Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in the mid-1980s. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres.
Most of Blind Guardian's albums are well received by fans and critics alike: Somewhere Far Beyond, Imaginations from the Other Side, and Nightfall in Middle-Earth, are especially seen as influential works. The music is mostly composed by singer Hansi Kursch and guitarist Andre Olbrich together, and the lyrics, written by Kursch, are mostly inspired by the fiction of fantasy authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Michael Moorcock, and Robert Jordan, as well as traditional legends and epics. Over the years a theme has developed which personifies the band members as travelling storytellers, leading fans to refer to the band affectionately as "The Bards".
Most of Blind Guardian's albums are well received by fans and critics alike: Somewhere Far Beyond, Imaginations from the Other Side, and Nightfall in Middle-Earth, are especially seen as influential works. The music is mostly composed by singer Hansi Kursch and guitarist Andre Olbrich together, and the lyrics, written by Kursch, are mostly inspired by the fiction of fantasy authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Michael Moorcock, and Robert Jordan, as well as traditional legends and epics. Over the years a theme has developed which personifies the band members as travelling storytellers, leading fans to refer to the band affectionately as "The Bards".