Nightwish, to put it simply, is amazing. Innovative, incredibly talented, and excellent, they never sacrifice what makes music great. I've gone so far as to call Ghost Love Score on Once my new definition of music (a highly recommended album as well), and that's really saying something: Nightwish does so much stuff that's new to make them completely recognizable and distinguishable, but never making music not enjoyable.

Their third studio release, Wishmaster, is my personal favorite album (as a whole, but I enjoy some songs from Oceanborn more in general) from the symphonic metal giants. From the opening riffs of the excellent She Is My Sin to the ending clash of guitars, symphony, opera, and piano/harpsichord on FantasMic (or the sweet, soft ending of Sleepwalker, depending on what version you have), you'll be completely hooked.

The album comes in nicely with the heavy She Is My Sin, one of my personal favorites on the album, combining electronics nicely with heavy riffs from Emppu and wonderful drumming from Jukka. Tarja's voice, you can see immediately, has changed significantly from the excellent Oceanborn, and it's neither good nor bad, only different. It's less operatic, but stronger, so she's clearer over the guitars, drums, and electronics. All in all, this song is one of my favorites on the album. This leads into my least favorite on Wishmaster, The Kinslayer, which, still an excellent song, is just the forgotten song on Wishmaster to me. It's because it's too similar to other heavy tracks: Wishmaster, She Is My Sin, and Bare Grace Misery just overshadow it for me. I still love it to death, but it's just forgotten for me.

This leads wonderfully well into Come Cover Me, which, at the first chords, might come off to be a ballad, and this is reinforced when a beautiful flute solo and soft orchestra in the background. However, looks (and sounds) can be decieving; for mere seconds later, killer guitar riffs come in, and this turns very nicely into a traditional Nightwish tune. Another favorite of mine on Wishmaster is Wanderlust, combining the power of metal and symphony, with the beauty of Tarja's operatic voice, fantasy lyrics, and excellent piano provided by Tuomas. The chorus is the real killer on this song: the pure power of Tarja's voice will not dissapoint!

Two For Tragedy is the signature ballad on the album (one per album), and it's my personal favorite (of their works thus far; followed closely by Swanheart and Angels Fall First). The pure beauty and sorrow of this song, combined with a haunting flute duet partway through, makes it one of their most beautiful songs to date. It nearly brings me to tears each time; the pure emotion of the song, and the fading out of the guitars and drums again reminiscent of the opening is merely heartrendering in every sense of the word. However, don't let the beauty and soft sorrow of it bog you down, or else you're in for a surprise. MASTER! APPRENTICE! will soon jolt you out of your stupor and thrust you into the glory of Wishmaster, a heavy song complete with Lord of the Rings references and the signature guitars and excellent drumming of Nightwish. An instant classic, and an apt song to name the album after, as it's essentially the model (in my mind) of most of the other heavy songs on the album.

This leads into another favorite, Bare Grace Misery, which seems to me one of the most classic-rock sounding songs on the album. Not quite Nightwish, yet not quite anything else, this song has a signature sound of its own. Simply marvelous! This leads into probably my favorite song on this album, Crownless, an experimental, fast-as-the-wind track using synth, guitars, drums, and ethereal choir to give it another sound all its own. One highlight of this song is its fantasy lyrics: look them up (even though you can barely understand what Tarja's saying...) and you'll see the pure power that Tuomas poured into the song's lyrics. Another highlight of this song is the synth: this is definitely one of the most experimental tracks in Nightwish's history, and one of the best. Very liable to get stuck in your head; don't listen to this track before you go somewhere boring! It'll be there for eternity!

I didn't think it would be possible to have an almost complete vocal solo on Wishmaster while keeping the feel of the metal on the album, but I was proven wrong. Another personal favorite of mine, Deep Silent Complete, is an almost complete vocal solo, using occasional guitars, and nearly constant drums. Tarja's voice is probably at its best on this track, showing her pure emotion and power over the band; and it shows that Nightwish can have a solo with almost no guitars overshadowing Tarja.

Probably among my top 5 favorite Nightwish tracks of all time is the superb Dead Boy's Poem. Tarja's emotion in this song is absolutely fantastic, and the addition of the dead boy's voice makes it that much more emotional. Tuomas once said that this was his most heartfelt song, because he just had to share the crappy feelings that he had in this type of song. (How he converts those feelings into such beautiful songs I'll never know.) The real clincher for favorite is the ending, just before the "a lonely soul, an ocean soul"s continuing to the end of the piece. The masteful use of orchestra in this song alone is absolutely superb (however, it still barely holds a candle to the orchestral arrangement of Ghost Love Score...) This leads into the rocking opening (harpsichord?!) of FantasMic, which introduced me to Nightwish. It comes in three parts: a rocking opening, very approriate to Nightwish's style, then a Nightwish style ballad as part two, then it picks back up again for part three, my personal favorite. The lyrics, according to Tuomas, are a tribute to the "king of fantasy" or the "Wishmaster" himself, Walt Disney. Approriate to Nightwish's style, approriate to their lyrics, and to Tarja's voice, this song is just absolutely "fantasmic"!

If you're lucky enough to own the digipak version of Wishmaster, you're treated to the ballad Sleepwalker. A heavy version of this was made, but the ballad is vastly superior. One of their shorter songs, clocking in at just under 3 minutes, this song isn't full of the emotion of Two For Tragedy, but it has a style all its own: it's probably one of the more electronic pieces in Nightwish's repertoire, and it fits well with the music. Another favorite of mine, this song is great if you have it; if you don't, find it! It's great!

In all, this is another incredible album from one of my favorite bands. As I sit here listening to Two For Tragedy, I'm reminded why I love Nightwish so much: they're unique. They're not afraid to try something new and branch out, and their work can be attributed as a sign to mainstream: underground is just as good, just not known. Most definitely, they're probably one of the more talented bands out there, and definitely one of the most unique. I mean, come on: who else uses "tragedienne" in their music? They're just about as unique as you get. I highly recommend the aforementioned Oceanborn and the fantasmic (har har) Wishmaster as the first albums to get by them, as these are them at their peak. If you don't have this and/or Oceanborn by now, you're insane. Run and buy, quick!

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening