''Somewhere Far Beyond'' is the fourth studio album by German

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band

Blind Guardian Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 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.Kalle Trapp Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Trapp was a German music engineer and producer, and owner of the Karo Studio in Münster. The federal state North Rhine-Westphalia became breeding ground for most German metal bands in the 1980s, with Trapp being referred to as " ...

. The cover artwork was created by Andreas Marschall, who also drew the artwork for other Blind Guardian's releases (''

Tales from the Twilight World ''Tales from the Twilight World'' is the third studio album by German power metal band Blind Guardian, released on 2 October 1990. Track listing :a. Lyrical references * "Traveler in Time" is based on Frank Herbert's ''Dune'' * "Welc ...

'', ''

Nightfall in Middle-Earth ''Nightfall in Middle-Earth'' is the sixth studio album by German power metal band Blind Guardian. It was released on 28 April 1998 through Virgin Records. It is a concept album based upon J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Silmarillion'', a book of tales ...

'', etc.). The album saw the band creating its own original sound, while still employing most of their

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...

/power metal techniques. The cover art and the two "Bard's Songs" gave the band its nickname "The Bards". The use of the nickname has been also extended to the fans of the group, Circle of the Bards being the now defunct fan club, and

Hansi Kürsch Hans Jürgen "Hansi" Kürsch (born 10 August 1966) is a German singer, songwriter and former bass guitarist, best known as a member of the power metal band Blind Guardian. One of the founders of the band, he has been its lead vocalist since its ...

frequently calling the fans "Bards". "The Piper's Calling" contains the first three parts of the

Great Highland Bagpipe The Great Highland bagpipe ( gd, a' phìob mhòr "the great pipe") is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the Great Irish Warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British milit ...

2/4 March, "The 79th's Farewell to Gibraltar", written by Pipe Major John MacDonald of the 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameronian Volunteers). Part of this composition also appears as a section of the title track, this time played on a different type of bagpipe. The album was acclaimed by power metal fans all across Europe and especially Japan, allowing them to tour for the first time outside Germany. The tour in the Far East led to the band's first live album, ''

Tokyo Tales ''Tokyo Tales'' is the first live album by German power metal band Blind Guardian. It was remastered and re-released on 15 June 2007, with the same Japanese bonus track. Track listing # "Inquisition" – 0:47 # "Banish from Sanctuary" – 6: ...

''. ''Somewhere Far Beyond'' was remastered and re-released, with bonus tracks, on 15 June 2007. The album was again re-released and also remixed and remastered as part of '' A Traveler's Guide to Space and Time'' boxset.

Track listing

Lyrical references

* "Time What Is Time" is about the film ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

'' from the perspective of a Replicant. * "Journey Through the Dark" is about Jhary a-Conel, a bard and a companion of the

Eternal Champion The Eternal Champion is a fictional character created by British author Michael Moorcock and is a recurrent feature in many of his speculative fiction works. General overview Many of Moorcock's novels and short stories take place in a shared M ...

, from the books by

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...

. * "Black Chamber" deals with someone finding himself in the Black Lodge from

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...

and facing a dark fate. * "Theatre of Pain" is based on the fantasy novel ''

The Merman's Children ''The Merman's Children'' is a 1979 fantasy novel by American writer Poul Anderson, inspired by legends of Mermen and Mermaids from Danish folklore, in particular the ballad Agnete og Havmanden. Set at the end of the medieval era, ''The Merman' ...

'' by

Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...

. * "The Quest for Tanelorn" is about the Eternal Champion's search for a city called Tanelorn, a fictional city in

The Multiverse The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The d ...

's stories. * "Ashes to Ashes" is based on reality; it has to do with the death of Hansi's father. * "The Bard's Song – In the Forest" is inspired by the computer game

The Bard's Tale ''The Bard's Tale'' is a fantasy role-playing video game franchise created by Michael Cranford and developed by Brian Fargo's Interplay Productions (1985–1992) and inXile Entertainment (2004–present). The initial title of the series was ''T ...

. * "The Bard's Song – The Hobbit" is based on

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

's ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...

''. * "Somewhere Far Beyond" is a retelling of

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's '' The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger'' and ''

The Drawing of the Three ''The Drawing of the Three'' is a dark fantasy novel by American writer Stephen King. It is the second book in '' The Dark Tower'' series, published by Grant in 1987. The series was inspired by '' Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came'' by Robe ...

''. * "Trial by Fire" is about the

atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...

. It's a cover of the heavy metal band

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

Personnel

Blind Guardian *

– lead vocals, bass *

André Olbrich André Olbrich (born 3 May 1967) is a German musician, best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of power metal band Blind Guardian, in which he serves as one of the main composers with other founder Hansi Kürsch. Olbrich was ranked num ...

– lead, rhythm and acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

Marcus Siepen Marcus Siepen (born 8 September 1968) is a German guitarist, best known as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of power metal band Blind Guardian. For the biggest percentage of Blind Guardian's songs, particularly in more recent years, he ...

– rhythm and acoustic guitars, backing vocals *

Thomas "Thomen" Stauch Thomas "Thomen" Stauch (born 11 March 1970), also known by his nickname The Omen, is a German heavy metal drummer, mostly known as the co-founder and former drummer of Blind Guardian. Biography He began his career in 1984 the band Lucifer� ...

– drums Guest musicians * Piet Sielck –effects, guitars * Mathias Wiesner – effects, keyboards and bass on "Spread Your Wings" *

Rolf Köhler Rolf Köhler (24 May 1951 – 16 September 2007) was a German singer, musician, and record producer. Career Köhler initially achieved commercial success performing under the pseudonym Marc de Ville in the late 1970s. As Marc de Ville, he recor ...

, Billy King and

Kalle Trapp Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Trapp was a German music engineer and producer, and owner of the Karo Studio in Münster. The federal state North Rhine-Westphalia became breeding ground for most German metal bands in the 1980s, with Trapp being referred to as " ...

– backing vocals * Stefan Will – piano * Peter Rübsam – Scottish and Irish bagpipes *

Kai Hansen Kai Michael Hansen (born 17 January 1963) is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of metal band Helloween, which he rejoined in 2016. He is a prominent ...

– lead guitar on "The Quest for Tanelorn" Production and design *

– producing, mixing, recording * Piet Sielck – second engineer * Andreas Marschall/Becker — Derouet Hamburg – cover art * Tom Nagy – photo * a•r•t•p•o•o•l – graphics

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1992 albums Blind Guardian albums