When first captured by this all-embracing symphonic world, it's hard to leave.
This is the fourth album from Finnish Nightwish and it immediately became my favourite one. In this review I will try to look a bit further into some of my favourite passages offered by each band member and of course some of these magnificent songs.
Let me first comment on the production that is as near to perfect as they get. The contrast between an ultra tight and heavy rhythm base and the lighter symphonic keys and Tarja's sensitive and atmospheric voice is combined in a phenomenal way.

Tuomas Holopainen's keys and piano parts is one of the most important Nightwish trademarks, and on Century Child the symphonic dimension is unbelievable. The bombastic key melody in Ever Dream is absolutely huge and the luring mood in Forever Yours supports the lyric and fantastic orchestral passages in just the right way. And yes the melody line in Bless The Child is just awesome.

Tarja Tumunen's vocals are also a very central aspect of the band's profile, her soft and very melodic touch lifts these songs even higher. She offers strong atmospheric vocals in Bless The Child, and her sensitive performance in Forever Yours works like a spell.

Emppu Vuorien lay down some quite heavy rhythm guitar parts, as in Slaying The Dreamer, I'm also very fond of the solos, ex. the very melodic touch in End Of All Hope. The fast rhythm section in Beauty Of The Beast and melodic leads are also phenomenal. For my personal taste, even more guitar adventures would have been gladly welcomed.

Marco Hietala displays some crispy bass parts on the album and altogether the connection between drums and bass function brilliantly. As in Bless The Child where a creating role is mixed with a supporting link to the overall rhythm. The deep bass lines in Ocean Soul are also very fitting. His minor vocal parts here and there inject some extra drama into the songs too.

Jukka Neualainen performance can best be described as solid, not overly technical but the songs don't really cry out for a progressive approach either. The aggressive and varied Slaying The Dreamer is given a very powerful treatment and in Beauty Of The Beast we get many great well-played moments.

As you probably have figured out, Bless The Child is one of my favourite songs. The atmosphere and drive of the guitar rhythm is so damn genius.
The albums last song, Beauty Of The Beast, divined into three parts is another fantastic piece of art. The completely capturing chorus in the first part of the song gets me every time and the way the song moves along is just extremely well put together.

Lyrically the recurring theme about romantic sentiment is a central aspect and together with the contrast of deep felt agony and hopelessness we are offered lyrics that are interesting, complex and moving.
I think that Century Child functions as a thorough and whole experience, some songs better than others but all very good. If I should point at some aspect that could have been better it should be the extensive refrain in End Of All Hope that becomes a bit stretched out, more fast passages would also only have improved the albums overall flow, but these things are pure trivial matters.

This album has many deep-lying features and it keeps positively surprising me over and over.

Written by Tommy
Sunday, January 4, 2004
Show all reviews by Tommy

Ratings

Tommy: 8.5/10

Members: 8/10 - Average of 1 ratings.



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Sandra Rating: 8/10 Century child is one of my favorite Nightwish albums, the production is stunning and so ar... · Read more ·

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Comment by lostwish (Anonymous) - Tuesday, January 6, 2004

en lille rettelse du.... de har lavet 5 albums Angels fall first Wishmaster Over the hills Oceanborn century child

Comment by Tommy (Member) - Wednesday, January 7, 2004

View Profile Comments: 74 Ratings: 31 Hey lostwish. The reason why I wrote this being their fourth album is due to the fact that Over The Hills And Far Away is not a real studio album, it's a long EP kind of thing with some special stuff on it. Cheers Tommy RevelationZ Magazine Posted by Tommy Wednesday, January 7, 2004

Comment by paybol x (Anonymous) - Saturday, January 24, 2004

ever dream es la mejor cancion que existe y las demas tambien se llevan un diez, nightwish al poder¡¡¡

Comment by wilfredo diaz (Anonymous) - Wednesday, February 18, 2004

10/10 Nightwish best work a masterpiece . Don't get me wrong : OCEAN BORN AND WISHMASTER ARE great to!!! BEST NIGHTWISH ALBUMS IN MY BOOK ARE 3: CENTURY CHILD WISHMASTER AND OCEAN BORN.

Comment by David (Anonymous) - Monday, March 22, 2004

Well now. What can I say? It was only by happenstance that I stumbled upon this band. I was searching for different renditions of the Phantom of the Opera after having heard the London Symphony Orchestra version. Most prominent of those was a version by Nightwish. I got the song and then I got the album. It was as simple as that. I really like the sound of nightwish. They offer a great sound, their passages often invoking deep emotions. If Blind Guardian is the gritty world of blood, iron, and fire, where battalions clash on the battlefield, then Nightwish is a world of soaring towers, of flying through the clouds with a fantastical landscape painted by the moon below. Great review. The score may be a little low, but that's probably just my tastes. Excellent job on spotting the milestone songs ont he album; I agree with your choices. I am really looking forward to their new album. And Rhapsody's, might I add ;)

Comment by Tommy (Member) - Monday, March 22, 2004

View Profile Comments: 74 Ratings: 31 Thanks for your comment David; I like your very fitting comparison :) I'm very exited about these two upcoming releases myself. Tommy RevelationZ Magazine Posted by Tommy Monday, March 22, 2004

Comment by ANABELLA (Anonymous) - Wednesday, April 7, 2004

TARJA,I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!! GOOD LUCK

Comment by Jaqe (Anonymous) - Sunday, May 16, 2004

I just listened to Nightwish's new album, ONCE, (I managed to snag it a month before it is released) and here's my reaction... it seems it isn't as good an album as their previous efforts, but it's not bad. "Nemo" is the obvious standout from the pack, and a natural choice for the first single. The first thing I noticed was that the guitars are much more "metal" and in the foreground than previous albums. There's still the orchestration and keys woven into the background, and accompanied with the choirs and chants in the background as well. Unfortunately, the male singer who made a few dastardly appearances on their last album somehow manages to slither onto this album to. The previously released "Planet Hell" bears his mark, as well as "I Wish I Had an Angel". This last track is very heavy...similar to "Slaying the Dreamer" on their previous album, but the extreme male vocals are toned down a bit. It's a very driving song, punctuated with electronic beats and chugging guitars. "Creek Mary's Blood" tones the metal edge down a bit, and seems to fit better with Nightwish's previous albums. It's a longer song (8 and a half minutes) and travels between soft and heavy epic feelings. "Siren" is an interesting song, for it has heavy guitars mixed with some "world" instruments and sounds.... it has a quasi-Middle Eastern feel to it. Again, that annoying male vocalist makes a show, but it's not as bad as say, "Planet Hell." His singing on that song makes my toes curl backwards. "Dead Gardens" is a simpler song, a showcase for heavy, brutal guitars and odd vocal...um...groans and screams in the background after a few small delicate Nightwish choruses. "Romanticide" is another guitar heavy song, fast paced, with chugging fat riffs and fast solos, and is complimented with a few screams and even a short "rapped" section courtesy of the male vocalist. "Ghost Love Scene" is the obligatory Nightwish epic song, lasting over ten minutes, and could fit in there with Beauty of the Beast" or "Dead Boy's Poem", though perhaps not on the same level of quality. Not bad though. "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" is sung, as you can guess, in her native tongue, and is soft, quiet, acoustic, with a nice cello work to give it a warm, rich flavor. "Higher Than Hope" is a sweeping epic song, starting slow and soft, and building with multiple choruses and vocalists, heavy guitars, and keys and orchestration. Overall, not bad. But not the highlight of their career. Look for heavier guitars, more solos, and simpler song and lyric structures. The guitars often seem like they were cut from the same cloth, and once a song starts, you scratch your head, and wonder if you've already heard this riff before. But when the song is taken as a whole, each is pretty different than the last, and has it's own flavor.

Comment by Johnny (Anonymous) - Tuesday, September 7, 2004

hey, the nightwish back catalogue was just released in the uk, so i bought century child earlier today, and what an album it is! fantastic

Comment by NILSON DE SANUTANA RODRIGUUES (Anonymous) - Thursday, February 17, 2005

NOSSA! O NIGHTWISH ESTA EM SUA MELHOR FASE! ELES MOSTRAM TODO METAL< DOQUE SAO CAPAZES NO SEU NOVO CD Q POR SINAL ESTA DE PARABENS!

Comment by Emma (Anonymous) - Monday, September 26, 2005

iv only just herd of this band and i got it off a friend i herd the once albem now i have all of them they are the best band ever

Comment by passdeg (Anonymous) - Sunday, January 15, 2006

Nightwish eie alle!

Review by Sandra (Member) - Tuesday, May 12, 2009

View Profile Comments: 36 Ratings: 25 Century child is one of my favorite Nightwish albums, the production is stunning and so are the lyrics. I think Century Child is less affected by power metal than the previous albums, however, it still have many power metal elements. Bless the child is really an amazing song to start the album with and Tarja's unique voice sets the atmosphere. End of all hope: Is a little too much for me. It's not a song that fascinates me over and over again. I rather not listen to this. The keys in Dead to the world are very intense which gives the song a powerful tempo. Ever dream: This song is fantastic! Tuomas starts the song with the magical piano melody line and I'm already in heaven. It begins magically and ends bombastically. Slaying the dreamer has a very heavy riff, and Marco´s monster voice adds a more raw edge to the song which I personally like. The bombastic part with strong drumming delivered by Jukka and Tarja's operatic vocal .the perfect way to rock out ;) Forever yours: Tarja's voice is very sensitive and it has depth and soul although some would say it is cold as ice at times, but that's not how I feel it. It's a very calm song and the lyrics are affecting. The keys are very melodic in Ocean soul and the choir is creating a gothic atmosphere. Feel for you: is an overall good song, but there isn't anything special about it so it stands out. In my opinion the lyrics are well written. The album is also containing the Nightwish version of the song The phantom of the opera from the famous novel/musical/film. This is my favorite version. First of all: it fits perfectly to a band like Nightwish because of the theme and its operatic vocals. I can't imagine of any other band making a better version because Marco and Tarja are the ones who this song was written for. or it seem like it is. They really have accomplished to recreate the perfect"Phantom of the opera-atmosphere". Beauty of the beast: is composed of 3 parts. The beginning is amazing; the incredible Tuomas Holopainen keys make me feel like I'm in a fantasy world far away. "Long Lost Love" is my favorite part, because the words are touching: "Oh, do you care, I still feel for you, so aware, what should be lost is there. I fear I will never find anyone. I know my greatest pain is yet to come. Will we find each other in the dark. My long lost love". The second part One More Night to Live is powerful, and every band member does a great job. "Christabel" is a brilliant way of ending the album because it gives the album a redline with the beginning of Bless the child, it gives meaning and it is a factor which I find very important for music to be. It is defiantly one of my favorites from this album. The symphonic combination is phenomenal and that's what I love about Nightwish. It is difficult to combine the symphonic dimension with heavy riffs, melodic keys and not to be forgotten Tarja's pure and operatic voice, however, Nightwish is able to do it and they do it brilliantly. Rating: 8/10 Posted by Sandra Tuesday, May 12, 2009