Let's not beat about the bush here. This is a great album. Actually, this is a great album, but for the wrong reasons. Namely, because it is hilarious. Now, before a few die-hard Nightwish fans start spitting fire at me from Scandinavia, I would ask them to consider their position on Angels Fall First. So what's so bad about it?

Well, the songs are OK, but that's all they are. Clearly here Nightwish are trying to establish their sound and their theme as gothic/fantasy metal with lyrics about forests, pharaohs [they didn't leave that topic alone on Oceanborn either] and nymphomaniacs. Sure, it's all fun stuff, but the album still sounds like a demo disc. What's that? It was? Yes, I heard this too - that Tuomas considered AFF as such and the band made a much better effort for Oceanborn.

Maybe so, but that still does not detract from the fact that this is by no means Nightwish's finest hour, especially with Tuomas' singing – an error which was 'corrected' for later albums, and which is, to be fair, laughable. The only two good tracks here are Know Why The Nightingale Sings and Astral Romance, which was thankfully rerecorded for Over The Hills.

Buy this album if you want a laugh, to double it as a coaster, or if you're on your way to becoming a Nightwish fanatic. Just don't take it too seriously. Nightwish wouldn't want you to either.