God knows that I have never really been a huge fan of Nightwish’s music in the past, and I am not ashamed to admit that I even managed to fall asleep during one of their shows in the past (excessive tiredness also contributed to that), but at some point even I began to look forward to the release of the band’s latest release 'Dark Passion Play', if anything for this vicious circle of rumours and speculations about the voice quality of the new singer and the band’s musical direction to be finally over. If only I knew how much my opinion of this band will change over the course of my introduction to this eleven track release…

Both the music media and the fan base of course realized that numerous things were at stake here: the band’s previous album 'Once' had easily exceeded the one million copies worldwide sales limit and much as we all like to believe that the only thing that people in the music business care about is music (yeah, right!) there must have been enormous pressure on the shoulders of the band’s members to come up with an album that would at least meet the same standards as the above-mentioned multi seller. Well, it looks like Tuomas Holopainen’s (keyboards) outfit has managed to produce an album capable of satisfying the average Nightwish fan while presenting well hidden aspects of the band’s character that managed to win over even an astute critic such as myself.

People were looking forward to this release for almost three years, so the opening track of the album had to be of such quality that would win the appreciation even of Tarja Turunen’s most loyal fans. Well, 'The Poet And The Pendulum' is by far the most powerful and technically demanding composition of the album, presenting an array of different rhythmical patterns and emotional performances that are enhanced by both traditional rock instruments and a variety of classical ones, the collaboration of which enables this thirteen and a half minute opus to come across as the perfect example of the long epic compositions that Nightwish are still capable of producing in the year 2007.

Just as I was starting to really enjoy myself, the average gothy 'By Bye Beautiful' brought me back to my senses and much as I appreciated the Roxette influences in 'Amaranth', I began to slightly lose interest in the album.

It was due to Anette Olzon’s beautiful vocal performance in 'Cadence Of Her Last Breath' that my interest resumed and that was much to my happiness, seeing as the second half of this release holds some of the strongest and most inspiring compositions that I’ve ever heard from this band. Having completely ignored the meaningless aggression of 'Master Passion Greed' and the boring simplicity of 'Eva', I was instantly drawn to 'Sahara' – a mid-tempo heavy opus which somehow manages to sound like a less heavy version of Kamelot.

It seems, though, that the oriental tunes of the previously mentioned composition were not strong enough to compete with the beautiful Celtic/Folk melodies of the amazing 'The Islander' and its connecting instrumental sequel 'Last Of The Wilds' - melodies that reminded me of those of the Breton bard Alan Stivell and which I still hear in my head as I write these very words.

'7 Days To The Wolves' is not only one of the best compositions of the album, but also the second opportunity for Anette Olzon to impress me with her vocal skills, followed the Celtic-sounding but much more emotional melodies of the ballad 'Meadows Of Heaven' – a fitting ending to this good album.

'Dark Passion Play' is the first Nightwish album that I would ever considered buying, and it would have received an even higher rating had the band decided to play things less safe. Consisting of both average and brilliant compositions, this thirteen track album may not be the masterpiece that the fans of the band had been waiting for, yet it could be the starting point of a new era for the band – one that will definitely find me supportive of. Am I becoming a Nightwish fan? By God, it certainly looks like this is the case!

****

Review by John Stefanis