Nightwish

[JudasMyGuide]

By this torrent of words I have indeed been worsted. I don't even seem to be able to manage reading all of this, let alone replying or continuing.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge (2014)
To be alerted to the news that Tuomas was dropping a solo album back in 2014 must've resulted in some perplexing thoughts. A solo career? Isn't that basically what Nightwish is? Maybe it's hindsight, having heard Human. :||: Nature. which proved for once and for all that nothing is off the table in terms of what Tuomas and the band are willing to do. Of course the question that follows has to be, "Well what's it about?" Ladies and gentlemen and enbies, leave it to fucking Tuomas Holopainen to write a goddamned album about Scrooge McFucking-Duck.

As I've mentioned before, I too grew up with the Barks comics about Scrooge and Donald, and also fell in love with Don Rosa's epic detailing about Scrooge's rich past. That doesn't mean I'm going to go out and write a record about it! It's such a silly idea, but Tuomas - gotta give the man credit - he plays it so serious and straight that you can't help but be won over by the madness of crafting such an album. By and large, this is orchestral music with a film score kind of feel to it. You get some rock vibes in the ending to "A Lifetime of Adventure", but otherwise this is like if Nightwish was just the orchestra without the rock elements. Tuomas's musical voice is ever-present, but it's almost like a divergent evolution from what we've heard the man write before.

Still, you can hear some of the stuff that he'll be working on in the upcoming two Nightwish albums first toyed with here. There's a lot of great uses of less typical instruments, from the banjo in "Into the West" to my favorite, the digeridoo in "Dreamtime". Much of this album is instrumental, but he rounds up a talented group of voices, including Alan Reid who plays the role of Scrooge and has a few spoken word pieces before finally singing in the last track, and his future wife Johanna Kurkela, whose voice is like the sparkling jewels lusted after by her character, Glittering Goldie, and with whom Tuomas is going to start writing much more music in the future (see: Auri). And of course you can't forget Mr. Holopainen's new muse, Troy Donockley, who gets some uilleann pipe time in spite of them being Irish and not Scottish!

There's not much I can say about the music aside from the fact that it flows very well together. It's basically a bunch of orchestral ballads one after another, and Tuomas certainly knows how to arrange a composition. There are moments here where you feel the typical Nightwish chills (the chorus to "A Lifetime of Adventure") and moments here where you're ready for Tuomas to wrap things up ("Goodbye, Papa"). The closing track "Go Slowly Now, Sands of Time", is an acoustic track that hearkens back to the early days of Nightwish. I hate to keep comparing this stuff to Tuomas's actual band, but the similarities are just so blatant throughout. You can tell the same person writes both of them. It almost feels like a Nightwish outtake.

I guess my overall opinion is that this is a nice record for sure, with a lot of good layers that make it worth investing some time in, but at heart an easy listening record that you can put on and just roll with as your thoughts guide you instead of Tuomas's. Clearly a lot of time and effort was put into the album, but it does feel a bit empty in the end. It's a good place for Tuomas to experiment with a pure orchestral sound that he would later expand upon in "All the Works of Nature Which Adorn the World". There, he comes closer to the shores he's trying to reach and makes it fit within the context of his main act. Here, those shores are still distant, but the journey is nonetheless a smooth one.

This is an album that can be enjoyed but doesn't have the staying power to constantly rope you back in. Nightwish-lite.

I have now listened to this for the first time ever, and wow....does it....exist.

It's completely fine. The music is nice. The voice choices are good. I love the expanded instrumentation.

But holy fucking hell what kind of a grown ass man follows through on writing an entire concept album about a cartoon duck? It makes my entire opinion of him lower quite a bit, for I have finally realized what he has been telling us over and over again: he is a child. Everything he does is an attempt to forget that he is an adult. His entire musical career is an outlet for him to reconnect with being seven years old.

Shit, he composes really good music and songs, but it's all just so bizarre.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Her approach is different now though. Back on that first live record she was full on belting - ever since Endless Forms, which saw her embark on smoother, cleaner, and less belty singing, she's dialed back the vocals a bit to try to hit these songs more with finesse than fireworks. I'm not a big fan of that, personally. The sparks on this record are monstrous and to me the best thing I've ever heard her on.

I think it's a necessary tactic, though. She can't belt out these songs night after night and hope to sustain herself for the duration of a tour. This record (and her first year with the band) were all about proving her might and winning over the fans, which she did in spades. It's only natural to alter that approach as she ages with the band and has to perform more and more frequently.

It's also a matter of learning the material, it's muscle memory now and that leads to a smoother delivery. That's the sign of a professional.

 

[Randalf]

But holy fucking hell what kind of a grown ass man follows through on writing an entire concept album about a cartoon duck? It makes my entire opinion of him lower quite a bit, for I have finally realized what he has been telling us over and over again: he is a child. Everything he does is an attempt to forget that he is an adult. His entire musical career is an outlet for him to reconnect with being seven years old.

Yeahh it's kind of bizarre and it's clearly a long-time dream of him: a project he finallypulled off because he can.

I kind of get what you mean, but as a Don Rosa fan, I have to say that as a comic book, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck still holds up very well and as far as any work of fiction & entertainment goes, I don't think it's any more ridiculous than... say a random blockbuster film or whatever. Of course no-one writes concept albums around those anyway, but... Having read the source material multiple times, I can definitely see why he wanted to make music out of it, haha.

 

[Diesel 11]

To Live Forever (1993)
The longest album Tarot ever released at about 75 minutes in length, To Live Forever has certainly been loaded to the brim with material. And it's actually fairly strong throughout. The band has lost a guitarist, but gained a keyboardist, which adds mystique to their brand of heavy metal. And there's a splash of Sabbathy doom influence on some of the songs that works quite nicely at expanding the group's dynamics.

The production is a bit loose, with the vocals at the back of the mix, but it doesn't sound as bad as I thought it would at first. The bass is actually in the forefront now and man does Marko get some moments to go all in. His voice is awesome as ever, bringing up some songs that may not have been as good, like the longer and slower "The Chosen". "The Colour of Your Blood" is a true banger. "Tears of Steel" has that grunge-influenced '90s metal thing going on and it really slaps, especially with the soft, devilish verses. They've got a cover of Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave" on here as well, which could've been tighter but certainly isn't bad. The closer "Guardian Angel" is a ballad that brings the '80s keys all the way up and it's something to behold.

Fourteen tracks are a lot, and not all of them are winners. "Sunken Graves" is a bit of a mess, sounding like a bad Overkill parody. "Shame", with its Deep Purple synths, is a bit of filler. "My Enslaver" would be a bop if the lyrics weren't so dumb. But even when they're not 100% on, Tarot are still fun. I dug a lot of the record and I think it bodes well for their future. Maybe not as good as Spell of Iron, but a strong step up from Follow Me Into Madness.

 

[Diesel 11]

Stigmata (1995)
I think I can comfortably say that this is Tarot's best album so far. The band's writing ability has really grown over the past few albums and on this one we get a light dosage of prog alongside their usual formula. The songs are tight, each with their own vibe. Some of these bring back Purple and Sabbath influences, others delve into the heavy sound of the '90s. As a unit it's kind of a heavy metal treat. The band is competent enough to keep you grooving through it all.

There are two speedier songs here - opener "Angels of Pain", with its Queen-like vocal layers and zippy riffing, and "Race the Light", which is a bop overall. But the rest of the material, for the most part, takes a darker-tinged, mid-paced approach that's heavy as hell. The album's two longest songs are fucking sick. "E.T.I." is one of the great heavy metal UFO tracks, with a crushing riff and a complex chorus shifting through keys that makes me think of a slightly less wild Symphony X. The closing title track "Stigmata (I Feel for You)" is the band's first really proper epic, I think, starting off strong and finishing even stronger. If I have two complaints about these tracks, it's that they fade out. Tarot sometimes use fade-outs well, but I wish these two could've ended on a proper high note.

Then there's the hooky "As One" and the crushing "Expected to Heal" (killer vocals from Marko!). The penultimate "The Teeth" is a slight mixed bag, with awesome verses but a weirdly fast chorus that gets repeated too much at the end. And the album's oddest offering is the acoustic ballad "Sleepless", which allows us to hear Marko's fantastic voice take the sole focal point as he offers up different views of his range on a soft little song. As a whole the record is tight, with just enough looseness to let us see the band expand their horizons. This is the band maturing and ripening as songwriters and I am all here for it.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)
Floor has arrived, Tuomas has completely moved on from his Dead Boy phase, and all the world is green...

Shudder Before the Beautiful kicks off in the purest of Nightwish fashions, with a pompous spoken word section elaborate strings, chugging guitar and bass, and fast drumming! So far, so good! This is a really good song, even if Floor's recorded introduction as the lead singer of the band is nowhere near as powerful as her previous live album. She sounds amazing, don't get me wrong, but her singing here (and throughout the album) is very light and breathy. It's clearly a stylistic choice, but it's an odd one. She's the most powerful singer the band has ever had and Tuomas writes a bunch of pretty songs about prettiness for her to sing in a light, pretty voice. Strange. Most of the album is actually very light both in tonality and themes. It's a drastic departure from the anger of Dark Passion Play or the spooky, evil mermaid vibes of Imaginaerum. Anyway, it's a great tune and the chorus rules. Tuomas and Emppu have an amazing solo duel that we haven't heard the likes of since Oceanborn! And it's followed up by what sounds like Marko leading the band into a terrifying stompy riff with creepy background orchestra flourishes. Floor gets to show a bit of operatics here, layered with like 8 Floor's, including Shouty Floor (who we'll hear more from later). Floor's outro is killer and we get the first of many "Floor Vocal Runs" - you know the one. She does it on the last "voyagers" and it's great. It's also great the next 47 times she does it on this album. Tuommy is in love with life again and you can hear it in every note. It's good times all around.

Weak Fantasy takes a darker turn for sure and it's once again awesome. The choice for Floor to start singing this one in a quieter, whispery tone is still strange to me. Anyway, this tune rules and Marko wails his ass off. The chorus is heavy and rad, allowing Belty Floor to shine along with Demon Marko. Unsurprisingly, Marko wrote music and lyrics and I'm always down for his heavy (and randomly Celtic acoustic) riffing. Also, I'm always down for some lyrics criticizing religions. His bridge here is killer. When I first the next song, Élan, I was underwhelmed. But literally every time I hear it I enjoy it more and more. It's just a beautiful, melodic jig of a tune. Floor sounds so happy and engaged here. Troy's pipes are used to great effect and he also adds his vocal pipes to a gorgeous, subtle three part harmony in the chorus. The key change is great. This is the first time we hear Dynamic Floor - she uses the same performance trick on many future songs (How's The Heart for example) - where each verse she adds a little more push to her voice, culminating in a big Belty ending. Also, +1 for the Floor Vocal Run "ooooh oooh!"

Things continue to be amazing with Yours Is An Empty Hope, the slightly more orchestral counterpart to Weak Fantasy. It's another dark banger of a tune that opens with one of my favorite dramatic Nightwish intros of all time. Once again, Tuomas and Emppu are dueling here, but this time with orchestra hits and guitar chonkiness. The chorus is a thing of evil beauty, with Floor, Marko and FUCKING GROWLING FLOOR burying a truly evil melody over a shifting guitar chug part that just kills. The section at 3:13 where everything breaks down to a dead children's choir wailing over atonal piano, weird zither stuff, and eventually culminating in Floor laying her entire gut into the microphone is one of my favorite moments in the discography and definitely the best part of this album. Take note, Mike Portnoy: this is how you write a song about shitty fans.

Our Decades In The Sun seems to be divisive amongst the fanbase, but I think it's a gorgeous piece of music. It's really nice to hear a Nightwish ballad that sounds different. This is not a melodically driven piano ballad, but a compositionally rich, organically produced beauty. The little piano bits, the subtle tom-toms, Emppu's bluesy guitar licks, it all fits in perfectly behind Floor's delicate, emotional performance. Even when the track gets heavy it is never overwhelming, it just feels natural. It's a beautiful little tune with endless musical layers. The next track, My Walden, is where things start to waver a bit from pure perfection. Troy leads us in with a chanting, Welsh verse before he takes center stage on a pipe duet with Emppu and it's all very pretty, but it kinda just sounds like Élan, Part 2. Tuomas continues to write pretty songs about the joys of life and, well, it's starting to get a little weird now, Dead Boy. Anyway, this song is pleasant but forgettable at first. The second half of the song (another Celtic acoustic piece written by Marko) keeps it afloat. It's a nice ending and makes me not dislike the song.

The title track is a weird one. The intro kind of sounds like a demo, with a very buried string line, drums and bass, that eventually is brought to life by Emppu's chonky guitar chords. Musically it's a good one, but Tuomas is back to writing lyrics that I cannot believe any serious singer is forced to translate into a real performance. I mean, this shit is almost as bad as some of his lyrics on Angels Fall First, except now he's writing about incomprehensible dead scientific names instead of drinking deep from pale thighs. I'm glad Tuomas really loves nature now, but like, I dunno, maybe try to write relatable lyrics? Floor does her best, of course, and sounds good. There's another three part chorus with Floor, Marko, and Troy and it's nice - I just wish Marko was turned up. Seems like Tuomas is more interested in his two new toys (Floor and Troy) and that Little Ragdoll Marko is being left behind. Anyway, I like the stompy bridge riff, especially when it goes to a single bar of baritone piano. The twinkly, melodic Edema Ruh is next and....gosh, it's Élan, Part Three! Or at least My Walden, Part Two (both even end with Floor belting "HOOOOMMME!") Again, it's fine. Floor sounds so happy. Sounds like a campfire song, which is the point, so I guess it's successful? Emppu's guitar playing is really cool (and bluesy) again!

Alpenglow is the most "traditional" Nightwish song on here and it's pretty great. Classic string melodies, piano leads, and a big, sparkly chorus. It sounds like a song that could have worked with Anette (the pre-chorus has a super weird, spooky tonality that fits with her Scaretale performance) but Floor kills it. Anyway, it's a nice kick in the ass towards the end of an album that was getting a little too folksy. As with most songs on this album, the lyrics reference other Nightwish songs (including My Walden and the final track coming up), but I have no fucking idea WTF a JubJub bird is. +1 for Floor Vocal Run! I was lucky enough to see the live premiere of this song in Salt Lake City in 2015 and Floor seemed really excited to play it. It was awesome. Also, that final mid-chorus key-change is the second best moment on this entire album. How cool. The Eyes of Sharbat Gula is pointless. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's a 6 minute, monotonous instrumental that is not all that dissimilar from the ending to Our Decades in The Sun or the next track (which will have enough pointless instrumental bits to fill the fucking corpse of the Titanic). It should have been cut from the album.

Now we come to it, the song that Tuomas himself and many Nightwish fans consider his "magnum opus"...while I just shake my head. First we get nearly six minutes of orchestral music, Floor doing super light operatics, sound effects and Richard Dawkins reading his own book. Then around 5:45 the song actually starts and, sure, it's good, I guess? It's the only time on the album where Floor is really pushing her voice, so that's awesome. Marko sings throughout it, as well, so that's cool, too. But once again, the fucking lyrics are so ridiculous and overwrought that it robs the whole piece of any real human connection (ironic for a song about the wonders of life). This 5 minute section of an actual song are solid enough. Then we are treated to over a minute of National Geographic field recordings. Then the second actual song starts and it's a real banger (shocker: written by Marko and with Marko vocals). It's "so exceptional!" The chorus is astounding and (what should be the ending) the "we were here!" chant is superb. This 5 minute section of an actual song is wonderful, one of the best on the album. And then a literal asteroid destroys the album...

...except there's still 7 fucking minutes of mellow instrumental music and Richard Dawkins talking. I don't know. A lot of people love this. I personally hate it. The 10 minutes of actual Nightwish music in this song do not justify the 14 minutes of Tuomas Holopainen scores Ft. MC Dawkins. Science is cool, the concept is cool, but come on dude. It's like he's just looking for new ways to be pretentious. I hope I never have to see this song live again, but something tells me it will close every Nightwish show until the end of time.

Overall, this is a really, really good album. It's definitely front-loaded in terms of quality and I wish Floor had more chances to really shine, but I still love the album. The naturalistic beauty that Tuomas manages to capture here is pretty incredible. The subject matter and tone of his maturity is very evident in the grand scheme of Nightwish albums. He went through his youthful energetic phase as a songwriter (AFF, Oceanborn), then entered high school and got obsessed with dark stuff and angst (Wishmaster), then he became an adult and had to deal with adult problems with angst (Century Child, Once), then he wrote about writing about those problems and literally killed himself as a character (DPP, Imaginaerum) and now he has emerged from his coccoon as a beautiful little goth butterfly, learning about the wonders of life and touching every blade of grass while also sucking up as much knowledge as possible and spitting it back out into the world like a first year college student.

Something had to change after losing two iconic singers and Tuomas seems deadset on that "something" being the majority of Nightwish's sound. I'm along for the ride, even if the results are mixed and even if I wish Floor was given some more direct, badass material to knock out of the park. Despite my critiques, this record is a joy to listen to (at least until the last two songs). One quick note: the production on this album is uncharacteristically muddy. It's like someone let Steve Harris fiddle with the mixing knobs. I'd really like to hear someone remix and remaster this one.

A

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)
At the end of the day, all Tuomas needs is for the sounds to come together to benefit his vision, and that's what happens here. It's not as heavy an album as DPP or Imaginaerum, but EFMB almost returns us to the early Nightwish sound in terms of layering the guitar with the music, while also bringing the orchestra further into the mix. The whole record is about how to layer every element in your sound, and I think it's one of Tuomas's most compelling successes as far as that goes. There is a massive depth to this album's sound that you can spend hours uncovering (although the one downside is that the mix could stand to be a little clearer than it is - a few of those layers ended up getting flattened).

100% to all of this. It seems to me like a complete rebirth for the band and for Tuomas' grand vision as a songwriter, or, more aptly as of this record, as a composer. He has reset the band physically via new personnel and he has reset the sound sonically and thematically. And definitely, the mix here is one of their worst.

If you had heard Showtime, Storytime and felt the way Floor eviscerated songs like "Ghost Love Score" or "Romanticide", you'd probably expect the band to write something along those lines to really show off her vocal skills. But Nightwish have never really been ones to play to expectations. She still has some high moments every song often that showcase her range, but most of what she's singing is softer, less belting, more playing to the beauty the songs are trying to portray. Some have been mad with Tuomas for 'stifling' her, but in all reality it's Floor that wanted to use this approach more often, and the band even tried recording several different vocal takes to see which one would fit better. This is what everyone decided worked best. And the more I hear it, the more I like it. Her voice adds to a sort of peacefulness that the record offers.

She is shockingly delicate throughout this album and it works in spades for the songs that Tuomas has written. I, and many others, just can't help but wish he had waited a little bit to completely revitalize his approach to writing vocals. I would have loved to hear new Nightwish songs with Floor singing that still had that classic songwriting approach.

Marko's vocals do get scaled back quite a bit in this album; he has lead roles in three of the album's songs, whereas on Imaginaerum and Dark Passion Play he had five. But this isn't considering the amount of songs where he adds backing vocals to the chorus melodies, or little flourishes just for the hell of it. Both he and Troy are used wonderfully as supplements to Floor's own voice. Moments like the chorus of "Élan", the ending to "Our Decades in the Sun", that "whoahhhh" before the second chorus of "My Walden"... these are such tiny moments but my god do they improve the songs by tenfold. And then when he does let loose? We hear a more mature Marko than we've really gotten before. That bridge in "Weak Fantasy" is my favorite. He doesn't have to push himself much on this record; he just has to use what he's mastered to add to the effects that are being brought across.

As with everything else on this record, Marko is subdued, but he adds some of the most memorable moments. His contributions seem smaller but make the same impact. Impressive.

And of course now the band has a third vocalist to add even more harmonies to the vocal department. Not only does Troy kill it with all his instruments, but he also makes those melodies pop in a folkier style with his laid-back singing that always adds just enough of his brand of wistful enthusiasm for the natural. The intro to "My Walden", sung by Troy in Welsh, is just really fucking cool yo.

I like his additions, but I can't help but feel like he kind of helped inch Marko out the door. Every time I hear him singing I wish Marko were singing instead, even if Troy is doing a good job.

And then there's Tuomas himself. His keyboards can easily get lost among the orchestra, but on this record we can really hear him above the mix. He plays a lovely straight piano that you can definitely pick up in tracks like "Élan", "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" and "The Greatest Show on Earth", but there's also that guitar and synth duel in "Shudder Before the Beautiful" where he can wank a little bit. The whole album reminds you of just why he's one of the best keyboardists in the genre.

My favorite thing about newer Nightwish is that Tuomas seems happier to play straight piano instead of lame synths, since he's comfortable letting the (wildly expensive) orchestra cover much of the composition.

"Yours Is an Empty Hope" is the heaviest song here, recycling the riff from "Dark Chest of Wonders" but in a new fashion that works well in the context of the song's calling for all the haters to go outside and touch grass!

This is the most perfectly Nightwishian insult ever. "Shut up and touch grass if you don't get it!"

Then comes the bombastic title track which namedrops a bunch of different species from throughout time, almost like a shrunken and fun version of the ending song which it shares a riff with. You can really feel the swirling magic of the tree of life in the music here, and the instrumental section is another good one.

I'm pretty harsh on the lyrics to this one, but it is a good song.

"Alpenglow" nicks a few bits from "Ever Dream" but takes us to new heights, kinda. I get the sense that this song isn't so much about being on top of a mountain, soaking in the breadth of the world below, as it is about looking up at a mountain and just being like, "Wow, that's a fucking mountain!" Musically, at least. Lyrically this is Tuomas planting the Nightwish flag firmly in the territory of "I love this place, follow me and we can love it together!" The way he plays around with the chorus keys is really cool, and the song works super well as a sort of closer to the 'main' part of the record.

I feel like it's pretty much about Tuomas being on top of a mountain, soaking in the breadth of the world below, while also looking up at the mountain and saying, "WE ARE a fucking mountain!"

We also have the 'children of war' themed instrumental "The Eyes of Sharbat Gula" (the name of the Afghan Girl from the National Geographic cover) that I have a bit of a soft spot for. In spite of being the weakest track here and even running a minute or two longer than it has to, I love its build up, the way Marko and Troy's voices intertwine in beautiful fashion, before the ghostly children's choir takes over. Simplicity can be stunning, and its lack of words (Tuomas planned to add some but Troy pushed to let it speak for itself) speaks louder than anything Tuomas could've written.

It's a nice piece, just woefully misplaced on this album. Without it, the final track would be far more impactful.

And finally we have the big one, the gargantuan 24-minute opus "The Greatest Show on Earth", a trek through the history of life on Earth inspired by Richard Dawkins and Charles Darwin. And I'm gonna say it - I'm starting to think it just isn't long enough.

I just, like, um....how? By my count it's a good 10 minutes too long.

• I. Four Point Six - The way this sets the scene is just phenomenal. The piano, gradually building through added layers of synths and orchestra, then being supplanted by the massive sounds of the Big Bang as the universe explodes into being, is just so fucking cool I can't even begin to find words to tell you how cool it is. It's not rock, but man does it rock me to my core. Floor does a fantastic introduction to the world before Troy pipes up and Richard Dawkins appears to set the scene.

A great section that should have been 2 minutes, not nearly 6.

• II. Life - From the explosion of the universe to Earth's explosion of life. This piece wastes no time as it erupts at the speed of light. We go through some evolutions of species and get a really kick ass chorus. The finale that branches the gap between this section and the next does a wonderful job of detailing the creatures that have evolved (call me childish but love the dinosaur roar!).

I shall call you childish, then.

• III. The Toolmaker - I almost feel like this part seems to jump in too fast. Mankind has only existed for a short period of time but appear not even halfway through the song. Regardless, another kick-ass section that details our egoistical failures as a species, yet also embalms our hopes in the phrase from "Alpenglow" that acts as the climax: "We were here." What a fantastic piece, bringing the "Four Point Six" piano melody back into the fold, that also doubles as a live moment of epicness.

Great part, easily the highlight of the song and makes me enjoy it a bit.

• V. Sea-Worn Driftwood - Maybe I'm in the minority but this final piece, to me, might be the best moment in the whole thing.

You are the minority.

As a whole record, this is among the band's most consistent. Every track here is good, with a strong balance of styles that works super well. The songs all feel natural, too.

Very much agreed. I think, overall, this is their most consistent record. The only filler is Sharbat Gula, and that has nothing to do with the content of the song, but its inclusion on an already long record.

And again, this beast is a masterclass in how to build layers. As far as compositions go, it's probably Tuomas's crowning achievement. As far as their discography is concerned, this first outing with Floor is a massive record that never gets bogged down in its own weight. When I first got into Nightwish, I thought it was a lot less interesting than I do nowadays. That, then, is the true testament of the album - the more times you hear it, the better it gets.

It really does grow on you every time. Or, I guess, it evolves on you...

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Vehicle of Spirit (2016)
Vehicle of Spirit comprises two shows from the EFMB Tour, one from Wembley and one from Tampere. The Wembley show, however, is the only one released as an album, and thus is the one being discussed here. Which is a shame, because I have way fonder memories of watching the Tampere show than I do listening through the Wembley recording. What the fuck happened here? Where are the live spectacle of Showtime, Storytime and the layers of Endless Forms Most Beautiful? Because this live release is a disappointment.

I certainly find the mix to be a massive disappointment. Those layers you're missing are there being played by Tuomas or on tracks but, as with Showtime, Storytime, for some reason Tuomas and his tracks are the absolute lowest thing in the mix! It's absolutely so bizzare. The vocals, guitars, and bass are very prominent on this record, but Tuomas' layers and the drums are really quite bad.

It's not all bad, to be clear. The first two songs - "Shudder Before the Beautiful" and "Yours Is an Empty Hope" - rock, and just after the keyboard and guitar duel in "Shudder", when Floor shouts out at the crowd for the first time, I got fucking chills, man. I really thought this might be the record that bested them all. But by the time we've gone through "Ever Dream" - which was magnificent on Showtime, Storytime - and "Storytime", it's clear that things are not going to be as anticipated. I was hoping that the EFMB material would pick things up again but even "My Walden" felt so empty and devoid of life, a complete opposite of what it was on the record.

I hear no issues with Ever Dream, but My Walden is a bad live choice to begin with and certainly isn't helped by the poor mix here. Also, its placement in the set is terrible.

Luckily then comes "While Your Lips Are Still Red" and Marko blows me the fuck away. I think this one might be better than the original. I certainly got the song a lot better. Another one of those moment where I got goosebumps. Going into the Wembley recording I was a little sad that "The Islander" wasn't part of the set because it was a highlight from the Tampere concert, but man, this song does exactly what "The Islander" did and also comes off as a massive live moment.

It's a nice moment and really cool to hear a B-side in the main portion of the set. Marko kills it, as always. In fact, I think Marko and Floor sound totally engaged on this whole performance. The thing I do like about this release is that it really sounds live and not "live with overdubs".

Aaaaand it's kind of downhill from there. "Weak Fantasy" sees Kai showing off and the bridge is still incredible, but as with "My Walden" I still feel like it's hollow. "7 Days to the Wolves" and "Alpenglow" have strong performances, but I feel like they should've been pushed further back in the setlist for better balance. "The Poet and the Pendulum" is a masterpiece but feels dry, as does "Nemo" (and I'm not quite sure if I like the flute Troy adds or not). "I Want My Tears Back" is just sad, especially since it's probably my favorite song on Imaginaerum. It's like the band is on the brink of divorce and trying to have fun for the kids.

Again, I see no issues in the performances of these songs, but the mix makes them incredibly flat. I truly don't understand how this got an official release with this mix.

Super cool to hear "Stargazers" again but Floor just isn't Tarja. She's being passive where Tarja would be aggressive.

I would agree here. Seeing this live was a different story, as the energy was mindblowing, but on record it's not the most suited to her voice.

"Ghost Love Score" is always going to be good, that's just the nature of the song. This is definitely a worse performance than on End of an Era or Showtime, Storytime, but still solid (and it's interesting to hear Marko drop in some proggy basswork during verse 2).

He's adding in cool bass shit all over this performance! The whole ending is just him wanking up and down the neck.

Finally, "The Greatest Show on Earth" brings things up quite a bit with a strong performance that, while also suffering like the rest of the album, still kicks ass, with Emppu adding a guitar lead in "Four Point Six" and Richard Dawkins actually coming onstage for the final quote in the song, which is super cool and a fitting end to the show.

This 18 minute version is certainly far preferable to the bloated one on the record. Dawkins' addition is nice, as well. I can only assume he gestured towards the band while saying, "endless forms most beautiful" to get that nice crowd reaction.

Also. Guys. I just got it.

This whole new era of Nightwish is, as always, ABOUT TUOMAS HIMSELF. For a second I was deluded into believing that he was truly in love with nature, which, sure, maybe he is, but: Nightwish are the endless forms! They are beautiful and wonderful! The dead boy has risen! They have been, and are being, evolved! It's still all a metaphor for Tuomas himself.

Oh, jeez. Thank goodness. I can get invested in them again now that I understand.

So what is it that makes this album feel so hollow? Two-fold. First of all, the production has crushed a lot of the layers you got in the past. Obviously live albums are never perfect, but all the prior ones sounded better than this.

I would definitely argue that this sounds better than Made in Hong Kong, which sounds like a straight up front-of-house recording with no mixing whatsoever, but the mix definitely ruins a lot of the dynamics here.

And then there's Floor, who sounds like she's either having an off night or has lost the plot completely. I know that EFMB was a less vocally intense album but she's just moving up and down where she should be belting and thrusting into the material, like she did on the previous live record. "Ghost Love Score" is a great example. She's hitting the ending notes, sure, but she's not giving it her all. It doesn't pierce the heart, it just sort of... taps it. Add to the fact that she sounds muffled in spite of being higher in the mix than anything else, and you got a weird fucking album man.

I just don't hear Floor having an off night whatsoever. I hear a singer adapting to the rigors of touring. This is definitely her settling into the band and her role, but she's not off on any of the material. She turns in a better performance here on Storytime than on the previous live record, it sounds more suited to her (even if it should still be cut from the set).

I hear what you're saying with Ghost Love Score, but this is an accurate representation of what you would get at a Nightwish show. Floor is giving it everything she can, not everything she has, because if she did that she would not have the voice to replicate the big moments night after night.

The song selection for the whole Vehicle of Spirit thing is amazing indeed, particularly the Wembley show due to inclusion of The Poet and the Pendulum & Seven Days to the Wolves. I do agree with the above about the thin sound of the live album, though.

Seriously, this is a pretty dreamy Nightwish setlist. Sure, I'd make some cuts, but for an album tour: what a setlist!

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Auri (2018)
So this album was way better than I remembered! Tuomas dives into another side project, but this time it's as a full band alongside his new best friend Troy Donockley and his wife Johanna Kurkela. Some of the vibes from The Life and Times of Scrooge are present here, but this record feels way more focused and truly the start of something big. Auri may not be knocking it out of the park just yet, but there is undoubtedly magic within this album.

I had never heard this before and it's definitely a pleasant listen. No real negatives to say about it, also nothing spectacularly mind-blowing, but a very nice record. Kind of like Tuomas making a Blackmore's Night album by way of Enya.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

But holy fucking hell what kind of a grown ass man follows through on writing an entire concept album about a cartoon duck? It makes my entire opinion of him lower quite a bit, for I have finally realized what he has been telling us over and over again: he is a child. Everything he does is an attempt to forget that he is an adult. His entire musical career is an outlet for him to reconnect with being seven years old.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Decades: Live in Buenos Aires (2019)
The final Nightwish live album (so far) is infinitely more fun than Vehicle of Spirit. The band had taken a year and a half off before heading off on the Decades Tour, and you can tell that they're fired up. The downside, though, is that the sound quality is probably the worst on any Nightwish record. Everything is smushed together. Strange that the band that spends a shitload on album production doesn't put the same effort into their live offerings, but it's what it is I guess. The energy makes up for it, certainly.

The energy is great and I think the overall sound is a bit better than on the previous two records, but holy shit the keyboards are still so quiet. There are parts in some of these songs where the dynamics completely disappear because you can't hear Tuomas' keyboard. It's insane how bad it is.

I'm not the biggest fan of "10th Man Down", but it's super cool to see the band drag in something like this, and the bridge sounds way stronger with Emppu's heavy guitars and Marko taking on the vocal duties.

It is cool to hear, but Marko reciting the spoken word bit feels very Dave Mustaine to me.

"Sacrament of Wilderness" and "Deep Silent Complete" are cool, and "Dead Boy's Poem" is a monster centerpiece for the set.

Deep Silent Complete is where this setlist really starts to lose me. It's a fine song, but beyond the guitar harmony being cool it feels a bit odd as a live tune, especially when followed up by the glacial sadness of Dead Boy's Poem. The ending is nice, though.

Next the band play a beefed-up Celtic instrumental cover "Elvenjig", which obviously has to segue into "Elvenpath" (although I don't like the way the first ends so suddenly). "I Want My Tears Back" is super fun, and I am smiling and bobbing my head the whole way through.

This whole section confuses me. They take an entire 3 minutes to play a jig....and then they play Elvenpath...but they don't transition into each other at all, so what is the point? Then they play I Want My Tears Back...which has a jig-ish section! Why not just expand the middle part of I Want My Tears Back? It's so bizarre.

Also, Floor proves that Elvenpath is a poor song as the melodies sound so amateurish.

"Amaranth", once again, proves that Floor is not perfect, failing to capture the chorus for the umpteenth time.

Don't know why they choose this song. It simply does not fit Floor's voice at all. It's shocking that they wanted to do it again.

"The Carpenter" sees Troy take the mic, but I'm not wowed by it, although Emppu's guitar solo and Floor's final vocals are cool.

Don't know why they choose this abysmal, amateurish song either. It truly sucks. No fault of the band, I guess, as they do what they can, but it's just a trash song and always has been. I saw this show and I remember thinking, "WTF are they doing here?!" It's just another in a string of Mr. Odd Choice Holopainen.

"The Kinslayer" feels completely off thanks to the downtuning, but it's worth it to hear Marko forget that first line. "Fuck me!" he says, giving up and accepting his fate.

I'm not turned off by the downtuning, but once again Marko trying to interpret spoken word sections feels really strange.

"Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean" is fucking AWESOME, easily a highlight here, allowing Marko and Floor to really go all the way in.

Yeah, this is definitely the best version of this song in existence. I've never loved it, and I still don't here, but Marko and Floor bring both parts to life in a way that they never were before.

The eternal classic that is "Nemo" is played, obviously, and this is the best performance with Floor that we've heard, finally getting that chorus (and I love how Marko doubles the first line in the second verse).

Holy shit that harmony is beautiful. I wish he did more!

Finally, "Slaying the Dreamer" is a fun way to end the main part of the show before the final two epics.

I don't love this on record, but live it was amazing! That ending with Marko going full evil was a treat.

"The Greatest Show on Earth" is powerful as ever, although slightly feels out of place after all those short songs. But I still dig it, and honestly, the way "The Toolmaker" cuts off before "Ghost Love Score" hits the speakers is a cool decision. Speaking of GLS, at long last it gets its rightful due in the setlist as the closer. And boy is this a fucking way to close out a concert. The finale to TGSOE plays out afterwards, which is an odd vibe but it doesn't not work.

Yeah, I love that they closed the set with the best song (which should always be the closer), but these two back-to-back is a really odd pair. I'll take TGSOE at 16 minutes though! Keep cutting from the intro and they might eventually get it to a manageable, enjoyable length for a show...

Nice not to hear "Storytime" or "Last Ride of the Day", by the way.

Very much agreed.

Overall - strong setlist, fun performances. You get the sense that Nightwish have become comfortable with how they're playing, which is fine but I'm losing the bite and power of Showtime, Storytime.

I actually feel like this release (and tour) were a big shake up due to the completely new (old) material. Seeing this show was cool, but also my least favorite NW gig that I've seen as a lot of their choices for deep cuts would never make my ideal setlist.

If the band puts out more live records, I'd really like to hear some better audio and some more fire. Too much comfort makes an artist become complacent, and Nightwish have never really been complacent in the studio and certainly should never be complacent live. Their brand, their magic, their music is way too massive for that.

If the band puts out another live record it will have to be fire. They have to prove, on record, that they can still kick ass live without Marko.

As a whole, I think that Nightwish are a strong live act, especially when you consider that they've got a ton of shit being played from tapes to give that orchestral feel. But the individual band performances really shine through on each of these albums, proving that at the end of the day, they are still a band and a killer one at that. Over time the sound quality of each live record gets worse, but I think that to hear them live is a completely different experience than on these recordings. It's been nice to listen through, but I don't think I'll be returning much to at least the bottom three. End of an Era and Showtime, Storytime, though... now that is how it's done. Two phenomenal live albums from start to finish that define the greatness of Nightwish as a band.

Yeah, those two are easily their best live recordings. I think my live rankings would be....

1. Showtime, Storytime - The addition of Floor is just a massive kick in the ass and this is the pinnacle of Ghost Love Score. I literally cannot listen to the album version without wanting to hear this one.

2. End of An Era

3. ...everything else. The other four live albums all have massive issues for me (FWTE has no Marko and features some early tunes I truly don't like, Decades falls into the same boat regarding song choice, Made in Hong Kong seems like it was never intended for release and (despite my love of the DPP material) Anette was not a perfect live singer, and VOS has terrible sound. Honestly, though, I'd probably take VOS over the others based solely on the amazing setlist.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Mustan sydämen rovio (2019)
While Tuomas et al were working on Auri, Marko was staying busy himself, writing a prog rock sort of album that showcases his skills as a songwriter outside of Nightwish, to those who may have missed out on Tarot. The lyrics were written in both Finnish and English (the latter version released as Pyre of the Black Hearts in 2020), but I'm focusing on the Finnish one because the English ones ain't such a much and I love the melody naturally present in the Finnish language. Of course it depends on how you approach it - some of these songs feel like barstool crooning - but Marko really chews into the material in his mother tongue even harder than he does in English.

I have listened to both versions multiple times since they were released (and now once again) and you're correct: the Finnish version is definitely superior. Marko's voice is just so naturally present in his native language that it all works better.

There is also the matter of not understanding the lyrics and, unfortunately, it severely helps. The English translations drag down the best songs on this album, specifically Kiviä/Stones and Isäni ääni/The Voice of My Father. The former sounds like a killer seafaring Viking song in Finnish and like a bad joke in English, the latter a beautiful lullaby in Finnish and kind of cheesy in English.

You get a really nice mix of the different shades of Marko Hietala. He kind of just threw everything at the wall while writing the material and anything that sounded like it worked he incorporated into the record. Some of these songs are certified bangers - there's the album opener "Kiviä", which sounded fun in English as "Stones", but here, with its chanting of "Hoi!" it's honestly even better.

It's such a killer song. The dynamics are perfect. Also the vocals in the bridge sound like All The Fools Sailed Away by Dio.

But there's also a softer, more emotive Marko that we see throughout the record on the more ballad-ish songs. "Isäni ääni", the second track on the album, sees Marko memorializing his father, who died of alcohol issues, something Marko himself would also struggle with.

When this album first came out, I had this refrain in my head for days. It's another beautiful piece of music from Marko that treads ground somewhere between his intro on Imaginaerum and The Islander, or, I guess, While Your Lips Are Still Red. That little lead guitar synth in the chorus is so weirdly catchy. His vocal performance is so arresting and just keeps building.

"Tähti, hiekka ja varjo" has some fantastic, sweeping synth work that feels like an updated Rush vibe, or like what Tuomas would include on "Procession" on Human. :||: Nature.

The intro on this one feels a bit superfluous, but once the riff kicks in it's another jam. I'm not a big fan of the chorus vocal runs, though.

"Kuolleiden jumalten poika/Dead God's Son" also hits really hard. The English lyrics don't detract from this one, either, which is nice. It's a plodding, kind of doomy folk song, but I dig it. As with many other songs here, it builds incredibly to a frenzy by the end.

Even more capturing are "Laulu sinulle" and "Totuus vapauttaa", which head deep into extended instrumental passages that are just wonderful to ride along with.

The former is very much a slightly more electronic adventure into Marko's obvious love of Pink Floyd. The ending is so obviously a Floydian guitar solo tribute. His singing and the subtle groove really propel this track to be more interesting than I initially thought.

"Totuus vapauttaa/Truth Shall Set You Free" is an absolutely beautiful song and a killer closer.

"Minä olen tie/I Am The Way" is another slowly building ballad-type tune that starts out pretty slow but eventually builds into a killer, doomy Sabbath groove with some absolutely stellar vocals (I know: shocking). Fuck, Marko is just such a great vocalist.

Then there's the railway rocker "Juoksen rautateitä" with its fun chorus and gung-ho backing vocals, and the steady stomper "Vapauden kuolinmarssi" - both of which really incorporate that classic '70s organ synth that became a hearty component in the prog scene. And that instrumental to "Juoksen..." really feels like Marko's take on Deep Purple's "Highway Star".

It's like Deep Purple and 90s era Maiden on acid. "Juoksen rautateitä/Runner of the Railways" is beyond silly sounding sometimes, but the music is so fun that it doesn't matter. Those weirdly demonic Motown backing vocal "ooh oohs" are so cool and ridiculous. The English version here is supremely worse. The instrumental part of the bridge is just nuts.

"Vapauden kuolinmarssi/Death March for Freedom" sneakily becomes more and more my favorite every time I hear it. It's got that perpetual stomp beat that I just love, combined with some cool, low-key bass and guitar riffing.

"Unelmoin öisin/I Dream" is a weird one, and feels like a riff on Metallica's Bleeding Me, but it showcases Marko's lighter, falsetto-based vocal range. As usual, it builds to a cool crescendo at the end with Marko wailing his head off and crunching up his bass distortion even more.

And everything else is more scenery for Marko to demonstrate his authority. While I may not understand what he's singing all the time (some of these tracks I've looked at translations for to get the jist), he masterfully guides the listener through the music with an absolutely commanding presence. Certainly a better performance than he gave on these past couple of Nightwish albums. Singing in Finnish really opens Marko up, I think. Now that he's discussing making a second solo record I'm really, really excited to hear what he comes up with. To me, this is all the more proof that Marko Hietala is one of the greatest singers in rock history.

This album really proves what he is capable of, as both a songwriter and a singer. The layers and different ranges of his voice are simply astounding and he crafted a record that is endlessly listenable.

I wasn't super excited when this one came out; the first single, Isäni ääni was alright, but I didn't find it too exciting at first - worked so much better on the album context. Anyway, the album has been one of my most played albums from the past couple of years! As far as Finnish rock lyrics go, I might actually consider this one of my favourites on that field; Marko has some quirks and whatnot, but they're not "cringey" but rather intriguing, actually. Even the more grotesque wordings really add up to the edge of the song and don't make you go "ehh..?"

I certainly cringe on the English ones, though

Some of the songs work very well in English too - some better than others. Overall, I very much enjoy both versions of all of the songs. Most of the more "rocking" stuff tends to work rather well in English too, where as the album closer Totuus vapauttaa / Truth Shall Set You Free clicks, at least for me, distinctively better in it's Finnish form.

See, I actually find that the more upbeat tunes suffer greatly from the English translations. Specifically stuff like Stones.

When I read the English lyrics I can definitely see that he was writing them alongside the Finnish ones because some of them are more ham-fisted than others. It kind of depends on how you view them at times; there’s a line in “Stones” — “Am I the butt of their [the stones’] constant crack?” — that sounds awkward but is kinda interesting when you pick apart the layers.

Stones have cracks in them.
Butts have a crack in them.
You can be the butt of a joke.
You ‘crack’ jokes.

So basically: am I a joke to these stones?

But in spite of the layers it still sounds fairly silly, and that might just be down to the fact that he’s Finnish and I’m American. It’s a fun line but not one that I would hold up as a pinnacle of layered speech, if that makes sense lol.

Yeah, it's stuff like this....

Sure, it works as a literal layering of meaning, but that doesn't mean it should have been used as a lyric. This guy is just stomping along all badass with cool music and then he's trying to make a metaphor about a butt sound cool.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Human. :||: Nature. (2020)
On which Tuomas Holopainen continues his love affair with grass, dirt, and Troy...

Coming hot off the trails of the quite good Endless Forms Most Beautiful, we barrel headfirst into 9 actual Nightwish songs and 1 large piece of Tuomas solo music written in hopes of securing a publishing deal with a documentary series featuring really pretty pictures of the ocean. What we get here is incredibly divisive. It is a variation/reinvention of the Nightwish sound, as everything takes a backseat to Tuomas' orchestral melodies and our three vocalists focus completely on creating harmonies instead of taking frequent solo leads. Thematically, the entire album is literally just The Greatest Show on Earth, Parts 6-15. I enjoy that this record is Nightwish saying, "We have Floor Jansen and she is our lead singer", I just wish the material actually made that statement. At the end of the day, this is the most absent the band has been on a Nightwish album: it's Tuomas' tinkering through and through.

Music spends a ridiculously long intro creating another piece of sound art by attempting to showcase the birth of music as an idea. It's everything I hated about The Greatest Show on Earth, but now as an intro. Yay! When the song actually starts, it's...just...the weirdest vocal lines I've ever heard. Floor might not be singing about the kind of trash that Tarja had to endure in the early days, but holy living fuck, what are these vocal lines? They are awful. You can't sing along to these. You can't hum these. I literally hate every second of the verses of this song. I'm not knocking Floor, it's a complete failure of Tuomas' melody writing. When the chorus starts, it's fine. It's big, Troy and Marko are doing three part harmony and it sounds good. They'll repeat this process of harmony on literally every song on this album and, while it's really cool and they sound really good, Marko is the quietest voice every. single. time. Musically: it's cool once it starts. Emppu is being Emppu, the string sections are cool, but vocally...I don't get it. There's a heavy bridge riff that would benefit from a Marko lead vocal. Floor gets a chance to do some dramatic opera vocals, though, which is nice.

Un-singable vocal count - 1
Better off with a Marko bridge count - 1
Floor does opera count - 1

Noise is pretty much awesome. I think it might be the biggest turnaround I've had on a Nightwish single ever. When I first heard it I thought, "hard nope." But, turns out, it might be the best song on the album. The intro of just strings and bass is awesome and just gets cooler from there. Floor sounds wicked and the chorus is huge, especially with those awesome ascending choir vocals on the title. This one will be a concert staple forever, I'm sure. Once again, there's a heavy bridge that could benefit from a Marko part. Floor's ending belts are amazing.

Better off with a Marko bridge count - 2
Floor does opera count - 2

Shoemaker has an absolutely stellar vibe, with cool harpsichord.......oh wait, nope, Floor is singing the harpsichord melody. Well shit. Once again: I don't get it, it sounds bad, and it's impossible to sing along to. The pre-chorus is a nice three part harmony (with Marko barely audible again). The music throughout is cool, of course, Emppu's playing some power chords (shocker!), and Kai is playing his drums well. The bridge is heavy and dark and cool....and would be better with a Marko vocal. There's even a buried guitar note at 2:35 that sounds like Marko is about to fade in with a killer vocal part. The last part of the song takes a turn into heavy opera. It's cool and echoes what we'll hear at the end of Tuomas' solo piece on Disc 2. What a weird song.

Un-singable vocal count - 2
Better off with a Marko bridge count - 3
Floor does opera count - 3

Harvest is....also so weird. I love Troy's musical additions to this band, his low harmonies fit very well in the mix, but holy shit should he not be a lead singer of Nightwish. His voice works for folk music, it works for Auri, it is so outmatched here. Not to mention: the lyrics in the song are typical Tuomas overphrasing and Troy doesn't wholly pull it off. The three part harmonies are nice, but overall the first half of this song is a throwaway for me. The second half, a big instrumental jig part, is great. I'm sure we'll be hearing this one at concerts til the end of time whether we like it or not.

Pan has the most promising start on the whole album: it's big, dramatic, syncopated, and heavy as hell! OPE spoke too soon, there's some more wacky, sing-up-and-down-the-scales-in-fluttery-whisper-voice lines for Floor to sing. le sigh. This is the most accessible these weird vocals have been yet, so at least we're on an upswing? The pre-chorus is so weird, again, just following some chromatic string lines. I think I like it, though. The chorus rules and is one of the best examples of the three part harmonies on the whole album. Floor gets to unleash her power right before the bridge (which, you guessed it, is another one that would have benefited from having Marko!). Despite not having Marko, this bridge is super twisted and cool and has Floor doing operatics in a weird demonic children's choir section. I wish the song ended without going back to the chorus, though. It would've been more powerful. The instrumental outro is fabulous, though.

Un-singable vocal count - 3
Better off with a Marko bridge count - 4
Floor does opera count - 4

How's The Heart is a beautiful song, sung beautifully, and even better acoustically. I have no negative notes. Floor slays this song and it's her most effective use of her patented "get slightly louder each verse" technique. She gets to do some light operatics before the bridge and then adds a really cool operatic harmony during the bridge. Best song on the album.

Floor does opera count - 5

Procession is fine. It's kind of this album's equivalent to Our Decades In The Sun, but not as good. It's pretty, it builds well, it has some very light opera notes in the middle during a quiet piano section. IDK, it's fine. It exists.

Floor does opera count - 6

Tribal is super interesting. It's heavy as hell, it's stirring, the drums are phenomenal...but it all feels a bit lacking. I definitely don't think it should be the shortest song on the record, that's for sure. Floor sounds awesome. She gets really visceral and shouty during the pre-bridge section...even though she buries Marko's voice which I think is singing the same notes. Damn, this tune is heavy. If ever there was a song building towards a bridge for Marko to unleash his demon voice, it's this one, here we go....okay, we've got monkey grunting, alright, the heaviness is continuing....double bass is here....here comes Marko! .......wait......where the fuck is Marko? Cool. Dumb. I guess that's it. Really nice work by Kai, though.

Better off with a Marko bridge count - 5

Endlessness rounds out the half of the album that is actually made by Nightwish. It's a dirge from beginning to end and finally Marko takes the microphone for a lead vocal. Unfortunately it's probably the most ill-suited verse melody for his voice in the history of the discography. The chorus fits way better and his powerful, despite having a severe lack of beat changes or catchiness. At least it ends with "precious and rare!" which is killer. As far as Marko songs go...this one is a bit sleepy. As far as album ending "epics" it's weak. Sad, considering it would be his last contribution.

Un-singable vocal count - 4

All The Works of Nature Which Adorn the World sure is a classical piece. It's fine. There's at least two movements with vaguely memorable pieces. I'll probably listen to it as background music in the future. It's definitely not Nightwish, though, and should not be a part of this album.

Overall, this is definitely not a Nightwish record that I love. It lacks the catchiness that I have come to love and expect from the band. It lacks the mysterious atmosphere that made all the previous albums interesting. It definitely lacks Marko. I'm not sure where the band will go from here, but I really hope they figure it out.

B-/C+

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Human. :||: Nature. (2020)
Unlike a lot of Nightwish's records, which fit right into the thralls of winter, this is a beautiful accompaniment to spring. As the cold fades away, the sun comes out more, with light breezes guiding your path, wander out into the woods and bask in the beauty of nature and music - that's the way to listen to this record.

I definitely agree with this. I would put Angels Fall First somewhere in the fall, everything else up until EFMB has been winter. The two Floor albums are definitely the epitome of early Spring listening.

I can certainly understand people having this at the bottom of their rankings just because the rest of the records are so strong, but I don't really get why a surprising amount of listeners flat out dislike it, especially since a lot of people, on this forum especially, were really into Endless Forms Most Beautiful. To me it's a natural progression. This is Tuomas diving deeper into the worlds that brought forth EFMB, using a magnifying glass to excavate more material and really explore what this new Nightwish lineup can do.

The issue is that I was not in love with that aspect of EFMB (namely TGSOE). This album is like Tuomas taking a magnifying glass to that song, which I already found bloated.

As for exploring what the band can do...sure, the three part harmony thing is nice, but I wish it did not come as a replacement for the sound previously established by the band.

It would be easy, then, to write off this record - with its band-focused, mostly single-word titled songs, featuring three part harmonies on every track, separated from the deep dive into orchestral music that closes out the album - as the band's most clinical release.

It is their most clinical release, but there's nothing easy about it.

But I don't feel like that's entirely accurate, because it misses the fact that the songs on here are all astonishing compositions, in terms of their range, their depths, and their layers. In scaling back the orchestra to merely string arrangements, the rest of the band get to play off of each other with a sense that they really know what they're doing now.

I do enjoy the more subdued approach to the orchestral production. It allows the band to shine more. However, the compositions do not. I don't think there's a single moment on this album where Emppu's guitar playing stands out to me. Marko's bass is inconsequential here. Kai gets a bit to do and Troy gets a lot, of course.

Take those three-part harmonies delivered by Floor, Marko, and Troy. The way their voices complement each other is incredible. Although I do have to say that hearing the album after Marko's departure from the group, there's almost a sense of hope and sadness being carried within his parts. It feels like he's saying, "This is the end of the line for me, but I can help guide the two newer people into the future that they'll be carrying forward with the band." To that end, it's a bit of a high note for Marko to exit on, as much as I hate that he's gone because he's still the best Nightwish member and probably always will be.

I couldn't disagree more. It seems like Marko recorded his parts at home, phoning them in while focusing on his solo record. There's nothing about his performance on this album that feels passionate and pointed to me. He's literally the least prominent voice on every song except Endlessness.

The album begins with a minimalistic intro, opening with a sort of ticking sound that feels like a clock swinging into place. The sounds of the wild give to the dawning of humans, whose creativity leads them to create their own sounds, in what becomes our first song, "Music". It kind of reminds me of earlier Nightwish songs like "She Is My Sin", especially with the way the choruses change shape over the song's runtime.

The difference is that songs like She Is My Sin built upon a simpler, far catchier melody and then found ways to enhance it by addition or subtraction. The catchiness is null here.

"Shoemaker"...The way the drumming switches back and forth between different grooves also makes me think that we're in between a couple different time signatures, although I'm not good at counting and therefore could be completely wrong. Still, fantastic choice.

I'm not sure either. It could just be oddly placed, punctual snare hits in 4/4. This is a job for @Detective Beauregard

After something that powerful, it's little surprise that the band drop things down a bit for the next song. "Harvest" is the folkiest track yet released by Nightwish, with some tribal-sounding drumming that works well in conjunction with the soft strummings the first act of the song gives us. I'm a little surprised that this isn't one of the album's most loved songs.

It may have been, with someone else singing.

"How's the Heart?" is probably the weakest track on the first disc

"The Blue", with its guiding cello bringing to mind a ship's voyage before the sounds of the sea and the swirling sirens of nature drag you down to embrace the colorful contents within the ocean. This part in particular astounds me in how well Tuomas captures the sounds of the water by using only music.

Easily the best part of the entire suite. Though to me it sounds like dinosaurs.

Troy's bagpipes as he herds sheep or some shit.

Could be an equation for Troy's entire existence in the band:

"Troy does ___________ or some shit."

"Anthropocene" brings to mind the wreckage of modern human society burning out and becoming absorbed once more by nature, before scaling back to the times of the past before we came to dominate the globe. Somewhere in here the world's oldest written song, "Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal", is included.

This is a very cool inclusion, I will say.

Ultimately, I recognize that Human. :||: Nature. just won't be an album that everyone will like, but I've found deeper appreciation for it in some regards that I never had at first. Tuomas really expands on the layers of the past few Nightwish albums to bring us something that's been scaled back in some ways and more grandiose in others. The scope here is massive, but that's coupled with the reminder that these are just a few people playing music together. I like what they did here and I'm okay with seeing them continue down this path. It doesn't feel like their being complacent; rather, it feels like they know what they want to do and nothing will get in the way of them executing it going forward. The sheer consistency of Nightwish is what I love about them above all else, and this record is, from start to finish, consistently great.

I just really, really want Nightwish to write songs on the next album. I have had enough of sonic artscapes for a theater of the mind. At his best, Tuomas was capable of creating a theater of the mind within the sonic context of an actual, catchy song. If they continue in this direction it will be disappointing.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Nightwish - A Retrospective

I have come to learn via this relistening that, as much as I mock it, I prefer the Dead Boy angst period of Tuomas' songwriting. As with all things in my tastes, moderation is key, so I lose quite a bit of interest whenever he strays too far into absurdity (Imaginaerum). Overall, this was the most rewarding trek I've made through the discography and lead me to appreciate a lot of things in the older material I had previously overlooked.

I still truly believe that the pinnacle of Tuomas' vision for this band was the Anette era, despite my feelings for her second album. The new age of Nightwish is upon us, and though Floor is easily my favorite female vocalist the band has ever had, I am not fully onboard with the more grounded, airy, earthy version of this band (especially without Marko). That said, Tuomas has surprised me before and hopefully will do so again. And hopefully it won't involve whale sounds and cum-stained dolls in attics.

Album Ranking

1. Dark Passion Play - Truly "my" Nightwish record and, despite some weaker tracks, I doubt it will ever be dethroned. Marko's peak within the band as well.

2. Century Child - Energy for days, just enough youthful craziness, and the beginning of Peak Nightwish.

3. Once - Despite some songs that fill space, the good tunes here are easily some of the best ever. A tour de force.

4. Endless Forms Beautiful - A powerful display of songwriting, even with the bloat. Floor is rad.

5. Oceanborn - So much energy! A power metal classic and some of the most fun Nightwish ever had on a recording.

6. Wishmaster - Strong songs coupled with a lot of filler.

7. Imaginaerum - The melodies are undeniable, maybe Tuomas' best, but it's repetitive as hell. The overall conceit of the thing is so fucking silly. I don't listen to this album seriously.

8. Human. :\\: Nature. - A couple great songs, a lot of misguided attempts, and a second disc that's just a solo album.

9. Angels Fall First - A demo. Shouldn't be in this discussion.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

3. Oceanborn - There are better songs on most of the following Nightwish albums, but no other album captures quite the same energy and excitement as Oceanborn. Having been unleashed into the studio for the first time, the fledging youngsters go for broke in assembling perhaps the greatest power metal record of them all. Furious keys match up against flaming guitars, and Tarja Turunen's voice soars above it all, guiding us through the dreams of the Finnish wilderness. It's a magical affair and remains one of the defining statements in the Nightwish canon.

There truly is something magical about this record. It's definitely the sleeper, the unsung hero of the discography. You could cut the energy with a knife.

4. Human. :||: Nature. - Almost 25 years after they first banded together, Nightwish is still releasing incredible music. Tuomas's visions have assembled an incredibly layered record, split into two discs to keep the band elements distinct from his orchestral fantasies. From the wondrous opening track "Music", to the operatic space exploration on "Shoemaker", to the tribal rhythms of "Harvest" and "Tribal", we get to see the band explore aspects of their music in greater detail. Additionally, the half hour instrumental "All the Works of Nature Which Adorn the World" gives us a full showcase of Tuomas's compositional skills, and Marko is given a transcendent swansong in the form of "Endlessness". It's an exploration of our species in the scope of nature that also explores the capabilities of Nightwish to their fullest.

I think you have gotten more high listening to this album than I have. Maybe that's my problem.

6. Century Child - With the exception of maybe Dark Passion Play, this is the darkest Nightwish album to date. Coming back from the brink of breakup and featuring Tuomas's most depressive songwriting, we also sail towards less operatic waters and bring on board one Marko Hietala, who adds a new spark to the band's sound that will remain with the group right up until recent times. The record isn't completely consistent, with some lesser tracks in the second half - but the first five songs are an incredibly tight run, and "Beauty of the Beast" remains their most underrated and overlooked epic. This is the band stepping beyond their youth and beginning the journey towards the would be complete on the next album.

It's the one that changed everything. This set the tone for everything that was to come in the best of ways. Also, Marko.

8. Wishmaster - Coming off the heels of Oceanborn, Nightwish incorporate some of that power metal into their third record, but also open the door to moodier and more elaborate works to come. One moment you're singing about masters, apprentices, heartborns, and seventh seekers;

Excuse me, I believe you're singing about hamsters, a dentist, hard porn, and Steven Seagal.

Oceanborn jumped way up in my ratings. This has a lot to do with the fact that I've come to like consistency over peaks. Oceanborn is incredibly consistently great even if it doesn't have some of the peaks that the other albums do.

I feel the same way about EFMB. The consistency really keeps the lesser songs afloat. When the tracks on those two records are slightly lower in quality, they are still far higher in quality than the lesser tracks on other records.

To that end they're my favorite band in terms of straight material they've produced (because I emphatically do NOT love Killers, fuck you).

At the end of it all, at least upon this we can agree wholeheartedly.

And one final thing I do have to say. I'm tired of the posturing. I love this band, I love every album they've ever made and nearly every song. I think they're fantastic players and I think that Tuomas is a genius songwriter. But I have to say that I am tired of the way the fanbase puts them on a pedestal and adores them as if they're the second coming of Christ. As much as I adore their work, they are not infallible musicians, nor are they infallible people. And Troy, I love what you add to the band, but for God's sake please stow it with the "beautiful, beautiful" bullshit. I'd love to see them perform live one day, but I think they could do with a little less seriousness about what they do. I can't think of another band that makes their concerts feel more like worship sessions.

It really is fucking gross. The Queen Tarja shit, the Valkyrie Floor shit...it all just makes me feel like Nightwish is a band for 13 year old girls, and thus, slightly reduces my overall enjoyment of their concerts.

Also, yes, please, someone take Troy's microphone away unless he's singing harmonies.

Where will they go without Marko? Time will tell, but I think the future bodes well for the band. I've finally gotten around to checking out live bits from the current tour, and sure, there's something missing without Marko, but they've adapted pretty well and the shows still look like a bunch of fun.

When I saw them last year it was still a blast. Floor has enough charisma in person to carry the band, even if her actual stage banter is still mad cringe (to quote the 13 year old contingent of the fan base). Sonically, Marko is still missed and I truly don't know how they're going to adapt a lot of songs from his albums. Dropping them would be a crime.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Auri II - Those We Don't Speak Of (2021)
Tuomas, Troy, and Johanna return to the shores of folk art for a second Auri album. This is a bit of a deeper dive into their sound, although the majority of the songs on the record are quieter, more spacious, with less of that oomph that their first release balanced in. Instrumentally they've still got a nicely woven tapestry, but with a little less of the awe that they held last time. I also keep hearing things that remind me of ABBA, if you stripped their production way back but kept the melodies.

It's certainly not a bad album, and indeed it increases my interest in where this outfit with go next. But with a few exceptions, it doesn't meet the heights of the band's first outing together. It feels like they like the vibe of "Underthing Solstice" and decided to mull in it for a little too long. But then a track like "Pearl Diving" comes along and reminds you that when the sparks are there, there is beauty to be found in Auri. Hopefully next time it'll be on a magnified display.

It is certainly less striking than their first record. The use of electronica-esque pieces is completely gone and so is a lot of the overt catchiness (a trend with current Tuomas, it seems). There is a lot of this record that feels like the most recent Nightwish record to me: almost every vocal is tracked in three part harmony and a couple songs have those bizarre, hard to sing, up-and-down-the-scale patterns that irk me.

Nevertheless, as with Auri 1, it is pleasant enough.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

I'm gonna follow @Diesel 11 down the side project rabbit hole (and maybe even go further) as I jump into Tarot...

The Spell of Iron (1986)
A solid, but terribly produced slab of traditional metal by a band that has not yet found its voice. First two songs are solid, Dancing on the Wire has a super catchy chorus, and the album closer Things That Crawl At Night is strong. There’s a couple songs with great musical moments but the overall composition is a bit weak (Back in the Fire, the title track) and a couple songs that sound like mediocre demos that could have fit on an early Iron Maiden album (Never Forever, Pharao). Some tunes completely miss the mark, like the power ballad-esque Love’s Not Made For My Kind and De Mortui Nil Nisi Bene, which literally sounds like video game music. I’m not sure how Wings of Darkness is Tarot’s most popular song, as it doesn't really stand out to me in any way. Overall, there is promise here but the production is woefully subpar. Marko has not yet found his true voice, despite delivering some huge powerhouse moments. I’m very interested to hear the 25th anniversary re-recording.

This is feel good heavy metal for when you don't want to think to much and instead want to fly towards the stars so bright, straight into the heart of night! The lyrics are a bit amateurish but even that adds to the way this record plays out. Super strong, super fun, hella good.

I totally agree that it's very fun, but I can't escape the smell of "amateur" that permeates the whole thing. If this was on in the background while I had some beers and hung out or played a video game or waited for a band to take the stage in a small metal club...I'd bob my head and enjoy it. As it is, I can't say I'll relisten because the production and sloppy songwriting are just unappealing.

Follow Me Into Madness (1988)
A big step up from the debut, with better production, tighter arrangements and performances, and slightly more polished compositions. It is a darker, heavier record with a penchant for catchy, arena-attempting choruses. Descendants of Power is a solid, fun power metal opener. Rose on the Grave is the band’s most successful composition so far, allowing space for Marko’s vocals between some creepy atmospheric riffing. Lady Deceiver is another catchy tune, but, like this entire record, it never quite reaches perfection. Sounds like the type of song that Armored Saint would have knocked out of the park in 1988. Tarot only gets it to first or second base. The title track has some weird melodic choices, but still manages to be evil and cool. Blood Runs Cold/Happy End is a messy attempt at writing a Motorhead song that for some reason ends in a hoedown. No Return and I Don’t Care Anymore are incredibly catchy, the former is fun if only to hear Marko yell “Oh baby” multiple times and the latter probably leans a bit too hard into Scorpions influence. Breathing Fire and I Spit Venom are both total messes and total misses, but Shadow in My Heart ends the record wonderfully and sounds like a doomy Dio song (if Dio sang about basic stuff like relationships). Marko is still growing into his voice here and the vocal production certainly doesn’t help as it seems to sit above the instrumentals, never fully integrating into the mix. This one has me excited far more than the debut as it seems like the band is making big improvements. I would actively relisten and enjoy this album as a cheesy piece of 80s metal fun.

The second album continues what the first started but not quite as successfully. Maybe it's a first listen thing but I'm not wowed here. Some of the straightforward rock 'n' roll kind of metal songs are solid - "Blood Runs Cold", "No Return", "I Spit Venom" (although that's an ugly fade-out) - and "Shadow in My Heart" is a cool heavy ballad closer, but a lot of these other songs plod or run together. The glam influence is a tad stronger; "Rose on the Grave" is practically a Dokken song with a better singer; "Lady Deceiver" also follows these lines with some weirder lyrics; and "I Don't Care Anymore" has an attempted big chorus that doesn't quite come together the way they think it does.

The influences are pretty shameless across the board on this record, but the songs still work far better in my opinion.

Also that fade out on I Spit Venom might be the worst fade out I've ever heard.

It's not a bad album by any means, the guitar leads are even better here, but it feels like in trying to repeat what made the previous album great they fell into a bit of a rut with writing this.

I couldn't disagree more. The debut sounds like a muddled mess of songwriting and performance. Though this sophomore effort is definitely more derivative, it's also more accomplished on all fronts.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Continuing on the Tarot train...

To Live Forever (1993)
The band loses a guitarist, adds a keyboard, and writes a double album for some reason. The first third of this album is a total mess. Do You Wanna Live Forever starts off taking a page from the Dream Theater playbook. They've added a dose of progginess to their overall sound, but unfortunately the song is way too long and the vocal melodies are not great. The Colour of Your Blood leans too hard into 90s vibes, and yet somehow still ends up sounding like a rejected Whitesnake song from 1984. The Invisible Hand has a cool groove and really nice, proggy bridge, but once again the vocal melodies are terrible and the song goes on far too long. Live Hard Die Hard is a bad Judas Priest song with an added dose of glam, a lame keyboard intro, more bad vocal melodies, and a truly awful keyboard solo. Also, as with most songs here, it's too long. Sunken Graves kicks things back to the thrashiness of the first two records, but it's incredibly messy and very bad. The intro of The Chosen heralds a new lease on quality for this record. It's a really good doom metal song with the best Marko vocals we've heard yet from the band. It's still too long and I wish it had more variation, but easily the best track yet and one of only two songs I'd go back to on this record. Born Into The Flame probably sounded date when it was released. It is, however, the first song that doesn't overstay it's welcome. In My Blood is proto-Sabaton style power metal that is completely ruined by subpar production. Seriously why can't these guys just get a halfway decent recording?! Tears of Steel, Iron Stars, and Guardian Angel are all middling doom tracks that go nowhere, the closer sounding like something Dio would have left on the cutting room floor. My Enslaver has truly dumb lyrics, but is the easiest song to enjoy on this album. It's a straightforward rocker with a cool proggy breakdown and is the only other song I'd throw on a playlist from the album. Shame sounds like a bad Deep Purple tribute band trying to write an original song. The choice to cover Children of the Grave should make sense, but the production is so bad that it sounds amateurish. All in all - another big swing and a miss for Tarot.

The bass is actually in the forefront now and man does Marko get some moments to go all in.

I do enjoy the amplified bass. The highlight of the album for me.

Fourteen tracks are a lot, and not all of them are winners. "Sunken Graves" is a bit of a mess, sounding like a bad Overkill parody. "Shame", with its Deep Purple synths, is a bit of filler. "My Enslaver" would be a bop if the lyrics weren't so dumb.

Yes, yes, and yes. Enslaver is still a bop, though. Albeit a dumb bop.

But even when they're not 100% on, Tarot are still fun.

This was actually the least fun record for me yet due to the bloat.

Stigmata (1995)
The band tighten up their sound with the keyboardist and manage to one up the previous album. Angels of Pain kicks off and, as always, the production is muddy, but it's getting ever so slightly better. Luckily, this is a great song. Sure, it sounds a lot like the kind of track that opens at least 4-5 Dio albums, but Marko sounds great and the energy is finally there. In case we have forgotten, ETI reminds us that we’re in the 1990s. The mix of grunge riffing and 80's starry keyboards is certainly weird. Not a bad song, but it just doesn’t go anywhere. Shades in Glass has a really cool main riff, with some proggy guitar and keyboard laying nicely over a bass and drum stomp, but the vocal melodies are (sigh, again...) a train wreck. As One combines Alice In Chains-style verses with a dated glam chorus and is a truly weird song. Ballad State of Grace is really good and features some of Marko's cleanest vocals ever. It kind of reminds me of 90s Fates Warning. Race the Light is another unsuccessful, messy rocker that we’ve come to expect from Tarot. Expected to Heal delves back into doom metal, sounding like a latter era Dio b-side that never develops a proper hook. The album takes a turn with the subdued acoustic ballad Sleepless, where Marko finally gets to show off his entire vocal range and it’s breathtaking. Man, what a set of pipes. The Teeth has an amazing instrumental structure, but once again pretty bad vocal melodies. With better vocals this would be the best song on the album. And finally, the title track plods in to give us another overly long doomy number. It's perfectly adequate, but it just feels like that band has written this exact song 5 times already. The double time at the end is nice, though. As with the previous Tarot albums, there is a lot of ups and downs here, but it is nice to hear Marko coming into his voice and finally getting a decent vocal production. This album has me more excited for the future than To Live Forever, that's for sure.

Stigmata (1995)
I think I can comfortably say that this is Tarot's best album so far. The band's writing ability has really grown over the past few albums and on this one we get a light dosage of prog alongside their usual formula. The songs are tight, each with their own vibe. Some of these bring back Purple and Sabbath influences, others delve into the heavy sound of the '90s. As a unit it's kind of a heavy metal treat. The band is competent enough to keep you grooving through it all.

We finally agree! Also, "competent enough" is a great way to describe Tarot.

As a whole the record is tight, with just enough looseness to let us see the band expand their horizons. This is the band maturing and ripening as songwriters and I am all here for it.

Definitely. The songwriting is especially strong here compared to the previous releases, even though it has many rough edges.