Music Monday: Blind Guardian's At The Edge Of Time

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Hello and Good Monday to you, & welcome to another Music Monday!

Today we take a look at Blind Guardian’s latest album (which came out this summer) At The Edge Of Time. Take a look at the album preview below:

My favourite song from the album is “Curse My Name”

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BG is a power metal band from Germany, & within the realm of power metal, they are one of the finest bands. With album titles like “Nightfall in Middle-Earth” & “Imaginations From The Other Side”, you can tell that their lyrics are fantasy filled. Their song’s subject matter has been inspired by the works to Tolkien to legends & myths. Their songs truly are epic

The band’s had a special place in my heart since I discovered them in my early high school days. When I got in high school, with the help of the internet, I began to discover music that I really liked. I no longer just listened to what all of my friends were listening to or what was on the radio or television. It was through BG that I discovered many other power metal bands & other types of metal as well, like symphonic metal. Yes, it was BG that helped me find my beloved Nightwish. But my love of Nightwish is another story for another day, they deserve a blog post all their own

How I originally heard of BG was through Neopets. Oh dear yes, Neopets. Does anyone else remember that site? The site provided me with much amusement in junior high When I was on the site, I was part of a guild that had a Middle-Earth theme. Very nerdy, I know, I loved it It was one of the members of the guild that brought up BG, mentioning the album Nightfall in Middle-Earth. I searched for the band, book-marking their homepage, but it was some time before I bothered to look for their music. But when I did, it was love at first sight,err,hearing

One of my all time favourite songs from the band is “The Bard’s Song-In The Forest”. The music video is simple, but the song is beautiful. It’s a crowd favourite when they play live. It’s amazing to hear concert recordings of the song; it’s all the more beautiful to hear the audience sing along. I highly recommend looking up such videos on YouTube.

Tomorrow will take us away
Far from home
No one will ever know our names
But the bards' songs will remain
Tomorrow will take it away
The fear of today
It will be gone
Due to our magic songs

Yes, I am getting very off topic here, considering this post is meant to focus on BG’s new album, but I cannot resist sharing old favourites of the band with you all

Another picture, which is of great amusement to me, I just have to share it with you. The title of the image is “Guardian's Real Audience”, & I believe that title to be true.

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So my dear guests, what do you think? Are you a bit of a metalhead like myself? Or is metal not your cup of tea? What of BG’s lyrics/subject matter, does it intrigue all you fantasy inclined folk?

Stay Spooky,



BG official website: ♣

BG on last.fm page: ♥

BG lyrics on DarkLyrics: ♠

Music Monday: Blackmore's Night - Autumn Sky

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Welcome to the first Music Monday here at The Grimm Tea Party!

Music Monday is where I will be featuring songs, albums, bands, or artists that are my cup of tea. To start this new feature off, we have Blackmore's Night latest album Autumn Sky.

I only discovered Blackmore’s Night this year, but they’ve become one of my favourites. It’s the sort of music you always wished for, but just didn’t know where to find it. Their genre is a little hard to describe, it’s (as wiki puts it) Renaissance-inspired folk rock. Give a listen to the album preview below:

Just by listening to the album preview, I’ve picked out my favourites: “Sake Of The Song”, “Keeper Of The Flame”, “Vagabond (Make A Princess Of Me)” & “Song And Dance”. Haven’t not yet listened to the album in full I’m still not sure where I would rank the album in regards to the rest of BN’s work, but I don’t think it could replace Fires At Midnight as my favourite BN album.

Autumn Sky teaser & interviews:

Blackmore’s Night CD Autumn Night is now available, having been released September 3rd, 2010.

So, what do you think? Did you like it? Had you even heard of Blackmore’s Night before now? Maybe it’s just not your cup of tea, and that’s fine. Maybe next time I’ll serve something to your liking.

Stay Spooky,
Alice Grimm


Blackmore’s Night Links:

Official site ♠
BN Wikipedia page ♦
Last.fm ♣
BN on Facebook ♥
Ritchie Blackmore on Facebook ♠
Candice Night on Facebook ♦

Disney will be making a live-action gargoyles film?

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I have news for you today, dear guests, news of a film in the works, a Disney film. Some of you may recall a television show that was made by Disney and aired in the 90s. Allow me to further to refresh your memory.

It was only when I discovered clips of the show on YouTube that I recalled ever watching the show as a child. Now having re-watched many of the episodes, it is surprising just how good it is, especially the plot. This is often a comment that is made about the series, just how well the series was written. And now Disney is getting set to make a live action film about gargoyles. Here’s the catch, they’re not basing it on the TV series Wait, what?

This I do not understand. Why would Disney want to create a completely new story, when already there exists great source material and a fan base? This is the age of remakes and reboots! It is the perfect time for a live-action film based on the Gargoyles TV series to be made! Not to mention the technology is there. With films like Avatar being made with spectacular use of technology, this is the time for Gargoyles. Maybe there is something I am not seeing in all of this. I’m sure Disney has their reasons. They better be good. They are saying that they will be creating a mythology for the creatures, which should be interesting. I will be keeping my eye on this project.

Further more, another issue that needs to be addressed... So the thing is, what we all think a gargoyle to be, is not what a gargoyle really is. Yes, Disney lied to you, yet again.

If you look up the definition for gargoyle it says:

"In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building." ♠

In an interview with TheoFantastique ♠, Gary Varner author of Gargoyles, Grotesques, and Green Men: Ancient Symbolism in European and American Architecture says that:

"Gargoyles serve a very utilitarian purpose as water spouts. In fact, only these features constitute a true gargoyle—anything else is considered a 'grotesque.'" ♦

Water spout? That doesn’t sound like out Goliath.

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And that’s because it is not what he is. Then how is a grotesque defined?

"In modern English, grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, fantastic, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus is often used to describe weird shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween masks. … More specifically, the grotesque forms on Gothic buildings, when not used as drain-spouts, should not be called gargoyles, but rather referred to simply as grotesques, or chimeras." ♥

So now you know, a small tidbit of information which I hope you all keep in mind the next time you are looking at Halloween decorations, or perhaps looking up at the carvings on an older building, with your friends and one draws your attention to the "gargoyle", I hope you will remember, and correct them, politely mind you, that it is really a grotesques. Let’s start a revolution and write this wrong!

What do you think my dear guests? Is this film a good or bad idea? Did you watch the Gargoyles series as a kid? Would you rather see Disney make a film based on the series or leave the series as is and make a start fresh for the film? And, be honest, did you know the difference between a gargoyle and a grotesque? I know for a very long time I didn’t know!

Stay Spooky,


Links:

If you would like to learn more about gargoyles (in architecture that is) I suggest you check out the full interview with Gary Varner, over at TheoFantastique ♠

Articles about the upcoming Disney film:

Disney Getting Back into the Gargoyles Game ♦

Disney Wants To Make A Movie About Gargoyles ♣

Disney Is Developing A Live-Action Gargoyles Film, Not Based On Animated Series ♥