Roadrunner
2007
1. The Poet and the Pendulum
2. Bye Bye Beautiful
3. Amaranth
4. Cadence of Her Last Breath
5. Master Passion Greed
6. Eva
7. Sahara
8. Whoever Brings the Night
9. For the Heart I Once Had
10. The Islander
11. Last of the Wilds
12. 7 Days to the Wolves
13. Meadows of Heaven
For some bands it is a more critical point than for others when a vocalist departs. For Nightwish who built their operatic sound around the idea of her classical opera training and their image around her face & strange presence there couldn't be more at stake. Who didn't identify Nightwish with her instantly recognizable voice? My hope however was that with all the other operatic singers who followed largely in Tarja Turunen's wake that another operatic female singer would not be hard to come by. I guess what I didn't count on was Nightwish selling their souls to their budding mainstream interest and that's what I believe they have done here.
Now make no mistake... this is not a mainstream record in many ways as the music here is often bombastic and operatic to the Nth, especially on tracks like The Poet And The Pendulum which bring the pompousness of the band to new levels. However, I do believe the vocalist was chosen with the mindset of someone more appealing to the masses and as a result we get Anette Blyckert who sounds much like a pop singer to these ears. Now this sound isn't exactly alien to some female fronted and atmospheric metal bands but it is damn strange at the front of a band like Nightwish. The vocalist just doesn't seem to have the same vibe as the music that surrounds her and indeed half the time she seems drowned out and utterly powerless to me. There just isn't a commanding frontperson's presence anymore or at least not from the female end of the vocals. Indeed much of this album's heaviness and power seems to be laid on the shoulders of Marco Hietala who's vocals take over choral duties and sometimes lead vocals entirely on tracks like Bye Bye Beautiful and Master Passion Greed. When Anette is on her own I just plain find myself tuning out and not being able to get interested in the music. At times the music almost works with songs like The Poet And The Pendulum as it does sound heavy and epic at times, but the female vocals lack the power to drive it home and certain parts of the song drag on in quiet little meandering sections. When it picks up it's good, but the chorus relies on backing vocals and the lead singer herself does little for it.
For me this album marks the final nail in the coffin to a band I once really enjoyed because they simply put are not the same band anymore. Both the operatic vocals and keyboard symphonics that made albums like Oceanborn and Wishmaster the fantastic experiences they were are but a distant memory. If it wasn't for the name you probably wouldn't be able to identify the album's as by the same people at this point and indeed in many ways this one isn't as two new vocalists have stepped up in terms of their early career and the keyboards have stepped down in favor of orchestration.
For fans of Once, much of this album does resemble the sound established there as the music is once again backed by liberal use of orchestration and the sort of heavy and at times modern sounding guitar that reared it's head on that one is once again present. Though the vocals have obviously changed you can hear the musical progression from that album, if you want to call it that. Some changes do come in the form of songs like Master Passion Play which would've sounded incredibly out of place on any other Nightwish album with it's vocals almost soley in the hands of Marco and driven by heavy, thick guitar. Also, on the other end of the spectrum are songs that are definitely verging on pop and obviously meant as singles. Amaranth and Eva just made me shake my head upon hearing them.
The bottom line for me is that I haven't liked the way Nightwish had been headed for awhile, but I had always hoped they could turn it back around and revisit the sound that made me interested. All hopes of that seem to be smashed though as the band heads further and probably irreparably in a direction I have little interest in. Is this a horrible album? No I wouldn't say so but the magic is gone. To me this album sounds like a subpar attempt at Within Temptation or something of the like and the band's identity that they once possessed is left far behind them. This album might just garner the mainstream attention they seek with a much more widely palatable vocal and guitar sound, but their metal stock is falling fast.
Highlights: The Poet And The Pendulum
Rating - 2.0/5
2. Bye Bye Beautiful
3. Amaranth
4. Cadence of Her Last Breath
5. Master Passion Greed
6. Eva
7. Sahara
8. Whoever Brings the Night
9. For the Heart I Once Had
10. The Islander
11. Last of the Wilds
12. 7 Days to the Wolves
13. Meadows of Heaven
For some bands it is a more critical point than for others when a vocalist departs. For Nightwish who built their operatic sound around the idea of her classical opera training and their image around her face & strange presence there couldn't be more at stake. Who didn't identify Nightwish with her instantly recognizable voice? My hope however was that with all the other operatic singers who followed largely in Tarja Turunen's wake that another operatic female singer would not be hard to come by. I guess what I didn't count on was Nightwish selling their souls to their budding mainstream interest and that's what I believe they have done here.
Now make no mistake... this is not a mainstream record in many ways as the music here is often bombastic and operatic to the Nth, especially on tracks like The Poet And The Pendulum which bring the pompousness of the band to new levels. However, I do believe the vocalist was chosen with the mindset of someone more appealing to the masses and as a result we get Anette Blyckert who sounds much like a pop singer to these ears. Now this sound isn't exactly alien to some female fronted and atmospheric metal bands but it is damn strange at the front of a band like Nightwish. The vocalist just doesn't seem to have the same vibe as the music that surrounds her and indeed half the time she seems drowned out and utterly powerless to me. There just isn't a commanding frontperson's presence anymore or at least not from the female end of the vocals. Indeed much of this album's heaviness and power seems to be laid on the shoulders of Marco Hietala who's vocals take over choral duties and sometimes lead vocals entirely on tracks like Bye Bye Beautiful and Master Passion Greed. When Anette is on her own I just plain find myself tuning out and not being able to get interested in the music. At times the music almost works with songs like The Poet And The Pendulum as it does sound heavy and epic at times, but the female vocals lack the power to drive it home and certain parts of the song drag on in quiet little meandering sections. When it picks up it's good, but the chorus relies on backing vocals and the lead singer herself does little for it.
For me this album marks the final nail in the coffin to a band I once really enjoyed because they simply put are not the same band anymore. Both the operatic vocals and keyboard symphonics that made albums like Oceanborn and Wishmaster the fantastic experiences they were are but a distant memory. If it wasn't for the name you probably wouldn't be able to identify the album's as by the same people at this point and indeed in many ways this one isn't as two new vocalists have stepped up in terms of their early career and the keyboards have stepped down in favor of orchestration.
For fans of Once, much of this album does resemble the sound established there as the music is once again backed by liberal use of orchestration and the sort of heavy and at times modern sounding guitar that reared it's head on that one is once again present. Though the vocals have obviously changed you can hear the musical progression from that album, if you want to call it that. Some changes do come in the form of songs like Master Passion Play which would've sounded incredibly out of place on any other Nightwish album with it's vocals almost soley in the hands of Marco and driven by heavy, thick guitar. Also, on the other end of the spectrum are songs that are definitely verging on pop and obviously meant as singles. Amaranth and Eva just made me shake my head upon hearing them.
The bottom line for me is that I haven't liked the way Nightwish had been headed for awhile, but I had always hoped they could turn it back around and revisit the sound that made me interested. All hopes of that seem to be smashed though as the band heads further and probably irreparably in a direction I have little interest in. Is this a horrible album? No I wouldn't say so but the magic is gone. To me this album sounds like a subpar attempt at Within Temptation or something of the like and the band's identity that they once possessed is left far behind them. This album might just garner the mainstream attention they seek with a much more widely palatable vocal and guitar sound, but their metal stock is falling fast.
Highlights: The Poet And The Pendulum
Rating - 2.0/5
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