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Nightwish - Dark Passion Play review



Reviewer:
7.5

1273 users:
7.74
Band: Nightwish
Album: Dark Passion Play
Release date: September 2007


Disc I
01. The Poet And The Pendulum
02. Bye Bye Beautiful
03. Amaranth
04. Cadence Of Her Last Breath
05. Master Passion Greed
06. Eva
07. Sahara
08. Whoever Brings The Night
09. For The Heart I Once Had
10. The Islander
11. Last Of The Wilds
12. 7 Days To The Wolves
13. Meadows Of Heaven
14. Reach [Amaranth demo] [bonus]

Disc II [limited edition]
01. The Poet And The Pendulum [Instrumental]
02. Bye Bye Beautiful [Instrumental]
03. Amaranth [Instrumental]
04. Cadence Of Her Last Breath [Instrumental]
05. Master Passion Greed [Instrumental]
06. Eva [Instrumental]
07. Sahara [Instrumental]
08. Whoever Brings The Night [Instrumental]
09. For The Heart I Once Had [Instrumental]
10. The Islander [Instrumental]
11. Last Of The Wilds [Instrumental]
12. 7 Days To The Wolves [Instrumental]
13. Meadows Of Heaven [Instrumental]

Disc III [Limited 3CD Box Edition]
01. Escapist
02. Meadows Of Heaven [orchestral version]
03. The Poet And The Pendulum [demo]

All eyes have been on Nightwish over the last three years following the huge commercial success of previous album "Once" and of course also the dramatic letting go of previous vocal powerhouse Tarja. Now more than ever Tuomas and company have immense pressure placed upon them to deliver the goods with the sixth full length edition to the Nightwish catalogue.

As bombastic and grand as they have ever sounded, the fourteen minute monster of an opening track "The Poet And The Pendulum" is not just a statement to anyone who may have questioned the future of the band, but is also if you will, the title track with the pendulum on the front cover of the album and is also the epitome of the whole album to come. The band sound as heavy as they have ever been before - full of sound, many layers, the backbone of the music is still the same but of course the slightly different line-up brings with it some slight changes. One of the unique selling points of Nightwish was Tarja and her strong, classical, operatic voice booming over the metallic symphonies, but Anette has more of a rock type of singing that just does not project as Tarja's did, it isn't as powerful and has nothing really unique about it at all, but this still doesn't mean she doesn't have a sweet voice.

"Dark Passion Play" although still very much a Nightwish album is one of the most adventurous outings of the band's history. The album is more diverse than anything we have heard before and must be the bravest as well opening with a near quarter of an hour epic. "Amaranth" sounds very commercial and appealing to the wider audience, "Master Passion Greed" must be the heaviest thing this band have ever put onto CD with furious guitaring, double bass drumming and Marco taking to the lead vocal position, and to another far out tangent of the musical spectrum of the album we even have strong folk elements with "The Islander" and "Last Of The Wilds" that seem to work surprisingly well. The band clearly show with this album that they are not just a typical, simple one-track female fronted symphonic metal band that many people may pass them off for these days.

This is a long album running in at just over seventy-five minutes and so almost inevitably we have some forgetful and morbidly bland tracks, "Eva" being the worst culprit here, I am sure this track must have some deep value in it somewhere but you just can't hear it. It is the slow track of the album that is neither stirring or emotional, nothing special here at all. "Sahara" and "7 Days To The Wolves" also slip way below the radar as well as a couple of other average tracks on the album that unfortunately fail to capture your imagination.

It is difficult to say the least to simultaneously arouse the attention of the two worlds of popular commercial success and the more underground true heavy metal listeners, but this album is one that will please both camps. This still has that Nightwish charm about it, but if you purchase this album hoping it will be just like the others you may be a little let down - not because this is of a lesser quality, but has just adopted a slightly different style which may in fact introduce new fans to the band. "Dark Passion Play" will understandably split the listening audience as most things would after such a change, but this is probably the best album the band could have made given their circumstances and the pressure, and they certainly deserve a thumbs up for the brave effort.





Written on 28.09.2007 by Member of Staff since 2006


Comments page 2 / 4

Comments: 102   Visited by: 462 users
29.09.2007 - 11:49
insanity.peppers

Written by Raziel X on 29.09.2007 at 02:10

And the album is IMO one of the smoothest I have ever heard. Those 76 or so minutes pass as fast as a short death metal CD


My thoughts exactly. You know they've done something right then.
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29.09.2007 - 12:16
Locke
Account deleted
It's certainly different. Not bad, just different. Marco steals every song he sings in (bye bye beautiful, MPG, etc.) Annete lacks that operatic flair that first attracted me to Nightwish, but she's by no means a bad vocalist. She brings a new sound to the band which will either throw off die-hard fans, or attract new ones. There were a few bland filler tracks that could've been dropped (WTF is up with the end of MoH when it starts sounding like a gospel/soul song?)but the majority of the album is solid. A fair review. Worth picking up just for the first 2 tracks.
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29.09.2007 - 14:27
Rating: 9
Katatronik
Angel of Lust
I love the new album, though I miss the great operatic Tarja vocals... New vocalist is good anyway, she seems a bit Sharon from Within Temptation...
Good review Baz!
----

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear,
and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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29.09.2007 - 14:45
Rating: 9
Spyroid
Rosetta Stoned
Written by annodomini on 29.09.2007 at 10:47

I think the problem why so many people Hate this album is that they were expecting an old Nightwish... I was ready for a new band and i am rate it like a new era (like they say) and Its a really superb album if we forget what was in the past.


That's IMO how you should look at every new release by any band (maybe unless it's a sequel), as I wrote in my comment earlier.
Why demand a copy of the old sound when a progression can be just as good?
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29.09.2007 - 15:21
Elegy

Bought the album yesterday and it really is fucking great ^^ & Anette is a very good singer so just live with it now she is in the band :p
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29.09.2007 - 17:28
PowerMetal
Account deleted
A very good, thorough review. I'll probably get the album, an instrumental cd puts it over the top for me.
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29.09.2007 - 18:15
Rating: 8
Warman
Erotic Stains
I expected so much more!!! Many songs are boring and that's something Nightwish NEVER used to be!
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29.09.2007 - 18:18
Rating: 10
priit

Good review, I was fearing for something of a thumbs down style. Ordered the double cd last night, I think the instrumental tracks will be the best of value.
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30.09.2007 - 03:11
Lackesse

I really dont like this album,not because its new,or because of Anette(she have sweet voice)or something.Just because its kinda commercial,guitars are heavy but without any smashing solo or astonishing riff lick or something.Its like a machinery.I heard it like a month ago three times and i dont want it.I think people like it just because it is new.But the joy subside.The production is great and the sound is great ,but the guitar dissapoints me.....IMO
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30.09.2007 - 09:34
CrimsonSoaked
Account deleted
Videos concerning this album's tracks (bye bye Beautiful and Amarath) have made obvious to me ,That only Nightwish excluding Anette is Metal. Anette herself is pretty much POP.

And well, that's not good

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30.09.2007 - 11:03
Judas
The Amputator
I'll download this before buying, I think. Something tells me that I won't love this as instantly as I did the earlier stuff, but all the same this news of an instrumental CD is really good, I'd probably pay the money just for that one.
----
"Once the game is over, the king and the pawn both go back into the same box."
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30.09.2007 - 12:30
EquilibriuMTR
Account deleted
Ceratinly NOT a good review, Eva and Sahara fall way below the radar???!!!
Nightwish may or may not be a metal band you can't deny they are a above the average good band.
And btw, this album should be rated AT LEAST 8.5/10.

Well, here are my comments on the tracks.

1)The Poet and the Pendulum: Clearly a masterpiece. A new concept in symphonic rock/metal.
2)Bye bye beautiful: A meaningful song as it is written directly for Tarja, the music is between average and good.
3)Amaranth: The worst song on this album(you heard me right all MTV lovers), the only song that let me down on this album.
4)Cadence of her last breath: Same like Bye Bye Beautiful, a little bit better music but the breath sounds put a real good emphasis on the song.
5)Master Passion Greed: Here's a good song. While being well above the average, it gives the people who want force and violence all they want. The song makes you understand whatt greed really is, you feel the emotion throughout the song. The song is written to Tarja's husband and the lyrics are directly spoken to him; what makes this song VERY meaningful.
6)Eva: One of the best slow songs from Nightwish. The person who wrote this review said that Eva doesn't make you feel anything. Surely you won't feel anything if you are "Emo", but you will feel a lot if you are an "Emotional Person"; it is not depressive as it should be. The only thing that let my down that the lyrics makes the listener feel that whoever wrote the lyrics is not British nor American; they could have been better.
7)Sahara: This is also a masterpiece for me. The review writer said this track fails to capture your imagination. Well, excuse me if your imagination is blunt; but Sahara did a lot more than capturing my imagination. You feel the sand below your feet and the desert wind at your face while listening to it, and Sahara also smashed the usual pop/rock track flow with the furious opening partition and the immediate changing of ambiance. You may or may not like Sahara, but if you say that this track is of below quality, you should listen to music no more.
8)Whoever Brings the Night: This track is very different than others, because it was written entirely by the guitarist Emppu. It can never reach the quality of Tuomas' songwriting but it surely is an over average song.
9)For the Heart I Once Had: It is a childish song, more like a teenager song, but as far as I can remember, Nightwish have already proven that they could make beautiful childish music with the track "White Night Fantasy". It is an average song.
10)The Islander: A VERY good song written bye the bassist Marco. He almost teaches us how an acoustic song should be. Very captivating concept and ambiance.
11)Last of the Wilds: Here we are. The best song of the album. This absolute perfection shatters the usual pop concept and track flow while having an inescapable spirit. One of the best songs Tuomas ever wrote.
12)7 Days to the Wolves: the review writer said that this song falls below the radar and fails to captivate your imagination. You should say that if you haven't understand anything from the song, who the word "Wolf" represents. I cannot speak what the song tries to tell as I could get banned for saying it, know only that the track tells something big with the word wolf. But you do not have the right to criticise something you did not understand Mr. Review Writer.
13)Meadows of Heaven: A radio style slow song, a really good one indeed. I did not think that Tuomas could write something which belongs to that style, but here he is, standing before us with his perfect slow track. Hail Tuomas.
14)Escapist: I couldn't listen to this a lot but it sounds a bit like Amaranth. Cannot comment on this.

Conclusion: The people who want the usual predetermined order of the popular pop songs will not like this album. But people who want meaning and deep emotions in albums they listen will like it.

My Rating: 8.8
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30.09.2007 - 15:14
Carrion
Account deleted
I actually like it far more than Century Child for ex.. There's that something that makes you listen all the tracks instead of skipping them.. As for Eva being a boring song, well I like it, but I think it should have been the ending song of the record.

Anyways, surprisingly good stuff.
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30.09.2007 - 16:33
Rating: 8
Ellrohir
Heaven Knight
Written by Guest on 30.09.2007 at 12:30

14)Escapist: I couldn't listen to this a lot but it sounds a bit like Amaranth. Cannot comment on this.


how come this song isnt on any tracklist i have seen so far?

and btw i dont agree with your opinion on Amaranth ;-)
----
My rest seems now calm and deep
Finally I got my dead man sleep


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30.09.2007 - 17:15
Judas
The Amputator
Written by Ellrohir on 30.09.2007 at 16:33

Written by Guest on 30.09.2007 at 12:30

14)Escapist: I couldn't listen to this a lot but it sounds a bit like Amaranth. Cannot comment on this.


how come this song isnt on any tracklist i have seen so far?

and btw i dont agree with your opinion on Amaranth ;-)

It's a Japanese bonus track, as far as I know.
----
"Once the game is over, the king and the pawn both go back into the same box."
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30.09.2007 - 17:30
EquilibriuMTR
Account deleted
Written by Ellrohir on 30.09.2007 at 16:33

Written by Guest on 30.09.2007 at 12:30

14)Escapist: I couldn't listen to this a lot but it sounds a bit like Amaranth. Cannot comment on this.


how come this song isnt on any tracklist i have seen so far?

and btw i dont agree with your opinion on Amaranth ;-)



You may not agree with my opinion but saying that Sahara is a low quality song, well that is blasphemy.
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30.09.2007 - 17:41
X-FrEaK

This got to be one of 2007's and Nightwish's best albuns

yes it is very varied and i like that way, it sure hasnt the operatic voice from Tarja, but how many power metal bands with a female singer do you have?

great work nightwish
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30.09.2007 - 18:50
Rating: 8
Ellrohir
Heaven Knight
Written by Judas on 30.09.2007 at 17:15

It's a Japanese bonus track, as far as I know.


why Japanese always have advantages?
----
My rest seems now calm and deep
Finally I got my dead man sleep


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30.09.2007 - 19:24
Hyvaarin

Written by Guest on 30.09.2007 at 12:30

12)7 Days to the Wolves: the review writer said that this song falls below the radar and fails to captivate your imagination. You should say that if you haven't understand anything from the song, who the word "Wolf" represents. I cannot speak what the song tries to tell as I could get banned for saying it, know only that the track tells something big with the word wolf. But you do not have the right to criticise something you did not understand Mr. Review Writer.

What the fuck are you talking about?
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"Summoned By Words Never Spoken Before..."
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30.09.2007 - 19:41
Deadsoulman

Written by Guest on 30.09.2007 at 12:30

Ceratinly NOT a good review, Eva and Sahara fall way below the radar???!!!
Nightwish may or may not be a metal band you can't deny they are a above the average good band.
And btw, this album should be rated AT LEAST 8.5/10.

Well, here are my comments on the tracks.

1)The Poet and the Pendulum: Clearly a masterpiece. A new concept in symphonic rock/metal.
2)Bye bye beautiful: A meaningful song as it is written directly for Tarja, the music is between average and good.
3)Amaranth: The worst song on this album(you heard me right all MTV lovers), the only song that let me down on this album.
4)Cadence of her last breath: Same like Bye Bye Beautiful, a little bit better music but the breath sounds put a real good emphasis on the song.
5)Master Passion Greed: Here's a good song. While being well above the average, it gives the people who want force and violence all they want. The song makes you understand whatt greed really is, you feel the emotion throughout the song. The song is written to Tarja's husband and the lyrics are directly spoken to him; what makes this song VERY meaningful.
6)Eva: One of the best slow songs from Nightwish. The person who wrote this review said that Eva doesn't make you feel anything. Surely you won't feel anything if you are "Emo", but you will feel a lot if you are an "Emotional Person"; it is not depressive as it should be. The only thing that let my down that the lyrics makes the listener feel that whoever wrote the lyrics is not British nor American; they could have been better.
7)Sahara: This is also a masterpiece for me. The review writer said this track fails to capture your imagination. Well, excuse me if your imagination is blunt; but Sahara did a lot more than capturing my imagination. You feel the sand below your feet and the desert wind at your face while listening to it, and Sahara also smashed the usual pop/rock track flow with the furious opening partition and the immediate changing of ambiance. You may or may not like Sahara, but if you say that this track is of below quality, you should listen to music no more.
8)Whoever Brings the Night: This track is very different than others, because it was written entirely by the guitarist Emppu. It can never reach the quality of Tuomas' songwriting but it surely is an over average song.
9)For the Heart I Once Had: It is a childish song, more like a teenager song, but as far as I can remember, Nightwish have already proven that they could make beautiful childish music with the track "White Night Fantasy". It is an average song.
10)The Islander: A VERY good song written bye the bassist Marco. He almost teaches us how an acoustic song should be. Very captivating concept and ambiance.
11)Last of the Wilds: Here we are. The best song of the album. This absolute perfection shatters the usual pop concept and track flow while having an inescapable spirit. One of the best songs Tuomas ever wrote.
12)7 Days to the Wolves: the review writer said that this song falls below the radar and fails to captivate your imagination. You should say that if you haven't understand anything from the song, who the word "Wolf" represents. I cannot speak what the song tries to tell as I could get banned for saying it, know only that the track tells something big with the word wolf. But you do not have the right to criticise something you did not understand Mr. Review Writer.
13)Meadows of Heaven: A radio style slow song, a really good one indeed. I did not think that Tuomas could write something which belongs to that style, but here he is, standing before us with his perfect slow track. Hail Tuomas.
14)Escapist: I couldn't listen to this a lot but it sounds a bit like Amaranth. Cannot comment on this.

Conclusion: The people who want the usual predetermined order of the popular pop songs will not like this album. But people who want meaning and deep emotions in albums they listen will like it.

My Rating: 8.8


My God, have you ever heard about "different opinions"? So not enjoying an album as you did proves that the reviewer didn't understand the album? Excuse me, but it's not like Nightwish has EVER written an album with 1,000 layers... Nightwish's music is more or less immediately understandable, it's quite easy listening music, you know? They've never pushed back the boundaries of music. That doesn't mean it's bad, just that masturbating on hidden meanings inside their albums is... well, only masturbation.

I think this kind of post is the reason why a lot of people despise blinded fans.
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30.09.2007 - 19:49
Jeff
Freaky Admin
Written by Deadsoulman on 30.09.2007 at 19:41

Written by Guest on 30.09.2007 at 12:30

Ceratinly NOT a good review, Eva and Sahara fall way below the radar???!!!
Nightwish may or may not be a metal band you can't deny they are a above the average good band.
And btw, this album should be rated AT LEAST 8.5/10.

Well, here are my comments on the tracks.

1)The Poet and the Pendulum: Clearly a masterpiece. A new concept in symphonic rock/metal.
2)Bye bye beautiful: A meaningful song as it is written directly for Tarja, the music is between average and good.
3)Amaranth: The worst song on this album(you heard me right all MTV lovers), the only song that let me down on this album.
4)Cadence of her last breath: Same like Bye Bye Beautiful, a little bit better music but the breath sounds put a real good emphasis on the song.
5)Master Passion Greed: Here's a good song. While being well above the average, it gives the people who want force and violence all they want. The song makes you understand whatt greed really is, you feel the emotion throughout the song. The song is written to Tarja's husband and the lyrics are directly spoken to him; what makes this song VERY meaningful.
6)Eva: One of the best slow songs from Nightwish. The person who wrote this review said that Eva doesn't make you feel anything. Surely you won't feel anything if you are "Emo", but you will feel a lot if you are an "Emotional Person"; it is not depressive as it should be. The only thing that let my down that the lyrics makes the listener feel that whoever wrote the lyrics is not British nor American; they could have been better.
7)Sahara: This is also a masterpiece for me. The review writer said this track fails to capture your imagination. Well, excuse me if your imagination is blunt; but Sahara did a lot more than capturing my imagination. You feel the sand below your feet and the desert wind at your face while listening to it, and Sahara also smashed the usual pop/rock track flow with the furious opening partition and the immediate changing of ambiance. You may or may not like Sahara, but if you say that this track is of below quality, you should listen to music no more.
8)Whoever Brings the Night: This track is very different than others, because it was written entirely by the guitarist Emppu. It can never reach the quality of Tuomas' songwriting but it surely is an over average song.
9)For the Heart I Once Had: It is a childish song, more like a teenager song, but as far as I can remember, Nightwish have already proven that they could make beautiful childish music with the track "White Night Fantasy". It is an average song.
10)The Islander: A VERY good song written bye the bassist Marco. He almost teaches us how an acoustic song should be. Very captivating concept and ambiance.
11)Last of the Wilds: Here we are. The best song of the album. This absolute perfection shatters the usual pop concept and track flow while having an inescapable spirit. One of the best songs Tuomas ever wrote.
12)7 Days to the Wolves: the review writer said that this song falls below the radar and fails to captivate your imagination. You should say that if you haven't understand anything from the song, who the word "Wolf" represents. I cannot speak what the song tries to tell as I could get banned for saying it, know only that the track tells something big with the word wolf. But you do not have the right to criticise something you did not understand Mr. Review Writer.
13)Meadows of Heaven: A radio style slow song, a really good one indeed. I did not think that Tuomas could write something which belongs to that style, but here he is, standing before us with his perfect slow track. Hail Tuomas.
14)Escapist: I couldn't listen to this a lot but it sounds a bit like Amaranth. Cannot comment on this.

Conclusion: The people who want the usual predetermined order of the popular pop songs will not like this album. But people who want meaning and deep emotions in albums they listen will like it.

My Rating: 8.8


My God, have you ever heard about "different opinions"? So not enjoying an album as you did proves that the reviewer didn't understand the album? Excuse me, but it's not like Nightwish has EVER written an album with 1,000 layers... Nightwish's music is more or less immediately understandable, it's quite easy listening music, you know? They've never pushed back the boundaries of music. That doesn't mean it's bad, just that masturbating on hidden meanings inside their albums is... well, only masturbation.

I think this kind of post is the reason why a lot of people despise blinded fans.



Damn, I agree with you too... I HATE when people come here and say that the reviews are BAD only because they disagree with the statement of the reviewer.

Come on! WAKE UP Baz's review is REALLY good, with a lot of objectivity and honesty.

If you disagree with him, that your problem (and you're maybe even not wrong after all) but don't say that it's a bad review...

(Sorry if my message seems to be a bit agressive but I'm bored by such comments... really...).
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Come with us to Hellfest 2011!
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30.09.2007 - 19:49
Baz Anderson

yes, thank you, and thanks to everyone who appreciated the reivew
he is acting like I gave it a bad review. I gave it a good review, I just don't think it is so ultra, super fantastic like this obviously too over enthusiastic individual does
hahaha, I've never been attacked so much for giving a good review. hahaha
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01.10.2007 - 01:16
Rating: 8
Jason W.
Razorbliss
A definite thumbs-up for this review. A few tracks I probably like more (or less) than the ones you've listed here, but other than that, your overall reaction to the album is right on. It's really diverse - to the point where it makes it a mystery as to where Nightwish would go next on a future studio album! Another CD that has great songs on it that will find their way to MP3 playlists, but I doubt I'll listen to the full CD much after this initial phase of getting to know the album passes.
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"After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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02.10.2007 - 03:26
Devil Aion
Account deleted
i did like the album a lot maybe jeff have some points about it but its just an opinion by one person many of us have different oppinions so we have to respect others opinions, hope you understand
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02.10.2007 - 07:44
caffeinehead

Baz did give a good review. Good enough that I went and listened to the album samples online- and decided that I probably won't be buying this album. I do NOT like the Anna Olzon's voice- it is far too pop-ish for my tastes. Tarja's voice fit the drama and the scope of the "old" Nightwish. Perhaps Olzon will fit in better for the future, but not while Nightwish is playing music even remotely similar to what they used to.
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02.10.2007 - 12:40
Rating: 6
Promonex
Cathemeral
This album definitely suffers from having more fillers than killers. "Bye Bye Beautiful", "Master Passion Greed" and "The Last of the Wilds" are all very good while "The Poet and the Pendulum" deserves no less than a 10. The rest though is of pretty low quality - "Sahara" might still be slightly above average, but that's it. And "For the Heart I Once Had" made my ears bleed even more than Prostitute Disfigurement and drags the album down A LOT. No use in buying a 13 track CD if I keep skipping between only 4 songs with one of the skipped tracks being the worst song I've heard this year (and yep, that includes anything Tokio Hotel has released this year).
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All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu... This is the truth! This is my belief! ...At least for now.
- The Mystery of Life, Vol. 841 Ch. 26
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02.10.2007 - 19:21
Carrion
Account deleted
Written by Ellrohir on 30.09.2007 at 18:50

Written by Judas on 30.09.2007 at 17:15

It's a Japanese bonus track, as far as I know.


why Japanese always have advantages?

Because records in Japan cost so f*cking much.
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02.10.2007 - 19:58
Rating: 6
enumaelis

The review is quite ok, I agree in almost everything, but I have to say that For the love I once had is the worst song Nightwish ever made... and after that so so boring Eva.
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http://enumaelis.blogspot.com/
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03.10.2007 - 14:46
Rating: 9
Grey_Dandelion

A very good album but not as the previous ones...the new singer is nothing special!i miss Tarja s voice!By the way i like much For the love i once had....
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Don't turn away just take my hand and when you make your final stand i ll be right there i ll never leave all i ask of you is believe...
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03.10.2007 - 19:13
Fierce Deity

Written by Guest on 30.09.2007 at 12:30

Ceratinly NOT a good review...


"A review is an opinion but make sure you explain yourself succinctly."
How come this is not a good review?

Btw, I really need to liste to this album. There's a lot of different opinions out there, I'm curious now.
Nice review.
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