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A Night at the Opera
Studio album by Blind Guardian
Released	March 4, 2002
Recorded	October 2000-December 2001 at Twilight Hall Studios, Grefrath and Hammer Music Studios, Hamburg, Germany
Genre	Power Metal Symphonic Metal
Length	65:29
Label	Virgin/Century Media
Producer	Charlie Bauerfeind
Professional reviews
Sound Of Metal link All Music Guide link Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles (9.5/10) link Hard Radio (9/10) link Lords of Metal (100/100) link MetalReviews.com (100/100) link Metal-Rules (4.0/5 & 4.9/5) link link Tartarean Desire (9.5/10 & 7/10) link link The Metal Observer (9.5/10) link
Blind Guardian chronology
Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998) A Night at the Opera (2002) A Twist in the Myth (2006)

A Night at the Opera is a 2002 album by the German power metal band Blind Guardian. The record has received mostly superior reviews, especially from magazines and fansites devoted to the genre.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Lyrical references 3 Chart positions 4 Personnel 4.1 Band 4.2 Guest musicians 4.3 Technical staff 5 External links

1. "Precious Jerusalem" – 6:21
2. "Battlefield" – 5:37
3. "Under the Ice" – 5:44
4. "Sadly Sings Destiny" – 6:04
5. "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" – 5:30
6. "Wait for an Answer" – 6:30
7. "The Soulforged" – 5:18
8. "Age of False Innocence" – 6:05
9. "Punishment Divine" – 5:45
10. "And Then There Was Silence" – 14:05

• Bonus Songs

1. "Harvest of Sorrow" (Acoustic Version) – 3:39 (Japanese Bonus)
2. "Mies del Dolor" – 3:39 (Spain/North American Bonus)
3. "La Cosecha del Dolor" – 3:39 (Argentinean Bonus)
4. "Frutto del Buio" – 3:39 (Italian Bonus)
5. "Moisson de peine" – 3:39 (French Bonus)

• "Harvest of Sorrow" has seven different versions in addition to two live versions: two in English, two in Spanish ("Mies Del Dolor, La Cosecha Del Dolor"), one in Italian ("Frutto Del Buio") , one in French ("Moisson de Peine"), and one in a mix of all of the versions except the English acoustic and Italian.

The album features the concepts and themes familiar to Blind Guardian fans, such as historical battles and religious references.

• "Precious Jerusalem" is based on the final days of Jesus of Nazareth
• "Battlefield" is based of the Hildebrandslied, an old German tale of a father and son who find themselves in a duel to the death.
• "Under The Ice" also has connections to the Iliad, but focuses more on Cassandra and what happened to her after the Trojan War
• "Sadly Sings Destiny" contains many references to Jesus, and seems to be told from the perspective of Pontius Pilate.
• "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" is about the story of Tristan und Isolde.
• "The Soulforged" is based on the Dragonlance saga's tales of the mage Raistlin Majere.
• "Age of False Innocence" is about Galileo Galilei.
• "Punishment Divine" is about Nietzsche's decline into insanity.
• "And Then There Was Silence" is inspired by the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid.
• "Harvest of Sorrow" is based on Tolkien's tragic story of Túrin Turambar, which appears in the Silmarillion.

The album's title may be a reference to the Marx Brothers' 1935 film A Night at the Opera, or Queen's 1975 album A Night at the Opera.

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
2002	Top Independent Albums	#37

• Hansi Kürsch - lead and backing vocals
• André Olbrich - lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars
• Marcus Siepen - rhythm guitar
• Thomas "Thomen" Stauch - Drums & percussion

• Bass guitars: Oliver Holzwarth
• Keyboards & orchestral stuff: Matthias Wiesner
• Piano: Michael Schüren (Age of False Innocence)
• Keyboards and sound effects: Pad Bender, Boris Schmidt, Sascha Pierro
• The Choir Company: Rolf Köhler, Thomas Hackmann, Olaf Senkbeil, Billy King

• Charlie Bauerfeind - production, mixing, recording
• Nordin Hammadi Amrani - assistant engineer, additional recordings
• Clemens von Witte - recordings
• Detlef - recordings
• Paul Raymond Gregory - cover painting
• André Olbrich - front cover concept
• Dennis "Sir" Kostroman - booklet design
• Axel Jusseit - photos

• "Harvest of Sorrow" (9 versions available for download)

v • d • e Blind Guardian
Hansi Kürsch | André Olbrich | Marcus Siepen | Frederik Ehmke
Thomen Stauch | Markus Dörk | Christoph Theissen | Hans-Peter Frey
Discography
Demo albums as Lucifer's Heritage: Symphonies of Doom | Battalions of Fear
Studio albums: Battalions of Fear | Follow the Blind | Tales from the Twilight World | Somewhere Far Beyond | Imaginations from the Other Side | Nightfall in Middle-Earth | A Night at the Opera | A Twist in the Myth
Live albums: Tokyo Tales | Live
Compilations: The Forgotten Tales
Singles: "A Past and Future Secret" | "Bright Eyes" | "Mr. Sandman" | "Mirror Mirror" | "And Then There Was Silence" | "The Bard's Song (In the Forest)" | "Fly" | "Another Stranger Me"
Videography
DVDs: Imaginations Through the Looking Glass