Nightwish - Angels Fall First (1997)

I wrote that Rhapsody were amongst the first power metal bands to grab my attention, but Nightwish were in that category too. Alright, I think there is a debate as to whether this Finnish group are power metal or not, and this debut certainly doesn't suggest it; indeed, with its accoustic and folk touches, it's hardly even metal, let alone power.
What appealed to me initially about Nightwish were two things. One was the incredible song "The Wishmaster", which blew me away when I first heard it. And a few times after that.  And the other was Tarja Turunen's operatic vocals.  To me, such singers were hard to find in pop or ballad-laden divas, let alone a heavy metal group, so Turunen was different from what I was used to, and she remains, to my ears, a beautiful singer.  Conversely, keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen sounds quite weak when he joins in with his voice.
I actually like this record more than I think I should. It works more in parts than as a whole. The most complete song is the opening "Elvenpath", while they have moments of progressive rock as they sing about things from a centurion who acknowledges Jesus as his Saviour ("The Carpenter") to rather kinky undertakings ("Nymphomaniac Fantasia"). "Tutankhamen" is pretty good, while I also quite like "Know Why The Nightingale Sings".
The general consensus is that this is a modest start to a fine (and very successful) career from Nightwish, so it will be interesting to see how they progress.

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