As you will have gathered from the thread title, I'm new to the forum and thought I'd start by introducing myself before I start making any potentially contentious posts in the future...
I'm from the UK and have only recently discovered the Majesty (sic) that is Blind Guardian, having been listening to metal for over two decades. I kept seeing the name of the band mentioned in posts on the Iron Maiden FC forum towards the end of last year and decided to find out what all the fuss was about.
After a spot of Googling to find out what people generally considered to be their best album, I downloaded 'Somewhere Far Beyond' and haven't really looked back to be honest...!
I have to say that I prefer their earlier albums, the faster more aggressively guitar-driven songs and the RELENTLESSLY ferocious drum beats. My favourite album is definitely 'Tales From the Twilight World' - there isn't a single track that I don't like (with the possible exception of 'Altair 4', although I think of that as a kind of extension of 'Tommyknockers' anyway) and it's AWESOME when cranked right up to neighbour-annoying volumes - although my favourite song is 'Time What Is Time' from SFB, which in my opinion is one of the finest metal tracks EVER WRITTEN! It's basically flawless, a masterpiece! The first time I heard it I got shivers up my spine during the lead-in from the final verse into the chorus ("...Is it all over now / Only these years / I'll leave but I'm singing / Time What Is Time..." - Brilliant!!).
I gather from a bit of pre-reading from posts across the forum that my opinions may not actually be in line with the majority. It seems that there are more fans that prefer the later, symphonic side of what the band does. I haven't actually heard every one of their albums yet (why isn't 'A Night at the Opera' on iTunes...?), but SOME of the later songs don't really do it for me. I am more than willing to give them all a fair shout though and I'd love to see them performed live. Also, having said all that, I'm really loving the new album. I had it preordered digitally and I've literally played nothing else since it came out (2nd Feb for those of us on these shores...
); I'm now waiting impatiently for my 2 Limited Edition copies (the 2-disc Earbook - whatever one of those actually is! - and the single-CD with mirror set - to arrive. They're really taking their time to arrive too! 
The eagle-eyed (eared?) will have noticed that my username is a nod to lyrics from the new album, by the way.
Anyway... There's lots of scope for discussing all things 'Beyond the Red Mirror' in other threads so I won't dwell on it any more here.
I've already got my tickets booked to go and see The Bards play at The Forum in Camden (London) this April, so perhaps I'll see some of you there?!
