Eight Gigs: Blind Guardian

You can't talk about power metal without talking Blind Guardian. The long-running masters of the genre have been using juiced solos, dynamic prog songwriting and operatic vocals to tell stories from fantasy, sci-fi and horror masters such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Stephen King for decades, as well as tales of their own. Plus, it's all rooted in old-school German thrash and speed metal. Some might sneer at power metal's fantastical commitment to elves and goblins, but let's get real: Is wearing corpse paint and worshiping Satan any less silly? 1417 R Street, www.blind-guardian.com.