END OF INNOCENCE

The main feature of this DVD is a long documentary called End Of The Innocence, directed by Timo Halo. It contains mostly interviews with songwriter, leader and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and drummer Jukka Nevalainen talking about the band´s story and philosophy, plus many backstage shots (with lots of inside jokes), studio snippets, tour images on and off stage from several countries and so on. Quite interesting for the ones that are fond of Nightwish, but I thought at the time it was a bit too soon for a group that young (around the time of their Century Child CD).

However, the extras were the best part: They include the band performing six songs in the Summer Breeze Festival in Germany, 2002. The images are excellent and the soundtrack is quite good too. There is also another live performance, this time at the Rockfeller, Oslo, Norway, 4th of July, 2003. Nightwish plays five tunes and it features the then new bassist Marco Hietala taking the vocal spot during a good cover of W.A.S.P.´s Wild Child. The sound and image´s quality here is inferior but still acceptable.

There are also two videos, the excellent Over The Hills And Far Away and the bad End Of All Hope. The former shows how their budget for videos had swollen since the very simple The Carpenter just three years before. A short MTV Brazil interview (without Tuomas) is also included.

A good documentary, with some fine extras to boost it. Good for the fans of the band, but hardly essential. If you want to see Nightwish just playing at their peak I strongly recommend you to get their brilliant From Wishes To Eternity. Rating for this one: between 2.5 and 3 stars.