HUMAN. :ǁ: NATURE.

Eighty-one minutes of intricately composed and performed music that, unfortunately, I feel I've all heard before. I mean, to my ears, there is never any doubt in my mind, no matter where I "drop the needle," that I'm listening to Nightwish. I love that they think that they're trying to push the boundaries on what they've already done but, in the end, it's still just variations on exactly that: stuff they've already done. This release generated a lot of excitement in the prog and metal communities. To me, it sounds like Nightwish being . . . Nightwish! Tight, even virtuosic performances of strong compositions, it's just that I don't hear anything new or innovative. Even the all-orchestrated second disc is not anything that the band hasn't done before. Maybe it's more polished and concise this time (at 31 minutes) but it was fresher the first time. Floor is amazing. Tuomas is amazing. Emppu is amazing. Troy Donockley is amazing. Marco and Kai are amazing. But these people are always amazing--doing exactly the same thing that their doing here. I think it's time they pull a "Remain in Light" and all do a musical chairs instrument-switch. Then let's see what comes out of Nightwish! Excellent and amazing but I'm tired and old . . . I need something fresh and unusual to pique my interest. But of course, I can't help but recommend it to you--for you to make your own judgments. It probably deserves four stars, so . . .