Daily Dose of Awesome: Nightwish

I was planning on doing a write up of Nightwish for some time.  Last night, I couldn't sleep and decided to listen to some of their stuff as I passed the time on my netbook.  It had been a while since I heard them and it was a nice reminder of how freaking great this band is.

I discovered Nightwish a couple of years ago and have been amazed by them ever since.  They're a symphonic power metal band from Finland.  I know that the internet has overused the adjective to some extent, but their music easily qualifies as epic.

The first song I came across, "Ghost Love Score" is still probably my favorite song, but going through their discography, I found all of their songs enjoyable to some level.  The former lead singer, Tarja Turunen, had an amazing voice and it elevated the enjoyable factor to all of the tracks.

Speaking of which, the fandom is currently divided.  As I said, Tarja is a former member and the band decided to move forward with a new singer, Anette Olzon.  A lot of people aren't fond of her, but to be honest, I like the stuff they did with her too.  Yes, it's different, but you can't go wrong with songs like "Poet and the Pendulum" or "7 Days to the Wolves".

Can Anette pull off Nightwish's older stuff? I don't think so, but then again, I don't think having Tarja sing Anette's songs would work out either.  They're different styles and both made the band's music work for them.

Anette might need a couple of more albums with the band so that fans can get used to it, but honestly, her stuff is good.  I like Tarja as much as anyone, but the hate towards Anette is unwarranted if you ask me.

A lot of people are quick to dismiss modern music, saying that there's nothing good out there, well here's a band that's not only good, but freaking amazing.  They have quite a few albums out so it might take some time to get through their entire library, but they are all great.  If I had to give some recommendations to start, I would say Angels Fall First, Once, and Dark Passion Play.  The latter features the new singer, and as I said, she's quite good too, so I suggest giving her a shot as well.  I'm almost certain that you won't be disappointed.