A look back at 19
years of Nightwish
For a band who have always had a least one foot in the world
of fantasy fiction, it is fitting that they were formed around a campfire,
there have been stylistic changes and no little commercial success. Today
they still remain true to the vision created by principle song writer, keyboard
and piano player Tuomas Holopainen there
is no doubt that Nightwish is his
band, a fact punctuated with his ruthlessness relating to vocalists, Tuomas is
now on his 3rd singer Tarja
Turunen thought to be irreplaceable was ejected in 2005 a decision which
stunned their fans, Tarja had seemed utterly irreplaceable, that proved not to
be the case and Anette Olzon
flourished in the role releasing 2
albums before herself being replaced in equally surprising fashion in 2012. Now
3 years on and 2015 is looking to be a huge one for the Finish Symphonic
heavyweights, this year sees the debut of Revamp
vocalist Floor Jansen with the
upcoming release of Endless forms most beautiful the bands 8th
studio album (which I will be reviewing next week), the jury is still out on
this new addition with leaked single Elan
receiving mixed reviews, so before we look forward to the new release let’s
look back at what has come before.
Angels fall
first (1997)
The opening salvo from Tuomas and company almost didn’t
happen, this album was never intended to be released, indeed it was only sent
to future record label Spinefarm as
a demo to show what the band could do, the executives at Spinefarm however
thought it was perfect and put it out with no further production, so was it any
good? Well how you feel about this record depends very much on how you view
folk metal, although all Nightwish albums have folk undercurrents running them,
on this album they are far more prominent which is understandable when you
understand that the band where initially envisioned as an acoustic folk band,
this album is one of their more diverse efforts and though it has become a fan
favourite it is does feel unfocussed with a lot of ideas thrown at the
listener, also Tuomas musical mastermind he may be but compelling vocalist he
is not and his vocals are the weakest on the album. But that being said it’s
still a good album and really brave debut, the album and is at its best when
it’s at its most overblown and over the top and tracks Elvenpath, Beauty and the
beast, The Carpenter are huge moments and to this day are big fan favourites, Tutankhamen and Nymphomaniac Fantasia
are over looked gems as well, special mention has to go out to Tarja Turunen
who sounds absolutely stunning and it’s easy to see why she seemed so
irreplaceable. This was a real sign of things to come and it was a lot more
interesting than a lot of the other bands around the scene at the time.
6.5/10
Oceanborn
(1998)
1998’s release Oceanborn
saw a departure for the band doing away with the folk and ambiance of the 1st
record and release and all out Symphonic power metal album, making full use of their
most prominent weapon the effervescent Tarja
Turunen. On this record realising
what they have, they make far more use of Tarjas incredible vocal range, as
with all the band early works there is a strong fantasy themed undercurrent
running through the album, which includes a surprising cover of the Snowman
theme song Walking in the air, in
the hands of other bands this could of ended badly but Nightwish go all in on
this one and it just fits them like a glove. The album over all is an
improvement on Angels and sees the
band beginning to establish the signature sound that has proven to be so successful,
although the album listened to in its entirety doesn’t have as much variety as
its predecessor there are some massive tunes on here and Stargazers, Passion and the
Opera, The Pharaoh Sails to Orion and
Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean are
all excellent tunes, the album is packed with drama, memorable riffs, and Tuomas
wisely stays away from vocal duties instead opting for Sethian front man Tapio
Wilksa to assume to satisfying effect.
7/10
Wishmaster
(2000)
Nightwish waited for album no.3 for their first great record,
with Wishmaster the band continued
to develop their Symphonic Power metal sound, but there is more emphasis on
melody and atmosphere as opposed to speed and heaviness, it’s also the most
fantasy themed Nightwish album containing multiple references to the Lord of the Rings and Dragonlance, it’s
not all Elves and Goblins though Kinslayer
was inspired by the tragic Columbine school shooting and FantasMic is about Disney. The album feels even more epic than Oceanborn there are some absolute
belters on this album She is my sin
is a great opening track and sets the tone for the album, Kinslayer is a great tune, Wishmaster
is absolute classic Nightwish song and slower tunes Dead boys poem and Deep
silent complete just sound gorgeous
whilst the Disney based FantasMic is
an absolute epic in every sense of the world. Strangely despite this being to
this point their strongest record Tumoas
was never really as happy with it as you would expect, saying that this album
felt like the most distant and least personal of their albums, despite this
disconnection the title track Wishmaster
is still a staple of their live shows and rightly so, overall Wishmaster is a
great album and a must purchase for anyone who is a fan of symphonic metal.
8/10
Century
Child (2002)
There’s no departure here, business as usual but done with
real style, there’s more of a movie score feel to the music here, it all just
sounds huge! This album saw the introduction to my favourite beard in metal and
the bass player attached to it Marco
Hietala who shares a duet with Tarja on Dead to the world and his vocals proved to be a great addition to
the band. There are plenty of standout moments here Bless the Child, Dead to the
World, Ever Dream, Slaying the Dreamer are fantastic
particularly the Ever Dream which is
a Nightwish tune in the vein of Nemo
from Once, the album closes with two
songs that send us off in epic fashion with a goosebump inducing cover of Andrew Lloyd Webbers Phantom of the Opera
and the 10 minute Beauty Of the Beast
which is sumptuous epic encompassing so much of what makes Nightwish such a
great band the album is worth buying just to here this one song, Century child is another must purchase
and to this point the best Nightwish album.
8/10
Once (2004)
Ahhh I will always have a soft spot for this record, this was
the album that really got me into Nightwish and it was the same for thousands
of others as with this record the band truly went from being a mid level act to
one the biggest bands in the world and with good reason. Once at the time of its release was the most expensive album to
ever come from Finland costing a whopping 250,000 Euros to produce, money well
spent in my book. Though in some ways
it’s a more streamlined accessible affair this is also their most creative
daring release yet, the symphonic elements are taken to a whole new level as
the London Philharmonic Orchestra
feature on 9 of the 11 songs, there’s
not a single dull moment on the whole record Dark Chest of wonders is a storming symphonic rocker, I wish I had an Angel is catchy as
hell, lead single Nemo is just a
wonderful song, Planet hell and Romanticide are surprisingly heavy and
feature Tarja dueting with Marco again
to great effect, but what really made me fall in love with this band is the
incredible Ghost Love score this
song is the most heavy orchestral number and it is absolutely stunning to this
day this song still gives me goosebumps. Sadly this proved to be Tarjas last
Nightwish album, I would love to have her come back one day but if she never
does she has left on a perfect note, she sounds stunning on this album.
9/10
Dark
passion play (2007)
Tarja Turunen leaving Nightwish in 2005 was like my worst nightmare,
and a large part of me didn’t want to like this album, I was also legitimately
worried about the future of this band, I shouldn’t have been. Annette Olson is an endearing front
woman she doesn’t try to imitate Tarja but goes her own way here, and I think
she does an excellent job in an almost
impossible situation, she can’t touch Tarjas vocal range but her voice just
drips with emotion. However its Tuomas vision that shines through, there’s no
easing the listener in with a safe track, the album starts off with the 14 minute
epic The Poet and the Pendulum and
just like that my fears where
grudgingly cast aside, with Tarja gone as a focal point the music is pushed
more to the front songs like Bye Bye Beautiful
and Amaranth are absolutely
brilliant and Bye Bye Beautiful in particular featuring the strongest male
vocals on a Nightwish song yet Marco sounds great on this one. The album has a
darker tone than the previous releases and is possibly their heaviest album
yet, Dark Passion play drips with Cinematic Gothic
atmosphere and the closing two tracks 7
Days to the Wolves and Meadows of
Heaven see of us off in epic fashion. This is a great album and a real triumph
in the face of adversity.
8/10
Imaginaerum
(2011)
Annette’s second outing as Nightwish vocalist the bands 7th
sees the band most ambitious album yet, the album was produced alongside an
album of the same name, Imaginaerum is a concept album telling the story of a
old composer on his deathbed reminiscing about his youth, yup the elves and
such are left well out of this. The album is the most bewildering, musically diverse
and audacious Nightwish album yet veering through a myriad of styles it opens
with all finish intro track Taikatalvi before going into more
traditional songs Storytime, and the
heavier Ghost River but just as you
think it’s going to be business as usual you Slow, Love, Slow comes along, it’s a slow paced jazz influenced ballad,
yup this is going to be quite a trip, I
want my tears back is a straightforward Nightwish rocker, Scaretale is an eerie, schizophrenic tale
of nightmares inspired by Enter Sandman and the song Grim Grinning Ghosts the from the Disney land haunted mansion ride,
whilst Arabesque is a welcome
instrumental number that breaks the album up well, Turn loose the mermaids is a full on folk number which is a surprising delight, Rest Calm sees the band exploring a
more doom metal sound whilst Songs of
myself is a real epic, 14 minutes long and split into 4 parts it was
inspired by Tuomas favourite poet Walt
Whitman and his poem of the same name, the album ends on a perfect note
with the title track Imaginaerum, an
orchestral instrumental piece that takes sections from every song on the album
and meshes them into one, it just feels epic and it’s the perfect ending to a
slightly bewildering journey. On this album there’s just so much creativity on
display it doesn’t always work but when listened to as a whole it is utterly
compelling and as cliché as it sounds by the end you feel like you have been on
a journey, it’s sad that this was the last outing for Annette Olson as she sounds superb here and was really beginning to
make the role her own. The album is overblown and crazier than a box full of
cats but ultimately it is a success and testament to Tuomas vision.
9/10
I have written Nightwish off before, I won’t be making the same mistake twice, Tuomas has proven that his vision is bigger than anyone member of the band and Floor Jansen has a voice that I think is well suited to the Nighwish sound, so I am looking forward to hearing the new album, on present form it promises to be an exhilarating ride.
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