I think this album came as a shock for many old Nightwish fans, following the dismissal of their original singer Tarja, they recruited pop vocalist Annette Olson. This album is the start of a new direction in their music, this turned out to be a good thing in my opinion. Nearly all of the songs on here are well written and performed and are well suited to Annettes' voice which is very different from classical singer Tarja Turunen. The opening track of the album "The poet and the pendulum" is very epic whereas the more straight forward tracks such as "Bye bye beautiful" and "Amaranthe" have more of a definite accessability to them and were released as singles. I think this album brought Nightwishs' music to a wider audience, especially here in the UK, where symphonic metal dosen't tend to be popular. This is a weaker album in my opinion compared to their follow up "Imaginerium" but very good in it's own right. It includes the excellent acoustic song "The Islander" is the type of song that would probably have never appeared on one of their previous releases. You don't need to be a Nightwish fan to enjoy this album, I think this release brought them a lot of new fans. Many thought the band were going to call it a day after Tarja left, this album certainly proved otherwise.Read full review
Verified purchase: No
superb band each muscian of the highest standard will buy more of ther albums.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Great cd to listen when driving
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Amazing sound from an amazing band
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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