Article by
Nudger
Prepare, over the next month, to be swamped with Once reviews. Everyone with a computer, a typewriter or just a stick of
charcoal will be reviewing it, and rightfully so. This album will redefine what Nightwish are. Of the four past albums, Once
reminds me more of Wishmaster than anything else, due to the ferocious power that drips from "Dark Chest of Wonders" and "Wish I had an Angel", that somewhat sounds like "Wishmaster" or "The Kinslayer". But that does not really do Once justice,
because it's not a totally powerful album, and it didn't set out to be so.
Starting off with
Dark Chest of Wonders. This song *alone* could easily contest for best Nightwish song ever. The choir is
used absoloutly brilliantly, and the whole song is oozing with class. Emppu plays more guitar riffs and solos in this song
than he did in the whole of Oceanborn. This song truely is at Nightwish's peak.
Wish I had an Angel is the second song on the album, and it too reminds of Wishmaster and so on. The drums are HUGE on this
song, and Marco really excels in this song. This song is much, to a certain extent, an evolution of Slaying the Dreamer, but
with even more power and brilliance.
Nemo and Planet Hell, the two songs released alongside the abysmal White Night Fantasy, both fit together with the first two
tracks of the album, but it's hard not to feel that Planet Hell just slightly misses the mark set by Dark Chest.
Creek Mary's Blood is truely, for Nightwish, a revolutionary song. So far the other four could quite easily drop into the
same genre as Over the Hills and so on. But Creek Mary's Blood is something altogether different. Recorded alongside one
Mr John Two-Hawks, it tells a story in a way that no other Nightwish song can. This is epic, ladies and gentlemen.
The Siren is somewhat of a lull to the energy of this album. Taking a step back from the first four songs, it's one of the
token "slow" songs, such as "Swanheart". Much less memorable than most of this album, it's somewhat of a dissapointment.
Dead Gardens sounds like a cross between White Night Fantasy, Nemo and Over the Hills. Tuomas must have realised that WNF
sounded like Kate Bush, because Tarja doesn't quite sound so bad on it, and by the chorus she's sorted herself out and is
once again singing like the angel we all know she is! Abrupt Ending alert!
Romanticide really should have been called Dark Chest of Wonders part II. I meant that in a good way. Going back to the sheer
ferocious energy of the first song, Romanticide is powerful. Very, very powerful. This song is another that joins Dark Chest
in the brawl for best Nightwish song ever. This song is a definite peak on this album.
Before you listen to Ghost Love Score for the first time, you might want to wheel out a few Hollywood actors. Tuomas himself
said he always wanted to write a film score. Well, he has. Most film scores are written around the film. This is quite
clearly the wrong way to do things, as Mr. Holopainen has proven. This is not the sort of song you want to see at a concert.
This is the sort of song you want to hear when you're getting married.
Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan wins the award for "Most Difficult to Pronounce song ever". Well, at least for me. To be honest, I
do not seem to follow the general belief that Finnish is a beautiful language. It's hardly bad, and it does work for this
song, but there are times when Tarja's accent does no favours for this song. Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan (KTT) is, however,
beautiful. For those of us who have to generalise every song, chalk another up for the Slow songs list. KTT, according to
my Finnish friend, translates as death makes an artist. A very nice song, slightly lacking in the chorus.
Higher than Hope is the first Nightwish song ever to be written totally by Marco, and is the only one on this album, and that
is a crying shame, because it's absoloutly beautiful. Hopefully, Tuomas will take a leaf out of Marco's book and emulate this
song on future releases, if there are going to be any.
I'm going to be brutally honest here. Once is not what I expected. I expected, and to a certain extent, wanted Century Child
part 2. But it isn't. Nighwish have never released an album that is just metal. It's always been somewhat experimental,
mostly due to Tarja's singing ability. But this time there's something new, especially coming from Ghost Love Score and
the slightly less impressive Creek Mary's Blood. Tuomas has moved in directions that haven't been explored before.
Let's just hope that they stay open for years to come.
Obviously, it's very difficult to rate songs out of ten, and my review should only really give you an idea as to what you're
getting yourself into. But trust me, buy this album. Regardless of reviews.
As with most metal, this will be big within metal circles, but won't make a ripple on the music pool of rap and pop. As a
result, this album will be missed by many, and that's a f*cking shame, because it's the very meaning of beauty. Make sure
you're not one to miss this, or you'll regret it forever.
~ Nudger
