Search - Nightwish :: End of an Era

What a way to end an era

Paul Lawrence | Australia | 07/08/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Pretty much the best Nightwish live effort thus far, easily outstripping the Over the Hills...collection in terms of performance, quantity and the actual excellence of the songs. The set list cherry picks from the earlier albums and mainly centres on the more communicative numbers such as The Kinslayer and Wishmaster and welds these rockers with a bevy of tunes from Century Child and, of course, the excellent Once album.



The pacing of the music is very good, only on a few occasions does one start to lose focus as too many mellow numbers line up after one another. But one of the great aspects of this double disc live album is the lively delivery of the numbers, the professionalism with which the band operate and that is really surprising given how tenuous the inter personal relationships were at the time.



The production is good here, the sound very clear. The booklet has few snippets of info, merely a collage of live shots from the gig. However given Nightwish always include lyrics with their studio albums this isn't a major problem. Of course we all know this is a band heavily dependant on mini disc but that shouldn't preclude applauding the musical skills on display, Nightwish growing into the sort of band that could realise their earlier potential. And one has to assume that there can't have been too many overdubs...well not of Tarjas vox at least given the parting of the ways after this gig.



Personally I find this a very good album, the sort of live album that actually improves some of the songs and this is particularly welcome in regards to some of the earlier tracks sent forth here as the 2006 version of Nightwish were a much more majestic beast than the band that recorded some of these tunes way back when. And The Phantom Of The Opera - seriously, this thing was meant to be done by a metal band like Nightwish. And when you throw in the focussed rockers from Once into the mix juxtaposed with tunes like Ever Dream....the release just works.



Pretty much an obligatory purchase for the hordes of Nightwish fans out there and really not a bad introduction to the band for the uninitiated though I'd also heartily recommend buying this gig in the DVD format which is an excellent release and probably an even better introduction to this band as the visuals definitely add a theatrical element to proceedings even given Tarja being noted for her somewhat stilted crowd interaction. A highly recommended buy."