Night Castle

"Night Castle" is the fifth rock opera by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra; a double CD that includes a sixty-page booklet illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt, it was released on October 28, 2009, on the Lava label. debuting at #5 on the Billboard charts and #1 on the rock music charts. It was certified gold in eight weeks and is currently a platinum album. Like in all of Trans-Siberian Orchestra's previous albums, the story in Night Castle is as important as the music. The story revolves around a young child on a beach late at night, where she encounters a mysterious but non-threatening stranger. While they build a sandcastle together by the light of a bonfire, he tells her a tale that takes her all around the world and throughout history. The characters of this story include an American Vietnam War soldier named William Cozier, the Renaissance era philosopher Erasmus who is keeper of the eponymous castle of lost knowledge, and a Communist general based on the dissident Tran Do.