ONCE

This is Nightwish's pinnacle. Everything they have wanted to do with their sound is actualized on Once. Complete with a full orchestra and choir, the band is able to harness the full capabilities of opera and symphony music and implement them into their trademark sound. This result is a huge, epic sound that maintains the accessibility of before. The highlight of this album is the over-10 minute "Ghost Love Score," which showcases the band's writing at full force. I would have been happy with just that one song, but luckily the rest of the album is great too. They were never as ambitious as Therion, but, they didn't need to be. This album solidifies that.