Nightwish

When then tiny independent record label Spinefarm decided to take a chance on a brand new group called Nightwish by releasing a modest 500-unit pressing of their first album, Angels Fall First (originally recorded as a simple demo), little did they know this would quickly evolve into their biggest future cash cow, and one of Finland's most successful bands ever! Believe it: such were the humble origins and expectations for both band and album; despite the already quite advanced songwriting abilities of chief architect, keyboardist, and vocalist Tuomas Holopainen, which adorned melodic power metal with gothic, folk, and classical music elements, then topped them with the budding vocal power of a still baby-faced opera student named Tarja Turunen…

First of all, Oceanborn is a huge step when thinking about Nightwish's debut album, Angels Fall First. All the elements of folk music and ambience are forgotten, and instead Nightwish have concentrated on using Tarja Turunen's wide voice and playing pure heavy metal…

Never one to do things by halves, Finnish symphonic rock purveyors Nightwish team up with a 53-piece orchestra for their seventh studio album, Imaginaerum, a concept album based on a dying man's recollection of his youth which also doubles as the soundtrack to their forthcoming Stobe Harju-directed film of the same name…

Oceanborn wasn't just a hit in Finland, it also opened new doors for Nightwish abroad. So naturally, the pressure to come up with a comparable sophomore album was enormous…

Judging from the way Dark Passion Play starts out, it's understandable to assume that it's some sort of opera aria. But hold tight, dear friends, because from out of nowhere metal guitar riffs come swooping in. That's Nightwish for ya – a Finnish quintet that had been walking the line between symphonic and metallic for ten years by the time of this 2007 release. The album signals the arrival of new singer Anette Olson (who replaced longtime member Tarja Turunen), but for longtime fans worried that this lineup shuffle may alter the band's sound and direction, there's no reason to fret – Nightwish are as bombastic and dramatic as ever…

The Nightwish story offers up a spectacular dramatic arc, and Mape Ollila grabs it with both hands. He has clearly been close and personal with the people he interviewed for the book, and this shows up in the candid statements that find their way onto the page. No stone is left unturned, whether it is about personal chemistry, contractual wrangling, or simple old-fashioned rock stars getting trashed. –Jarkko Jokelainen, Helsingin Sanomat …

Nightwish, one of the best metal bands out there, with one of the best singers in the world right now, performing a setlist of songs from across their career in front of a South American audience that goes insane in the way that only South American audiences do (and the energy of that crowd comes across on the CD as well as the DVD). There's a lot of pre-2005 material here, and Floor rises to the challenge, makes those songs her own, and truly impresses. There are moments of terror as you feel she's setting up a high note she has no chance of hitting - and then she does, spectacularly, laying to rest the ghost of Tarja once and for all. The whole band rise to the occasion behind her, and create one of the best live albums/DVDs of the decade!