A Night at the Opera (Blind Guardian album)

A Night at the Opera
Cover art by Paul R. Gregory
Studio album by Blind Guardian
Released	25 March 2002
Recorded	January–December 2001 at Twilight Hall Studios, Grefrath and Hammer Music Studios, Hamburg, Germany
Genre	Power metal progressive metal symphonic metal
Length	67:01
Label	Virgin/Century Media
Producer	Charlie Bauerfeind
Blind Guardian chronology
Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998) A Night at the Opera (2002) A Twist in the Myth (2006)
Singles from A Night at the Opera
"And Then There Was Silence" Released: 12 November 2001

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Exclaim!	favorable
Rock Hard	9/10

A Night at the Opera is the seventh studio album by the German power metal band Blind Guardian, released in 2002. It is named after the 1975 Queen album of the same name, which is itself named after the Marx brothers film of the same name.

This album continues a stylistic change from power metal into a more progressive sound, with multiple overlaid vocals, choirs, orchestral keys and guitar leads and less emphasis on powerful guitar riffs and heavy rhythms. As a result, drummer Thomen Stauch would leave the group, citing dissatisfaction with the direction the group was going in.

Album content

There are seven different studio versions and two official live versions of "Harvest of Sorrow" – two in English, two in Spanish ("Mies Del Dolor", "La Cosecha Del Dolor"), one in Italian ("Frutto Del Buio"), one in French ("Moisson de Peine"), and one in a mix of all of the versions except the English acoustic and Italian (also called "Harvest of the World").

The song "Battlefield" is featured as the music in the heavy metal edition of the Adult Swim game Robot Unicorn Attack.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Hansi Kürsch; all music is composed by André Olbrich and Kürsch, except bonus tracks by Marcus Siepen, Kürsch and Thomen Stauch

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Precious Jerusalem"	6:22
2.	"Battlefield" (Olbrich, Kürsch and Stauch)	5:37
3.	"Under the Ice"	5:44
4.	"Sadly Sings Destiny"	6:04
5.	"The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight"	5:30
6.	"Wait for an Answer"	6:30
7.	"The Soulforged" (Olbrich, Kürsch and Stauch)	5:18
8.	"Age of False Innocence"	6:05
9.	"Punishment Divine"	5:45
10.	"And Then There Was Silence"	14:06

2018 re-release bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Age of False Innocence (Preproduction Mix 2018)"	5:42
12.	"Under the Ice (Preproduction Mix 2018)"	5:40

Bonus tracks from Harvest of Sorrow EP

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Harvest of Sorrow (Acoustic Version)" (Japanese bonus)	3:39
12.	"Mies del dolor" (Spain/North American bonus)	3:39
13.	"La cosecha del dolor" (Argentine bonus)	3:39
14.	"Frutto del buio" (Italian bonus)	3:39
15.	"Moisson de peine" (French bonus)	3:39

Lyrical references

The album features the concepts and themes familiar to Blind Guardian fans, such as historical battles and religious references.

• "Precious Jerusalem" is based on the final days of Jesus of Nazareth and his temptation in the desert.
• "Battlefield" is based on Song of Hildebrandt, an old German tale of a father and son who find themselves in a duel to the death.
• "Under the Ice" has connections to the Iliad, focuses on Cassandra and what happened to her after the Trojan War, particularly from The Oresteia.
• "Sadly Sings Destiny" is based on the religious aspect of the Messiah in the Old Testament, and tells of the crucifixion of Jesus from the point of view of a character who reluctantly helps fulfil the prophecy, by doing such things as building the True Cross and weaving the Crown of Thorns.
• "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" is based on an episode from the story of Tristan und Isolde.
• "Wait for an Answer" allegorically concerns the Nazi propaganda machine.
• "The Soulforged" is based on the Dragonlance saga's tales of the mage Raistlin Majere.
• "Age of False Innocence" is about Galileo Galilei.
• "Punishment Divine" is about Friedrich Nietzsche's decline into insanity where he imagines himself being judged by a court of saints.
• "And Then There Was Silence" is about Cassandra's visions of the coming Trojan War. It was inspired by Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid.
• "Harvest of Sorrow" is based on Tolkien's tragic story of Túrin Turambar, which appears in the Silmarillion.

Personnel

Blind Guardian

• Hansi Kürsch – lead and backing vocals
• André Olbrich – lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars
• Marcus Siepen – rhythm guitar
• Thomen Stauch – drums & percussion

Guest musicians

• Oliver Holzwarth – bass guitar
• Mathias Wiesner – keyboards & orchestral arrangements
• Michael Schüren – piano on "Age of False Innocence"
• Pad Bender, Boris Schmidt & Sascha Pierro – keyboards and sound effects
• Rolf Köhler, Thomas Hackmann, Olaf Senkbeil & Billy King – The Choir Company

Production

• Charlie Bauerfeind – production, mixing, recording
• Nordin Hammadi Amrani – assistant engineer, additional recordings
• Clemens von Witte – recordings (backing vocals)
• Detlef – recordings (backing vocals)
• Paul Raymond Gregory – cover painting
• André Olbrich – front cover concept
• Dennis "Sir" Kostroman – booklet design
• Axel Jusseit – photos

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	17
French Albums (SNEP)	67
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	5
Italian Albums (FIMI)	11
Japanese Albums (Oricon)	29
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	44
US Independent Albums (Billboard)	37