94. Nightwish - 'Human :II: Nature'

Tuomas, Tuomas, Tuomas, what have you done? Nightwish usually make wonderous records. Over the last few albums, they have become bolder and brasher. They have reached for the stars with grand concepts and intricate instrumentation. Sadly, this time they have over-shot and it just doesn’t quite work. It still makes 94 out of 400+ because (aside from the fact that I utterly adore Nightwish) there are some damn fine songs in here, they just so happen to all be in the first section. The second predominantly instrumental portion of the album is dull; dull, dull, dull. I tried, I really tried. I have travelled far and wide to indulge my adoration of Nightwish, so I worked with it. Really worked with it. But I still found ‘Vista’ onwards unbearably tedious. Great if you view it as a single album, not so great in its actual double form.