It's fitting. My 100th review on amazon.com on the very album that got me started on metal 10 years ago this very month. And reviewing it on the very place I purchased it November 7, 2001. This is a sort of homecoming for me.

As you might imagine, I've given this a few spins.

After all this time, I still love the album as much as I always did. What's changed over the years is my perspective on it. This was Nightwish's latest album when I first got it. My most current - as in, a working progress that only came to me hours ago - perspective on the album is that this is the "best of both worlds" album.

Let's look into that "best of both worlds" description.

When I saw Nightwish perform live in August 2008, Come Cover Me (track 3 here) was the single oldest song they played. When I saw them in August 2004, Sleeping Sun from the previous album was, and a few songs from Wishmaster were played. Come Cover Me could be on Dark Passion Play (except 1, the song has no orchestra, and 2, Marco's lead male vocals wouldn't be used). On the other hand, we have the full-on melodic/power metal songs in Crownless and Fantasmic. Argue all you want, but even Dead to the World from the following album, Century Child, is more removed from this melodic/power metal sound. What's great about Nightwish is that the bombastic quality still has never gone anywhere; it's merely evolved (take the chorus of Poet and the Pendulum for example - not the same type of bombastic that the Wishmaster [chorus] title track is, but it is still bombastic). Crownless and Fantasmic are like the Stargazers, Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean, Pharaoh Sails to Orion, and Elvenpath from the first two albums.

Nightwish does a masterful job of creating well-rounded albums. The only possible exception to this would be the first album, Angels Fall First, which tended towards a folkier sound (but this is to be expected as the band's mostly-unheard of demo consists solely of 3 acoustic songs). Would Tutankhamen fit well on Oceanborn or Century Child? I don't think so. Wishmaster might just be the MOST diverse album Nightwish has put out. Like so many Finnish bands do seamlessly, songs vary in speed as you progress through every track. Two bombastic songs open the album before Come Cover Me settles in as a mid-paced song, then Wanderlust picks up the pace only to have it slowed down the most yet for Two For Tragedy, then the super-bombastic title track. All this is before both the quietest (Dead Boy's Poem) and the fastest (Crownless) are heard.

Last week, I was substituting in a middle school and attended a 7th grade assembly with the students called Rachel's Story... at least I think the second word was "Story". Rachel was one of twelve students who lost their lives on April 20th, 1999. A teacher's life was also lost that day, as were the two male students who killed the other 13. 12 + 1 + 2 = 15, and these are the "15 candles" referred to in The Kinslayer. Those two boys slain their kin in Columbine High School that day.

Nightwish, along with numerous metal bands I appreciate, take the time out of their day to write songs on subjects like these. Whether it's Symphony X covering literacy (the 24-minute The Odyssey), Sabaton covering history, Ancient telling the story of Cain, or Dream Theater's Sacrificed Sons (9/11), these bands do great things for us when they write these songs. They unite all listeners under a common cause: remembering.

The album is worth owning for anyone who appreciates: European-style metal, female-fronted rock/metal, opera, or just a good listen for the open-minded. Highly recommended. So many great things have already been said about this album. I'll refer you to those reviews for the track-by-track analysis or whatever it may be you came here looking to read. I'll certainly spare my readers of the firing Tarja decision, because it simply doesn't apply back on their 3rd album. Heck, Sami was still in the band (the bassist Marco replaced).

Just please do what I did (still do) when I listen to music that's new to me - be open-minded. Great things await those who can do that.

Oh, Wishmaster. A Nightwish classic. Long before the days of Marco Hietala, full orchestral accompaniment, Anette Olzon and the more operatic days of Tarja's career, there was Wishmaster -a more rock-metal approach (with a hint of pop appeal) with heavy guitars and ear-splitting classic opera vocals. Following closely on the heels of Nightwish's highly popular Oceanborn, Wishmaster was big step in the band's evolution, featuring a heavier sound with catchy melodies and hooks, Wishmaster still stands as a unique piece of Nightwish's musical library.

Without a doubt, title track "Wishmaster" is the stand-out song. With its catchy melody, amazing vocal work and epic guitar riffs, Wishmaster is a classic that continues to enchant fans. I also enjoy the beautiful vocal melodies and atmospheric feel of "Deep Silent Complete," with Tarja's sweeping vocals and mesemerizing lyrics. Other favorites include "Come Cover Me" and "Crownless."

Some interesting songs of note on this album are "Dead Boy's Poem," "She is My Sin" and "FantasMic." "Dead Boy's Poem" served as the introduction of the dead boy character, who has been a reoccuring Nightwish character/theme throughout their career. "She is My Sin" has often been seen as a personal song by Tumos that explores the consequences of sexuality. Then, "FantasMic," which was never a highly popular song, even at live shows, but it's filled with references to Disney movies and characters, song think like Kingdom Hearts -the song.

Wishmaster is not to be missed for any Nightwish fan.

It's all good. This album suffers from a common problem among metal albums in that almost all the songs sound very similar, but in this case it just doesn't matter because it's all enjoyable. From the haunting vocals to the masterful pacing of the instrumentals, every song on here is actually fairly inspiring to listen to, cliché as those descriptions sound. Definitely worth a buy.

After developing there sound on Oceanborn, Nightwish returned from touring to record there third album Wishmaster. When looked at individually, the songs are all strong. They tend to get a bit repetative thow when it comes to the flow of the album (Crownless and Wanderlust) (Come Cover Me, Two For Tragedy.) If your a Nightwish fan you obviously need to own this album. If you want to check Nightwish out this is probably a good place to start.

Moving along from Oceanborn where the band started to really show what they might become this album was more of a consolidation of the Nightwish sound rather than a leap upwards to the next level. This album shows the band choosing not to retreat to the mellower strains of Angels Fall First and the presence of rockers with some real musical muscle such as The Kinslayer and Wishmaster shows that Nightwish were starting to be able to marry their love of ornate and original riff and melody combinations with connective songs that communicated on a more guttural as well as cerebral level. And this is assisted by Tarja spitting forth some of her most venomous vocal deliveries yet on some of the tracks here.

Elsewhere the faerie shtick is alive and well with tunes such as Dead Boys Poem and in fact even the rockers are infused with a sort of otherworldly lyrical bent that is such a part of European hard rock and metal.

The album only scores three stars however due to a number of songs that aren't particularly strong, the band strangely coming up with some of their best pieces of music thus far on an album that feels like it has a lot of filler on it. Songs where sections work but the song doesn't, if you get my drift. So while a couple of the songs here provided live set highlights for future years much of it you won't hear played as so many of the numbers don't quite hit that sweet spot.

But a worthy buy and released in some territories as a sort of budget boxed set thing with Over the Hills and Far Away and in fact several months before I wrote this review it was released in remastered version. Though quite why you'd bother remastering something that has good production qualities in the first place is a bit beyond me. Oh well, perhaps it was a business decision. Regardless, if your new to the band this ain't the place to start - instead head on over to Once. But if you've heard a few of their albums and want to expand your catalogue ownership you really should pick this up.

I listened to this one at X-Mas after Oceanborn, and this was just as impressive. Some songs might sound like slight fillers, but after really paying attention to the deep lyrics and enchanting sounds, you might change your mind. I usually don't have track favorites, but some will be immortal:

Kinslayer
Wishmaster
She Is My Sin
Deep Silent Complete

If you want to know the true meanings of the songs, go to their website. Toumas posted his comments on each song for this album, and its great to read. Highly recommend for your library, because Nightwish just keeps getting better with each epic installment!

I play this cd over and over again. I use this when I'm going for long walks and te time just fly!

Very disappointed with this one .
Try their CDs Dark Passion Play and Once .
They get five stars from me .

She is my Sin - good track to start out the album with. hard and attention-catching.

The Kinslayer - the song thatm akes me emotional. it's tarja's voice duing the dialougue section that is so hard to hear wihout getting choked up.

Come Cover Me - easily my favorite out of those first three. full and moody, calming it down after the first two. the "with me, with you" part and after that stands out the most in my mind.

Wanderlust - in all honesty, i have onlyu listened to it all the way through once. it's a good song but hard for me to get in to.

Two for Tragedy - lyrically, one of my favorites. emppu's solo towards the middle is perfect.

Wishmaster - going from thet booming chorus into the "elbereth, lothlorien" part with eerie, dramatic vocals.

Bare Grace Misery - once aganin, eerie. the sigh before "romantic scent" really sets a mood.

Crownless - fastest on the album. not my favorite but still great.

Deep Silent Complete - hard to explain, but well worth listening to. a tribute to the ocean.

Dead Boy's Poem - at six minutes manages to not outstay its welcome. starts out with just tarja's gorgeous voice in virtual silence.

FantasMic - a tribute to disney fantasy. goes from one sound to another flawlessly.

While I totally respect what they've done over the last several years, evolving into a world-class act of symphony and rock, these early albums are severly underrated. Tunes such as "Kinslayer" and "Crownless" are metal masterpieces, and the dark, lovely "Dead Silent Complete" sounds sort of like a metal version of Enya.

If you enjoy complex, old school metal and an apprceiation for opera-- then this album is a must-have.