"Over the Hills And Far Away" by Nightwish from Over the Hills and Far Away EP

"He knew, without an alibi, / tomorrow's night would mourn his freedom…" Woo, can you say The Count of Monte Cristo meets, um, militaresque hard rock? (Seriously, if you like that style of music, it's a fun song, as evidenced by all the covers of it! Nightwish's version is only one of five that I can find record of.)

Okay, so strictly speaking, the tale's a bit different from Monte Cristo. Sure, the guy's wrongly accused—of robbery, with his pistol found at the scene—but he had no alibi for that night because he was with his best friend's wife. And the song laments the twosome waiting the "ten long years" so "back in his arms again she'll be." Uh, has nobody learned anything? And am I the only one who thinks it maybe a bit convenient that the man's pistol was at the scene of a robbery on a night he was with his best friend's wife, suggesting that maybe we're supposed to assume that the best friend himself planted the evidence?

Nightwish covered Gary Moore's 1987 song in 2001 for an EP. The "new" version had the same tune, but Nightwish updated it slightly. The two versions are therefore very similar (if you ignore Gary Moore's tenor vs. Tarja Turenen's operatic soprano). …It's not Tarja's best singing, honestly, but it's nice. If you can get into hard rock with an opera singer. Some people can't.

What gets fun in the song is the kinda martial quality to it. (The music video for the original by Gary Moore even has a row of presumed soldiers at their drums in some of those uniforms from a century or two ago.) The funniest thing for me is it sounds like something Nightwish would write, sounds like some bands that some parents now tsk over their kids listening to, and the original song's as old as I am!

As I mentioned in my coverage of the story, it's not exactly… edifying, unless you want to listen and snort at the "Aw, isn't that sweet that they're gonna make the exact same mistake that resulted in his ten-year incarceration in the first place?" So the message can be a bit disturbing, if that bothers you. But overall, it's one of those songs that sticks with you if you happen to like the sound. And the language is clean, as is standard for Nightwish even when they get into some of the topics that some people like avoiding.

Nightwish also kindly keeps its music video clean. Strange, confusing, and kinda silly if you happen to think about it, but nicely, er, dressed. (If that comment confuses you, don't worry; people who like knowing that kinda thing will get it.)

Overall, I suggest the song if you like hard rock, symphonic metal, or operatic metal and aren't easily swayed by lyrics.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

"Menace of Vanity" by Epica from The Divine Conspiracy

Hm, interesting violin—yikes! Like Nightwish's "Nemo", the Dutch band Epica to like leading into rapid-beat drums. (Hey, it keeps you awake.)

Then some barely-audible growling enters the song, and I grimace every time I hear it. The tempo and music flow together with obvious intention, but it's not very memorable, at least not for me. I do like what Epica does with the strings, though, and the drum works very well (though it gets fast!).

Lyricwise, the song matches the religion concept album it's on (The Divine Conspiracy). "Menace of Vanity" speaks of a refusal to "join the games" demanded by a "misplaced sense of superiority; the result of your unbearable form of vanity."

And that's it to the lyrics. Sounds to me like Epica is calling vain those who denounce sin.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting the lyrics. It may just be denouncing those who do play hypocritical games, but I do know I've listened to the song four times in a row and don't have any of the words sticking in my head. Even Rebecca St. James can beat that.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 6/10

"Last Shut of Your Eyes" by Visions of Atlantis from Cast Away

"I will ever be the one to blame—last shut of your eyes…"

Accepting blame for a mistake? What a welcome change! Oh, sure, songs often say "Aw, I'm sorry I let you go! Take me back! Wah!" Rather than a mere complaint, "Last Shut of Your Eyes" rather acts as a bit of a lament of a bad choice and what happened because of it. The male singer-narrator accepts that "now it is too late," and she won't come back.

Granted, it might be a bit hard for her to come back since she seems to be, well, dead. If you want to be really literal, the lyrics seem to imply she died crossing a street when leaving him, but I think it's supposed to be figurative.

That's one of the reasons I like symphonic metal. Better stories in the songs. Visions of Atlantis, with its power/operatic metal hybrid, is a bit different, too. Nicole Bogner sings with lovely operatic vocals, and I think Mario Plank is a (not-so-great) tenor. It's an interesting mix, but it works well for their slightly-cliché quasi-romantic playoff in their songs. ("Without you life is grey and even sun won't light my day"?)

"Last Shut of Your Eyes" opens with a bit of piano and soft electric guitar, later introducing a more overt guitar and drums, a little like a harder and faster-paced version of Eva. The musical shifts all flow together well, without sounding like someone hashed a few songs together.

Fine, the opening piano reminds me of some song that I think is within temptation, and Mario's singing at the beginning reminds me a bit of Keith Green, I think. It's still a lovely song.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"Seven Seas" by Visions of Atlantis from Trinity

"I try to reach you through this fog of ancient fear, and I'll return to you one day, again, my dear…" opens operatic singer Melissa Ferlaak to a piano, and the slow rock begins.

Mario Plank sings a bit roughly, but it's an interesting contrast to Melissa. The Australian band Visions of Atlantis fits conventions of its musical genre(s) in the fantasy-themed songs. The power-metal influence doesn't appear much in this ballad-like song.

"Seven Seas" may be slower than the other Visions of Atlantis songs, but it's still skilled. The music expertly flows together; it consciously ebbs and flows, though aspects seem a tad predictable. That might just be me, though, after listening to the song enough times to review it.

Melissa Ferlaak sings extremely well, and Mario Plank does pretty well, but he could've done better. Also, the lyrics seem kinda like a not-so-great poem. They have their moments, but overall, I think they could've used work.

Essentially, the song's talking about leaving this world behind and passing onwards, but it's not necessarily in a Christian way. (But it can be interpreted in a Christian light, if you consider "Dark waters now await my branded soul".) The music does balance it out somewhat, though.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 7/10

"At the Back of Beyond" by Visions of Atlantis from Trinity

"I am your guide out of the dark (at the back of beyond)" "I hear your cries although they are gone (although they are gone)."

The Austrian band Visions of Atlantis shows its flair for reminding listeners of Nightwish as "At the Back of Beyond" opens with its gothic-toned symphonic power metal. I'd try to name some of the instruments used, but I can only tell that some seem to be strings (maybe on keyboard?). At any rate, Visions of Atlantis offers symphonic metal music that is skilled and catchy throughout.

Okay, so I'm not the biggest fan of Mario Plank's rough style of singing in this song (and evidently throughout the Trinity album), but it's much-praised by fans of the vocal style. I personally prefer the operatic voice of the new American singer Melissa Ferlaak. Nonetheless, both suit 'At the Back of Beyond" and meld well into the song.

"Your rigid eyes stare into gloom; I'm pouring out my grief to you. Should I escape?" opens the song. It's a darker theme than you may want younger children to hear, but it speaks of a hope of escape from the trap. Okay, so it seems to be talking about a corpse with the "rigid eyes" and "I am by your side, but you are still alone". It's fantasy, not crass or anything.

And speaking of that, the language in "At the Back of Beyond is fully clean. Not even innuendo or references to lust appear in the song.

Overall, I think it's one of the top examples of symphonic power metal.

Visions of Atlantis currently offers most of the song as a free download from their site.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

"Lost" by Visions of Atlantis from Cast Away

"I remember this moment! …Years ago there was only you and me!"

From that striking opening by the operatic voice of Nicole Bogner, male vocalist Mario Plank sings the first half of each verse and the chorus. "Lost in endless night, take me there where I'll see you again. Reach up for the light, when will break my pain?" (In other words: when will I be free of this pain of missing you?)

He, as narrator for much of the song, misses the woman narrated by Nicole Bogner (who, ironically, left the band the year following Cast Away's 2004 release). The woman missed in the song, though, has died, and he's fumbling for a way to "be free" of his pain. She asked him with her last words, "please don't cry for me," but he can't seem to grant that wish.

Depite that kinda dark theme, the rapid-beat (albeit gothic-toned) music will still be cheering for some listeners. People aren't kidding when they call Visions of Atlantis power metal—or when they call it Nightwish's little sibling for its symphonic and operatic metal components.

Like Nightwish, Visions of Atlantis has symphonic and operatic metal elements, too. Nicole Bogner has a lovely operatic voice (that I personally prefer over the voice of Nightwish's old singer—Nicole handles lower parts a lot better). Unlike Nightwish, the male vocalist, Mario Plank, sings most of the song.

The music is well-melded and strikingly attractive, and it flows from its rapid beat to slower beat breathers in the song. Instruments include electric guitar, keyboard, drums, and other things that may be other layers of keyboard. I suspect I hear violin in there on some parts, but I'm not sure. At any rate, it's quite nice when a band can make drums work in a soft part of a song.

My nagging complaints involve issues that I know many people will ignore. Issue one, poor Nicole has her voice almost drowned out, it melds into the music so much. Issue two, the lyrics have stockish cliché points, most noteably "all across the raging sea". Issue three, they have to be Austrian and alien to my native U.S.

Overall, "Lost" is a worthy contender against Nightwish's commonly praised skill.

Visions of Atlantis currently offers most of the song as a free download from their site.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

"Tenth Man Down" by Nightwish from Over the Hills and Far Away

"Ulgh!" was my first response to the overall song, with the not-quite-growl, not-quite-singing involved in it. What I did notice was I'd think it pretty if not for that part.

Still, I found myself returning to it every so often, drawn to the militaresque aspect of it. Reading the lyrics further drew me. "Tenth Man Down" embodies a contradiction that I've always thought must plague a number of soldiers: "Obey to kill to save yourself". But what if "This ain't my fight"?

With its violence (and the narrator's longing to die to escape), parents might not want their younger children to listen to this song. ("Today I killed; he was just a boy. The eight before him, I knew them all.") Hell is used as an adjective, and the instant of killing is called "the devil's instant".

Non-children, though, might appreciate the conflict and reminder not to wait "back home" "with eyes turned away." Whether you approve of war or not, at least consider and remember what soldiers sacrifice. The narrator of this song evidently wishes someone would kill him, causing him to be the "Tenth Man Down" after the nine he himself killed.

Taarja Turenen performs on her better end of opera-ish here, and whoever does the growlish singing does a good job expressing the fervent emotion of the soldier as he resents having to live with all those lives on his conscience for others' sakes. I don't like the choice much, but it does well-suit the song. Having the opera voice say "ain't", though, I'm not so sure about.

The music is likewise very on the better end of what I've heard from Nightwish. If you don't like heavy metal or… I'm not sure what… you won't like the song's sound, most likely. But maybe you'll at least appreciate the tasteful mixture.

If you don't like Nightwish, I suggest you at least check out the lyrics, as a non-political reminder of war's horrors in our age of PC avoidance of unpleasant topics unlinked to certain political agendas.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

"End of All Hope" by Nightwish from Century Child

The title "End of All Hope" sounds familiar, so I click on the song in curiosity. "Is this—the end of—all hope?!" I jerk in my seat, pulse skyrocketing from the hectic beat and clipped chorus. You would think that I'd know to be careful with Nightwish by now. (I promise I won't always review so many Nightwish songs.)

The beat in itself is done as a form of music, with more added. It's unapologetically synthetic in its almost techno declaration of apocalypse. The chorus can be followed without much trouble, but much of the verses of the song is hard to follow from the intentional emphasis.

Nightwish as usual manages to produce lyrics able to give the Christian pause. The narrator has lost innocence and faith, a common premise with what I've heard of Nightwish, and not only from Century Child. The narrator of "End of All Hope" might be suggesting that having "This life unforgiven" "is the birth of all hope", a distinctly unappealing premise. "It will end with a birth" doesn't seem to fit in that, though, so I am again confused.

Beyond that, the lyrics of "End of All Hope" are clean, using metaphor instead of the crass language some artists resort to. Tarja Turunen's operatic voice particularly suits the apocalyptic tone of this compelling song from Century Child.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocalist(s): 5/5
Overall: 8/10

"She Is My Sin" by Nightwish from Wishmaster

Yikes!

That's the first thought that comes to mind upon hearing the speedy music to "She Is My Sin" by Nightwish, repeated upon hearing Tarja Turunen's classically trained voice more often suited for an opera.

The symphonic power metal combined with the vocalist takes some getting used to, but it's pretty if you can get past the initial shock of hearing them together. Assuming you don't mind metal music or classical vocals, of course—some people find either the music or Tarja Turunen's voice intolerable. It's a combo you'll either love or hate, and their native Finland has decided to love Wishmaster and their other albums.

People struggle to classify the song's genre, since it's so alternative that hearers have rarely, if ever, heard anything comparable. A first impulse is to classify "She Is My Sin" as power metal with gothic and symphonic elments, not quite like Italy's Lacuna Coil (and select songs by Evanescence). The voice of vocalist Tarja Jurunen lead some to term "operatic metal". Furthermore, other genres of music equally influence Nightwish in its music, though I can't strictly identify what besides recognizing there's more there.

The music is striking and memorable, as are the lyrics. On the lyrical note, though, "She Is My Sin" is somewhat disturbing, which seems to be standard from the Nightwish songs I've heard, not all from Wishmaster. "I am the Fallen," admits the narrator. "God, I must confess: I do envy the sinners"? It makes my stomach turn. After a month of thinking about the song, I'm still not sure about it. The "God" is clearly used as if speaking to Him and not as a blaspheme, however.

At any rate, I'm still listening to the song repeatedly despite that, enjoying the haunting imagery in "A sin for him, desire within, a burning veil for the bride too dear for him," after the admission that "In the meadow of sinful thoughts every flower's a perfect one." I wonder if the poignant imagery of "She Is My Sin" is indicative of the rest of Wishmaster?

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 7/10

"Ever Dream" by Nightwish from Century Child

Pity I don't know more about music genres; "Ever Dream" is a fun song to classify. It has a definite foundation that I understand as power metal, but above that is something else entirely. It's not just Tarja Turunen's operatic voice that appears again in Century Child, producing a love/hate response in listeners. I'm tempted to call the song "Ever Dream" something comparable to Evanescence's "My Immortal" (band version) meets power metal.

The music to "Ever Dream" is easily among the best I've heard from Nightwish, not that I've heard too many of their songs, but it's certainly better than the music element of even the hit "She Is My Sin". Of the Nightwish songs I've heard so far, "Ever Dream" and "Nemo" rank as my favorites on a purely musical level.

On a lyrical level, however, "Ever Dream" is another story entirely. "Give in for my touch, for my taste, for my lust," Tarja Turunen sings. No, thank you, and I think I'll keep my brother away from you, pretty lady. If "yours I truly wish to be," then why does the narrator seem to be speaking of a one-night fling? Maybe I'm misunderstanding it, but I don't think so. At least it's more oblique than explicit.

Sadly, the "eh" lyrics dramatically lower the quality of an otherwise lovely song.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 5/5
Vocalist(s): 5/5
Overall: 6/10

"Nemo" by Nightwish from Once

Yay for pretty mus—hey, wait…

Did I hear that right? Where's the Replay button? The lovely piano beginning of "Nemo" (Latin for "No One") introduces and accents the heavy metal throughout the song. This single from Once didn't top charts in Finland on day one of its release without cause. Tarja Turunen's classically-trained voice soars with the weirdly pretty heavy metal. (Unfortunately, that piano is the most striking part of the song. The middle is much more ordinary.)

Even disregarding lyrics, this song is probably my favorite by Nightwish. If I could play an instrument, I'd want to learn that piano part of "Nemo." I wouldn't need much more encouragement to buy Once if I had the money, which I sadly don't at the moment. The heavy metal still manages to keep a classic beauty in its heart.

The lyrics of "Nemo" worried me a bit at the beginning, calling the narrator "for forever one of the lost ones," but they ultimately take that premise and have "Nemo" lost in the dark "forevermore". She is fallen, lost and nameless. The way it talks about that is a bit strange, but that seems to be Nightwish. (Or maybe I'm clueless; that's a possibility. I can't understand symbolism.)

I recommend this song to fans of heavy metal or operatic metal; I like the song, and I by far usually prefer the latter to the former.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocalist(s): 5/5
Overall: 8/10