Blind Guardian: Unboxing of Collectors Set: "A Travelers Guide To Space And Time"
5/17/2013 6:37:19 PM by Eric
Most metal ilk have deemed Blind Guardian iconic as purveyors of power metal authority. The band have been running and ruling the sub-genre for three decades with the sales to prove it. The Germans have firmly stayed intact with Virgin Records and/or Century Media for their entire career and have enjoyed success worldwide. With that being said the obligatory box set was sure to rear its head at some point.
If you are one of those avid collectors then "A Travelers Guide To Space And Time" is your shrine of worship. This is a collection of the Blind Guardian career thus far minus the last two albums. It's fifteen discs of power metal overload, packaged in prestige crisp fantasy art with a book chronicling the band's story thus far. The price of $200 will deter casual fans but this thing is built for the mop headed collectors and with that clientele it's a must.
This outer box is about the size of a record and compares to Zeppelin's "crop circle" box from the 90s. Inside is a glossy book about the same size as the outer box with same artwork as the outer shell. The book is about thirty pages or so and is loaded with photos of the band's career and a synopsis of different eras of their output. A Blind Guardian guitar pick is included as well in the top layer. Under the book is a "lithograph" styled piece of exclusive fantasy artwork which mirrors the same overall medieval theme the band has utilized throughout their lifespan. On this lithograph is a "typed number" showing what number your box set is out of 8,000.
The reason you own this is the discs and there are a ton of them here. In four square recessed holders are stacks of digital goodness. Fifteen discs housed in thirteen digipaks. We get every album from "Battalions of Fear" through "Night At The Opera" remastered with some live recordings and an album of demos and unreleased tracks. Interesting enough is the full version of "Nightfall In Middle Earth" complete with all of the interludes and spoken word drama as well as a "special edition" version that has the interludes removed.
Overall this is grand eye candy and a collectors dream. Who knew this German speed metal band from the early 90s would excite and influence a sub-genre of metal to the extremes we've seen in the last two decades. This box set not only provides a companion piece to the band's marvelous work but also a retrospective history that champions Blind Guardian as a pioneer and innovator. Somewhere far beyond indeed.
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