Nightwish - HUMAN. :II: NATURE

I still remember discovering Nightwish in Korea back in 1999. This cool-ass dude named Hagato (at least that's what it sounded like; he spoke pretty much no English) at record shop in Kunsan shoved Angels Fall First and Oceanborn in my hands. He did this pretty much every time I went in there. I discovered In Flames and Dark Tranquillity the same way. Haha. Anyway, both albums blew me away.

And now I continue to find other things to buy when looking at this new album. I'll buy it eventually, but it's a shame that I'm at this point with a band that were once first-day buys for me. =(

I've started to re-listen to the Nightwish discography, starting from the beginning. Not just in the car or anything - I dug up the CD's and have been reading the lyrics and credits and imagined it was 1997 all over again.

Tuesday and Wednesday I did Angels Fall First. It was better than I remembered, I played it twice. Today and tomorrow it's Oceanborn. I already listened to it once, and I'm a little less impressed with it now than I remember being. Especially the first two tracks sound way too much like Stratovarius. Tuomas changed the clean piano sound of his keys to that Jens Johansson neo-classical metal sound. Originality aside, the album is definitely more tight and better thought out. And very metal.

Tarja's vocals are a little strenuous to the listener. Little in the way of expression or colour. Or vibrato. Wishmaster is next week and I think I love that much more. The pieces kind of came together much better, though the style and sound is very, very similar to Oceanborn (still quite Stratovariu-ish).

Wishmaster is the one and only Nightwish album I ever spin anymore and even then it's seldom.  I think that album is the pinnacle of the Nightwish catalog. But I'm just not into that style now.

tohostudios wrote:

Wishmaster is the one and only Nightwish album I ever spin anymore and even then it's seldom.  I think that album is the pinnacle of the Nightwish catalog. But I'm just not into that style now.

I always find it interesting when people say things like that, especially adults. I can see someone not really being into something that they dug as a teenager because teenagers tend to latch onto things for all kinds of reasons, like when I got into theater because I dug a girl who was into that. I hate that shit now, and probably did then too, but she was hot. Haha.

But you weren't a teenager when Nightwish you first heard Nightwish, so that's odd to me. I don't think I've ever grown to not be into anything that I've enjoyed as an adult, and I still dig most of the stuff I dug as a kid.

I definitely run into some stylistic burnout from time to time, where I just listen to a bunch of similar bands so much that I don't want to hear it for a bit, but I always circle back around at some point.

My Nightwish experience.... had no interest whatsover, heard "Elan" and bought the last album they did, enjoyed it well enough, watched a view concerts online, didn't make me want to buy anything else, and was looking forward to more with Floor.... and what we got is a total bore.

I like all their albums. Once and Wishmaster are both amazing.

The wheels got a bit wobbly on Imaginaerum, started to fall off on Endless Forms Most Beautiful, and...well, can't really comment on the newest one, but I'm not moved to buy it.

Really sucks, too, because I wanted Floor to replace Tarja when she left. Shame she's fronting, in my opinion, their worst stuff. =(

Endless Forms is pretty good though. Certainly heaps better than Imaginaerum.

Eyesore wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Wishmaster is the one and only Nightwish album I ever spin anymore and even then it's seldom.  I think that album is the pinnacle of the Nightwish catalog. But I'm just not into that style now.

I always find it interesting when people say things like that, especially adults. I can see someone not really being into something that they dug as a teenager because teenagers tend to latch onto things for all kinds of reasons, like when I got into theater because I dug a girl who was into that. I hate that shit now, and probably did then too, but she was hot. Haha.

But you weren't a teenager when Nightwish you first heard Nightwish, so that's odd to me. I don't think I've ever grown to not be into anything that I've enjoyed as an adult, and I still dig most of the stuff I dug as a kid.

I definitely run into some stylistic burnout from time to time, where I just listen to a bunch of similar bands so much that I don't want to hear it for a bit, but I always circle back around at some point.

It happens to me over decades. My tastes evolve and change and styles I used to really be into no longer interest me. My CD shelves are full of ska, ska/punk, symphonic metal, female-fronted metal, jazz and lots of other musical styles that at one time I was really into and now never even bother with. Conversely I also end up listening to and enjoying music I NEVER liked before although that's more of an artist-specific thing.

Lari wrote:

Endless Forms is pretty good though. Certainly heaps better than Imaginaerum.

It's not a bad album, but not nearly as good at Imaginaerum. Songs like "Storytime," "Last Ride of the Day," "I Want My Tears Back," "Song of Myself," and "Ghost River" have that Wishmaster/Once sound, and there's a heaviness to them that is virtually nonexistent on Endless Forms.

Eyesore wrote:

Lari wrote:

Endless Forms is pretty good though. Certainly heaps better than Imaginaerum.

It's not a bad album, but not nearly as good at Imaginaerum. Songs like "Storytime," "Last Ride of the Day," "I Want My Tears Back," "Song of Myself," and "Ghost River" have that Wishmaster/Once sound, and there's a heaviness to them that is virtually nonexistent on Endless Forms.

Weak Fantasy & Yours Is an Empty Hope are heavier than anything on Imaginaerum, and the Greatest Show on Earth buries Song of Myself, which is just a weaker version of the Poet and the Pendulum.

Lari wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Lari wrote:

Endless Forms is pretty good though. Certainly heaps better than Imaginaerum.

It's not a bad album, but not nearly as good at Imaginaerum. Songs like "Storytime," "Last Ride of the Day," "I Want My Tears Back," "Song of Myself," and "Ghost River" have that Wishmaster/Once sound, and there's a heaviness to them that is virtually nonexistent on Endless Forms.

Weak Fantasy & Yours Is an Empty Hope are heavier than anything on Imaginaerum, and the Greatest Show on Earth buries Song of Myself, which is just a weaker version of the Poet and the Pendulum.

Yeah, that guitar tone is just weak to me, sounds "soft," if that makes sense.