Random album reviews

[The Dissident]

Iced Earth - Iced Earth
Format: CD/Digital

Iced Earth's debut album, an album which kicks off the run of alternating lead singers for a few albums, and one which is known for having rather poor lead vocals on it as a whole. Released towards the end of 1990, the album comes right as the music scene would begin to shift away from the poppier metal into the heavy thrash and grunge scene domination. First things first, Gene Adam is not a strong vocalist and that holds back many of these songs from being much better, but he does have some potential that is seen throughout the record, his vocal approach in some spots sounds like he is trying to be Midnight or Geoff Tate from Crimson Glory and Queensryche, which highlights his lack of power in those spots. The album shines in the guitar work, melodic in spots, and bone crushing in others. The melodic opening to Written On The Walls is amazing and beautiful, then it soon shifts into a monstrous heavy rocker and then finally into an acoustic based piece for a while, the band shows their talents at every turn just in spots it doesn quite click. I don't get why there needed to be two instrumental tracks on the album, especially side by side, maybe if they had been separated it would have been better. Every band has to start somewhere, and this debut shows that Iced Earth will be a powerful force once they hit their stride. The albums highlights are, Iced Earth, Written On The Walls and the closing epic When The Night Falls.

Funeral frankly should of had a proper set of lyrics written for it, even if it was mostly instrumental more would have been appreciated as the instrumental is pretty darn impressive. Iced Earth is a nice opener and introduces the bands thematic approach to their music. Written On the Walls as mentioned before is progressive and features several changes and When The Night Falls is the albums closing sprawling epic, which just hammers down on the positives and the negatives of the album, it is a nice closer and works quite well but really should be so much stronger than it already is.

3 Stars​

 

[The Dissident]

Going For The One - Yes
Format: CD/Digital

Yes' eigth album continues their trend of having very few tracks for a full albums runtime, this time the album has 5 tracks with its runtime being just under 40 minutes. Going For The One has some spread in the length of the tracks with 3 middle length/longer tracks, a sprawlnig epic and a nice shorter radio friendly lengthed track. This album plays to the bands tropes as one would expect, brilliant guitar and keyboard work is delivered throughout the album from start to finish. Drums are powerful and percise, and the bass work is incredible. Vocals remain ethereal throughout many of the tracks but provide enough shifts to make the songs each shine in their own way vocally. The title track is quite upbeat and is the weakest track here but that isn't saying a whole lot since the album is pretty darn amazing, and this track still is enjoyable. Turn Of The Century demonstrates the bands ability to tell stories through song excellently and the guitar work from Steve Howe is top notch. Jon Anderson's acoustic track Wonderous Stories is a nice tranquil piece which naturally was chosen to be a single for the album. Chris Squire's Parallel is a nice groove filled track which excels in highlighting his basswork in addition to Alan White's drums and Rick Wakeman's keyboards. It along with Turn Of The Century are masterpieces and the highlights of the non-epics of the album. Absolutely brilliant.

And then, there is Awaken, a track not comprised of multiple little individual pieces but instead one massive work of art, it is a beautiful epic, sung brilliantly by Jon Anderson, melodic and beautiful throughout, it allows every band member to shine, Howe and Wakeman especially, I don't know what it is about Yes that just makes everything seem to click in the end but they have harnessed whatever magic that is here into a masterpiece of a track. The album is phenomenal and should be held in high regard.

5 Stars​

 

[The Dissident]

Tyr - Black Sabbath
Format: CD/Digital

Tyr is Black Sabbath's first album of the 1990s and their third album featuring Tony Martin on lead vocals making him the bands longest serving non-Ozzy lead singer album wise, although he would regain this following Dio's brief return. Regardless back to Tyr following up Headless Cross isn't an easy feat and I believe the band did an admirable job doing so although it doesn't feel like the same band who wrote Black Sabbath, War Pigs or Children Of The Grave anymore, instead it is a contination of the band who wrote Heaven And Hell, Children Of The Sea and the eras which followed in suit. It is because of these differences that this won't appear to purists of the Black Sabbath name, but it does a great job with sounding like a continuation of the Ronnie James Dio era of the band.

Anno Mundi is frankly a Black Sabbath Queen song, it has some really melodic harmonies right from the start, the vocals are incredible just like on the previous album, although they aren't quite as mind blowing on the first listen as the aforementioned album is. Tony Martin owns his position as lead singer and rightfully so. Tony Iommi however hasn't lost anything the godfather of heavy metal lays down some amazing tracks throughout this album, Sabbath Stones being one prime example where he delivers a progressive, but very much in the vein of the original albums twisted for the modern era. Jerusalem is a mini epic which has a very strong verse.

The Law Maker tries to be a short compact catchy rocker, it misses out on the catchy component, and for me is the weakest track on the album, although the ballad Feels Good To Me also is on the weaker end of the album, both tracks are worth a listen but aren't on the same level as the aforementioned tracks nor the medley.

The Battle Of Tyr - Odin's Court - Valhalla is an excellent string of tracks which should be listened to in a single sitting, the short introduction of the first instrumental track segues perfectly into the acoustic middle section, adding another new element to the bands sound, although there has been acoustic work previously, before ultimately coming into a high octane vocal performance as Valhalla closes out the track with umph and energy. A great medley which I feel should have been a singlular track with subtitled sections instead of being 3 individual tracks. It is a prime example of all the positives of this album, the variety while still feeling like a natural evolution from Black Sabbath. I wonder what would have been if they had continued instead of Ronnie returning, although Dehumanizer is another brilliant album.

4 Stars​

 

[The Dissident]

Stiff Upper Lip - AC/DC
Format: CD/Digital

AC/DC's fourteenth studio album Stiff Upper Lip is their first of the 2000s and their first in roughly 5 years. An album which rarely from my own experience gets mentioned as an underrated AC/DC album, nor as one of their good ones. What I will say is this album is okay, nothing great on it, but the album isn't awful by any means. It just has some major flaws in it. The title track is actually a pretty decent mid tempo track, Brian does sound very similar to the other 21st century albums in terms of his performance, gone are the days of For Those About To Rock and Back In Black screams, instead we get a consistent performance of mid ranged wails and some rasp. Many tracks on this album sound like your typical coockie cutter AC/DC which weakens the album as a whole, because all the tracks are basically mid tempo rockers without much variation in their structure, length or tempo. Highlights include: Satellite Blues, which is on the faster side for the album, with a real hook filled guitar line and the tempo adds a lot of variety to the track comparred to the others on the album. Stiff Upper Lip is a nice blues filled track calling back to the bands roots a bit more than the rest of the tracks. Safe In New York City is pretty decent tempo wise but has a fairly unoriginal chorus. The two tracks with Can't in the title are decent rockers with nice guitar lines. Damned has a good solo. All Screwed Up has a nice intro riff and would be a nice opener for the album since it has a wicked hook to it. Give It Up is a nice higher octane closer but wow is this albums pacing awful. But as a whole the album lacks enough variety to make it an impressive package in one sitting. What I think would be beneficial is to put these tracks into a larger AC/DC playlist and listen to them on shuffle since that should reduce the issue of the tempo all being the same, creating some variety.

2 Stars

My plan is to finish off a few discographies by the new year, seeing as I only have 1-2 albums left for: Black Sabbath, Dio, AC/DC it would be nice to wrap them up since I have a few other bands I want to finish up runs for but they have a fair bit more left.​

 

[The Dissident]

Forbidden - Black Sabbath
Format: CD/Digital

Forbidden is the final album of the Tony Martin years of Black Sabbath, and the end of the singers final tenure with the band, as the band would reunite with Ozzy Osbourne and later Ronnie James Dio then back to Ozzy for their final album which would come 18 years later. Widely known as one of if not the worst album in the bands catalog... and I kinda like it, is it a great album, not by any means, but there are some really solid tracks here, but like my previously reviewed album, there are major flaws.

Lets start with what isn't good about this album, first and foremost, the songwriting isn't top notch here, the band wasn't all together for this album nor did they take the time to really perfect the tracks, the album is a contractual obligation which shows in its overall quality. Another major issue on this album for me is that Tony Martin's performance isn't nearly as strong as he was on albums like Headless Cross and The Eternal Idol which reduces the effectiveness of some of these tracks quite a bit. Some songs are dying for a scream like at the end of Nightwing or the commanding chorus of Headless Cross. Another issue is the overall production isn't the strongest in many areas resulting in the songs having a bit of weakness. Finally the weak tracks truely are weak, and there are just a few too many of them on the album as a whole, these tracks for me are The Illusion of Power and Can't Get Close Enough shouldn't have made the cut, while Sick And Tired and Shaking Off The Chains need some reworking but have potential. The Illusion Of Power has such a great title but is a steaming hot mess of disapointment.

Now, here comes the part where everyone will hate me, as I will comment on the good things about this album, first and foremost, Tony Iommi clearly cares about the album since he does deliver some incredible riffs throughout, amazing solos and a brutal tone in many cases. Tony Martin sounds good throughout, not great but good. He has some moments int he aforementioned songs which really he isn't the greatest, the prime example being Shaking Off The Chains being a song where he could sound much better and the song could be good. There are 3 songs which deserve call outs for being great tracks, I Won't Cry For You, Forbidden and Kiss Of Death. The first is a ballad, while it could be a better ballad it still is a good emotional track which is well delivered as a whole, it isn't a Children Of The Sea or a When Death Calls but it is definetely a good enjoyable track. Forbidden is a mini epic which is the highlight track of the album, excellent delivery on everyones parts, this should have been longer and more elaborate but the compact package is excellent. Kiss Of Death is a nice album closer another slower track but well worth it, of these 3 standouts it is the least impressive but it is a nice calm ending the album.

3 Stars (Barely)

I should mention I do agree this is the worst album I've heard by them, Cross Purposes will be done soon.​

 

[KidInTheDark666]

It's a good album, I have it on vinyl.

 

[The Dissident]

Cross Purposes - Black Sabbath
Format: CD/Digital

Black Sabbath's seventeenth album, and the final one required to complete the proper discography run of the legendary band, it is the band follow up to Dehumanizer once again featuring Tony Martin on lead vocals having replaced Ronnie James Dio following the latter's refusal to open up for Ozzy Osbourne. That screams Black Sabbath to me. This is the only Tony Martin era album to contain more than just Tony Iommi from the original band, featuring Geezer Butler on bass for the only time.

Overall this record is incredibly balanced, with a few tracks slightly higher in quality, and this album doesn't deserve the poor repuation it deserves, it isn't a masterpiece like Headless Cross was from this era but it is an incredible album with brilliant performances which sadly didn't fully continue onto the next album, but it is a worth follow up to Dehumanizer. I Witness is a strong opener, nice and rocking with the feeling of the bands shorter album tracks and concert openers and closers of old. Evil Eye is a great epic which shows off Tony Martin's vocal pipes brilliantly, in fact this track and Psychphobia are the top two songs on the album for me, with the latter having on of Tony Iommi's best guitar performances of the record. Cardinal Sin takes a leaf out of Kashmir's book and makes it heavier, this and a few others on the album have shorter runtimes but boy do they have that mini-epic feeling to them that makes the tracks seem longer than they actually are.

The weakest track on the album is Virtual Death it has a slower vocal delivery, that just drones on. That really is my only complaint about anything, this album is consistent and well done throughout. The ballads are nice while not mind blowing they do their job and the band rocks hard. I'm glad I left this one till last.

4 Stars​

 

[The Dissident]

Blow Up Your Video - AC/DC
Format: CD/Digital

AC/DC's final 80s album, their eleventh overall and the fifth overall album with Brian Johnson. Up front, this album is followed up by The Razors Edge which is widely praised as one of the bands comeback albums this doesn't bode well for the album released a few years prior to it... and frankly based on the overall quality of most post For Those About To Rock albums it is a fair statement to say Razors Edge is a comeback record.

The content itself of the record isn't the strongest, it does have a couple decent tracks, such as Heatseeker, Two's Up and Nick's Of Time. The two side openers are strong and direct rockers with nice hooks, Two's Up has a slower tempo and is the albums longest track. Frankly only Heatseeker could really live up to the other high standards of AC/DC. The biggest issues for the album as a whole are that Brian is low in the mix and his lyrics aren't the strongest. I'm pretty certain that had the band used better songwriters I really believe these songs could have had some traction. Oddly enough Heatseeker was the bands highest chart hit until 2013, when Highway To Hell overtook it in the charts, which I find incredible, especially considering the band didn't play said tune after 1991. The album as a whole is some solid filler rock. Not great, but not something unlistenable.

2 Stars (I'm not doing halfs...)​

 

[The Dissident]

Magica - Dio
Format: CD/Digital

Dio's eight studio album and the first of his planned Magica Trilogy which sadly won't ever come to fruition. A concept record written from the villains side of the story, featuring magic, heroes, good and evil the album is a very Ronnie type of album. It is a pretty solid album throughout, starting off with two small tracks which really could be a single introductory track but it is what it is. The album itself is backloaded, with the first half being pretty solid, with only Fever Dreams really being a standout in the first 7 tracks. Ronnie sounds pretty good throughout, he was in his late 50s when he sung on the album, and it does show in his performance in some spots, his voice has gotten a little darker with age, I personally am not a fan of his later vocals on new tracks, he still brought it live to the older tracks. That being said, the music has been tuned down to fit this aged version of his voice and as a result the album is fairly heavy. Another positive of the sound of the album is the brilliance of Ronnie does show through in the songs and their connectivity.

The album has roughly 4 tracks that I feel are worth singling out for the performances, Fever Dreams is the earliest of them on the album, I find this track would have been a smash hit on an earlier album, the heavy crunch and the sheer power behind Ronnie's voice give great call backs to his early 80s performances. Challis is a brilliant mini epic which really brings the quality up following a song, Eriel ,which I didn't enjoy much. As Long As It's Not About Love is an excellent ballad, although with a stupid name, this highlight Ronnie's soft vocal approach which hasn't lost any power over the years and is probably his strongest individual vocal performance of the album. Finally Losing My Insanity is another dramatic rocker which works well with arguably the strongest riff of the album.

As a whole package Magica isn't a great album, but it remains a good album, had it been released earlier in his career I think it would have had a lot of recognition.

3 Stars​

 

[The Dissident]

Drama - Yes
Format: Vinyl

Yes released their 10th studio album, and their first without Jon Anderson on lead vocals in Yes canon, and their first album of the 1980s a relatively brief 6 track album. With a new keyboardist and singer the band do have something to prove with this release lets see what they did with this situation. They make a proper Yes album, although the lack of Jon and Rick is noticable in spots. The album has a masterpiece, 3 great tracks, a good track and one which needs some work. White Car being the track that needs reworking, it is a track which I personally feel only is there to fill a little bit of time, clocking in under 2 minutes and only a single verse, it could be quite strong if extended and reworked but it isn't a great track. Run Through The Light is pretty good, it is a more experimental track. Trevor Horn is a very well chosen replacement for Jon Anderson he even sounds scarily like the original singer in some parts of the album. The remaining 4 tracks are top quality Yes each has moments in which they shine, Tempus Fugit is a nice fast paced poppier track, Into The Lens is a fun track which builds to a great conclusion, Does It Really Happen? is another upbeat track which has a wicked Chris Squire bass line. These 3 tracks are all top shelf Yes although in some spots the vocals are too high in the mix. Finally we have the albums opener and the real masterpiece of the record Machine Messiah a 10 minute epic in which Trevor shows off his amazing pipes and instantly can be accepted into the band. It is the star of the album.

4 Stars​

 

[The Dissident]

Night Of The Storm Rider - Iced Earth
Format: CD/Digital

Iced Earth a band which I've had a mixed relationship with over the last year ranging from unable to listen to as I wasn't accustomed to the more thrash oriented vocals to now enjoying quite a bit while still getting used to the vocals. This is the bands second album, and it features a new lead singer thankfully. While John Greely leaves a lot to be desired vocally he is much better than Gene Adams. Night Of The Stormrider is a brilliant album from an instrumental perspective, the band is firing on all cylinders and they have something to prove, and they succeeded in proving their point.

This album is incredibly consistent, the quality throughout is stable with only 1 track being lower quality than the others and a single track standing out above the rest. Angel's Holocaust is a great opener, the symphonic feeling to it is really great and I like how it segues into Stormrider although I know this does change up on the Days Of Purgatory versions of the tracks, the opening salvo is great with the only real weakness in them being the main weakness throughout the album, John well both of them, aren't that great singers which brings down some songs a fair bit, the most notable is the weakest track, Desert Rain which really needs a better singer like their upcoming singer Matt Barlow to take over especially on the chorus. Mystical End, has a nice calmer opening which really suits John's vocals.

The album has two rather short tracks both of which fall more under the we needed something to suit the concept record and push the story role on the album, both are well done and sung in a more clean midranged tone, then there is the final track of the record, Travel In Stygian which stands high above the rest of the album as the masterpiece of the album, don't get me wrong, I don't like the vocals in spots, but wow is it an absolute masterpiece of a song to end off a really good concept record. Following the release of this the band would disband for a little while and 4 years, 3 if you're in North America, the band would return with Burnt Offerings and some new ginger singer named Matt Barlow.

4 Stars​

 

[MindRuler]

Blow Up Your Video - AC/DC
Format: CD/Digital

AC/DC's final 80s album, their eleventh overall and the fifth overall album with Brian Johnson. Up front, this album is followed up by The Razors Edge which is widely praised as one of the bands comeback albums this doesn't bode well for the album released a few years prior to it... and frankly based on the overall quality of most post For Those About To Rock albums it is a fair statement to say Razors Edge is a comeback record.

The content itself of the record isn't the strongest, it does have a couple decent tracks, such as Heatseeker, Two's Up and Nick's Of Time. The two side openers are strong and direct rockers with nice hooks, Two's Up has a slower tempo and is the albums longest track. Frankly only Heatseeker could really live up to the other high standards of AC/DC. The biggest issues for the album as a whole are that Brian is low in the mix and his lyrics aren't the strongest. I'm pretty certain that had the band used better songwriters I really believe these songs could have had some traction. Oddly enough Heatseeker was the bands highest chart hit until 2013, when Highway To Hell overtook it in the charts, which I find incredible, especially considering the band didn't play said tune after 1991. The album as a whole is some solid filler rock. Not great, but not something unlistenable.

2 Stars (I'm not doing halfs...)​

Two´s Up is my favorite AC/DC song

 

[Kalata]

Two´s Up is my favorite AC/DC song

''Two's Up'' is one of those hidden great songs of AC/DC. In a way, it's a unique song for them. I like it a lot (especially the riff).

 

[The Dissident]

Creatures Of The Night - Kiss
Format: CD/Digital

1982, Kiss unleashes their 10th studio album, following their late 70s and early 80s albums which were considered lesser, this album is considered one of the bands heaviest if not the heaviest. It also serves as their final album with their makeup personas for sixteen years. I personally think the make up gimmick is brilliant as it helps reduce the visual aging of the band on stage when they use it but I guess it was time for a change. Creatures Of The Night has 9 tracks total, 5 for Gene to sing and 4 for Paul which makes this the first album by them to not feature another member on lead vocals. New members Vinny Vincent and Eric Carr, the latter of whom had played on their previous album and really Vinny isn't on the whole album since the band had a massive amount of ghost musicians playing guitar parts, and a large chunk of Gene's as well.

Lets start with Paul's tracks, kicking off the album is the title track Creatures Of The Night which is the albums strongest track, a brilliant and ferocious rock track which has some thunderous drums from Eric Carr this is a running theme of the album, he puts in a stellar performance. Creatures is a direct track, greta vocals from Paul whom is singing as strong as he has throughout the career the man is a natural frontman. Keep Me Comin' is the only track sung by Paul that features Gene on bass, this is a pretty fun track, it and Danger are good songs, quite commerical sounding. The final Paul song is I Still Love You a massive power ballad with Eric Carr's brutal drumming and a brilliant vocal from Paul this is the closest track to the title track in terms of quality. Absolutely brilliant.

Gene's tracks make up most of the heavier tracks that aren't the title track, I Love It Loud and War Machine are excellent heavier tracks, I Love It Loud has the band singing brilliant backing vocals on the chorus, this was another really strong aspect of the album. It is easily the most accessible Gene track. War Machine feels like a sequel to God Of Thunder in that Gene is deep into his Demon persona and it really works on this track, it fits well into their live show and is one of Gene's theatrical pieces in the show. Another worth mentioning is Killer which has a really nice guitar harmony.

My overall thoughts are this album is a really strong Kiss album, while there are some weaker tracks but thats mainly due to Gene's vocal being less than ideal on them, it has enough great tracks to more than make up for it. I think each singer has 2 excellent tracks, with the rest being quite good barring Saints And Sinner. A well made album and a good track to follow The Elder and it barely passes the threshold for a 4 star ranking.

4 Stars​

 

[The Dissident]

Angels Fall First - Nightwish
Format: CD/Digital

Nightwish emerges onto the scene in late 1997, in what I would consider, a solid, slightly uneven but accessible debut. A nine song album, if you combine all the parts of the closing track like their meant to be, offering variety but not without its flaws, it is clear this band is unique upon the release and some elements of their later work can be seen from the start. Tarja is an excellent vocalist and this album is a very good showing from her barring some sections where she tries to harmonise with Tuomas which I will talk about in a bit. Elvenpath is a nice opening track, fun and accessible from the start, especially in subject matter being related to the Lord Of The Rings which would be released a few years later. The song introduces the listened to some of Nightwish's troups, in the spoken word introduction, powerful operatic and melodic female vocals, and their symphonic sound, although the latter is held back here. The acoustic title track Angel's Fall First is absolutely amazing, I'm surprised the band hasn't revisited it since 1998! An excellent show of Tarja's singing and the band softer side. Lappi (Lapland) is another excellent track, a monstrous atmospheric epic, which closes out the album and one that has never been played live. The back half of the album is pretty solid throughout with the tracks I'd be better off without come very early and they all suffer from one major flaw. Tuomas isn't a great singer, he isn't bad, but he just doesn't fit in with Tarja, I'm happy he stopped singing after this album. This results in the songs Beauty And The Beast and The Carpenter being below the baseline for the albums quality. He tries and musically the songs are decent but for me the vocals don't help. A nice and pleasent debut.

3 Stars​

 

[The Dissident]

Oceanborn - Nightwish
Format: CD/Digital

NIghtwish returns a little over a year after their debut with a monstrous follow up album, Oceanborn is a step towards the masterful symphonic sound that the band has continued on the path of since their debut. It is a huge increase in quality from their debut album. From the cover art to the final notes of the closeing track Walking In The Air, it is a strong musical experience. Opening with the operatic masterpiece Stargazers, it is clear the band is diving right into an operatic metal approach, it works excellently on this track with the fast and hard instruments below the soaring vocals of Tarja another track that does it quite well is the lead single, Sacrement Of Wilderness and its immediate follow up Passion Of The Opera. These tracks feature brilliant vocals from Tarja whom has gone fully into the operatic approach for these tracks, reaching the stratosphere with her vocals. Beautiful and so unique at least to the things I've listened to. The album has two tracks which don't do much for me, both of which feature some less than stellar male vocals, Devil And The Deep Dark Ocean and The Pharoah Sails To Orion, the vocals are stronger than the previous album but still not that great, I wonder what these would sound like with Troy or Marko having sung the lead vocals, but neither are in the band at this point so the point is mute.

Some other highlights are the tasteful instrumental Moondance which as I have established, I don't like instrumentals, this one is pleasent and highlights the multi instrumental component of the band which I feel is a well used opportunity, although the song could have had some vocals added to it even if brief. Walking In The Air was a nice cover, I think covers are an odd choice to close albums with but it was well done. Swanheart was strong ballad, which also highlights other isntruments, specifically the flute.

Overall an excellent follow up, and a great step forwards in the bands evolution. I'm so happy I gave them another chance. (I had bought decades when it came out and at the time the sound didn't jive with my taste).

4 Stars​

 

[Jer]

Oceanborn - Nightwish
Format: CD/Digital
4 Stars​

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote, though I’d probably land a bit higher on final rating. Love this album, and I nominated it for the GMAC. None of the Nightwish albums I tried after this came anywhere near this level, so I gave up on them and stopped paying attention. Started hearing their more recent stuff via the GMAC, but it definitely doesn’t have the special sound this album did.

Also, some amusing related work from a much younger @Jer that some stranger liked enough to immortalize on YouTube:

 

[The Dissident]

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote, though I’d probably land a bit higher on final rating. Love this album, and I nominated it for the GMAC. None of the Nightwish albums I tried after this came anywhere near this level, so I gave up on them and stopped paying attention. Started hearing their more recent stuff via the GMAC, but it definitely doesn’t have the special sound this album did.

Also, some amusing related work from a much younger @Jer that some stranger liked enough to immortalize on YouTube:

If I were still posting my % rating it would have been 87%. A stellar and consistent album. It is my 2nd highest of the Tarja era after Once. I just finished Wishmaster and it sits a little bit below.

 

[The Dissident]

Wishmaster - Nightwish
Format: CD/Digital

Wishmaster was released in the early months of the year 2000, this is the final album of the Tarja era which I needed to listen to, so here we are. This album is very consistent throughout which works both for it and against it. Wishmaster a more typical album than the bands previous outting, featuring less operatic vocals overall, Tuomas has stated that this album is less personal than the others and is one which the band doesn't revisit as much. There are some themes which reappear in other albums here, such as Sirens, The Lord Of The Rings and an image of a dead boy.

She Is My Sin is an excellent harder rocking track for the band, and a strong choice in album opener. It is a great example of the bands beautiful combination of musicianship and vocals. Come Cover Me is catchy from the start and keeps hold throughout. While the two closing epics are absolutely monstrous tracks which fill two different roles for an album epic. The title track is fun and there are plenty of harmonies to go around throughout it. There however are three tracks which are on the lower end, The Kinslayer has an awkward vocal delivery, but being about Columbine it makes more sense to have a bit of discomfort to go along with it. Wanderlust and Crownless are too fast as a whole, especially the former, good songs but the speed results in the sound becoming a bit of a mess in spots.

Although the two shining examples of the bands brilliance are the aforementioned epics, Dead Boy's Poem and FantasMic. The former is a dark epic ballad of sorts, emotive with a very clear shift in tone from the very start. It begins soft, with spoken word then it shifts just Tarja as the band fades back in coming up in force, a well used choice. FantasMic feels like a massive show closer and it does an excellent job doing so on the album, the fast paced segment is what really drives home the choice as an album closer.

3 Stars​

 

[Diesel 11]

the special sound this album did.

See, what I love about Nightwish so much is that every album of theirs has a special sound. I think I mentioned elsewhere that they’re the only band I truly love every album from. There’s always a constant evolution built on the past, and with each release new layers are added.