I’m back from the gym and ready to
have a quiet evening, but before I do let’s celebrate some music that is
anything but quiet.
Disc 733 is…. Century Child
Artist: Nightwish
Year of Release: 2002
What’s up with the Cover? Behold the grotto
of heavy metal awesomeness, in all its purplish waterfall glory (more on that
later). A
mysterious grotto nymph in a short skirt makes this cover even better. Here is a poster destined for the walls of teenage boys
How I Came To Know It: As I noted when I reviewed “Oceanborn”
back at Disc 676, I discovered Finnish metal artists Nightwish via a documentary series by
Sam Dunn.
How It Stacks Up: I have two Nightwish albums. I like them both about
equally, but I’ll put this one slightly out in front.
Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4
Nightwish
is modern power metal in all its ridiculous glory. Double bass drums, soaring
violin sections and operatic vocals singing about far away fantasy lands that
Ronnie James Dio would be proud to call home.
“Century
Child” is a bit more accessible musically than “Oceanborn” but just as bat-shit
crazy. Walking around town with music like this is like being the star of a
heavy metal Broadway musical. On the walk to work this was a glorious way to
start my day. In the afternoon, however, I had to run a bunch of annoying
errands.
First
was a trip to the pharmacist. Waiting in line to fill a dental prescription doesn’t
really go with the Nightwish vibe; less so when you find out you were in the
wrong line and have to take five steps to the right and start all over again.
Later, I bought hair product. It just didn’t make me feel centre stage, which
is what this music needs. Instead of being in a heroic fantasy epic, it felt
more like a farce.
Which is
too bad because this is inspiring music in the right situation. For example, driving
down the highway, hair flying in the wind as you keep left and curse the fools
in front of you that won’t keep right. Or walking home on a stormy winter night
and reveling in the lightning crashing above the city streets.
The
biggest selling feature to these songs is lead singer Tarja Turunen. Her voice
is opera-singer strong and it soars over the heavy metal riffs of these songs
like a dark avenging angel. There is no greater proof of Turunen’s vocal
prowess than that she can take lyrics like this:
“I was born amidst the purple
waterfalls
I was weak, yet not unblessed
Dead to the world
Alive for the journey”
And make
it feel like something important is happening. Give her anything even remotely
emotionally evocative to sing, like this from “Ocean Soul”:
“Should I dress in white and
search the sea
As I always wished to be – One with
the waves
Ocean Soul”
And she’ll
have you wishing you can swim out the sirens and dash your brains on the reefs.
Because of Turunen's talent, when Marco Hietala sings alongside her, the overall effect can feel
awkward. He wants to play dark and demonic against her mysterious and majestic,
but it isn’t a fair fight. He comes off more like drab gray and mildly annoying.
Inexplicably
Nightwish decides to cover “Phantom of
the Opera” near the end of the album. Turunen has the chops for it and they
play it well, but despite it being a heavy metal version, it just sounded to me
like a crunchier but otherwise unimaginative version of the musical number. Then
the album ends with a ten minute medley of tracks under the overarching title “Beauty of the Beast.” Together, these
two tracks cause the album to peter when it could have gone out with a bang.
My jewel
case for this album is for the 2007 re-master, with four bonus tracks but the store
made a mistake and gave me the regular version. I was actually happier not to
have all the extra stuff (three of the five tracks are live or alternate
versions of songs already on the record) so this was one of those times when
less was more.
Overall
this album is OK in the right environment. Walking home late at night and a
little bit drunk during a thunderstorm – you can’t do better; waiting in line
for prescription mouthwash, not nearly as ideal.
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