full-length album from the German
metal band Blind Guardian
, released in 1989. The album is more in the vein of speed metal, compared to the style that would later define the band's unique sound. According to bassist Marcus Siepen
, "When we were doing Follow the Blind we were listening to a lot of thrash metal
bands like Testament
or Forbidden
, and that's why Follow the Blind was a bit heavier". The album was remastered, remixed and re-released on 15 June 2007, with the whole second demo tape, Battalions of Fear, of the band (at the time called Lucifer's Heritage) as part of the bonus tracks.
The opening track "Inquisition" is a repetition of the Latin
phrase Pie Jesu
Domine, dona eis requiem (O sweet Lord Jesus, grant them rest in English) chanted as it would be by monks. The phrase forms part of the Roman Catholic Requiem
Mass
, and is also identical to that which is chanted by the monks in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
.
Kai Hansen
of Gamma Ray
and ex-Helloween
sings in the song "Valhalla".
, except "Barbara Ann" by Fred Fassert
Note: the 2007 re-release and other special releases have "Barbara Ann
" moved to the 10th position, and the bonus track "Don't Break the Circle" being on 9th position. "Don't Break the Circle" was also featured on the cassette version. On the vinyl version, "Valhalla" was followed by "Barbara Ann".
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
metal band Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in the mid-1980s in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres...
, released in 1989. The album is more in the vein of speed metal, compared to the style that would later define the band's unique sound. According to bassist Marcus Siepen
Marcus Siepen
Marcus Siepen is one of two guitarists in the power metal band Blind Guardian. For the biggest percentage of Blind Guardian's songs, particularly in more recent years, he has almost strictly played rhythm guitar, with most lead and solo work being performed by André Olbrich.-Personal:Siepen is...
, "When we were doing Follow the Blind we were listening to a lot of thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
bands like Testament
Testament (band)
Testament is an American metal band from Berkeley, California, formed in 1983. They are often credited as one of the most popular bands of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
or Forbidden
Forbidden (band)
Forbidden is a thrash metal band from the San Francisco Bay Area. Formed in 1985 as Forbidden Evil, the group was founded by Russ Anderson and Craig Locicero, who are both permanent members. Since their formation, Forbidden have broken up and reformed twice with numerous line-up changes...
, and that's why Follow the Blind was a bit heavier". The album was remastered, remixed and re-released on 15 June 2007, with the whole second demo tape, Battalions of Fear, of the band (at the time called Lucifer's Heritage) as part of the bonus tracks.
The opening track "Inquisition" is a repetition of the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
phrase Pie Jesu
Pie Jesu
Pie Jesu is a motet derived from the final couplet of the Dies irae and often included in musical settings of the Requiem Mass. The settings of the Requiem Mass by Luigi Cherubini, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, John Rutter, Karl Jenkins and Fredrik Sixten include a Pie Jesu as an independent...
Domine, dona eis requiem (O sweet Lord Jesus, grant them rest in English) chanted as it would be by monks. The phrase forms part of the Roman Catholic Requiem
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...
Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
, and is also identical to that which is chanted by the monks in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
.
Kai Hansen
Kai Hansen
Kai Michael Hansen is a power metal guitarist and vocalist.Hansen is the founder, lead guitarist, and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray, and the co-founder and former member of German metal band Helloween. He is a prominent figure in power metal, and has sold millions of albums worldwide...
of Gamma Ray
Gamma Ray (band)
Gamma Ray is a power metal band from Hamburg, northern Germany, founded and fronted by Kai Hansen after his departure from the German power metal Helloween. Hansen is the current lead vocalist, guitarist as well as the chief songwriter of Gamma Ray. The band is known as one of the most prominent...
and ex-Helloween
Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in the mid 1980s by members of Iron Fist and Powerfool. The band was a pioneering force in the European Power Metal movement and their second and third studio albums, Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt...
sings in the song "Valhalla".
Track listing
Words and music by Blind GuardianBlind Guardian
Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in the mid-1980s in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres...
, except "Barbara Ann" by Fred Fassert
Fred Fassert
Fred Fassert is most famously known as the writer of the popular song "Barbara Ann," which was originally written for the band that he was in at the time, The Regents. In 1961, the song reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart...
- "Inquisition" – 0:40
- "Banish from Sanctuary" – 5:27
- "Damned for All Time" – 4:57
- "Follow the Blind" – 7:10
- "Hall of the King" – 4:16
- "Fast to Madness" – 5:57
- "Beyond the Ice" – 3:28
- "Valhalla" – 4:56
- "Barbara AnnBarbara Ann"Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert and performed by The Regents in 1961. The recording reached a peak position of #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart....
" (The RegentsThe RegentsThe Regents were an American doo-wop vocal group from New York, operating in the late 1950s and early 1960s.They are best known for writing and recording the hit "Barbara Ann" in 1961, which reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart...
and Beach Boys cover) – 1:43- Bonus Track
- 10. "Don't Break the Circle" (DemonDemon (band)Demon are an English rock/metal group, formed in 1979 by vocalist Dave Hill and guitarist Mal Spooner, both hailing from Leek, Staffordshire. They drew their initial audience from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement in 1980....
cover) – 4:28- 2007 Re-release Bonus Tracks
- 11. "Majesty" (Demo Version) – 7:16
- 12. "Trial by the Archon" (Demo Version) – 3:53
- 13. "Battalions of Fear" (Demo Version) – 6:21
- 14. "Run for the Night" (Demo Version) – 4:29
Note: the 2007 re-release and other special releases have "Barbara Ann
Barbara Ann
"Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert and performed by The Regents in 1961. The recording reached a peak position of #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart....
" moved to the 10th position, and the bonus track "Don't Break the Circle" being on 9th position. "Don't Break the Circle" was also featured on the cassette version. On the vinyl version, "Valhalla" was followed by "Barbara Ann".
Band
- Hansi KürschHansi KürschHans Jürgen Kürsch, better known as Hansi Kürsch is a German musician, the lead vocalist and lyricist of power metal band Blind Guardian. Together with André Olbrich, he is also the principal songwriter for the band. He was also the bassist in Blind Guardian until the 1998 album Nightfall in...
- vocals and bass - André OlbrichAndré OlbrichAndré Olbrich is the lead guitarist of the German power metal band Blind Guardian. He is one of the band's founders together with vocalist Hansi Kürsch, and serves as one of its main songwriters....
- lead guitar and backing vocals - Marcus SiepenMarcus SiepenMarcus Siepen is one of two guitarists in the power metal band Blind Guardian. For the biggest percentage of Blind Guardian's songs, particularly in more recent years, he has almost strictly played rhythm guitar, with most lead and solo work being performed by André Olbrich.-Personal:Siepen is...
- rhythm guitar and backing vocals - Thomas "Thomen" Stauch - drums
Personnel
- Kai HansenKai HansenKai Michael Hansen is a power metal guitarist and vocalist.Hansen is the founder, lead guitarist, and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray, and the co-founder and former member of German metal band Helloween. He is a prominent figure in power metal, and has sold millions of albums worldwide...
- vocals on "Valhalla", Guest Guitar solo on Hall of the King. - Kalle Trapp – recording, mixing and producing
- van Waay Design – cover painting
Lyrical References
- "Inquisition" is a version of the Pie JesuPie JesuPie Jesu is a motet derived from the final couplet of the Dies irae and often included in musical settings of the Requiem Mass. The settings of the Requiem Mass by Luigi Cherubini, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, John Rutter, Karl Jenkins and Fredrik Sixten include a Pie Jesu as an independent...
motet. - "Damned for All Time" and "Fast to Madness" are based on Michael MoorcockMichael MoorcockMichael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
's characters from Eternal ChampionEternal ChampionThe Eternal Champion is a fictional creation of the author Michael Moorcock and is a recurrent feature in many of his novels.-About the Eternal Champion:...
series. - "Banish from Sanctuary" is based on the life of John the BaptistJohn the BaptistJohn the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
. - "Follow the Blind" is based on Stephen King & Peter Straub's The Talisman.
- "Hall of the King" is about the faith and being faithful.
- "Valhalla" is about the ValhallaValhallaIn Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those that die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field Fólkvangr...
, where warriors fallen in battle go to live with the gods, in Norse mythology. - "Fast to Madness" contains reference to Elric of Melniboné, the doomed albino Emperor of Melniboné, who finds Stormbringer, a sword created by ChaosChaos (cosmogony)Chaos refers to the formless or void state preceding the creation of the universe or cosmos in the Greek creation myths, more specifically the initial "gap" created by the original separation of heaven and earth....
, which causes him to be alienated from his close friends and his family, taking souls from each of them, eventually even taking his own soul for fulfilling the hunger of StormbringerStormbringerStormbringer is the name of the infamous black sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. Created by the forces of Chaos, it is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes carved deep into its blade...