Magnus

Even though I still prefer Tarja's vocals for DSC in general, the instrumental performance has never sounded better than now and Floor does sound good in it so overall it's a hit with me at least.

Floor barely being audible during each chorus doesn't bug you? I'm not a big fan of the song itself, but I do agree it's a good performance of it. However, I do not understand why her voice is so low in the mix behind Marko's. Why not? I think the ending alone is one of the best moments in the show. So good! Then again, I also like the way End of All Hope sounds. Granted, the sound mix in the pro-shot Wacken and Bloodstock gigs left a lot to be desired, but I was definitely expecting both of these songs to sound just as flat in the official mix. But I was pleasantly surprised. They sound very nice to me.

Definitely. There will always be something to nitpick about, but it's definitely worth buying.

I'm not sure anyone said Floor's growling too much? Quite the opposite. Some people are saying they think her singing is too soft at times. The comments about her vocals coming off as too aggressive were, from what I can tell, referring only to her speech. Personally I don't have any issues with the way she chats with the audience in general. Yeah, her voice sounds gritty but so does 99% of all male metal musicians when they address the audience. Mark from Epica sounds like that too, for example.

Floor singing in Swedish

Listening to it again, it's probably just Floor's more operatic tone that makes it hard to distinguish the way she sings "on a grove" from "a ragdoll" .

I've just finished watching the show for the first time. My initial impressions: - Better sound mix than Wembley, but not as good as Tampere. Everything is perfectly audible, other than some keyboard sounds and sometimes Floor's voice being way too low in the mix (which was also an issue on the Endless Forms Most Beautiful album). - Kai's performance is great, but the snare drums could pack a bigger punch. I know the sound of his kit is brighter than Jukka's in general, but the way they've been mixed this time around can sometimes make them sound a bit on the tinny side. - Floor did sound a bit different during this tour, although she still gave a very solid performance overall as usual. It's a very demanding show. But her voice sounds audibly more high-pitched than usual, and often airy too. It wasn't just due to having been sick, or tired. Her performances from the pro-shot Wacken and Bloodstock gigs are similar. It doesn't help that all the lower frequencies seem to have been removed on this release either. I don't agree with the people who say the vocals sound too dry, but they could still have used some more reverb at times and also a bass and sometimes volume boost (like during the choruses of Wish I Had an Angel where she just notably fades well into the background for some reason). I wouldn't worry about her sounding like this on the upcoming album. Beste Zangers proved that she's back to sounding like her old self again. - I kind of wish the few mistakes that were made had been fixed by using the back-up recording from Colombia. Most notably Marko missing a line in The Kinslayer. It makes for a funny moment on the Blu-ray, but perhaps they could have done something with the CD version where it comes across as a lot more awkward? Floor also messed up the second verse of I Want My Tears Back. I also kind of wish her constant shouting during every single instrumental part of the song could have been muted on the CD (it's fine when you're watching the performance, as you can clearly see she's enjoying herself but as a listening only experience it's not that pleasant). - The newly recorded orchestral parts featured in most older tracks are really well done, as are all the new arrangements. Yes, I like the key changes too. I think they did a terrific job making everything sound as contemporary Nightwish as possible without changing the spirit of the original works. That being said, although nostalgic this entire show serves as a reminder of how much I prefer their discography from Century Child onwards to everything that came before it. There are definitely a few highlights on this setlist that I would gladly see featured on future setlists, but there's also some stuff I'm not going to cry a river over if they never perform it again. - Troy is the MVP of the show. Truly. I don't think I've ever appreciated his input as much as I have watching this recording. Out of nowhere, I started to cry during Swanheart. It really caught me off guard, even though I had previously heard audience recordings from various shows on YouTube. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it now. I can't explain why, but it just hit me so hard. Then he continued to impress me with how much he contributes to each performance. Especially whenever he took on the role as a second guitarist, complementing Emppu. While not a strong soloist, his vocals do add a lot when singing together with Floor and Marko even if the latter two overpower him. I know this isn't the first time he's done more than pipes and flutes, but I think it's the first time where the rest of his contributions made a big impact. If that makes sense. - The new arrangement of Élan is top notch! - The Greatest Show on Earth looked surprisingly spectacular for being indoors. The Wembley performance looks so dark, so this was a nice surprise. - Best performances were: Gethsemane, Deep Silent Complete, Dead Boy's Poem, Elvenpath, The Kinslayer and Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean. Overall, I'm very pleased despite lack of bonus material and the minor issues mentioned above. There is no such a thing as a perfect recording, so at the end of the day I think the worst criticism simply being nitpicking is a good sign.

I haven't heard the professional mix yet, but based on the bootleg recordings Floor nailed her part. I really love her lower operatic register. So dramatic! I hope it gets to return in a future setlist, the way She Is My Sin did.

How about Instagram Metal? But honestly, I feel like there's a lot of audible influence from Lana's music in Sharon's songwriting since Hydra. I do agree that Firelight doesn't fit, but we already know why.

I'm not a big fan of it either. Mostly because I find the lyrics to be a bit creepy. It's hard not to interpret them as being from the point of view of a lonely man who lusts after young girls at a night club. I certainly don't. It's one of the few Nightwish songs I always skip. It needed to be included on Decades for historic purposes though, so I'm fine with that. I think the way they've been performing it since Floor joined is the best it's ever sounded live. But I do prefer the studio recording in general. One thing I miss though is the long piano intro that Tuomas used to play during the DPP tour. Similar to how live versions of Ever Dream sometimes get one.

Mostly because it's been performed non-stop since Floor joined, so there's been plenty of opportunities to catch it live and we already have plenty of good recordings available for those who did not. If they keep recording and releasing shows from all of their tours, which I hope they will, GLS doesn't need to be on the next one when we could hopefully get a long overdue performance of Beauty of the Beast, or even the return of TPatP. Then when GLS does inevitably make its comeback, it'll be truly appreciated. Just my 2 cents. Seems good! Slightly higher dynamic range than Wembley, slightly lower than Tampere. In short, it continues the trend of respectable mastering that started with EFMB. Thumbs up!

At least it's just a typo and not a technical issue like with the Showtime, Storytime blu-ray, or having the wrong version of a track included (Epica) or a track with glitches (Amorphis and Avantasia). I haven't received my copy yet and I doubt CDON will manage to deliver it in time. But I can't say I'm surprised to hear the criticism about Ghost Love Score. The Wacken 2018 performance recently got released with better mastering as part of a compilation album and it does sound very different. Very light and airy, which is a stark contrast to the heavier operatic tone from Tampere, for example. Still pretty, but it doesn't wow you the same way. Sounds closer to what I would expect a studio recording with Floor would sound like. So I'm guessing the Buenos Aires performance is of similar quality. Also a shame they didn't fix Marko's blunder in The Kinslayer. It was just one spoken line. They could easily have taken it from the Bogota show and have the camera show a shot of the audience while it played. Based on recordings on YouTube, Floor nailed the song. Seems to have been a really good night in general. I can't wait to finally watch it at some point lol.

Totally disagree on that. The intro to The Reckoning sounds heavier than 99% of their post Enter stuff to me.

CDON still haven't shipped my Earbook

I don't think their vocals are incompatible, which is what "no chemistry" would imply. Tarja and Marko have zero chemistry to me though. They just sound way too different, all the time. Anette's voice sounds better together with Marko's (but as with most things Anette, this mostly just applies to her studio vocals). But I think Floor's versatility extends to how her voice lends itself to being paired up with other voices. It rarely ever clashes with any other voice, so she sounds good singing together with most other singers. But I feel like she sounds the best when she's trading lines with male vocalists, and when she's singing in harmony with female vocalists. As far as harmonising in Nightwish goes, I think she sounds the best when both Marko and Troy sing the harmonies (like in Come Cover Me), as opposed to only Marko.