Review Summary: I have never been so sure about giving an album a 5 than this one. This, my friends, is what the whole concept of music is all about.
It was summer of 2005, and I just recently moved to a whole new state. Of course I knew nobody, and there wasn’t anybody my age around my neighborhood either. So I sulked into my basement on the computer the whole time. One day, while looking for a Yu-Gi-Oh episode, I stumbled upon this group called Nightwish. It was
I Wish I Had An Angel. I said to myself, something in the realm of, “Wow, this is pretty interesting.” A month later I went to my local Wal-Mart and saw their album
Once. Little did I know that this would change my musical tastes forever.
Before I start the actual review though, let me warn you. This is my favorite album ever!!! I will try not to sound biased or fanboyish. I will try to review this in a professional manner, so here we go.
Once, I had a dream, and this is it is the passage that coincidently starts off this album; this opening is called
Dark Chest of Wonders. Incorporating the London Symphony Orchestra throughout, not just this song but through the whole album, adds a depth to the music that had only been reached by bands like Rhapsody of Fire and Therion. The difference with this though, is that neither of those two bands used one of the greatest symphonies in the entire world.
The individual band members each play an important role as well. Tarja’s voice soars in songs like the previous mentioned
Dark Chest of Wonders. She sounds like a beautiful siren in the song,
The Siren, and makes one cry in
Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan. Her operatic tone fits unbelievably well with the style of music Tuomas decided to take the band towards, especially
Higher than Hope which has one of the biggest choruses I have ever heard.. If I had one grip though, it would be with
I Wish I Had an Angel. She just sounds a bit more poppy than she should, but it isn’t a big complaint.
Emppu and Jukka sadly play the rhythm role during the duration of
Once. It’s sad because they both are very skilled musicians and should be able to shine out more like they did on previous efforts, and how they do on
Dark Passion Play. These two do get to shine on one track though:
Dead Gardens. While Emppu plays what are essentially power chords, they bring forth another layer to the song, and performs nicely at the end. Jukka is the definite stand out on this one though, even out performing the orchestra. The last minute or so, he goes ballistic on the evilest part of the song.
Next up we have the Viking known as Marco Hietala. He contributes a killer bass and a gruff vocal style that only a mother could love. If he would’ve just been used a bit more than what was given, Sputnik would’ve have had a rating high enough for me to give this album. His god-like vocals in
Planet Hell, and the yelling of
Romanticide brings an edgier side to Nightwish that wasn’t previously seen even on
Century Child (excluding Slayer the Dreamer of course).
The last member of the group is Tuomas Holopainen. The amount of praise that I could give for him would take up multiple pages and sound epically fanboyish, so I will refrain from doing so. Let’s just say he is musically and lyrically a genius. The emotion portrayed in the songs is just astonishing. His compositions just flat out destroy the composition throughout the whole music industry.
We are able to see this massacre during the course of this disk.
Dark Chest of Wonders is symphonically driven and is a fast paced epic fest.
Nemo is one of two ballads that brings tears to one’s eyes.
Planet Hell makes me feel like I am in Ancient Greece kicking minotaur butt like Kratos from God of War. I’ve heard much disapproval of
Creek Mary’s Blood, but I actually like the song. The Indian chant at the end brings another innovation to the Nightwish saga.
Now we get to the best song on this album, and the second best song in Nightwish’s discography,
Ghost Love Score. The band plays and sings nicely during this song, but all the credit should be diverted to the orchestra and choir. Classical artists like Beethoven, Mozart, and Vivaldi would be jealous of this if they were still living. The song, for the first 5 to 5 ½ minutes moves in a slow pace, but at that 5 ½ minute mark it just explodes. What follows is in my opinion the most epic use of the A,B,C,F, and G notes ever. After the epicness of that, we get into more singing by Tarja and a little solo from a member of the woodwind family. The brass finishes off this song in an extraordinary fashion.
If you like any type of classical music at all, or just want to see symphonic metal at its absolute best, definitely pick up this album. I have never been so sure about giving an album a 5 than this one. This, my friends, is what the whole concept of music is all about.
