CENTURY CHILD

Nightwish is one of those guilty pleasure bands that is almost impossible not to like even if you question their inclusion as progressive..anything. Occasionally the cheese factor can be very high but once hooked by the unique vocals, like a car crash it can be hard to look away. I came to know Nightwish by watching their live DVDs before listening to their studio albums. After watching their very good live act, the studio album becomes quite a deflating experience. In the live setting this band is extremely engaging and entertaining, their considerable power is breathtaking to behold. Those attributes do not transfer adequately to "Century Child." The songs here seem to suffer death by production. The album is so over-produced that it sounds almost mechanical, the guitar/bass/drums fused into a single wall of sound. Impressive in one way as Russell mentioned, by the fact that this album does sound better the louder you play it. But the real spark in the individual's personal performances are all but drowned. It's really difficult for me to appreciate the material in the confines of this production, the sameness of the sound, the relative coldness. I would like to hear more of an organic warmth like that which comes through live. Even Tarja's passionate singing seems oddly constricted by the album's sound, except on tracks like "Forever Yours" where the band is toned way down. The keyboard sound is dreadfully sugary. The best moment is the long closer "Beauty of the Beast" which is undeniably effective with its wider variety of sound.interesting parts, orchestration, thematic drama. If only the whole album were at that level it would help overcome the homogeneous sound. I would suggest that the two live DVDs are where the real mojo of Nightwish resides and that you should check them out even if you are a bit underwhelmed by the studio albums. They are fun whether you consider them progressive or not. 2 ½ stars and mostly of interest to fans.

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