Blind Guardian - Follow the Blind (1989)
Tracklist front / back album covers
LP/vinyl edition
1. "Inquisition" 0:40
2. "Banish from Sanctuary" 5:27
3. "Damned for All Time" 4:57
4. "Follow the Blind" 7:10
5. "Hall of the King" 4:16
6. "Fast to Madness" 5:57
7. "Beyond the Ice" (instrumental) 3:28
8. "Valhalla" (feat. Kai Hansen) 4:56
9. "Barbara Ann" (The Regents and Beach Boys cover, with a sample of Long Tall Sally by Little Richard at the end) 1:43
CD edition
9. "Don't Break the Circle" (Demon cover) 4:28
10. "Barbara Ann" (The Regents and Beach Boys cover, with a sample of Long Tall Sally by Little Richard at the end) 1:43
2007 re-release bonus tracks
11. "Majesty" (demo version) 7:16
12. "Trial by the Archon" (demo version) 3:53
13. "Battalions of Fear" (demo version) 6:21
14. "Run for the Night" (demo version) 4:29
Blind Guardian Band Members / Musicians
Hansi Kürsch – vocals and bass
André Olbrich – lead guitar and backing vocals
Marcus Siepen – rhythm guitar and backing vocals
Thomas "Thomen" Stauch – drums
Kai Hansen – vocals and guitar solo on "Valhalla", guitar solo on "Hall of the King"
Mathias Wiesner – keyboards
Kalle Trapp – lead guitar and vocals on "Barbara Ann"
Thomas Hackmann – backing vocals
Rolf Köhler – backing vocals and lead vocals on "Barbara Ann"
Aman Malek – backing vocals
Kalle Trapp – recording, mixing and producing
van Waay Design – cover art
Follow the Blind is the 2nd full-length album by German power metal band Blind Guardian. It was released in 1989 and is more in the vein of speed metal, compared to the style that would later define the band's unique sound. Guitarist Marcus Siepen stated that they were "listening to a lot of thrash metal bands like Testament or Forbidden, and that's why Follow the Blind was a bit heavier".
The album was remastered, remixed and re-released on 15 June 2007, with the whole second demo tape, Battalions of Fear, of the band (at the time called Lucifer's Heritage) as part of the bonus tracks. The album was again re-released as part of the A Traveler's Guide to Space and Time boxset with minor adjustments to the mixing and with new mastering. "Banish from Sanctuary" was released as a single to promote this album.
In 2017, Loudwire ranked Follow the Blind as the 12th-best power metal album of all time.
