Nightwish Album: “Wish I Had an Angel [Single]”

"Wish I Had An Angel" is the second single from Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish's fifth studio album Once after "Nemo." "Wish I Had An Angel" is the band's most popular song to date and is considered to be an iconic song for the band. The "Wish I Had An Angel" single charted in Spain, Finland, Sweden, Portugal, the UK and Norway -and even got some attention across the pond in the U.S.

"Wish I Had An Angel" is one of Nightwish's heaviest songs to date, with a stronger emphasis on guitar and vocals rather than orchestral sections. Even bassist Marco Hietala gets a more expanded singing role on the song than usual, adding a nice edge to Tarja's operatic vocal work. I also think that "Wish I Had An Angel" is one of the darkest and most "gothy" songs Nightwish has ever released, not to mention one of the catchiest. Though not my favorite Nightwish song, it's easily one of their best and appeals to a wider group of listeners than just Nightwish or metal fans.

This single also includes a cover of the 1989 synth pop song "Where Were You Last Night" by Sweden singer Anki Bagger. The song does feature plenty of 80s-style synth, but injecting the originally pop song with some Nightwish metal makes it epic. Tarja also delivers an engaging, emotional vocal on the song that makes it easy to single to and gives just enough of an edge that it doesn't become dull. Maybe it's just because I'm a huge sucker for the 80s sound, but I'm in love with this song. Nightwish should explore the 80s metal sound more often. It just works for them. I find it a little surprising that "Where Were You Last Night" is considered to be a more obscure Nightwish track that was only released on this single and was rarely (if even at all) performed live. Now, I can see how some of the band's metal fans may have issues with all the synth in the song, but it's so fun and catchy, I don't see how they could resist. Interestingly enough, on her solo albums Tarja has done symphonic metal covers of the 80s songs "Poison" (Alice Cooper) and "Still of the Night" (Whitesnake), which have both been great. I've even seen video of recent concerts from her What Lies Beneath tour where she performs "Where Were You Last Night." No idea why she decided to resurrect the song after all these years, but it really deserves some live performance.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the orchestral version of "Ghost Love Score" here. I always thought the song was amazingly epic before, but this took it to a whole new level. The entire thing is a seamless orchestra of perfection that sounds on the same level as an epic movie soundtrack. There's also an interesting demo recording of "Wish I Had An Angel." Obviously not as polished as the final song, but it is interesting to get a glimpse into the band's creative process when putting together a new song.

I usually am not into singles, and I typically don't recommend them to other people unless they are hardcore fans or serious collectors, but I have to throw that out the window with the "Wish I Had An Angel" single. "Where Were You Last Night" and the orchestral version of "Ghost Love Score" are worth the price of the CD. Yes, you heard me, and these songs aren't really available anywhere else, "Where Were You Last Night" is particularly rare.