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This neoclassical symphonic powerprog metal band from Finland (try saying it in one breath :)) reached stardom by virtue of being fronted by the best female vocalist I have ever heard, metal or otherwise. Simply put, Tarja Turunen is a goddess. Listening to Nightwish with your eyes closed should give you an absolute feeling that you are sitting in the opera house, where, by some mistake, great metal is being played too. Add great lyrics to that, and you got a supergroup that everybody needs to own. Oh yeah, and it rocks too! They debuted in 1997 with "Angels Fall First," followed by a breakthrough album "Oceanborn" (1998) that won them a worldwide fame, and a worthy successor in "Wishmaster" (2000). Other members of the band at the time included main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards), Sami Vanski (bass), Erno Vuorinen (guitars), and Jukka Nevalainen (drums). In 2001 they released several EPs and finally "Century Child" came out in 2002, featuring bassist/backup vocalist Marco Hietala, formerly of Sinergy and Tarot. After a short break, the band returned in 2004 with "Once," but that proved to be the final release with the classic lineup. In 2005 Tarja announced that Tuomas and she had "different opinion on music" and she was launching a solo career. That was a sad day in my life.
ANGELS FALL FIRST (1997)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "Elvenpath," "Astral Romance," "Know Why The Nightingale Sings"
An solid album, hinting at the future success of Oceanborn, but got a few bugs that the band managed to get rid of a year later. "Elvenpath" is a great album opener, immediately telling its listener that there's a new sheriff in town, the one with a most enchanting voice a man can be graced to hear. Other songs follow suit, but the sound has not quite yet been worked out (even though I really like the "rawness" of the guitar, which is more dominant than on the subsequent releases, where Nightwish made an emphasis on melody), and the music lacks in catchiness. Background vocals of Tuomas are overused, and they do not exactly create that "evil" counterpoint that will work so perfectly on Oceanborn (and he isn't exactly the world's greatest male vocalist either). "Nymphomaniac Fantasia" has the most evil ending I've heard, it is vicious! "Know Why The Nightingale Sings" is another awesome tune. Last song is a 9-minute epic, dedicated to the Lapland, a land in a northern part of Finland. It's partially sung in Finnish, adding a touch of exotica to the already present charm of these fine Finnish musicians. Great album for those who just can't get enough of Tarja and Nightwish.
OCEANBORN (1998)
BEST SONGS: "Stargazers," "Passion And The Opera," "Moondance"
Great, great, and a very original work. This is exactly the type of neoclassical progressive metal I was yearning for since the untimely demise of Queensryche, which only Savatage was able to deliver to me. Classical influences all over, exceptional arrangements and keyboard work, this album is a gem from start to finish. Both "Stargazers" and "Gethsemane" feature heavenly vocals from Ms. Tarja Turunen and fitting music from the rest of the crew. And the lyrics aren't letting down either, which is almost always the case of classic operas :). On two tracks, "Devil And The Deep Dark Ocean" and "Pharaoh Sails To Orion," we can enjoy a dual vocal work from both Turunen and a guest performer by the name of Wilska (his grunts create an absolutely unique contrast to Tarja angelic chants). For some reason, songs that I don't care for as much are the album's singles: "Sacrament Of Wilderness" (although I started appreciating it more later on) and "Walking In The Air" cover (from the "Snowman" cartoon), although both are good. My favorites are "Passion And The Opera," where operatic influences unfold to the full (Mozart's "Magic Flute" is redone in a metal fashion and it makes me quiver with enjoyment), and the second half of the song, with Tarja delivering the best female vocal performance I have ever heard, can send a music lover into frenzy, and a scorching instrumental, "Moondance," with the best melodic rocker since "Orion" by Metallica (an off-the-wall comparison). Overall, incredible. Absolutely no reason not to own this album, unless you have no sense of beauty whatsoever.
WISHMASTER (2000)
BEST SONGS: "Kinslayer," "Wanderlust," title track
An superb follow-up to Oceanborn. Granted, it doesn't have the superhits like "Stargazers" or "Passion," but overall the songs are more even and solid. Maturity and progression are obvious. Wishmaster strands away a little from the power metal of its predecessor, but it doesn't mean it has no power. It is still very strong, with emotions and melody flying high and mighty. The musicianship is still superb, the production improved somewhat, and Tarja just remains Tarja, angelic Tarja, that drives nuts all fans of "classy" music (and she looks a lot like Christina Ricci). Another thing is the much improved guitar solos. The album starts out with excellent "She's My Sin," followed by my favorite "Kinslayer." That song recalls the tragedy of Columbine High School, when two disturbed kids killed twelve of their peers. Dark background vocals (the only such song on the album featuring them, and they play a rather minor role, in contrast with dominance of "Devil & Deep Dark Ocean" and "Pharaoh"), citing the often meaningless words that Dylan and Klebold put on their website, make them sound clearly belonging to Satan, as he inspires them to commit this act of madness. And Tarja gives it all she has: this is truly a moment of infinite sorrow: "Father, help me, save me a place by your side... Drink the blood of your victims, I do feel your pity - wanting pain." Outstanding. "Wanderlust" is a speedy song (reminds me of "Stargazers") with a great chorus. "Two For Tragedy" is a sweet super-melodic ballad, and the brilliant title track is a neck-snapper. "Master! Apprentice! Heartborn, seventh seaker! Warrior! Disciple! In me, the Wishmaster!" "Bare Grace Misery" is for fans of Royal Hunt: excellent keyboards in this song. "Crownless" is a blast of speed in vein of Helloween that would seem to require a more "manly" singer (and the lyrics recall King Arthur), but Tarja still reigns supreme. Excellent "Dead Boy's Poem" is one of the most beautiful pieces I have heard, moving me greatly (Tarja's accent kinda hurts this song though). "FantasMic" is an excellent concluding piece, with flutes and folk melodies that just makes me squeal. Again, no bad songs within a mile. 11 tracks and all are very solid operatic metal. Nightwish is turning out to be one of the greatest and most unique bands of all time. This work later ended up being my Album of the Year.
WISHMASTOUR 2000 EP (2000)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "Sleepwalker," "Nightguest," "Troubador"
An unofficial album, released by a certain French record company, and the band themselves have nothing to do with it, which is good. The name is quite misleading: THIS EP DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY LIVE TRACKS! It has 6 tracks plus 2 videos for "Sleeping Sun," a bonus track to the American version of Oceanborn (a great video, but why in hell didn't they pick a song from the actual album?) and "Sacrament Of Wilderness" (this one promptly summoned the wonderful images of Thanksgiving 2000, when I was blessed to see Tarja & Co in Montreal... oh, heaven!). Now, the audio tracks. They're mostly various rare tunes. First one is the title track of the Wishmaster album, and, no matter how much I adore this song, I cannot include it in the "best songs" trio, because I would not put this EP into my boombox to listen to this song, this is what the original album is for. "Sleepwalker" (I think it's a Japanese bonus track from Wishmaster) and "Nightguest" (Japanese bonus track from Oceanborn) are both excellent tracks. Edit version of "Passion And The Opera" (from a German promo of Oceanborn) is kinda pale in comparison to the original, nowhere near the divinity of the later. "Once Upon A Troubador" (bonus to the French version... do they have a separate version for every country of the European Union?) is a nice semi-acoustic medieval ballad, in vein of Blind Guardian and Falconer, with Tuomas singing. Good find, if you are trying to lay your hands on as much Nightwish as possible. But I gotta warn you: it's rare and expensive.
OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY EP (2001)
RATING: ****1/2
Features 4 new songs (including the remake of "Astral Romance") and 6 live tracks. At this point, Nightwish can do no wrong for me, simply by virtue of Tarja's singing. Great cover of this Gary Moore's classic from his 1987 Wild Frontier album, with the expectedly updated sound and Tarja's heavenly chants. "10th Man Down" could be better written, but it's still a good song, similar to "Kinslayer" (whose live version is present and it's cool as all hell). "Away" is a sensual ballad that only Tarja can deliver. All live tracks are excellent and they instantly send me on a memory trip back to Montreal where I was one lucky American bastard to enjoy this band's live performance. They're not much different from the studio tracks, so I'm not in a rush to get their full length live album, From Wishes To Eternity. But the other songs make it worth getting.
CENTURY CHILD (2002)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "Bless The Child," "End Of All Hope," "The Wayfarer"
It seems like those people who have heard of Nightwish can be divided into two categories: those that love it to death and those for whom they can do no right. You already figured out to which category I belong, but apparently a lot of people measure everything with a "Nightwish" moniker against Oceanborn and reject all developments in the band's music and sound. Well, I can understand this point, but trust me, a slight change does not hurt anybody, while sticking to the canon usually results in a band becoming either bored or a parody of itself. So let the guys do their thing, it's not like they started rapping, OK? The rant's over.
Last year the band toured a lot, released several EPs, Tarja wasn't sure about her plans, but the new album was made nonetheless. This album sounds a little rushed, like it could use a bit more work (and energy). Many people complain about Tarja's voice, claiming it deteriorated. I don't hear it. For some reason, the producer did not wipe out her breathing, which can be distinctly heard and sounds a little unprofessional, but she can still hit all the notes with her usual grace and charm. Somehow, she even sounds more personal than before. The album does not have any fast songs. Now THIS is a problem. Apparently, after Oceanborn, the word "Helloween" was thrown around so much that Tuomas since have been trying to sway away from this label. That makes me unhappy. On the other hand, mid-tempo numbers still sound very good: melodic, powerful, charming, and intricate. Opening "Bless The Child" is my favorite song on the album; it belongs in the same row as "Sacrament," "She Is My Sin," and other great songs of extreme emotion. "End Of All Hope" is more anthemic, similar to Wishmaster in its melodic power: "It is! The end of all hope! / To lose! The child, the faith! / To end! All the innocence! / To be! Someone like me!" The rest of the songs, unfortunately, are not as strong. New member Marco Hietala makes an immediate impact in two areas: the bass is more prominent than ever before, and he now handles all male vocals on the album. In all honesty, he is not very impressive. I clearly prefered the deathly growls on Oceanborn and Wishmaster, which gave us this beautiful contrast between the Angel and the Devil. Hietala sings in a raspy voice familiar to all fans of Tarot, but he is just not contrasting enough. And his voice can be found in abundance on four tracks. Aside from these problems, it's a good album. "Ocean Soul" and "Feel For You" are both excellent tunes. As for the much-hyped cover of Webber's "The Phantom Of The Opera," I have mixed feelings about it. When covering an aria from a classical opera, Tarja's voice is no longer original. Plus, her breathing seriously gets in the way. Hietala just doesn't sound as evil as he should (I would love to hear Samael's Vorph, In Flames' Frieden, or even Children Of Bodom's Laiho sing opposite of Tarja here). But, on the other hand, where operatic voice stops being a novelty, the metal sound becomes one. Crushing guitars give this modern opera classic a new dimension. And Tarja does hit all the right notes, so it's all good at the end. One last thing: why did they have to name their final epic "Beauty Of The Beast"? They already have "Beauty And The Beast," and they still play that track live! It's like Maiden releasing an album with songs like "Hide In The Hills," "Fear In The Dark," and "The Evil Men Would Do." But it's still a good song, for the fans of neoclassical epics. Bottomline: this is a good album, but not an instant classic like the previous two. Hopefully, after a year sabbatical, the band will return with a more steady product.
One more comment: at its current rate, the number of b-side tracks, limited edition bonus tracks, and hidden tracks recorded by Nightwish will soon exceed the number of actual album tracks. This album has THREE special edition tracks that they did not put on the album. This is bullshit, if you ask me. One thing why I respect Rage is that they always full their cds to the brim, and Nightwish keeps releasing one EP of unreleased material after another. And, guess what: all three hidden songs are very, very good! In fact, "The Wayfarer" is one of the best songs Nightwish ever done, and that's saying a lot! This is a great heavy, rocking, orchestral piece that would fit right on Wishmaster. "The Forever Moments" is an excellent acoustic guitar song (with some piano and orchestral sounds later on). Tarja sounds better on them than on many tracks in the album too (and no Hietalla in sight). How lame is this, that some of the best material is not released on the regular album version? Sorry, Tuomas and management, but this called "screwing with your fans."
ONCE (2004)
BEST SONGS: "Wish I Had An Angel," "Planet Hell," "Ghost Love Score"
This is the most expensive cd I've ever bought: 20.75 Euros (about $26) in Milan, because I simply could not leave Italy without a single cd purchase and I needed something to listen to on a train between Milan and Rome. Anyway, Once. Once... there was a band that played melodic speed metal with operatic vocals. This album doesn't have much of speed or, for that matter, opera. Nevertheless, many people hail Once as possibly the best Nightwish album to date. My initial reaction was that it was the worst. After several listens, it grew on me, but I still have one major gripe: Tarja's operatic vocals are criminally underused here! She is singing more like Celine Dion than like a heavenly being we had kneeled before in the past, especially in the beginning of the album. She then picks up the opera a bit, but this still does not compare to the operatic bombardment of Wishmaster. When she uses her weapons to the full, like in "Ghost Love Story" and "Romanticide," Nightwish immediately becomes the ear candy we all crave. It was also proclaimed that this is their heaviest album. There is some truth to it: in certain places Nightwish sounds more like Tarot than like Nightwish (intro to "Dark Chest Of Wonders," "Dead Gardens," "Romanticide"), and Emppu Vuorinen finally gets a chance to crunch out some heavy riffs, but, once Tarja opens her mouth, the music immediately retreats to the ever-familiar keyboard-oriented melodic sugar flow. The songwriting is still very strong but not quite as immediate as on their previous releases. "Wish I Had An Angel" and "Planet Hell" feature strong and powerful choruses, while opening "Dark Chest Of Wonders" and "Nemo" capture some of the band's trademark sense of beauty. "Creek Mary's Blood," written on the American Indian theme, could have been the highest spot of the album, due to the astonishing heroic vocalizing that starts at 4.15, Emppu's wonderfully stingy lead work, and the awesome horn section, but the outro is just so goddamn long! Speaking of horns: the band has finally gotten a chance to work with the real orchestra (the list of musicians includes half of Finland) and the alliance works very well: the orchestra compliments the band without distracting from the main metal sound. Almost every track has a memorable moment of sorts, but there are not many songs that maintain the interest for the entire duration. The lyrics of Holopainen are still on a very high level: he is putting effort into them. "Ghost Love Score" is a lovely 10 minute epic, which sounds exactly like a score to a movie: Tuomas must be pleased with himself. Overall, another fine outing from the leaders of Finnish metal, but don't be surprised if it takes you more than one spin to appreciate.
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