Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998)
Tracklist front / back album covers
1. "War of Wrath" 1:50
2. "Into the Storm" 4:24
3. "Lammoth" 0:28
4. "Nightfall" 5:34
5. "The Minstrel" 0:32
6. "The Curse of Fëanor" 5:41
7. "Captured" 0:26
8. "Blood Tears" 5:24
9. "Mirror Mirror" 5:06
10. "Face the Truth" 0:24
11. "Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns)" 6:51
12. "Battle of Sudden Flames" 0:44
13. "Time Stands Still (at the Iron Hill)" 4:53
14. "The Dark Elf" 0:23
15. "Thorn" 6:19
16. "The Eldar" 3:39
17. "Nom the Wise" 0:33
18. "When Sorrow Sang" 4:25
19. "Out on the Water" 0:44
20. "The Steadfast" 0:21
21. "A Dark Passage" 6:01
22. "Final Chapter (Thus Ends...)" 0:48
Japanese edition bonus tracks
23. "Nightfall" (orchestral version) 5:38
24. "A Dark Passage" (instrumental version) 6:06
2007 re-release bonus track
23. "Harvest of Sorrow" 3:39
2018 re-release bonus tracks
23. "Doom" 5:51
24. "Harvest of Sorrow" 3:41
25. "The Tides of War" 5:17
Blind Guardian Band Members / Musicians
Hansi Kürsch – lead and backing vocals
André Olbrich – lead, rhythm and acoustic guitar
Marcus Siepen – rhythm guitar
Thomas "Thomen" Stauch – drums
Oliver Holzwarth – bass
Mathias Weisner – keyboards, orchestral effects
Michael Schüren– grand piano
Max Zelzner – flutes, alto flute
Norman Eshley, Douglas Fielding – narration
Billy King, Rolf Köhler, Olaf Senkbeil, Thomas Hackmann – choir
Blind Guardian – producers
Flemming Rasmussen – mixing
Charlie Bauerfeind – mixing of interludes
Flemming Rasmussen, Charlie Bauerfeind and Piet Sielck – mixing engineers
Charlie Bauerfeind – recording and engineering of drums, percussion, lead and backing vocals, bass guitars, piano and interludes
Piet Sielck – recording and engineering of lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, keyboards and orchestral effects
Flemming Rasmussen – recording and engineering of vocals
Cuny – recording and engineering of flutes, alto-flutes and vocals
Andreas Marshall – cover and story paintings
Thorsten Eichhorst – photos
Nightfall in Middle-Earth is the 6th studio album by German power metal band Blind Guardian. It was released on 28 April 1998 through Virgin Records. It is a concept album based upon J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, a book of tales from the First Age of Middle-earth, recounting The War of the Jewels. The album contains not only songs but also spoken parts narrating parts of the story. The cover depicts Lúthien dancing in front of Morgoth.
Nightfall in Middle-Earth is widely regarded as one of Blind Guardian's most well-known and well-received albums in their discography. It is also the first album with Oliver Holzwarth as guest musician, playing bass guitar instead of Hansi Kürsch.
It was the first album by Blind Guardian to be released in the United States. The sales encouraged Century Media to release their entire back catalog in the US in 2007, at which point it was remastered and re-released, with an added bonus track.
