Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Yeah, dropping down the pre-Century Child tracks is probably the only bad thing that came from Marko's stint with the band.
NIGHTWISH ALBUM RANKING GAME: #1 REVEALED
- Thread starter Mosh
- Start date
1:
2:
3: Century Child
4: Oceanborn
5: Endless Forms Most Beautiful
6: Wishmaster
7: Imaginaerum
8: Human :||: Nature
9: Angels Fall First
Highest score: 9 (@Sth2112)
Lowest score: 3 (@LooseCannon)
The opening 1-2 punch of Bless the Child and End Of All Hope on Century Child gives me the same impression as some classic opening duos in Metal (Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Master of Puppets, Paranoid jump to mind immediately). You've got one absolute banger of a track (in this case, the second track End of All Hope) and one song that is high energy and engaging but also going some unexpected places (Bless the Child). The two tracks combined end up showcasing a certain swagger and confidence of a band that is a few albums in and has a clear musical vision. Overall I would say that this sense of vision on the first two tracks carries across the entire album and explains Century Child's third place finish. Once and Dark Passion Play may reach higher and go more places but Century Child brings the competent songwriting, riffage, and overall consistency that feels like a culmination of what they were trying to do on the first three albums (maybe think of DPP/Once as the Seventh Son/Somewhere in Time to Century Child's Powerslave).
With Oceanborn and Wishmaster I got the impression of two really high quality albums with some asterisks. Oceanborn had some really weak male vocal spots and maybe leaned in a little too heavily into the power metal side. Wishmaster is very guitar driven, which I like a lot, but maybe the cohesion and orchestral elements aren't quite there yet. Century Child closes the gap here with some really nice symphonic metal elements, very well written songs, and of course finally some excellent male vocals with Marko in the band. It's hard to take any issue with the album's high placement among Maidenfans.
With that being said, it actually only barely beat out Oceanborn by just three points! Oceanborn had slightly more representation in the #1 or #2 spot, but it also had significantly more rankings in the #7 or #8 spots. Century Child, on the other hand, had both less #1 rankings and no second to last rankings and only one third to last ranking, meaning most users ranked it pretty highly on average even if nobody was necessarily championing it as a top album.
If I could level any criticism on the album, it would be that I think Century Child loses a bit of momentum in the back half. The first four songs are absolutely monsters, but it becomes a bit uneven from there. Beauty of the Beast is great, although for Nightwish epics I obviously prefer Ghost Love Score and honestly I would probably choose FantasMIC as well, even if it is a bit more rough around the edges. Forever Yours into Ocean Soul is a little too slow, although Ocean Soul is an amazing track on its own. Feel For You is forgettable. Not sure what the general consensus is on the Phantom of the Opera cover but I wouldn't have put that on the main album. Fun b-side, but definitely not album material. But in general it tracks with Nightwish who I believe hasn't put out a perfect album. This one comes pretty close for their standards and the consistent quality and very high level of the album's best tracks make the #3 slot appropriate here imo.
2:
3: Century Child
4: Oceanborn
5: Endless Forms Most Beautiful
6: Wishmaster
7: Imaginaerum
8: Human :||: Nature
9: Angels Fall First
Highest score: 9 (@Sth2112)
Lowest score: 3 (@LooseCannon)
The opening 1-2 punch of Bless the Child and End Of All Hope on Century Child gives me the same impression as some classic opening duos in Metal (Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Master of Puppets, Paranoid jump to mind immediately). You've got one absolute banger of a track (in this case, the second track End of All Hope) and one song that is high energy and engaging but also going some unexpected places (Bless the Child). The two tracks combined end up showcasing a certain swagger and confidence of a band that is a few albums in and has a clear musical vision. Overall I would say that this sense of vision on the first two tracks carries across the entire album and explains Century Child's third place finish. Once and Dark Passion Play may reach higher and go more places but Century Child brings the competent songwriting, riffage, and overall consistency that feels like a culmination of what they were trying to do on the first three albums (maybe think of DPP/Once as the Seventh Son/Somewhere in Time to Century Child's Powerslave).
With Oceanborn and Wishmaster I got the impression of two really high quality albums with some asterisks. Oceanborn had some really weak male vocal spots and maybe leaned in a little too heavily into the power metal side. Wishmaster is very guitar driven, which I like a lot, but maybe the cohesion and orchestral elements aren't quite there yet. Century Child closes the gap here with some really nice symphonic metal elements, very well written songs, and of course finally some excellent male vocals with Marko in the band. It's hard to take any issue with the album's high placement among Maidenfans.
With that being said, it actually only barely beat out Oceanborn by just three points! Oceanborn had slightly more representation in the #1 or #2 spot, but it also had significantly more rankings in the #7 or #8 spots. Century Child, on the other hand, had both less #1 rankings and no second to last rankings and only one third to last ranking, meaning most users ranked it pretty highly on average even if nobody was necessarily championing it as a top album.
If I could level any criticism on the album, it would be that I think Century Child loses a bit of momentum in the back half. The first four songs are absolutely monsters, but it becomes a bit uneven from there. Beauty of the Beast is great, although for Nightwish epics I obviously prefer Ghost Love Score and honestly I would probably choose FantasMIC as well, even if it is a bit more rough around the edges. Forever Yours into Ocean Soul is a little too slow, although Ocean Soul is an amazing track on its own. Feel For You is forgettable. Not sure what the general consensus is on the Phantom of the Opera cover but I wouldn't have put that on the main album. Fun b-side, but definitely not album material. But in general it tracks with Nightwish who I believe hasn't put out a perfect album. This one comes pretty close for their standards and the consistent quality and very high level of the album's best tracks make the #3 slot appropriate here imo.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
I think the track feels a little unfinished but the three acts that make it up are really good. Bonus points for a killer performance from Marko, I fucking love his piece on the song.
I like it but I don’t think it quite knocks it out of the park. The performance on End of an Era though, which has a different arrangement, is absolute fire.
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
Oceanborn: filled with goodies. Though there isn't any one standout song, they're all fantastic and have twists and turns to elevate the album above your standard power metal release. Fake ending of Gethsemane, Passion and the Opera, the coldness in Pharaoh... Even Moondance. Swanheart is the only weaker point perhaps, and still arguably better than similars like Forever Yours and Two for Tragedy. It's not as defining as CC or Once or even DPP, but for the sheer excellence of it I had to give it #1.
Century Child: this is all about the opening quintet, which could be the strongest in all their albums. Yes, Bless the Child sets the tone perfectly, then End of All Hope is everything I wished Wishmaster was. Dead to the World, if it isn't my favourite NW song, as it is a little linear, has at least the best chorus by far. BY FAR! That duet is such a win! Ever Dream is another great poppy one and Slaying the Dreamer gives some nice variety. As you see I'm gushing over it a bit more than I did Oceanborn, but it doesn't hold this level for the following four tracks, which are a little underbaked. The Phantom of the Opera specifically shouldn't end the way it does, and a shame because I like their version a lot. Beauty of the Beast too, has many awesome parts, but it isn't a perfect arrangement and there's some long-song-bias in my love for it for sure. Enough to secure #2 in my list.
Century Child: this is all about the opening quintet, which could be the strongest in all their albums. Yes, Bless the Child sets the tone perfectly, then End of All Hope is everything I wished Wishmaster was. Dead to the World, if it isn't my favourite NW song, as it is a little linear, has at least the best chorus by far. BY FAR! That duet is such a win! Ever Dream is another great poppy one and Slaying the Dreamer gives some nice variety. As you see I'm gushing over it a bit more than I did Oceanborn, but it doesn't hold this level for the following four tracks, which are a little underbaked. The Phantom of the Opera specifically shouldn't end the way it does, and a shame because I like their version a lot. Beauty of the Beast too, has many awesome parts, but it isn't a perfect arrangement and there's some long-song-bias in my love for it for sure. Enough to secure #2 in my list.
Sth2112
Ancient Mariner
Century child is my very Nightwish favorite. It’s so good, and the music really spoke to me at the time it came out. The opening is perfect with the first two songs. Dead to the world, finally with professional male vocals. Ever dream is very beautiful, Slaying the dreamer is Nightwish going Pantera. Forever yours, very underated beautiful song, the three dark last songs. Excellent production, more professional band, mighty bass tone, Tarja showing she can sing more normal as well. Even the b sides are magnificent.
1: Dark Passion Play
2: Once
3: Century Child
4: Oceanborn
5: Endless Forms Most Beautiful
6: Wishmaster
7: Imaginaerum
8: Human :||: Nature
9: Angels Fall First
DPP highest score: 9 (@Iron Taipei @MrKnickerbocker @Onhell @KidInTheDark666 @The Dissident)
DPP lowest score: 3 (@Azas)
Once highest score: 9 (@LooseCannon @Diesel 11 @Azas)
Once lowest score: 1 (@Onhell)
Based on the highest and lowest rankings, this may appear like a clear blowout in favor of Dark Passion Play. More users had it ranked #1 and the lowest ranking was only #7 where Once had one last place ranking (it's also the only album to be #1 on somebody's list AND #9 on somebody's list). In reality, both albums came very close, Dark Passion Play only won by three points! Both albums were highly ranked by most users, with many #2 and #3 placements as well. Most users who had one album as their #1 had the other as their #2 or #3.
Going through the albums in Maidenfans order makes it really obvious how both of these albums were able to score so high. I definitely notice a pretty big jump in production quality and songwriting finesse compared to the rest of the top 5 (although I would say Endless Forms' production is about on par with these). With the pre-Once albums I feel like you hear sketches of Nightwish's sound with the picture slowly coming into focus with each album. By the time you get to Once, the band's sound is fully there. The orchestrations are huge, the songs are exciting and dramatic, the performances are immense. Lyrically both albums are still heavily rooted in fantasy and folklore, which is a much more comfortable subject matter for this band than what they've been writing about recently.
Normally I like to talk about the #1 and #2 albums separately, but they really do feel like two sides of the same coin. Especially given that they were released successively. There's a bit of a Somewhere in Time/Seventh Son of a Seventh Son thing to me where the albums seem to complement each other. It also feels like the band pushing themselves a bit more with more progressive tracks and some pretty ambitious epics. Still, the band hasn't abandoned their knack for hook writing and we get some pretty huge bangers across both albums (Amaranth, Bye Bye Beautiful, Wish I Had An Angel). They're covering a lot of musical ground here without going too far off the deep end on any dimension, which all of the following albums suffer from.
Of course one of the amazing things about these albums' success is that they also managed to weather a vocalist change for Dark Passion Play. Once serves as a great sendoff for Tarja as she turns in what I feel is her best performance on a Nightwish album. Maintaining the operatic power of previous albums but also perfectly adjusting to the band's poppier leanings that had developed by then. It's easy to see how switching vocalists after such a successful album would be a disaster, but Dark Passion Play is a pretty graceful transition and Anette's voice does fit the material. Although I have a hard time believing that the album wouldn't be improved if Tarja had stayed in the band.
Between the two albums, I probably have a slight preference for Once. Dark Passion Play is a little too long winded to justify the #1 slot imo. The album is remarkably low on weak/filler moments, but it gets a little same-y in the middle adn maybe loses some focus. Once, on the other hand, is a much tighter set of songs that also contains some of the band's most unforgettable moments. I'm not mad at either result though.
Overall this has been a fun discography dive for me. I would call myself pretty casual on Nightwish and went with a gut feeling for my ranking. Diving deep into the discography in this way and listening to the albums in order of Maidenfans preference has put a lot of their music in a new context. I think a lot of their albums are pretty consistent in quality, I don't think they have one clear "best album" but at the same time I hear a little bit more of a distinction in the top five albums than I had before (Century Child/Oceanborn/Wishmaster have a little bit more musical diversity than I've given them credit for).
My original ranking was as follows:
1: Endless Forms
2: Wishmaster
3: Once
4: Century Child
5: Dark Passion Play
6: Oceanborn
7: Imaginaerum
8: AFF
9: Human Nature
Upon revision, I would make some major changes:
1: Endless Forms (no change)
2: Once (+1)
3: Wishmaster (-1)
4: Dark Passion Play (+1)
5: Oceanborn (+1)
6: Century Child (-2)
7: Imaginaerum (no change)
8: AFF (no change)
9: Human Nature (no change)
Overall I've come to appreciate Once, Dark Passion Play, and Oceanborn quite a bit more after all of this, and maybe Wishmaster and Century Child a little less.
Anyway, thanks for playing everybody! Looking forward to the Metallica game. I'm going to allow a couple more weeks for people to get their lists in and for me to get settled into my new day-to-day routine before going back to regular updates here, so probably restarting late august/first week of September.
2: Once
3: Century Child
4: Oceanborn
5: Endless Forms Most Beautiful
6: Wishmaster
7: Imaginaerum
8: Human :||: Nature
9: Angels Fall First
DPP highest score: 9 (@Iron Taipei @MrKnickerbocker @Onhell @KidInTheDark666 @The Dissident)
DPP lowest score: 3 (@Azas)
Once highest score: 9 (@LooseCannon @Diesel 11 @Azas)
Once lowest score: 1 (@Onhell)
Based on the highest and lowest rankings, this may appear like a clear blowout in favor of Dark Passion Play. More users had it ranked #1 and the lowest ranking was only #7 where Once had one last place ranking (it's also the only album to be #1 on somebody's list AND #9 on somebody's list). In reality, both albums came very close, Dark Passion Play only won by three points! Both albums were highly ranked by most users, with many #2 and #3 placements as well. Most users who had one album as their #1 had the other as their #2 or #3.
Going through the albums in Maidenfans order makes it really obvious how both of these albums were able to score so high. I definitely notice a pretty big jump in production quality and songwriting finesse compared to the rest of the top 5 (although I would say Endless Forms' production is about on par with these). With the pre-Once albums I feel like you hear sketches of Nightwish's sound with the picture slowly coming into focus with each album. By the time you get to Once, the band's sound is fully there. The orchestrations are huge, the songs are exciting and dramatic, the performances are immense. Lyrically both albums are still heavily rooted in fantasy and folklore, which is a much more comfortable subject matter for this band than what they've been writing about recently.
Normally I like to talk about the #1 and #2 albums separately, but they really do feel like two sides of the same coin. Especially given that they were released successively. There's a bit of a Somewhere in Time/Seventh Son of a Seventh Son thing to me where the albums seem to complement each other. It also feels like the band pushing themselves a bit more with more progressive tracks and some pretty ambitious epics. Still, the band hasn't abandoned their knack for hook writing and we get some pretty huge bangers across both albums (Amaranth, Bye Bye Beautiful, Wish I Had An Angel). They're covering a lot of musical ground here without going too far off the deep end on any dimension, which all of the following albums suffer from.
Of course one of the amazing things about these albums' success is that they also managed to weather a vocalist change for Dark Passion Play. Once serves as a great sendoff for Tarja as she turns in what I feel is her best performance on a Nightwish album. Maintaining the operatic power of previous albums but also perfectly adjusting to the band's poppier leanings that had developed by then. It's easy to see how switching vocalists after such a successful album would be a disaster, but Dark Passion Play is a pretty graceful transition and Anette's voice does fit the material. Although I have a hard time believing that the album wouldn't be improved if Tarja had stayed in the band.
Between the two albums, I probably have a slight preference for Once. Dark Passion Play is a little too long winded to justify the #1 slot imo. The album is remarkably low on weak/filler moments, but it gets a little same-y in the middle adn maybe loses some focus. Once, on the other hand, is a much tighter set of songs that also contains some of the band's most unforgettable moments. I'm not mad at either result though.
Overall this has been a fun discography dive for me. I would call myself pretty casual on Nightwish and went with a gut feeling for my ranking. Diving deep into the discography in this way and listening to the albums in order of Maidenfans preference has put a lot of their music in a new context. I think a lot of their albums are pretty consistent in quality, I don't think they have one clear "best album" but at the same time I hear a little bit more of a distinction in the top five albums than I had before (Century Child/Oceanborn/Wishmaster have a little bit more musical diversity than I've given them credit for).
My original ranking was as follows:
1: Endless Forms
2: Wishmaster
3: Once
4: Century Child
5: Dark Passion Play
6: Oceanborn
7: Imaginaerum
8: AFF
9: Human Nature
Upon revision, I would make some major changes:
1: Endless Forms (no change)
2: Once (+1)
3: Wishmaster (-1)
4: Dark Passion Play (+1)
5: Oceanborn (+1)
6: Century Child (-2)
7: Imaginaerum (no change)
8: AFF (no change)
9: Human Nature (no change)
Overall I've come to appreciate Once, Dark Passion Play, and Oceanborn quite a bit more after all of this, and maybe Wishmaster and Century Child a little less.
Anyway, thanks for playing everybody! Looking forward to the Metallica game. I'm going to allow a couple more weeks for people to get their lists in and for me to get settled into my new day-to-day routine before going back to regular updates here, so probably restarting late august/first week of September.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Need to know what my guy was smoking with this one.
Poto
Ancient Mariner
Did you guys know that Steve loves Dark Passion Play a lot. Almost more than his own children.
When I heard Dark Passion Play, I couldn’t believe it. I thought, ‘Now, this is a proper fucking album.’ It’s got everything bar the kitchen sink in there. It was controversial because of the new singer, but she was brilliant. No disrespect to Tarja, but Anette’s voice suited them a lot better. There’s heavy stuff, classical, even a bit of Disney – all kinds of shit in there. I think it’s one of the best-sounding albums I’ve ever heard in my life.
When I heard Dark Passion Play, I couldn’t believe it. I thought, ‘Now, this is a proper fucking album.’ It’s got everything bar the kitchen sink in there. It was controversial because of the new singer, but she was brilliant. No disrespect to Tarja, but Anette’s voice suited them a lot better. There’s heavy stuff, classical, even a bit of Disney – all kinds of shit in there. I think it’s one of the best-sounding albums I’ve ever heard in my life.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
I'm wondering the same thing about all y'all. That... THING, is plain aweful.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
It’s a Top 5 all time album for me man. No love even for “Ghost Love Score”?
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Yeah, a little, the kernal of corn poking out of a steaming pile of crap
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
I'm quite happy with these results, honestly. The list is pretty similar to mine, though I'd swap 2-3 and 4-5.
Oceanborn - As others have said, there is youthful energy, drive, and hunger that is simply not present on any other Nightwish album. It's such a fun album, even when it's weak (i.e. the horrible male vocals). The instrumental passages are incredible and it's easily Emppu's best performance with the band. It's nowhere near a contender for the top spot, but it's a great album and a rare gem in the discography.
Century Child - I love this album. Yes, it is the debut of Marko and, yes, that colors my opinion quite a bit, but it's simply a stellar record. The only filler-ish section is the ballady middle of Forever Yours, Ocean Soul, and Feel For You - all of which are still pretty great songs in their own right. It's got three popular classics in Ever Dream, End of All Hope and Bless The Child + Slaying the Dreamer and the Phantom cover. Dead To The World might be in my top 3 Nightwish songs of all time and The Beauty of The Beast is a wildly underrated epic.
Once - I think over time this one has fallen off a bit for me, but it is still a fantastic collection of songs (though the classics certainly raise the bar and help me overlook the filler). The first four songs are perfection and Ghost Love Score is the band's magnum opus, but the rest is of variable quality. As @Mosh stated, this is really when the band became serious though - especially in terms of production. The recording, mixing and mastering is simply on another level (and will continue to be from here on out).
Dark Passion Play - I am pleasantly thrilled that this took the top spot! It is my Nightwish album (aka the first new one that came out after I got into the band) and it's just such a sonic journey. It's ludicrously bombastic at times and incredibly soft at others. The Islander is a revelation and a top five Nightwish song. Sure, you've got a couple throwaways, but the strength of the other material lifts it up exponentially. I love this album.
Oceanborn - As others have said, there is youthful energy, drive, and hunger that is simply not present on any other Nightwish album. It's such a fun album, even when it's weak (i.e. the horrible male vocals). The instrumental passages are incredible and it's easily Emppu's best performance with the band. It's nowhere near a contender for the top spot, but it's a great album and a rare gem in the discography.
Century Child - I love this album. Yes, it is the debut of Marko and, yes, that colors my opinion quite a bit, but it's simply a stellar record. The only filler-ish section is the ballady middle of Forever Yours, Ocean Soul, and Feel For You - all of which are still pretty great songs in their own right. It's got three popular classics in Ever Dream, End of All Hope and Bless The Child + Slaying the Dreamer and the Phantom cover. Dead To The World might be in my top 3 Nightwish songs of all time and The Beauty of The Beast is a wildly underrated epic.
Once - I think over time this one has fallen off a bit for me, but it is still a fantastic collection of songs (though the classics certainly raise the bar and help me overlook the filler). The first four songs are perfection and Ghost Love Score is the band's magnum opus, but the rest is of variable quality. As @Mosh stated, this is really when the band became serious though - especially in terms of production. The recording, mixing and mastering is simply on another level (and will continue to be from here on out).
Dark Passion Play - I am pleasantly thrilled that this took the top spot! It is my Nightwish album (aka the first new one that came out after I got into the band) and it's just such a sonic journey. It's ludicrously bombastic at times and incredibly soft at others. The Islander is a revelation and a top five Nightwish song. Sure, you've got a couple throwaways, but the strength of the other material lifts it up exponentially. I love this album.
Sth2112
Ancient Mariner
Interesting that Dark passion play is the most popular here.
When Once came out, it was quite surprising what happened here, at least here in Norway and the Nordic. The album went nr 1 in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Germany, they played playback at the huge VG lista show with other popstars in Oslo, they did five shows here during the tour, they became huge stars back in Finland, and also established themself in North America, Australia and Japan.
I really loved the album when it came out, even if some of my other friends meant they had sold out. Dark chest of wonder is a power metal gem, the disco drums in Wish I had and angel works fine, Nemo, Planet hell and Ghost love score are some of their best songs. The sirens as also very underrated and one of their best songs. The albums contains Jukka’s best performances, the new orchestrations and Tarja sings even more normal now. I can fully understand why this album got successful, and they were lucky to get their 15 minutes in the spotlight as well.
Once was the last power metal album I bought and heard for a while, along with the self-titled Stratovarius album. Then I spent some years as a Porcupine tree/Nine inch nails fanatic, before I went back to my beloved power metal genre. Thinking Nightwish became a nobody with new singer, I bought Dark passion play in 2010, and was happy to be surprised they continued the style from Once. Poet and the pendulum is probably my favorite Nightwish song. Amaranth is funny, Master passion greed groovy, The Islander and Last of the wild was something new. I miss a bit more keyboards and more hooks in some songs, but I understand Tuomas had a tought time after that stupid open letter and follow the huge expectations from Once.
If I recall correctly, I ranked Once and no 2 and Dark passion play at no 3. Century child over them.
When Once came out, it was quite surprising what happened here, at least here in Norway and the Nordic. The album went nr 1 in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Germany, they played playback at the huge VG lista show with other popstars in Oslo, they did five shows here during the tour, they became huge stars back in Finland, and also established themself in North America, Australia and Japan.
I really loved the album when it came out, even if some of my other friends meant they had sold out. Dark chest of wonder is a power metal gem, the disco drums in Wish I had and angel works fine, Nemo, Planet hell and Ghost love score are some of their best songs. The sirens as also very underrated and one of their best songs. The albums contains Jukka’s best performances, the new orchestrations and Tarja sings even more normal now. I can fully understand why this album got successful, and they were lucky to get their 15 minutes in the spotlight as well.
Once was the last power metal album I bought and heard for a while, along with the self-titled Stratovarius album. Then I spent some years as a Porcupine tree/Nine inch nails fanatic, before I went back to my beloved power metal genre. Thinking Nightwish became a nobody with new singer, I bought Dark passion play in 2010, and was happy to be surprised they continued the style from Once. Poet and the pendulum is probably my favorite Nightwish song. Amaranth is funny, Master passion greed groovy, The Islander and Last of the wild was something new. I miss a bit more keyboards and more hooks in some songs, but I understand Tuomas had a tought time after that stupid open letter and follow the huge expectations from Once.
If I recall correctly, I ranked Once and no 2 and Dark passion play at no 3. Century child over them.
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
Once - in the carousel of best album with Oceanborn and Century Child. It's the most special album for sure, if CC was early Nightwish perfected then this is something entirely new, down to the vocal delivery (noticeable right from Dark Chest of Wonders). Many odd songs and I love how heavy and guitar focused it is. The one huge fucking problem is placing Higher Than Hope and Finnish-Title after GLS. Gosh, I didn't think I'll ever see something more stupid than placing Candlelight Fantasia after TDWOT. Anyways, it's a close race between the blood-pumping Planet Hell and GLS for best song, though all of them are great. Took me a bit to warm up to Chest and Angel and Nemo because of how different they were.
DPP - firmly at #4, surprised it won. Since my appreciation for Once has grown the gap is even bigger. For the bad, it's long to the point I rarely get to Meadows of Heaven, Master Passion Greed kind of sucks, and Poet is not quite as sublime as GLS or Beauty of the Beast. On the other hand, it's a super fun listen and they never came close to Eva/The Islander in the soft song department. Last of the Wilds - as good as Moondance. And between the poppy goodness there are still more serious songs - maybe Wolves would be better as a dividing mid-album track actually.
Thanks Mosh again for this, finally gave me an excuse to get into NW
DPP - firmly at #4, surprised it won. Since my appreciation for Once has grown the gap is even bigger. For the bad, it's long to the point I rarely get to Meadows of Heaven, Master Passion Greed kind of sucks, and Poet is not quite as sublime as GLS or Beauty of the Beast. On the other hand, it's a super fun listen and they never came close to Eva/The Islander in the soft song department. Last of the Wilds - as good as Moondance. And between the poppy goodness there are still more serious songs - maybe Wolves would be better as a dividing mid-album track actually.
Thanks Mosh again for this, finally gave me an excuse to get into NW
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
I think the Symphony X case is way worse, the ending to TDWOT is rapturous and doesn’t call for anything more. I kinda appreciate Nightwish tagging on a couple extra tracks dealing with the death of a fan and friend of the band. It’s kind of a post-script or epilogue after the majesty of GLS. Very personal moment for them.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Both are unnecessary, but Candlelight Fantasia is far better than whatever crap Nightwish slapped at the end of Once.