Article by John
First of all a criticism - after the success of “Oceanborn”, I do think that Nightwish were a little guilty of playing it safe. “Wishmaster” has a very similar sound to “Oceanborn”, and these are by far the 2 Nightwish albums that sound most similar to each other. The biggest difference between the 2 albums being that “Wishmaster” concentrates the listener's attention much more on what they had realised by then was the thing that their fans most loved them for, and also what most made them stand out from the Power Metal crowd – Tarja. The songs are also a little less technical, and partly because of this, but also because every single song is as catchy as herpes at a groupies' convention, and the quality is consistently high throughout the album, this is often recommended as being the first Nightwish album that people new to the band should listen to.
Musically speaking though, I have no complaints at all. Wishmaster is I think their "happiest" album, as well as their most uncomprimisingly Power Metal one. Songs like the"Wishmaster"; "Wanderlust"; and (especially) "Fantasmic" have to be some of the most hopeful, inspiring, and energising songs in the history of metal. This is an album that makes you feel better after hearing it. They even have a song on this album about Disney. Even when the lyrical subject matter tends to be a little dark, like for example "Kinslayer" - a song about the Columbine High School massacre, the music remains upbeat and uplifting.
There is less balladry on this album than on “Oceanborn”. "Two for Tragedy" - a gentle ballad with very deep, moving lyrics, continues where “Sleeping Sun” left off. This was the only song on the album that took me a number of listens to get into, because it is placed on the album between 2 of the most thrilling rollercoaster ride songs on the album (“Wanderlust” and “Wishmaster”), and it feels a bit too much like slamming on the brakes, emergency stop style, when placed there, but with a few listens and some reorganisation of the track running order, it really does stand out as being a beautiful song. "Dead Boy's Poem", a very moving and emotional song, qualifies as an “almost ballad for it's first half before building up into a thrilling climax in the second half.
The bonus song that some versions have is not really anything to write home about however. It is Sleepwalker, the song that they tried to enter the Eurovision song contest with, a much less exhilarating end to the album than Fantasmic is. There is a very good reason why it is a bonus song, but that song apart every song here is a masterpiece.
