[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lN8J-CBU_8[/youtube]
Metal Insider contributor Anthony Maisano is listening to a different metal album that was released on that day every day.
This is Nightwish’s first album without Tarja. I’ve said this before, and I know I have quite the hated opinion when it comes to this, but I’ve always preferred Anette to Tarja. Tarja has a beautiful operatic voice, but I never found it to have strength to it, which Anette certainly has much more of. The album starts off, rather ambitiously, with its epic track. I don’t know to many albums with the epic starting off the album. “Amaranth” is certainly one of the most famous Nightwish songs of all time, and it has an absolutely addicting chorus. The Nightwish style you know, and may or may not love still rings out throughout these tracks. This album also remains the band’s most successful album of all time.
Nightwish got even simpler with their musicianship on this album. That’s not to say there aren’t any fast riffs, or good riffs, but there was never anything in terms of skilled playing that just blew me away. The drummer especially is really not doing anything too complex ever. Besides the simplicity, the only thing I really don’t care for is that this album most certainly doesn’t try anything new or different. It’s the same exact Nightwish style and approach as their previous few albums, but tailored a little different for a different singer. You’ve heard a lot of these songs on previous albums, albeit it crafted just slightly differently.
Favorite Tracks: “Amaranth,” “7 Days to the Wolves,” “Cadence of Her Last Breath,” “Sahara.”
I never understood the absolute hatred this album gets. It’s true that the band might be ‘beating a dead horse’ to some people with some of these songs, but I don’t think that deserves the boiling hatred I’ve heard from some people. I think a lot of it stems from not having Tarja anymore. In any case, I think this was a really good Nightwish album, and one worth listening to if you can go into it with an open mind. It might be a little bit ‘same-y,’ but I think it’s worth a shot. I enjoyed it. It certainly doesn’t deserve the heat I often hear it get.
