ONCE

I'd heard a lot about this album through ProgArchives and several underground heavy metal publications, such as Metal Maniacs (www.metalmaniacs.com) and Pit Magazine (www.pit.com). I also know that this record tends to cause an ungodly amount of debate over whether or not it is "progressive". I don't know (I'll leave it up to other people to decide) and frankly...I DON'T CARE! Tarja Turunen's voice is fragile one second and powerful the next; in the same song, and often in the same breath. As a whole, the album demands a long review, but I'll try not to do that. I'll simply mention my fave tracks.

WISH I HAD AN ANGEL: Starting off with Tarja's angelic vocal, and moving swiftly through a variety of moods, always uptempo and always melodic. NEMO: This is my fave off the disc, and for good reason: I LOVE ballads! From the sugariest, scmalztiest pop to anything else in the pop genre, if it's a ballad, my heart will melt. Which is why I was so attracted to this tune. My only compaint is this: I so desperately wanted the guitar solo to last longer. It seems that it ends suddenly, and jarringly, just as Emppu really starts to burn. Also, the keyboards are kinda, well, twee. GHOST LOVE SCORE: See my likes/dislikes for NEMO, cause they're the same here that they are there. KUOLEMA TEKEE TAITEILIJAN: A beautiful ballad sung in their native Finnish. Beautifully sung; Tarja's voice is as clear as glass. And the melody takes my f^%&$#@ breath away. The solo violin speaks to me, gorgeously.

Despite the flaws with the disc (the production sounds too digital, what leads there are are FAR too short, Holopainen sounds kinda twee), this, to me, is fantastic, if only for the songs I've mentioned. With time, the other tracks will grow on me. If those that I've mentioned are any indication, I'm in for a hell of a ride! And it's here that I'll stop, cause I don't want this review to get too long.