Nightwish

MrKnickerbocker said:
EFMB was solid and the best thing about it was TGSOE
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FTFY.

My girlfriend and I were discussing the new album this morning. Both of us are excited and curious to hear what’s coming up. The lengthy track on disc two is the most intriguing bit. Tuomas is definitely trying to outdo himself with this one and I’m honestly quite hyped to see what it’s going to be like. EFMB had some weaker Nightwish songs (“Our Decades”, “My Walden”), a lot of solid ones (“Shudder”, “Weak Fantasty”, etc), and one great one (“Edema Ruh”), but everything falls short compared to TGSOE, which is incredibly pretentious but is also amazingly impactful. It’s become my favorite Nightwish song after “Ghost Love Score”.

Right now I feel like ATWONWATW will be the clincher that will overshadow the rest, but this whole affair could just be a massive flop. I doubt that, though, because even the band’s weakest moments are still decently good. I’m definitely hyped and will pre-order it as soon as that becomes possible.
 
Hmm . . . I'll reserve judgement until we start hearing tracks but it looks as if Tuomas' ego has now expanded to such proportions that it now requires its own postcode. I foresee many a meandering, long-winded interlude and precious few short tracks, but I'm more than happy to be proven wrong on this front.
 
Black Wizard said:
'Endless Forms Most Beautiful' was a great album in 2015 and is a great album today. While 'The Greatest Show On Earth' was somewhat pompous and self-indulgent, the vocal parts from Floor are great and the song comes across more bearable live as it was truncated a bit.
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Why, it's quite fine you liked it, but "great"? Really? I admit I sputtered some random infatuated sentiments back when it came out, but I'm definitely not able to get back there now. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad album and I would still give it a spin anytime, in fact, when I look at the tracklist I realise I mostly like most of the songs... but... but...

The concept is fine, I don't mind that. A bit un-Nightwishy to me (also the reason I'm not all that crazy about the next one continuing that path), but cool in theory and acceptable in execution. They even managed to cherry-pick the Dawkins quotes I have absolutely no problem with whatsoever and the ones I am actually able to appreciate, which is an achievement in itself. But looking at it closely ...

Floor is underutilised and Marco is criminally absent. Sorry, but you know it's true. Floor is an awesome, flabbergasting singer, she absolutely killed on Showtime, Storytime, but here it's like she was contractually obligated to... I don't know, maybe to quote Chinatown, to "do as little as possible". This is not the lass I know from ReVamp. And maybe Tuomas wanted to compensate the fact Marco grew and grew in dominance over the previous albums and made him sit this one out on the sidelines, I don't know, but I miss him.

I love and cherish both the opening and the title track. A cool, catchy bangers with some heavy-handed, but charming lyrics (I mean, seriously, "greet a blade of grass" is both cheesy as fuck and also kinda awesome and you don't often get stuff that would manage to be both) and so on. Still, neither really brings anything new to the table and the title track is mostly just Bye Bye Beautiful once again. No complaints here, because the track is really cool on its own, but still. Alpenglow is indeed very beautiful and I love it, though I still feel there's some Bye Bye Beautiful adoration once again. Is it the rhythm or something else? Whatever.

Weak Fantasy... is possibly the best performance by Floor, because honestly, those breathy verses are simply beautiful and she rarely gets the chance to shine otherwise. But the song never really goes anywhere and ... well, I like my anti-religion songs to be more thoughtful. Like Epica, at least, for example.

Élan is in hindsight mostly a disappointment. If I wanted a folky Nightwish, I'd go back to The Islander to which this one doesn't hold a candle at all, being more like Last of the Wilds with vocals or I Want My Tears Back with less Marco. Yours Is an Empty Hope is mostly like Master Passion Greed No. 2 (or Slaying the Dreamer No. 3) sprinkled with some of the Dark Chest of Wonders to boot. Completely forgettable. Our Decades is really plodding and My Walden is ... well, I don't like it at all. The best thing about it might be the Last Ride of the Day feel, but I'd rather go back to the original. Edema Ruh....

Diesel 11 said:
and one great one (“Edema Ruh”)
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sorry, dude, but I disliked this one when the album came out and I sure ain't starting now. It's not even the lyrical theme - I admit I was really, really bored with Rothfuss (although I admit he is very good description writer, it's just that he's a weak plotter), but Edema Ruh is simply the stuff for a band to cover as a theme. But no, the chorus is just off-putting and the song is overlong for what it is. Actually, so is the instrumental, another completely forgettable track.

And then you get to TGSOE. I don't know... I mean, I appreciate the effort, I guess? A lot of sound effects, a lot of momentum repeatedly ground to a halt, a lot of pretension... I play it from time to time, but I tend to approach it as a "bonus track", that is, often when I play the album, I skip this one. It really requires of you to be in that special place to enjoy it and I often am not. Way too overlong, way too theatrical, way too self-absorbed. Everything I dislike about Empire of the Clouds times ten.

Sorry for the rant, just trying to say why I return much more and much rather to the other albums, especially the Anette ones. I mean, Imaginaerum was very iffy at times, but much more experimental and like it for what it is. This is more like eco-friendly Nightwish by numbers who managed to drown one of the best female metal singers completely out.

That said, it's still good, but I'd much rather if the new album standed out more, whether by being astonishingly awesome or tragically terrible.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
Floor is underutilised and Marco is criminally absent.
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I’m not really bothered by less Marco because he was a force to be reckoned with on the previous albums and EFMB needed to prove that Floor had what it took to front Nightwish in the studio, so I don’t mind him standing back and only adding bits here and there for effect. But the problem is exactly as you stated: Floor was underutilized on it. She had some great moments, the endings of “My Walden” and “Our Decades”, for instance, but mostly I didn’t think she stood out enough. Which is interesting, because I think she’s the best live singer the band has ever had. Right now though, I prefer Tarja and Anette in the studio, but I’m hoping that the new album will thrust her into better light.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
sorry, dude, but I disliked this one when the album came out and I sure ain't starting now. It's not even the lyrical theme - I admit I was really, really bored with Rothfuss (although I admit he is very good description writer, it's just that he's a weak plotter), but Edema Ruh is simply the stuff for a band to cover as a theme. But no, the chorus is just off-putting and the song is overlong for what it is. Actually, so is the instrumental, another completely forgettable track.
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I find the instrumental section and bridge to be a bit weaker than I’d like, but everything else is awesome. The riff is like a glimmer of stars, the chorus is awesome (I’ve cried listening to it before), and it’s the standout track from the album for me after TGSOE.
 
So according to the Finnish version of their news article (click) being put through Google Translate, “All The Works Of Nature Which Adorn The World” is one giant instrumental.

Now that’s something completely new. Very curious as to how it works. Tuomas’s dreams of writing a film score finally realized... but as a Nightwish song?
 
KidInTheDark666 said:
Standouts for me are SBTB and Alpenglow.
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Disregarding all Ever Dream / Amaranth flashbacks I get from time to time, the beginning of Alpenglow might be actually one of my favourite NW moments ever.

But seriously, go and play the Ever Dream opening piano and Alpenglow opening strings back to back. It's the same fucking notes.

At least Escapist kinda perfected the main riff from Dead to the World.

Whatever, I'm not hating on the band or Tuomas, I love them (well, their work anyway), just being cool-headed.
 
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Crosspost from the SX thread, but felt it was relevant here.

And the first Allen-Olzon single is here:


Definitely sounds like Allen-Lande to me, the lyrics are equally lame and the chorus are equally as "uplifting". I don't know. It's fine. It's a nice Russell Allen elevator music performance. Olzon sounds...different, though. More powerful? More belting from her, maybe?
 
A Finnish review of the album: https://www.inferno.fi/uutiset/nigh...ZPtlqI0vtXGXStZy1kunNi8NS95JCfzutKAEqY64AkQ5Y

Nightwish has lived more than 20 years in a career where it has been in total conflict, or even on the verge of collapse. Now, with Human: II: Nature, Nightwish has reached the other end: it has achieved perfect harmony with itself.





Nightwish's studio albums are not biennial releases that appear regularly for people to hear, so the band stays on the road and sticks to the bread. Nightwish's albums are holistic and even larger than life, which are great releases when they come out.



The April release of Human: II: Nature will further underline this idea. That's what Inferno noticed when we got Nightwish as a guest in Levi. The first listen to the upcoming album showed that Nightwishink's band of scale can still move the human mind to this day, and much more.



It is no wonder that at the beginning of the pre-listen, Tuomas could not sense the nervousness of Holopainen or the whole Nightwish: the whole crowd was rightly confident about his creation.





No spirited fan services - genuine experiences of pure heart blood



Tuomas Holopainen could surely compose at any time into virtual fan services, even with his left hand album-like everdreams, nemas, amaranths and lanes, or with his right hand a bunch of ghostlovescore, greatestshowonearths and poetandthependulums. However, Human: II: Nature is the real fan service: the music that Holopainen wants to create. This album is not based on hits, these songs are works. Their own little worlds that tell stories beyond the reach of the imagination. Now, with Human: II: Naturella, Holopainen harnesses all of this into a Nightwish sound that sounds totally and not at all Nightwish, and is shed from there with the most genuine soul and heart blood. Just one listen will ensure that this album will endlessly shed tears all over the world. It's not a matter of course in the creeping modern world, and especially in the Nightwish-sized band that could have been a conveyor belt product.





The first record stripped from orchestras - a completely orchestral second record



Nightwish is approaching his new album, which looks almost shamanistic and yet metal-striking from new angles: the first record strongly relies on Nightwish's sound, but the most massive orchestras are now stripped down to strings, with Nightwish himself in the lead. The album is loaded with charming melodies and guaranteed to be the first time you hear the chords of great emotions immersed in consciousness, but at the same time it is a real clash between music worlds and cultures. Each song feels like a journey to a different corner or dimension of the world. Rhythms and melody strings are equally exotic and intimate, but regardless of the world, everything is bound together by the sound of Nightwish, which can no longer be compared to any other band. You notice it at the latest when the first disc, in contrast to the second disc, strips the Band Instruments completely, and plays the orchestra, still sounding like Nightwish. And in a whole new way.



Floor, Marco and Troy: the perfect harmony of three singers



As Human: II: Nature was playing, he found himself wondering over and over how one singer-orchestra could be blessed with three such unique singers whose voices still perfectly match. The magic of this trio has already become known on Nightwish tours in recent years, but Human: II: Nature is blasting Nightwish's song bank with a whole new dimension. From the most sensitive interpretation, the Floor Jansen scale achieves enormous power through more aggressive revolutions that would carry the disc alone. It's good to be prepared that when the Shoemaker song reaches its final climax with Floor's classic songs, the hairs will stand up to the toes. Not to mention when the album's concluding 7-minute Endlessness teases Marco Hietala, who has previously held back in harmonies and flashes, to solace interpretations of his back, or when Troy Donockley interprets worlds never before heard by Nightwish in his recognizable vocals in Harvest. This album is a sheer celebration of human voice in a way that Nightwish could only dream about in the last decade.



Have you missed Emppu? You gotta keep!



For many years Nightwish has been interdimensional orchestral music, with Band instruments being a part of a big ensemble. Many may have needed a bigger role for Emppu Vuorinen, known as a tough guitarist. Now you can find it! Wait a minute, for example, when you hear the Noise song with the music videos as the first single to be released on the album. These heavy riffs are not in any way an accompaniment to an orchestra, or even just to be accompanied by metal. Human: II: Naturella Emppu does not riff like Crownless's 2000 Wishmaster album. Empu's heaviest and most melodic riffs, as well as glamorous leads, are sheer 2020 Emppu.





All rhythm groups in the world beware: Kai Hahto is out!



With his last album, Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015), Kai Hahto jumped into Jukka Nevalainen's boots at the very end of the preparation of the album, and Kai played Jukka's role in many ways that Jukka himself would have been behind the pans. Now Tuomas even insisted that Hahto release himself from the shackles and play like Hahto. You hear that. Human: II: There's a drum, a pan, a jug, a bongo and a percussion in the nature that Hahto reaches from the far east to the far west on a world music scale. Human: II: Nature is more than just a journey around and through the world and humanity, and the same can be said for Hahdo's world-class work.



35-minute instrumental - like a small big movie



Someone might have thought, with the release of Human: II: Nature's track list, that its 35-minute full orchestral work is like Nightwish's instrumental always, or even close to Holopainen's Roope Duck album from a few years ago. Not nearly. If Holopainen's works sometimes include the influence of Hans Zimmer, for example, All the Works of Nature Which Adorn approaches orchestral music from different angles. It feels like its ups, downs, twists and climactic half-hour movie screen in the form of sound. So not a soundtrack-like experience, but this work doesn't even need an image to build imagery side by side. When you listen to this half hour with your eyes closed, you can't miss the words you sing. Nightwish does not stop the imagination, but the imagination starts to shake.

It’s a poor translation but the hype is still intense. Excited Diesel noises for sure.
 
Man, I love his voice, but these English translation lyrics are just terrible:


Don't think I'll ever listen to the English version of this album. It's better not understanding the words.
 
Also I’m planning on reviewing the Nightwish discography in the run-up to the release of the album. Would it be better to do it in this thread, to drum up discussion as Wiz said last year, or in the random album reviews thread, so that Wiz needn’t read them if he doesn’t want to?
 
Diesel 11 said:
That’s fair. I think I’ll just use this thread though so I don’t interrupt @Jer ’s Rush reviews, unless someone has a serious objection to it.
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Don’t worry about interrupting anything — it’ll take me quite a while to get through 19 albums, and the point of that thread is for random reviews. I’m just doing the Rush reviews there because I didn’t want to spam the band thread with that much stuff.
 
Jer said:
I’m just doing the Rush reviews there because I didn’t want to spam the band thread with that much stuff.
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Could someone explain to me the logic of that? I always thought the Random thread is meant for the situations, I don't know, I'm listening to the new Orphaned Land album and want to comment on it and they don't even have a thread, so I can safely use the random thread.
But commented discographies used to either have their own threads or were done in the band threads (or, well, during Survivors, which is a bit passé, methinks). Sorry, but this doesn't make sense and I don't even know what's the reasoning behind it.

Reviews are not spam and - disregarding Neil's recent passing - what "stuff of greater importance" is going to be brought down with such "spam"? Seriously.

Cause threads that are mostly "New dates in Spokane, Tacoma and Aberdeen!" "Maybe I'm going to the Aberdeen one. Sucks they don't do Boise." are apparently the most exciting ever. Well, not even that in Rush's case.

You see, believe me or not, I go through the reviews/commented discographies, at least sometimes. I admit that the current inflation of reviews in the past... two years or so? (I'm looking at you, Diesel) made me mostly uninterested, but especially when I discover a new band or I'm returning to it, I'm interested in what the people here said about it and e.g. relatively recently I even collected pretty much every comment on Opeth and their discography around here and put it in a single document for reading/listening convenience, so it's like a huuuuuge commented discography.

So yes, I want to read at least some of the reviews. And doing that via searching for band names and, like, discerning which search result might be a review and clicking it one after another is just... meh and I'm really disinclined to do that.

And sure, Nigthwish are one of the bands I'd want to read.

So for what it's worth, Dizzy, I'd appreciate if you did it here. Or at least in a new commented discography thread, that's up to you. Please.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
Could someone explain to me the logic of that? I always thought the Random thread is meant for the situations, I don't know, I'm listening to the new Orphaned Land album and want to comment on it and they don't even have a thread, so I can safely use the random thread.
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In my particular case, I figured carpet bombing the Rush thread with 19 album reviews in a row might be annoying to people trying to have other conversations there, so I just dropped a message in that thread with a link to the random review thread for anyone who might be interested. In other cases where I’ve done a small number of reviews I’ve done them directly in the band thread. I could see an argument either way.
 
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