Artist: Nightwish
Title: Showtime, Storytime
Genre: Symphonic Metal
Release Date: 29th November 2013
Label: Nuclear Blast
Album Review
To fill a time between last brilliant album ‘Imaginaerum’ (followed by an equally imaginative film) and a new album scheduled for 2015, NIGHTWISH has been busy releasing live recordings - ‘Imaginaerum (Tour Edition)’, which is a special release, and the most recent ‘Showtime, Storytime’, which captured the band at Wacken Open Air festival. Filling up vacuum between albums with live recordings is something that seems to be a ritual for most bands and lately there seems to be more of them than ever. Maybe that’s a reason why I feel like someone who has been through too many relationships and has become a total cynic as a result. This cynic in me wonders if it’s an answer – a resignation of a kind- that bands have failed to passive-aggressively bully the fans by guilt-tripping into buying enough albums instead of downloading them. Hard economic times mean that there’s not enough money to circulate and most of the fish is strangled: so by releasing more and more stuff there’s a chance of recouping the losses - some fish will finally take the bait and forego a meal for a more spiritually fulfilling moment.
The blight of line-up changes pursued NIGHTWISH - they were faced with the loss of a singer again - Anette Olzon, who has been replaced by Floor Jansen (ex After-Forever and ReVamp). The sequencing of songs comes as a great cut through what NIGHTWISH is - it lists songs from ‘Wishmaster’ (2000) to ‘Imaginaerum’ (2011). There is one blemish though - there is only one Tarja Turunen, which probably explains the absence of a well-loved ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ though Jansen has covered it with Russel Allen and there is one with Olzon. Jansen’s got a strong stage presence if not as much of a strong and versatile vocal as Turunen, which comes over when you listen to only the audio format, it really gave me a much harder time to give Jansen credit that she does deserve. So DVD formats of ‘Showtime, Storytime’ are really a better idea even from this aspect – at least with her presence she manages to convince you to accept her as a worthy new member to this great band. I admit that I still feel that NIGHTWISH suffers with the loss of Turunen as much as she suffers when it comes to songwriting with her solo project.
Regardless, the ferocity (helped by the raw sound) of the band is captured there truly well; the interactions of the guys and their new singer are another point of enjoyment. Jansen is not the only addition to the band - NIGHTWISH announced Troy Donockley’s (pipes, low whistles, and vocals) official engagement in October last year (Donockley has been already their session musician since 2007), which brings this band to a sextet. If you must get this, forego the bloody audio! Even for the car journeys old albums will do better. Not to mention that DVD also has a more interesting inclusion of a documentary that goes over Olzon’s exit (concentrating more on the band than the former singer), search for replacement and Jansen having to learn the songs within 48 hours from her engagement to first show. Next album should be anticipated with baited breath because it’s hard to make better on ‘Imaginaerum’ and to also hear how Jansen will sound on studio recording with the new material.
Tracklist
01. Dark Chest Of Wonders
02. Wish I Had An Angel
03. She Is My Sin
04. Ghost River
05. Ever Dream
06. Storytime
07. I Want My Tears Back
08. Nemo
09. Last Of The Wilds
10. Bless The Child
11. Romanticide
12. Amaranth
13. Ghost Love Score
14. Song Of Myself
15. Last Ride Of The Day
16. Outro (Imaginaerum)
Line-up
Floor Jansen – vocals
Marco Hietala – bass, vocals
Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen – guitars
Tuomas Holopainen – keyboards
Jukka Nevalainen – drums
Websites
www.nightwish.com / www.facebook.com/nightwish
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 7
Total: 7.5 / 10
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