Possibly the biggest success story in the history of Finnish
heavy metal
,
Nightwish
celebrated their second chart-topping album in their homeland with 2002's
Century Child
, which eventually collected numerous awards and went double platinum (60,000 units in Finland) within a year of release. The group's fourth LP overall,
wisely repeated its predecessors' winning characteristics: symphony-enhanced
power metal
laced with accessible
pop
sensibilities (mostly straightforward song structures and romantic lyrics), distinguished by the
operatic
voice of classically trained singer
Tarja Turunen
. Undoubtedly the key to
's remarkable success (and since, hugely influential on countless followers like
After Forever
and
Epica
),
Turunen
is actually more restrained in her delivery than one might expect, rarely belting her way overboard in an effort to match the metallic aggression of opening shots
"Bless the Child"
"End of All Hope."
Never losing momentum, she duets with bassist
Marco Hietala
on
"Dead to the World,"
returns to center stage on the platinum-selling single
"Ever Dream"
(which combines the group's commercial attributes to perfection), and leads the band towards commercial apotheosis on the gentle ballad
"Forever Yours,"
which could fit perfectly well in any
diva's catalog.
"Slaying the Dreamer"
"Ocean Soul"
resume the
with strings and choirs motif, and
"Feel for You"
curiously appears to draw its eerie riffs and strings from the theme of the
Halloween
movies! And before they embark on the album's final, ten-minute, three-part magnum opus,
"Beauty of the Beast,"
take a very competent stab at
"The Phantom of the Opera"
-- no, not the
Iron Maiden
classic, the
Andrew Lloyd Webber
musical
's title track. Which makes for an interesting tidbit when considering this album's appeal: fans of more aggressive
might find it simply too saccharine for the palate, but those with an affinity for straightforward
rock
will not only eat it up, but ask for seconds. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia