Nightwish at their peak!

This album is Nightwish's third, following Angels Fall First and Oceanborn. This album seems to feature the keyboards more, which is very nice. Also, there are very few male vocals-Ike Vil is the kinslayer in 'The Kinslayer', and Sam Hardwick plays the Dead Boy in 'Dead Boy's Poem'.



1. She Is My Sin-This is a wonderful opener. The bridge is my favourite part. I love the metaphor they use in the song, if you choose to acknowledge the other meaing 'In the meadow of sinful thoughts, every flower's a perfect one.' Brilliant song and excellent vocals.



2. The Kinslayer-This is a song dedicated to the Columbine shooting. It's a very fast-paced song. The dialogue between Tarja and Ike Vil is amazing, and I adore how they put the quote 'Good wombs hath borne bad sons.'



3.Come Cover Me-This has a very slow introduction but then gets faster. The bridge is probably the best part. The song is very interesting and intriguing. It has a hint of desperation in it, but it's a wonderful song all the same.



4. Wanderlust-This song has a very fast opening-Tuomas is very skilled on the keyboards. The song is, of course, about wanting to travel and see all of the different sites. The concept sounds boring, the song, however, is not.



5. Two For Tragedy- Maybe I just don't like ballads, or something. I don't know. I just don't like this song that much. Tarja's vocals aren't bad at all, but the pacing of the song was not done that well. The flute is very pretty though.



6. Wishmaster-The title track. It immediately opens up with the choir-they do this on 'End Of All Hope' on their album Century Child. This song is also a bit of a letdown, but it's the first Nightwish song off of 'Wishmaster' that I really got into.



7. Bare Grace Misery-After the two songs that were not that good, Bare Grace Misery puts the album back on track. It'a a very haunting song, the lyrics are done in an excellent way. It's a very hard song to describe, but it's very good.



8. Crownless-Many people love this song, but for some reason I never really got pulled into it. It's not really a bad song, it's just rather difficult to follow.



9. Deep Silent Complete-This is a slower song, but it's done well. The way the song flows is similae to The Kinslayer, although the two songs are entirely different. I think this is possibly the best song on the album-Tarja's vocals sound flawless.



10. A very interesting song. It's nearly seven minutes long-it gets a bit tedious at the end. The song is very sad-it is, actually, a dead boy's poem. I think the chorus is very well done, though: 'Never sigh for better world. It's already composed, played and told.'



11. The longest song on the album-eight minutes. Unlike the previous track, though, this song does not get tedious. It's divided into three parts-the first one is fast, but the lyrics are not sung too fast. The second part is very slow. The third part is very fast all-around. This is a great closing song.



I love the effort they put into the cover booklet. It's red, which suits the music on the album perfectly. This is the last album that Tarja uses her operatic voice. In the albums that follow-Century Child and Once-you can stil hear traces of opera in her voice, but it's mostly gone, and Marco Hietala sings too. I don't think that this is the best Nightwish album-that goes to Century Child- but this is definitely one for the fans. If you're new to Nightwish, I suggest starting out with Oceanborn.

Stunning - gorgeous and powerful - don't overlook this!

Having been profoundly impressed by my first exposure to Nightwish, via "Oceanborn", the next step was to immediately procure their next three releases; obviously, right!? I was really curious to hear "Wishmaster", since there seems to be some difference of opinion about it; it seems to inspire ambivalence or lack of enthusiasm in some and sometimes seems to grade out lower than other Nightwish CDs.



I had no such reaction; I absolutely loved it from the start and it will probably end up being an all time favorite (like top 10) for me. My impressions - well everything I could want in music - power, beauty, passion, memorable melody, rhythmic drive, vibrant/positive/life-affirming attitude - its all there. To me, "Wishmaster" comes off more as classic melodic metal. Its somewhat reminiscent of vintage Iron Maiden, as opposed to the Dream Theatre type progressive vibe of "Oceanborn" or the heavier more modern flavor of "Century Child" and "Once". Not to suggest Nightwish is derivative - without a doubt they have a strong character all of their own - those comparisons are just a rough frame of reference.



"Wishmaster" is more guitar driven than "Oceanborn", a bit less grandiose, and not quite as bold or dramatic. Its also noticeably more polished; there aren't really any clunky elements in the music and sound quality is much better. "Wishmaster" doesn't have the harsh high-frequency issues "Oceanborn" did; this really helps the listening experience. It has a very balanced sound; no one element dominates, you get a strong impression of cohesion and synergy - everyone pulling together. I'd say the vocals benefit most from this. I've noticed that the vocals can sometimes get a little lost in the mix on other Nightwish CDs - not the case here.



And that's a really good thing because if there is any vocal performance that should be highlighted its Tarja Turunen's performance on "Wishmaster". The only word I can use is sublime. I'm probably guilty of overusing this adjective when it comes to Nightwish, but that's the only way I can really sum it up. I guess gorgeous and stunning work pretty well too, but I'm sticking with sublime. The vocals are firmly in the classical operatic style; really similar to those on "Oceanborn". Though I like classical music, I never liked classical vocals; I`ve always thought of them as stuffy and self-indulgent. I don't have that feeling at all with Tarja; in contrast, I just can't get enough. Somewhat sadly, Nightwish went to a more conventional vocal style following "Wishmaster". Though I think Tarja is still the best heavy music singer out there, even in a more conventional style, the unique flavor of her performances in "Wishmaster" and "Oceanborn" are unforgettable.



All this raving about the vocal performance shouldn't overshadow the other performances in "Wishmaster". As usual, Nightwish is really disciplined in songwriting and arrangement - there's no self indulgence here. The songs are all memorable, there's terrific use of melody and harmony, and the playing is top notch. Also, as usual, I find it impossible to pick favorites; my favorite track is whichever one I'm listening to at the moment. I love it when a CD is so consistent - listen all the way through - take a quick break - repeat - repeat again.....



In some ways, "Wishmaster" isn't super original, its more of a unique take on the classic metal formula. You could argue that the guitar leads have all been heard before, operatic vocals are common on PBS, you've heard those chord changes before, and so on. I think that's true of the vast majority of music out there; you could make similar arguments for just about any LP/CD. Truly ground breaking efforts aren't that common; "Wishmaster" is not in that category. If you're interested in that vibe "Oceanborn" or "Century Child" might be better choices. If you're really into the heavy modern grindy sound or a bit more of a darker vibe, "Once" would be a better Nightwish choice.



I think "Wishmaster" will appeal most to people who value melody, harmony, and balance in their music as opposed to those who favor heaviness or sheer guitar drive or are finicky about their metal. I think that "Wishmaster" is so strong in these areas that I would probably pick this as the CD that I would use to expose non-metal fans to the music - I think it transcends the genre or as one of my bros likes to say - its world class.

Wish upon a star...

I didn't like this album at first listen. It just didn't click with me. I'm not really sure why - I was a fan of 1998's Oceanborn after first listen. While this album maintained a similar sound to that classic, the songwriting just didn't seem as consistent.



Of course, my opinion of Wishmaster has greatly changed since then. Although I still prefer Oceanborn, this follow-up is more diverse - expanding upon Tarja Turunen's range and offering a glimpse of her less operatic vocals that would be featured more on later albums Century Child and Once. This comes in right during the verses of track 1, "She Is My Sin", which is probably one of the best of Nightwish's heavier tracks. It's a song that you would have expected to be a single, despite the odd fact that it wasn't. This is followed by one of Nightwish's most lyrically controversial tracks, "The Kinslayer", the song written in memory of the Columbine victims. I think this was conceptually a great song (much better written than Marilyn Manson's "The Fight Song"), but it seems so dull and uninspired that I can't comprehend why they would put this on an album, let alone make it the second track. The guitar/vocal mix is at its worst, as mysanthropyk_overlord mentioned before, and the vocal lines are so boring - there's just very little to enjoy. "Come Cover Me" is a pleasant surprise - a beautiful half-ballad with sweet (if rather erotic) lyrics and a catchy chorus. Nothing to blow you away, but a decent listen. Track 4, in my opinion, is the highlight (along with track #8) of Wishmaster. "Wanderlust" is just musical perfection - Nightwish doing what they do best and yet raising the bar for all the competitors. If every track were as good as this headbanger (which unfortunately has stirred up comparisons to the not-quite-as-good "Gethsemane" from Oceanborn), then you would have quite a devil of an album on your hands. There are some ballads on here, such as "Two for Tragedy" or "Bare Grace Misery" that seem pretty weak, particularly the latter. These sandwich track #6, Wishmaster's trophy of a title track. It's no surprise that this song is a fan (as well as a live) favorite - one of the most driving, powerful songs this band has written. Also of mention here is the aforementioned "Crownless" - the second contender in my Top 2 picks of Wishmaster. This song may seem a tad short, but the blazing guitars, galloping drums and beautiful chorus just scream superiority. A song not to be overlooked. Next we have the single, "Deep Silent Complete", bearing slight resemblance to "Sleeping Sun" and was oddly chosen as Wishmaster's only single. It's a very beautiful song that Nightwish ballads typically tend to be, and although no Wishmaster ballad can rival any of the Oceanborn or even Century Child ballads, it remains a nice snack to the ears. The haunting "Dead Boy's Poem" follows, one of the longer tracks of the album - and probably my 3rd or 4th choice as favorite. It integrates some spoken text from Sam Hardwick (who I believe reappears on Century Child) as well as some deep but rather depressing lyrics. Wishmaster is rounded out by the epic "FantasMic", which contains references to many Disney films, including the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Sleeping Beauty among others. This may take several listens to truly appreciate, but is by far one of Nightwish's most interesting songs, both in terms of lyrics and song structures.



This may not be Nightwish's crowning achievement in my opinion, but is definitely an essential for fans of the band as well as newcomers and symphonic metal purists. There's definitely enough variety here to be enjoyed by everybody. Whatever your wish may be, the Wishmaster will surely grant it.



8.5/10