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Right. I better write a little something about this. As most people are aware, the promo leaked onto the net (as it always does) about a week ago and obviously I jumped on the opportunity to prelisten to the full album.
I have to say the hype among metal fans has been enormous. It seems safe to say that Once must be one of the most eagerly awaited albums of the year. Well. How does it fare? Does it live up to the hype?
More or less.
I don’t know what I expect from them. By the time I jumped on the Nightwish bandwagon in 2002 they had already released four albums. I had the opportunity to take it all in at once, with no bias to having been there from the beginning and being able to whine about their music style or image changing. That was a blessing in its own way. Now everything is different. I can’t help it but compare the album to the previous releases, instead of just accepting it as it is. But even in the light of that scrutiny, the new album stands on its own. A few things have changed, but not necessarily for the worse.
- Dark Chest Of Wonders [!]
- Wish I had An Angel
- Nemo [!]
- Planet Hell [!]
- Creek Mary’s Blood [!]
- The Siren
- Dead Gardens
- Romanticide
- Ghost Love Score [!]
- Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan [!]
- Higher Than Hope
As for the bonus tracks (White Night Fantasy, Live To Tell The Tale and the cover song Where Were You Last Night) I have only heard White Night Fantasy so far. Didn’t impress me so much but it did remind me of the “old” Nightwish somehow. It’s a pretty mainstream track though. Nothing really stands out, expect for the fact that it is a very beautiful and serene track. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on Where Were You Last Night next.
<Edit> Hmm. It seems that the Ankie Bagger cover “Where were you last night” will NOT be released. It is not on any of the singles and rumour has it that Toumas was quoted saying that it was the worst song he ever helped produce, or almost produce in this case. But at any rate it was supposedly not worse than the original. And since I actually think that the song is one of the best from that style and era I can’t help but feel a little sad. Why did they choose that song in the first place unless they were gonna use it? Someone must have had some kind of sentiment towards it. I can’t imagine it is one of those things you just happen to stumble upon. </edit>
