Kicking things off with two of the most bizarre metal cover selections imaginable ("Mr.
Sandman" and a lightning-paced, double-kick version of "Surfin' U.S.A."), Forgotten Tales is mixed bag of counter-intuitive tributes and mellowed-out retreads from the Blind Guardian catalog.
It might be possible that this lightweight effort is more of a palette cleansing than the halfhearted recording that it appears to be upon first inspection -- considering that this experiment was released just before the incredibly ambitious Nightfall in Middle-Earth and A Night at the Opera.
Speaking of Queen titles, "Spread Your Wings" is easily Forgotten Tales' shining moment.
Not so surprisingly, the rock & roll treatment of "Barbara Ann/Long Tall Sally" works much better than the metal-ized pop and rock covers mentioned above.
The seven Blind Guardian remakes are consistently slow, earnest, and boring, so for those curious about the laid-back Blind Guardian, Forgotten Tales offers more than a little insight into the group's less serious side.
Otherwise, there isn't much that will hold the interest of most prog/speed metal fans.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mr. SandmanPat Ballard | Blind Guardian | Play | 02:10 | 4 MB | 14 MB |
| 2 | Surfin' U.S.A.Chuck Berry, Brian Wilson | Blind Guardian | Play | 02:25 | 5 MB | 17 MB |
| 3 | The WizardKen Hensley | Blind Guardian | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 4 | Spread Your WingsJohn Deacon | Blind Guardian | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 5 | Barbara Ann/Long Tall SallyFred Fassert | Blind Guardian | Play | 01:45 | 4 MB | 12 MB |
| 6 | A Past and Future SecretHansi Kürsch, André Olbrich | Blind Guardian | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 7 | Black Chamber (orchestral version) | Blind Guardian | Play | 01:15 | 2 MB | 7 MB |
| 8 | Bright Eyes (acoustic version) | Blind Guardian | Play | 04:22 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 9 | Lord of the Rings (orchestral version) | Blind Guardian | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 10 | Mordred's Song (acoustic version) | Blind Guardian | Play | 05:16 | 12 MB | 34 MB |
| 11 | The Bard's Song (live) | Blind Guardian | Play | 04:11 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 12 | Theatre of Pain (orchestral version) | Blind Guardian | Play | 04:15 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 13 | To France | Blind Guardian | Play | 04:42 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 45 mins | 104 MB | |||||
| 45 mins | 298 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ronnie Atkins | Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Pat Ballard | Composer |
| 3 | Chuck Berry | Composer |
| 4 | Blind Guardian | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 5 | John Deacon | Composer |
| 6 | Fred Fassert | Composer |
| 7 | Thomas Hackmann | Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Ken Hensley | Composer |
| 9 | Ralph Kessler | Mastering |
| 10 | Billy King | Vocals (Background) |
| 11 | Rolf Kohler | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 12 | Hansi Kürsch | Bass, Composer, Vocals |
| 13 | Andreas Marschall | Cover Painting |
| 14 | Jacob Moth | Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 15 | André Olbrich | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Leader, Rhythm |
| 16 | Mike Oldfield | Composer |
| 17 | Flemming Rasmussen | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 18 | Michael Schuren | Piano |
| 19 | Piet Sielck | Effects, Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 20 | Marcus Siepen | Composer |
| 21 | Kalle Trapp | Engineer, Guitar, Mixing, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 22 | Henrik Vindeby | Assistant Engineer, Engineer |
| 23 | Matthias Wiesner | Effects |
| 24 | Stefan Will | Piano |
| 25 | Stephanie Will | Piano |
| 26 | Brian Wilson | Composer |
| 27 | Dirk Zumpe | Photography |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |