Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nightwish Continues To Impress, February 24, 2005
When you take the time to consider the more standout bands in the world of Metal nowadays, Nightwish is probably one of the first to come to mind. With each release Nightwish brings you into a diverse world that combines metal with arias and epic orchestrations. Tarja Turunen definitely has one of the best and most beautiful voices to come along in some time. She has led the way for modern metal women of today to find a stronger foothold in the music we love. "Century Child" was the first readily available releases in the USA courtesy of Century Media Records. This is a great CD, and it quickly follows up on the success of "Wishmaster". Beginning with "Bless The Child" you are quickly drawn into the sound of the band by Tarja's warm vocals and a very eerie haunting melody. When the "End Of All Hope" kicks in you find that the group can be heavy as they find the need. This number is full of incredible double drumming by Jukka and great guitar wizardry of Emmpu. For those who enjoy a hearty chorus the track "Dead To The World" might be most impressive. I admit that on the CD, these few are actually among my favorites. When Nightwish first played the States a little over a year ago, they performed some these and it made enjoying them all the more easier.
Showcasing her softer side, Tarja serenades you with "Forever Yours", it is the closest thing to a ballad that you will find on the CD. There is also an unusual item on the disk and that is "Phantom Of The Opera". Now I am not speaking of the Iron Maiden song of the same name, but instead the version from the Broadway play. While I am aware of this plays wide and worldwide popularity, I admit I found it amusing that a band from Finland would choose to perform it. Reservations aside, the band does not disappoint and brings the sound of Broadway to an entirely different audience with this one. You will be impressed.
Nightwish has since moved on from Century Media to Roadrunner Records as their label in the USA. Yet, I am not certain if they will also take on the back catalog. For now, if you need those you should look into CM's site. They reissued them here and added a track or two for the listener to enjoy it more. Nightwish is definitely one of those bands that if you are for some reason not looking into you should. They have defined a new level of style to it, and raised power metals bar a little higher.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Losing emotion. Finding devotion.", May 30, 2006
Six months ago music like this was completely unknown to me. For fifty years my listening enjoyment was based on that offered by American radio - rock, pop, jazz, classical, country. During most of the past half century, it provided the emotional experiences wanted from music. But during the last few years, the emotion was slipping away, so much so that I considered turning it all off, which was not a happy thought. Then someone (one more time - thanks Jeff) gave me this CD. Unless you have experienced something similar to my 50 year musical history, you cannot imagine the shock of hearing something so powerful, so different, so beautiful for the first time. All of the reviews I have done here (except The Irish Volunteer), and all that I will do, are a result of listening to this one amazing work of art, which opened the doors to an amazing new world of listening pleasure.
Being the first "new" music experienced may have something to do with it being in my top five list, but there is no doubt the music itself deserves the rating. Of all the other similar groups, only Tarja seems to have the true operatic sound. Every selection is excellent in all ways, making it difficult to pick a favorite; however my ear deems Dead to the World as having a slight edge over the others. Marco, who has a very appealing voice, provides a perfect contrast to Tarja in this song. He adds a whole new, and positive, dimension to a group that already had more dimensions than most. In fact, their version of Phantom of the Opera on this CD is by far the best I've heard, which leaves me wishing they would get back together to record the whole sound track. (Please see my profile for a brief discussion of my rating philosophy.)
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good CD... with a solid 4 stars, July 10, 2005
I had just gotten Nightwish's first CD "Once" and I soon rushed out to get another by the band. I picked out Century Child and was not disappointed...
Bless the Child- 4/5: This song is a pretty good introduction track. There is a guy's voice in the beginning and end that adds some more character to the already beautiful music.
End of All Hope- 5/5: One of my favorite songs on the CD, this song continues directly off of Bless the Child with a really fast beat and interesting lyrics
Dead to the World- 5/5: This is also pretty fast paced with both Tarja and Marco singing in it. The tune is very catchy and the lyrics are also pretty good.
Ever Dream- 4/5: This song is a little slower than the others and seems to be more of a love song. Tarja's voice sounds very nice in this track and I like to listen to it over and over, not getting bored of it.
Slaying the Dreamer- 4/5: This song starts out pretty good, but I don't like the song at the end. It's like the band didn't know which direction they wanted to song to go in and they split it in half. Both Tarja and Marco sing in it.
Forever Yours- 3.5/5: For some reason starting at this song and through the next two, the three songs never caught on with me... Forever Yours is good and catchy but it never really captured my attension like the others did.
Ocean Soul- 3.5/5: I first I didn't like this song at all, but it eventually grew on me. The lyrics felt ackward with the music but once I listened to it a few times I got the beat better and the song wasn't as bad.
Feel For You- 4/5: I liked this song the best compared to the two previous. The lyrics were strange but I liked them. When Marco came in and began to sing, it added some more to the song as well.
The Phantom of the Opera- 5/5: I liked this more that the original. I wasn't really a fan of the Phantom of the Opera but when I heard this song, I was captivated. I ersonally think it sounds better than the original.
Beauty of the Beast- 5/5: This is undoubtedly my favorite song on the album. I normally don't like really long songs, but this one kept my attension the entire ten minutes. The lyrics and the music is wonderful, and the guy from the beginning in "Bless the Child" comes back for a few lines at the end of this song.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this CD and would recommend it to fans of Nightwish.
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