Nightwish started as an acoustic project by Tuomas Holopainen. The acoustic guitars were performed by his friend Emppu, who came up with the idea of using their friend Tarja, a student from Sibelius Academy, on vocals. The self-titled demo was recorded during '96 and '97 by their friend Tero Kinnunen. The tape, however, did not end up being distributed. It was only sent to some labels and magazines, which although giving the tape relatively good credit, thought the music was too narrow, and did not have enough variety. In April '97 the band entered the studio again with drums and percussions performed by their friend Jukka, the latest addition to their line-up. With this demo they accepted Spinefarm's recording contract. Nightwish debut album, called 'Angels Fall First' was released in Finland in October 1997 and in Europe in March 1998.

 OCEANBORN (1998, 2002) SPINEFARM

Digging back through Nightwish' back-catalogue has been a treat. Whereas I was expecting material not as good as delivered on the albums I began with, I kept discovering the opposite. 'Oceanborn' is yet another stellar release from Finland's finest, and I once again am left in awe. So, maybe Tarja is not at her best here, as she tends to sing a little but too much in her higher range. But the songwriting sure is as good as ever! One cannot deny the impact of songs such as "Gethsemane", "Passion And The Opera" and "The Riddler"! I guess heavy metal was never the same after 'Oceanborn', and I mean that in a good way!

My particular CD is a reissue from 2002, with a bonus-track added.

Killer tracks: Gethsemane, Sacrament Of Wilderness, Passion And The Opera, The Riddler, Sleeping Sun

WISHMASTER (2000, 2002) SPINEFARM

I thought 'Century Child' had to be sort of the pinnacle of this band career. I mean, why else had I not bothered to check them out earlier? Jokes aside though, this album is maybe even better than it's predecessors. From the opening "She Is My Sin" through the last notes of "FantasMic" I'm left mesmerized, and in awe. There is simply not a bad song on this album. The combination of power metal and operatic orchestration is stunning. I don't think anyone have ever come so close to a perfect match as Nightwish do on 'Wishmaster'. The key for me is to not let the orchestra interfere with the power of the music. Simply use it as additional seasoning, if you will. Tuomas has this ability to sound new and fresh within boundaries already set by the power metal frame. Tarja sounds amazing, as usual. If you haven't heard this masterpiece yet, it's about time! My booklet is signed by the entire band.

Killer tracks: She Is My Sin, The Kinslayer, Wanderlust, Wishmaster, Bare Grace Misery, FantasMic

CENTURY CHILD (2002) SPINEFARM

Metal bands with female singers have never, save for a few rare exceptions, gotten high praises from me. So even though Nightwish got great reviews, and the metal crowd seemed to embrace them with open arms, I was more than reluctant to give them a try. But then 2 of my usually not-so-metal-loving brothers started to tell me how good they were, and played me a few tracks from this album. Needless to say, I was stunned, and went out and bought this CD for myself. I'm not sure what it is, but there is something about Tarja's beautiful voice, and the rest of the bands thriving metal, that combined creates a perfect match. The music is pretty much standard melodic power heavy metal, with lots of classic metal touches. And on top you get that opera-like clean woman's voice. The amazing cover of the classic Lloyd/Weber musical hit, "The Phantom Of The Opera", alone is worth your money. Good enough to melt the ice in Finland, and enough to melt my preconceived notion about metal and female vocals!

Killer tracks: Bless The Child, Ever Dream, Forever Yours, The Phantom Of The Opera

 ONCE (2004) NUCLEAR BLAST (Limited Edition)

Nightwish have definitely become one of the most popular metal acts in Europe. Their latest single, entitled 'Nemo', climbed the charts in several European countries, including my native Norway. So my anticipations for the new album 'Once' were high. But I'm not sure the Fins have delivered quite like I had hoped for. Sure there are plenty of quality numbers here, including the aforementioned "Nemo" and tracks like "Ghost Love Score". But the overall feel I get when listening to this album is that it contains 2 types of songs; 1. The deliberate single tunes, like "Nemo" and "Wish I Had An Angel", and 2. Orchestrated grandiose songs like "Creek Mary's Blood" and "Higher Than Hope", that offers a full-blown orchestra, instead of the power metal of their previous releases. It is all done very well, but it lacks the edge I like on 'Wishmaster', 'Century Child' and 'Oceanborn'. There are of course some high points here as well. Tarja's voice sounds better then ever, laying much more in the lower regions of her voice span than earlier. I also get more and more into all the songs on this album, the more I listen to them. I seem to change my opinion on favorite tracks all the time. 'Once' didn't become the awesome monster I'd hoped for. But it will rank alongside the bands others as yet another fine piece of metal artwork. My version is a Limited Edition, but I'm not so sure what is so special about it. Might be the solid plastic wrapper around the actual jewel case.

Rock trivia: Tuomas Holopainen is a huge fanatic of Disney animation and he loves Disneyworld in Florida, USA. Nightwish played some shows there, at the Blues Club, at the time the Disney/Pixar film "Finding Nemo" was in theaters, leading to the misconception that the song "Nemo" has something to do with the movie. The truth is 'Nemo' is Latin for 'nobody', and the name is a coincidence. At Nightwish live shows, it's been known for people to throw the Nemo fish character plush doll on stage to the band.

Killer tracks: Dark Chest Of Wonders, Nemo, Creek Mary's Blood, Romanticide, Ghost Love Score

THE SIREN (2005) NUCLEAR BLAST (EP)

The Siren (Edit) The Siren (album version) The Siren (live) Symphony Of Destruction (live) Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan (live)

A short EP with 3 different versions of 'The Siren', taken from 'Once'. The album version is the best one, as it gives you the entire orchestrated song. The cover version of Megadeth's "Symphony Of Destruction", with Marco doing the vocals, is just horrible! "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" is another track from 'Once', and here we get a live version of this ballad.

By now the entire world knows about the infamous firing of Tarja. Former lead singer Tarja Turunen was fired with an "open letter" by the 4 other band members on Oct. 22, 2005. It took until May 2007 for her replacement, Anette Olzon (of the AOR band Alyson Avenue) to be announced.

DARK PASSION PLAY (2007) NUCLEAR BLAST

The question on every fans lips has been answered; could Nightwish survive without Tarja? The answer is a big, fat YES! It truly was a genius move to pick a singer that was actually quite different from Tarja, but yet with enough musical qualities to fill her shoes. Anette is no opera singer, and probably not as schooled as her predecessor. But she has a unique voice, with lots of emotion and warmth, that fits the music perfectly. The first signs of life was the "Eva" single, at first only available as a download (Nuclear Blast is trying to enter into the "modern" music world, offering bonus tracks to those who buy downloads in stead of the physical CD, and to a collector like me that is quite annoying. But that is a different discussion, and I digress). This ballad showed that Anette could sing, but it was not a good representation of the album that was to come. And when the obvious radio flirt, called "Amaranth" was next, I was pretty worried about the direction Tumoas had led the band towards. But make no mistakes about it; 'Dark Passion Play' is a logical step from 'Once'. The ball opens with an almost 14 minute orchestrated opus of epic dimensions, dubbed "The Poet And The Pendulum". By far the bands most monumental song as of yet. Yet it sets a standard for the album as a whole. 'Dark Passion Play' is maybe a bit more varied than their previous album, delivering the bands signature bombastic power metal, with lots of orchestration, choirs, larger than life arrangements and even some Celtic influences(?). But we also get the aforementioned ballads, and more commercial stuff (if you can call Nightwish's music just that). And we certainly get to hear Marcos voice more. I still say they go a little overboard with it all, and 13 tracks might just be a daunting task to try and swallow at once. But one can certainly not say that this is a bad album, by any means or standards. It's definitely one for my top 20 list this year.

Killer tracks: The Poet And The Pendulum, Amaranth, Cadence Of Her Last Breath, For The Heart I Once Had, 7 Days To The Wolves

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