Although it is their sixth studio album,Dark Passion Play marks the beginning of a new era for Finnish symphonic metal masters Nightwish. With new vocalist Annette Olzon onboard, Nightwish returns with their most accessible material to date. Firmly rooted in their trademark symphonic sounds featuring elaborate keyboard and guitar parts blended seamlessly with intricate string and choir sections, Olzon's vocals have more pop sensibility as they are far less operatic than those of her predecessor. This is perfectly exemplified in the vocal melodies in Amaranth, Eva and the scorching duet with bassist Marco Hietala titled Bye Bye Beautiful. Nightwish mastermind Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards) not only wrote all the lyrics and all but two songs on the album, but also helmed the project as one of the producers along with T.C. Kinnunen and Mikko Karmila, who also mixed the album. Dark Passion Play has already made history as Finland's most expensive recording project to date with massive string sections and choirs and it is clearly evident in the impeccable production. Nightwish have taken the symphonic elements of their prior works and infused them with a new voice to create a sound representative of the album title: dark, playful and, most of all, passionate.

At this point, I'm sick of the pointless Anette vs. Tarja debate. Anette has a far more accessible voice. My mom (46 years old) and dad (66 years old) like Nightwish now because of her voice. Those who cannot accept Anette should go listen to Tarja's solo project. Now that my rant is over, I will review the album, "Dark Passion Play".

This album opens up with "The Poet And The Pendulum" . I was speechless when I heard this near 14-minute masterpiece, because there are no words in any language to describe how cool it is. It puts "Beauty Of The Beast" and "Ghost Love Score" to shame. It is now my favorite song EVER. "Bye Bye Beautiful" shows off Anette's range beautifully and Marco is amazingly powerful singing the chorus. It's a complete kiss-off to Tarja for her changed attitude towards the band. "Amaranth" is way catchy. It is the song that made me fan after I saw the music video on IMF (Before it merged with Ovation TV and got crappy). I'm going to say that "Cadence Of Her Last Breath" is pretty cool and creepy but in a good way. "Master Passion Greed" would have been much better without the profanity (Yes, swearing ruins it for me). Great vocals by Marco though. "Eva" is touching and slightly sad, but great anyway. Honestly, "Whoever Brings The Night" sounds cool as an instrumental. The rest of the album is great.

The instrumental disc that comes with it shows that even without singing, they have the skills to pull off amazing albums.

My final word: The songs are great, but "Master Passion Greed" could have been better. This is not enough to take away the 5 stars though. I saw them live in Los Angeles with Anette performing. Her version of "The Siren" is incredible. They happen to sound great live too.

I have to begin this review by admitting that I am a huge Nightwish fan. I like practically everything that they put out with little exception. And, like the entire Nightwish fan nation, I was extremely concerned when they dismissed long-time singer Tarja Tururnen. Even though the new singer, Anette Olzon, has proven that she has what it takes to be part of Nightwish, the band will never sound the same again.

This EP, which was only released digitally, includes three early demos from "Dark Passion Play," two B-sides, three orchestrated "Dark Passion Play" songs, and a remix of "Bye Bye Beautiful."

The three demos on the EP are "Eva," "The Poet and the Pendulum," and "Reach (Amaranth)." These demos were recorded before the orchestra part was added, so the orchestrated sections are supplied by keyboards. They were also recorded before Anette joined the band, so bassist Marco Hietala supplies the vocals. Even though these early versions are very different from the album versions, they were interesting to hear. I felt like I got a glimpse into Nightwish's creative process.

The B-sides and the orchestral songs, however, were definitely the best part of the EP. The B-side songs are "Escapist" and "While Your Lips Are Still Red." Both of these songs are treats for Nightwish fans. "While Your Lips Are Still Red" was written for a Finnish movie and features Marco's vocals and some glorious violin work. While "Escapist" has the traditional symphonic Nightwish sound and shows off Anette's singing abilities.

The orchestrated songs included on the EP are "Eva," "Amaranth," and "Meadows of Heaven."

I doubt that this EP will be popular among newcomers to the Nightwish music universe, but it's perfect for those who are already fans of the band. It helps to hammer home the fact that the dismissal of Tarja wasn't the end of the band, and that Nightwish still has more wonderful music to share with the world.

this is a very good album. it is very progressive. and you can tell it is a european album. just by the style of it. very technical and intellectual. you need to be a musician to really appreciate all of this.

the album starts off with the with an opening salvo of orchestration that sets the tone for the album. it is very aggressive sounding. it has a certain beauty to it.

the vocals are good. they can be overdone at times though. tarja has a beautiful voice. marco's angry vocals are a very good counterpoint. it is different that previous albums. there is not as much operatic vocals. it has an almost mainstream sensibility to it. even though that is not going to happen.

it is very keyboard driven. even to the point of being over the top. i am a keyboard player and even i have to say there is a lot going on. when they played the agora in cleveland he had 4 korg karma workstations. that is how much is going on in the album for those of you who know what i am talking about.

the guitars are downtuned. or so they sound to me. they are overpowered by tuomas's keys. but they are tight clean and tasteful.

the drums are very good as well. if you are a fan of the double bass sound this will get your motor running. jukka does a lot on here. the only complaint i have is i can not crank the album up to 11 without getting some distortion out of any system i have it on.

the second disc of this is interesting. it is the orchestration minus the vocals. it leaves gaps in there but it is good.

final thought on this disc. it takes a couple times through it to really get everything on it. the dynamics are good. as are the tempo changes. it has a certain building anxiety quality to it. they are definitely master musicians and are technically proficient. i can compare it to dream theater's "metropolis pt.2" and iced earth's "the glorious burden". similar style. very cool indeed.

That song is While Your Lips are Still Red. It's great to have Escapist in there too, something that was only released in the Japanese version of DPP. While Your Lips are Still Red, however, is quite possibly the most touching, heartfelt, and real thing that Holopainen has ever written. Everything else on this CD is icing on the cake, and the cake tastes good!

Even if you are familiar with Nightwish, you should reconsider buying this two disc version. The instrumental versions simply feel like karaoke cuts, just the vocals mixed out. There is nothing truly extra here, the songs really do lack something without vocals- maybe you'll hear a little more from the strings and band, but really its all pretty clear and well produced on the first disc.

But that first disc, while not as "heavy" as other power metal or even previous Nightwish albums is a really great listen. Some have commented that this feels like a sequel to Once, which I am inclinded to agree with. "Amaranth" feels like a spiritual sequel to "Nemo", and there are some other parallels as well. That being said, the quality of musicianship, composition, and basically everything is just that much better. If that translates to a more accessible sound (lots of non-metal fans i've played this for seem to enjoy it) so be it.