MADE IN HONG KONG (AND IN VARIOUS OTHER PLACES)

This is the CD that comes with a DVD documentary about the band´s world tour promoting their Dark Passion Play album. It contains 8 live tracks and three rare studio recordings that were previously used as b-sides. All the live stuff is from Dark Passion Play. While it would be nice to have some earlier material included here, it proves how strong (and generally underrated) that CD was. Probably most fans were still mourning Nightwish´s losing of the former singer Tarja Tarunnen and were not yet prepared to give newcomer Anette Olzon Blyckert a fair chance. A real shame since she has proved herself to be the right choice. And the group lost none of their musical tightness, neither their knack for writing great memorable tunes that mix heavy metal guitars, dreamy keyboards, impressive, bombastic symphonic orchestrations and great melodies together. Nightwish is a league on their own.

I was curious to see how the new vocalist would sound like live and all I can say is that the band chose the right path: instead of trying to get an opera singer like Tarja they decided to get one with a different style completely and that could still sing the earlier stuff convincingly. I had the chance to see a video of the new line up playing a festival in Holland and I was surprised when I saw that Anette is a charismatic singer with a strong stage performance and a very nice voice (no comparisons with the unique Tarja, please!). And this CD only enhances this feeling: the new material is excellent in every point. The band is playing better than ever and Anette does a great job live. The recording sound is very good and the production is top notch.

Highlights? To me are the great progressive epics: the 14 minute The Poet And The Pendulum (fine orchestrations, many tempo changes and mood swings) and the emotional 7 Days of the Wolfe (nice blend of vocals by Anette and bassist Marco Hietala, plus a fine guitar lines by Erno ''Emppu'' Vuorinen). There are absolute no fillers and the addition of the three rare studio tracks is a nice touch since they are up to Nightwish´s high standards.

Conclusion: another fine work done by this great band. If you´re a fan (and have overcome Tarja´s loss), go for it! If you do not know the band yet, this is a good starting point. An excellent addition to any prog music collection. Rating: four strong stars, no less! Highly recommended!