Customer Reviews

Nightwish: End of an Era [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I LOVE this DVD live with great sounds and fun to watch over and over again. I became a much bigger Nightwish fan after viewing this. So many great songs and so many songs I haven't heard of but I loved it. Here are the list of songs. You will enjoy this DVD.

1: Dark Chest of Wonders [Live] (5:08)
2: Planet Hell [Live] (4:44)
3: Ever Dream [Live] (5:27)
4: The Kinslayer [Live] (4:08)
5: Phantom of the Opera [Live] (5:11)
6: The Siren [Live] (4:52)
7: Sleeping Sun [Live] (4:55)
8: High Hopes [Live] (6:54)
9: Bless the Child [Live] (6:24)
10: Wishmaster [Live] (4:43)
11: Slaying the Dreamer [Live] (5:04)
12: Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan [Live] (4:13)
13: Nemo [Live] (4:46)
14: Ghost Love Score [Live] (10:29)
15: Stone People [Live] (4:08)
16: Creek Mary's Blood [Live] (8:39)
17: Over the Hills and Far Away [Live] (5:26)
18: Wish I Had an Angel [Live] (7:52)

This is a fantastic, wonderful concert as others have mentioned. I won't spend a lot of time on that except to agree with most of the comments about the performance. Never having had the chance to see Tarja perform, it was great to be able to watch this.

That said, I was quite disappointed by this DVD technically. I can't believe that, given the year and what this is, the "end of an era" document that this represents, that more care was not taken to have this DVD meet a better standard. 1) The DVD is letterboxed and not anamorphic (if you have a widescreen TV, it still shows as letterboxed instead of filling the screen - that means quality is lost), and 2) the sound is available in only Dolby Digital, not a higher quality version. I can't help but contrast this to Within Temptation's "Black Symphony" DVD which I bought simultaneous to this - it has a beautifully shot widescreen presentation, and DTS 96/24 sound which on a quality audio system is much better than Dolby Digital. I haven't seen any comments about this for End Of An Era so wanted to mention it. I really wish a better effort had been made technically for this otherwise wonderful document of a special event.

I got this DVD for Christmas last year and I've seen it more than 10 times already! This is pretty much the BEST concert DVD that I own. The production, the music, the cinemetography, all amazing. Tarja's voice is powerful and many of the songs sound even better than the album versions, especially Phantom of the Opera which is amazing here. The only downside to this show is how emotional the ending leaves you,knowing that this is the last time we will ever hear Tarja with Nightwish.

Never, ever, before have I (a listener/musician, age 56) been so captivated by anyone's music. What emotion and musicianship! One day, I heard some very incredible music that I was sure was the score for Final Fantasy on YouTube. It fit so well. Enter Nightwish. Looking for anything by Nightwish at the store, what appeared to be a "Metalhead" (I now believe to have been an Angel) directed me to "End of an Era". It instantly became my breakfast and dinner every day for at least 6 months. And that is NO exaggeration! Lately, whenever I want music with real "substance" it is ALWAYS "End of an Era" that I run to. (Well, OK, I do have an extremely important place in my mind and heart for Dark Passion Play" as well). Tuomas Holopainen, composer/brain child of this great work, has given to the world a phenomenal combination of some of the best musical forms from old Europe including symphony, choral, and opera. Combined with this already magnificent work, he makes it become an integral part of today's heavy metal musical art form. One could not exist with out the other and have such great emotional impact. In my humble opinion, whether you enjoy "End of an Era" or not, it is something you should be familiar with. And so, the Vikings have returned but, for some reason, they have come in peace. Now that's another subject.

Most of the good things have already been said here. I just want to warn prospect buyers that this bluray is far away from a true 1080p reproduction. The image looks closer to a DVD than HD. The audio is still great though. If you like Nightwish like me, get it!, the concert is great and audio superb... if you are looking for a great image quality, then think again.

Of course the first thing we had to do was go and purchase the blu-ray dvd player and this "End of an Era" was our first blu-ray purchase. This dvd had us so glued to what we were experiencing with the vivid crisp sound and awesome performance, it was unbelieveable! We have a collection of over 700 Cd's and DVD's but this one is worth every dollar you spend... Nightwish has it goin' on...this is what we call the real deal. To many people get caught up in the RADIO mind, and they have no clue what real music is...

There are some technical issues with the DVD which others have remarked on. I would add to those that subtitles of the lyrics would have been welcome.

This is a truly emotional concert on many levels. It was the last time that Tarja Turunen performed as lead singer with Nightwish. The band fired her after that concert.... She had previously asked to quit after one more album. It is the end of the "opera metal" era for this band. Never again would these songs be performed with the same grandeur, or as moving, as they were then, and many of them (especially Ever Dream) are completely beyond the ability of Tarja's eventual replacement (Annette Olzon).

The concert is well organized, with large numbers of contrasts brought into it. Some songs are extremely melodic (Sleeping Sun) and others are downright noisy (Siren, Slaying the Dreamer). In between we are treated to performances of Native American John Two-Hawks both with (Creek Mary's Blood) and without (Stone People) the band. Somehow the chanting and Native American flute music does not get out of place among the metal that surrounds it and sometimes blends with it.

The music itself is completely unique. There is nothing like it around today. Great metal and symphonic sounds paired with a great, almost operetic voice.

Additionally the lyrics are full of references to Classical Greece, from "Save a penny for the ferryman" as the refrain in "Planet Hell" to the theme of Siren which juxtaposes the imagery of Odysseus tied to the mast with astrological symbolism. Tuomas's talent as a poet and a songwriter shines forth as truly as Tarja's voice.

Highly recommended even for non-metal fans.

One of the best concerts you'll ever see. Ever. Vocals, musicianship, arrangement, lighting.

I'll get this out of the way first: the picture quality of this Blu-ray is HORRIBLE. The colors are off, and the video images have this weird, flat, one-dimensional quality with no depth, making the performers look like cutouts superimposed on the background in many of the shots. Hands down the worst looking Blu-ray I've ever watched.
On the other hand, the concert itself is without a doubt the best concert video I've EVER seen. The editing complements the various tempos in the songs, the camera work is excellent, and the special effects, such as the occasional blending of the performances with the live background video projections, are perfectly done. Also, I loved the small touches the director used, such as the spotlight shining on Marco, and into the camera, as he sings "the light was brighter" during "High Hopes."
Plus, THOSE SONGS! If you're a Nightwish fan you need no convincing how great the music is, and if you're not a fan you surely will become one if you like highly melodic, dramatic music with a hard edge - this is some of the best symphonic metal ever produced, IMO. Tarja's voice is strong and beautiful, and the rest of the band turn in close-to-perfect, tightly choreographed renditions of the sometimes complicated songs. I really can't rave enough about this concert.
It's a shame about the Blu-ray, though. If you already have the DVD, do NOT waste your money on upgrading like I did, and if you have yet to buy this, GET THE DVD - THE DVD ACTUALLY HAS BETTER PICTURE QUALITY THAN THE BLU-RAY! (especially when up-converted on a Blu-ray player.)

This review refers to the single disc version of the DVD.
Out of all the live concert dvds I've seen, Nightwish's End of An Era is hands down the best of them all. I can pretty much watch this over and over and never get bored with it. The band gives everything they got for this final night of the Once tour with amazing vocals by Tarja and Marco, pyrotechnics, video screens, and a special guest. My favorite parts were Phantom Of the Opera (10x better here than on the album Century Child), which shows just how powerful Tarja's vocals are, Ghost Love Score, The Kingslayer, and Sleeping Sun. I admit I get a bit sad once the ending comes on because that is when we all know it will be the last time this lineup of Nightwish will ever be on stage together.
The bonus features include a 55 min documentary of the months leading up to this last concert which is subtitled in english. A bit dissapointing cause they could've included the music videos for Nemo and Wish I Had An Angel.