Blind Guardian: Imaginations Through the Looking Glass (2004 Video) User Reviews

Incredible live-DVD

[macross-2 · 10/10 · 24 October 2004]

One of the best live-DVD's on the market. Great sound, an excellent setlist voted by the fans. Magical atmosphere and a perfect musical performance.

The only problem is that Blind Guardian itself isn't the funniest live band on earth. They focus more on the playing and let the fans do the partying. :) But as a fan I knew that one I bought the DVD, i've seen them live three times and they are what they are on stage but when you got such great songs it doesn't really matter. If you are a blind guardian fan you should not miss this DVD. If not? Well, it's a perfect introduction to the band too so you can but it anyway. :) 9/10

100% Quality and Attention to Detail

[bdanford-1 · 10/10 · 24 October 2004]

It's going to be a challenge to keep this brief...

From the first time you pick up the box, you know that Blind Guardian went all out on this, their first DVD release. It has an attractive sleeve with eye-popping fantasy artwork, a solid plastic case for the 2 DVD's, and a nice 2 page foldout that maps the features on the discs. I kind of wish there was a more complete tour book with it, but nevertheless, what is provided is very good.

I watched the bonus feature DVD first. Nice, attractive menues without any lame animations that serve no purpose other than to make you wait and wait to see what you want to see. Here and there, you will see some cute and unobtrusive graphics thrown in, such as a goblin facing the stage when you start the "making of" section. The dialogue is all in German, but subtitles are provided. It's interesting stuff if you don't know anything about the band, but if you're a die hard Guardian fanatic, you won't learn anything new. The live performances on the bonus DVD are stellar.

Now... the main feature, DVD 1, the concert. This is where my 100% Quality and Attention to Detail comment comes in to play. Masterful! The sound is crisp and clear, the camera work is beautiful, and the color and clarity jumps off the screen. The exciting festival atmosphere is brought fully to life on this disc. For those of you familiar with Blind Guardian, Hansi, as a lead singer, is not a very energetic showman... he pretty much stands and sings. However, his voice is flawless, and the enthusiasm of the band and especially the crowd MORE than makes up for that fact. Hansi's wry smiles and sometimes goofy facial expressions can be appreciated by any fan, anyway.

Much attention is given to making sure the listener hears everything clearly. On this DVD, you don't get any of those concert sound dropouts. While that is a great thing, major music enthusiasts will probably notice several sudden and dramatic changes in acoustic levels to get the desired effects. If you like this band, however, it won't bother you. When it's time for an awesome solo, the guitars are cranked up. In key vocal moments, Hansi's mic is very loud. During the classic Bard's Song, the audience will just blow you away... it's no wonder that the theater audience stood for this song in Germany when this DVD was played for the first time on the silver screen.

Over all... LOVE it. I'll be watching this one again and again. Blind Guardian's Imaginations Through the Looking Glass easily rivals the grandeur of the likes of Iron Maiden, and for those that know me, that's QUITE a declaration.

Best Concert DVD Yet

[klaym · 9/10 · 23 November 2005]

I love it. Let me give you some information on this DVD. It contains a lot of good songs. The sound quality is amazing! Andre', Marcus, and Thomas played perfectly. Hansi seemed more relaxed on his vocals in most songs. They play every song from the "Imaginations from the Other Side" album with the exception of the song "Born in a Mourning Hall". The play a couple of their older stuff, 2 songs from their newest album, and like 4 from the "Nightfall in the Middle Earth" album. Reason I give it a 9 is because the performance in "The Bard's Song" when Hansi made the audience sing it most of the time was disappointing. They did good, don't get me wrong, but it needed the melodic vocals. Other than that, it was the best.

Brilliant

[Psychic_Lemon · 27 December 2004]

It's true that they're not the liveliest band on stage but the amount they do move around seems to suit their songs more than if they were running around constantly. Also there's plenty of expression on Hansi's face when hes singing to make up for the lack of movement.

It's obvious when your watching this the both the crowd and the band are having a great time and they all spend most of their time grinning (especially Andre, who I'm starting to suspect is Dave Murray from Iron Maiden in a cunning disguise) One slight problem on the first few songs is that the camerwork is a little dodgy with a few shots not being out of focus and stuff but this is only nitpicking as it is fine but about the forth song and it wasn't even that bad anyway.

Anyway any BG fan should go out and buy it immediately and they certainly won't be disappointed