Rock music separates itself into broad categories to help fans find their way. One group forced the rock establishment to invent a new category: symphonic/gothic rock.

When listening to the rock group Nightwish, the most striking initial characteristic is the operatic quality of the lead, female vocals. Readers may react that women have been in the world of rock since its inception and that a few have been frontliners: Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, and Pat Benatar come to mind.
Yet Nightwish stands out not only for feminine vocal talent in a male-oriented rock strata, but for the passion and hauntingly theatrical qualities of their music. Of Finnish origin, they have delighted audiences and fans around the world for well over a decade.
A Brief History of Nightwish
According to the Nightwish band biography, the “idea” for the group was born around midnight at a campfire in July of 1996. The first three members were Tuomas and Emppu, who played acoustic guitars, and Tarja, who sang. They considered their new sound “mood music,” and soon wondered how it would sound if drums were added. This brought a fourth member to the group, Jukka.
Shortly after the addition of drums, the group also switched to electric guitars. Initially, they enjoyed success in their native Finland, with one of their singles reaching number eight on the musical charts there, but early concert tours were rare. Jukka and Emppu were in the army and Tarja was busy with her school studies.
By the late 1990’s and early 2000’s they ironed out most of those conflicts and began to record and tour extensively. The CD’s Wishmaster and Century’s Child brought the group prominence in Europe, and by August of 2004 they finally made it to the United States to the delight of their new fans on this continent.
Focus on Tarja Turunen
The resume of the original lead singer of Nightwish reads more like the list of accomplishments for an operatic soprano than a heavy metal rock and roll singer. While Nightwish was in its beginning stages, Tarja also sang for the Savonlinna Opera Festival Choir, where she sang Wagner, Verdi, and other classical composers.
Onstage and off, Tarja possessed astounding beauty and charisma, which complemented her angelic singing voice. Her picture illustrated magazines around the world and her stunning theatrical talents lit up video screens for the Nightwish songs “Nemo” and “I wish I had an Angel.” From 2000 to 2004 Ms. Turunen managed not only to tour with Nightwish but to continue her musical studies and perform classical opera for ballets and stunningly beautiful a capella solos for Christmas concerts.
One of the best examples of the power of both the band and its Junoesque lead singer was the Nightwish peformance of “The Phantom of the Opera” from 2002. Late in 2003, Tarja started to distance herself from the band and aim for a solo career. By early 2005, her Nightwish band mates wistfully dismissed her.
Nightwish from 2005 to the Present
The search for a new lead singer led Nightwish to listen to thousands of tapes from singers around the world. By early 2007, they found Anette Olzon, a singer with a similar style to Tarja, and promptly released two new videos and a new CD: Dark Passion Play.With their new singer leading the way, Nightwish toured extensively in late 2007 and into the first half of 2008. Ms. Olzon braved the great expectation and inevitable comparisons and put aside her nervousness, performing admirably. A Nightwish concert review from May, 2008 describes how American fans received her.
While the band has been on hiatus at the time of this article, early 2010, their music and epic videos remain wildly popular and easily accessible on music download and P2P sites. The video “Amaranth” features a story about villagers rescuing an injured angel, intercut with studio footage from the band and gloriously showcases their unique style.

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On The Resistance, their fifth studio album, Muse have created a difficult collection of songs which may take casual listeners time to digest.

Casting off the Oasis and Radiohead comparisons that have plagued them for most of their career, the band’s dense follow up to 2006’s Black Holes and Revelations hangs off intense ideas of corruption, the end of the world and difficult love.
Releasing an album in 2009 is risky business; in a singles-dominated music scene, releasing an album with a theme threading through 11 songs is even more risky.
But Muse do just that and more with The Resistance, an album that changes musical style with each track, skimming through 70’s glam rock, 80’s hair metal, 90’s Britpop and cumulating the experiment with a three part symphony in just under an hour.
United States of Eurasia (Collateral Damage)
Song structures and musical styles fluctuate to the extreme on The Resistance from the Queen influenced “United States of Eurasia (Collateral Damage)”, a track built around an imaginary opera concerning the emergence of a new world dominance, to the pure pop leanings of “Undisclosed Desires” a song dealing with secrets shared between lovers.
The album opens with the full blown rock chant “Uprising” a glam rock mantra influenced by 80’s synths and riots with a throwback to Queen’s “We Are The Champions”. The rebellious lyrics “They will not force us / They will stop degrading us / They cannot control us / We will be victorious” directed towards world leaders, sound off a general mistrust in bankers, global corporations and politicians.
Fully embracing their pop leanings, “Undisclosed Desires” explodes with layers of synths and a wobbling baseline to full effect. This could be Muse’s most straight forward song ever. Creating the sound the Killers hoped to master on 2008’s Day & Age, which blends rock, electronics and pop, it doesn’t summarise the album’s sound and what it attempts to achieve, but deserves to become Muse’s biggest single to date.

Uprising Resistance
From the straightforward rock/ pop of the opening tracks, the album skews towards varied musical styles as the album plays out. After a brief stint in rock/ pop land, Muse switch gears once more on the epic “Guiding Light”.
Muse swing back to 90’s lo-fi garage rock on “Unnatural Selection”, as if further proof of this album’s toughness were needed. Yet, at the same time, despite their varied sound and structure, all the songs stitch together in a coherent stream, proving the simple genius of this band.
Tucked away at the back of the album, Muse serve up another stand-out track. “I Belong to You”, also featured on the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack New Moon, before going into the distant past with their three-part symphony complete with overture.
Muse – The Resistance
Divided and dissected, The Resistance makes no sense. This isn’t a singles album but rather one made in the traditional sense with a beginning, middle and end and deserves to be listened to in that order.
If aliens came to earth and asked someone to hand them an album of evolving musical styles since the beginning of recorded music, Muse’s The Resistance would serve as a fine place to start. Bridging symphonies, 70’s Rock Opera, 90’s Brit Pop and electro-charged rock/ pop, Muse has most bases covered.
The Resistance will not please everyone, but those brave enough to embrace this album have lots to keep them happy on the trip.

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Amidst an ongoing “World Magnetic Tour,” Metallica played back-to-back nights to sold out crowds at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

For nearly twenty years fans were left scratching their heads – their once beloved thrash-metal pioneers were going soft, or so it seemed. Fast-forward a decade to the release of “Some Kind of Monster,” internal conflict and clashing artistic visions threatened to separate one of musics all-time largest acts once and for all.
Just when things were looking irreparable and utterly bleak, redemption came in the shape of a roughly 5 in. x 5 in. case: Death Magnetic was released to a combination of critical acclaim and a resounding sigh of relief from one enormous fan base. Following the release of the album, Metallica went on an extensive tour that began in early 2008 and will go well into 2010, stopping to play New York’s famous Madison Square Garden two nights in a row to sold out crowds.
Opening Acts
All the way from Copenhagen, Denmark, Volbeat joined Metallica on tour to play a fusion of rockabilly, hard-rock, and heavy metal. Next up were Lamb of God, the face of a new wave of heavy metal that came with the early 90’s. Both bands sounded great, and were a good fit for the many different types of music Metallica have experimented with throughout their career.
Metallica Fights Fire with Pyrotechnics
If you have ever been to a Metallica show, you know the drill by now. Loud music, enormous fires, a dazzling laser show – everything bigger, louder, and faster. The band took the stage to their signature intro, “Ecstasy of Gold” from the 1966 film “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” a tribute to the ethos of the stoic anti-hero portrayed by Clint Eastwood.
Dressed mostly in black, James, Krik, Lars, and Robert took the stage under the cover of dark, meanwhile the palpitating heart intro of Death Magnetic’s opening track “That Was Just Your Life” permeated the arena. Then the guitars came crashing in with laser-like speed and intensity accompanied by an explosive light show. During their fan-favorite “One” band members navigated between enormous explosions of fire that shot up from the stage.
Metallica November 14th Madison Square Garden Setlist
1. That Was Just Your Life
2. The End of the Line
3. For Whom the Bell Tolls
4. Holier Than Thou
5. One
6. Broken, Beat and Scarred
7. Cyanide
8. Sad But True
9. Turn the Page (Bob Seger cover)
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master of Puppets
13. Fight Fire With Fire
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
Encore
1. Helpless (Diamond Head cover)
2. Whiplash
3. Seek and Destroy
Madison Square Garden Review
The band sounded fantastic, and they always put on an energetic and lengthy show. During their final track enormous black beach balls with the words “Metallica Death Magnetic” printed on them are released into the audience, giving the moment a true rock show feeling.
However, for fans who have seen the band before there has been very little variation between setlists and antics during this tour. Kirk and Trujilo did interlude solos at the same moments, Hetfield said nearly all the same things. The set list for this particular show was even a little weaker than others; the band neglected many of the fan-favorites like “Fade to Black,” “Creeping Death,” and “Battery.”
The highlight of the night was the often unsung gem from their second album, “Fight Fire With Fire” which had Hetfield barking like it was 1984 again. Otherwise, Metallica puts on one of the biggest and most professional and competent live shows out there.