Customer Reviews

End of an Era

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't think it's possible to listen to this album and not have goose bumps crawling all over the flesh. Lately Nightwish has been my music of choice and I can't seem to get enough, the louder the better! Often I find myself craving their mélange of rock, symphonic power metal and opera like vocals - even at work, with headphones on of course, don't want to scare the socks off my coworkers, and I am constantly lost and mesmerized by the harmony of vocals and power that sound like a rock concert in tall halls of Valhalla.

The guitars on this album shred the air like hungry sharks and the vocals are haunting. Much to my delight I can certainly see that Tuomas is greatly influenced by movie scores. I adore them too so to me music doesn't get any better than this, and for a kid who grew up watching Conan movies and war epics this music pumps my blood in all the right places.

This album is very operatic, but also grandiose and full of metal - and even better, it's from a live concert, so it really sounds real. With the fans clapping and people screaming I feel connected, almost as if I was there myself. The lead singer - Tarja is a brilliant artist, even thought she is no longer with this band - I recommend her solo album "My Winter Storm" for the fans of this genre. Her first single off that CD is coincidentally called "I walk Alone" maybe she misses this kick a@@ band...

- Kasia S.

Pretty much the best Nightwish live effort thus far, easily outstripping the Over the Hills...collection in terms of performance, quantity and the actual excellence of the songs. The set list cherry picks from the earlier albums and mainly centres on the more communicative numbers such as The Kinslayer and Wishmaster and welds these rockers with a bevy of tunes from Century Child and, of course, the excellent Once album.

The pacing of the music is very good, only on a few occasions does one start to lose focus as too many mellow numbers line up after one another. But one of the great aspects of this double disc live album is the lively delivery of the numbers, the professionalism with which the band operate and that is really surprising given how tenuous the inter personal relationships were at the time.

The production is good here, the sound very clear. The booklet has few snippets of info, merely a collage of live shots from the gig. However given Nightwish always include lyrics with their studio albums this isn't a major problem. Of course we all know this is a band heavily dependant on mini disc but that shouldn't preclude applauding the musical skills on display, Nightwish growing into the sort of band that could realise their earlier potential. And one has to assume that there can't have been too many overdubs...well not of Tarjas vox at least given the parting of the ways after this gig.

Personally I find this a very good album, the sort of live album that actually improves some of the songs and this is particularly welcome in regards to some of the earlier tracks sent forth here as the 2006 version of Nightwish were a much more majestic beast than the band that recorded some of these tunes way back when. And The Phantom Of The Opera - seriously, this thing was meant to be done by a metal band like Nightwish. And when you throw in the focussed rockers from Once into the mix juxtaposed with tunes like Ever Dream....the release just works.

Pretty much an obligatory purchase for the hordes of Nightwish fans out there and really not a bad introduction to the band for the uninitiated though I'd also heartily recommend buying this gig in the DVD format which is an excellent release and probably an even better introduction to this band as the visuals definitely add a theatrical element to proceedings even given Tarja being noted for her somewhat stilted crowd interaction. A highly recommended buy.

Tarja certainly went out with a bang. This album is phenomenal. The only reason I'm giving it four stars is because this is an experience best had by watching the DVD. Once in a while you may turn to the live album. But by the end of any track on this double disc set, you'll be turning on the TV so that you can watch while you listen. Regardless, this is not an experience to be missed.

The performance, production, and overall quality of this disc makes it one of the best live albums I've heard/bought in many years. I'd be extremely proud to leave Nightwish on this release if I were Tarja. It's a great release, and highly recommended!

This was a gift for ME, recommended by a friend, now I have a new FAVORITE, not very known in the states however if they ever do a TOUR HERE...., as for the way it was purchased, AMAZON.com, this VENDOR making available through... where we try to buy everything that we do E-Commerce, which is always through AMAZON, even to the extent of taking a search from a manufactures website and pasting it in the AMAZON search to see if it can be bought through AMAZON, the pricing, shipping, time tables, ( I believe in some cases that the items are BEAMED down from some AMAZON Starship to our Doorstep they're so fast) , (order receive) service, return, exchange, replace, (replace, exchange, seems you will receive these before the one you are sending back gets picked up) etc. in the event are SECOND to none, and everyone I know I do my BEST to advocate they try the same....www.AMAZON.com
Amazon Verified Purchase

The last album before Tarja was summarily dismissed from the group for being able to make an otherwise average band great. Unless they patch things up somewhere down the line, Nightwish will never sound this good again.

well..after first seeing nightwish on a dvd on a surround sound and high def tv i was blown away with this band and tarja as the lead singer...ive seen everyone live..have been going to live shows since the sixties..and i think this last show with tarja was the most awsome concert that i have ever seen in my life..WOW...tarja could only be compared to maybe sara brightman.and each member of the nightwish band was awsome. I REALLY think that if tarja had stayed with them they were on their way to being the greatest band since the beatles.almost cried when i found out about her leaving and not to put anyone down...who could ever take her place???..the dvd...as i said is absolutely incredible ...and the louder the better.loved their phantom of the opera..however the cd audio sounded to me like it was recorded on a tape recorder by someone sitting in the back when compared to the dvd..my advice..is get the dvd.. the quality is by far the best,besides..seeing the show is way better than just hearing it.I was left with the impression that this cd is of a low sound quality..however i may order another dvd just in case my present one gets scratched because im NOT going without this conccert in my collection.I watch it over and over.ONE INCREDIBLE SHOW.

Just got the CD (a day early in fact, FedEx SmartPost sure got their act together), and a great addition to my collection! Must admit that this sounds infinitely better if your using high quality speakers/and or earbuds. Live on Nightwish!

As the title suggests, I found this concert footage incredible. I've never been to a concert that had so much raw energy and passion from both the band and the audience, and I've been to a LOT of concerts over the years, including bands such as Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, U2, Scorpions, and Judas Priest (easily the best concert I've personally been to).

The first song grips you to a point you feel like you're actually there, and from that point on you're hooked, you HAVE to see the entire show.

A HUGE thumbs up. If Nightwish had only remained this way, they could easily have been one of the most popular and influential bands on the planet.

This cd is one of the best Nightwish has ever maid. And I know that because I have them all. The first time I heard this band was a time at my firnds house and she playd "Over the Hills and Far Away" on her stero and I think I fell in some kind of trance I just heard the music comming from the streo and nothing more. The only thing I could say was "What's that?". And after that I have bought cd's and dvd's. But back to the album. The cd like I sad before is the best of Nightwish beacuse it has all and then I meen ALL the best songs from the other albums all my favorites. And sinse it's a live album it's not to dificullt to sing along with Tarja on songs like "Sleeping Sun and " Over The Hills and far Away". So this is defenattly a must have for all Nightwish fans around the world. But If you've never heard songs drom Nightwish I would start with "High Hopes: The Best Of Nightwish". But like I sad this is the best album out there from this fantastic band! ^^
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