Disco de Nightwish: “Bestwishes: Best of Nightwish”

Whoever put this compilation together knew what they were doing. This is a comprehensive list of their best work that happily does not feature too heavily from their more lackluster releases like Angels Fall First and Century Child (two tracks each). It also has all the essentials from Oceanborn, their best full lenght release, and Wishmaster, which is close second. ALL of the tracks featured herein are brilliant (yes even the ones from the aforementioned albums). You will not need to use your fast forward button unless you are just dying to hear 'End of All Hope' and 'Walking in the Air' (or some such amazing track) one more time. The order in which the tracks were added also makes a lot of sense, leaving the slower, more epic pieces to the end, and makes sense by playing Wishmaster so late since the band typically finishes off with that one during live performances.

Just one minor point of contention: Crownless should be replaced by Passion and the Opera from Oceanborn, and Beauty and the Beast should be replaced by Dead Boy's Poem from Wishmaster. Just my preference.

Also of note, there are NO tracks on this compilation from Once, their most recent full length release. I personally feel this is a good thing.

Lastly, this album has the coolest looking cover of any nightwish album, so if you're new to nightwish and dont want to buy like 3 CD's and still miss out on singles like 'Over the Hills and Far Away' and 'Ever Dream' I suggest you shell out the money for this. Believe me you won't regret it.

As with many compilations taken from a fairly large body of work, there are bound to be some fans with a grudge against the selections. While I agreed with most of the tracks selected for this disc, there are several glaring omissions that I feel compelled to bring up.

The first is "Nemo". As this was Nightwish's breakout hit in both Germany and the United States, it's exclusion from their "Best Of..." CD is nothing short of idiotic. Picture a "Best Of Eric Clapton" CD without "Layla" or a "Best of Disturbed" CD without "Down With The Sickness". I'm sure that with or without the previous examples you understand my point.

The second is "Ghost Love Score". Ghost Love Score is my personal favorite of all of Nightwish's songs, and I know for a fact that I'm far from alone on that note. Hit the forums online and ask other Nightwish fans what their favorite song is - if less than half tell you it's Ghost Love Score, I'd be surprised.

The third is "Dead Boy's Poem". To think that there just wasn't enough room for one of Nightwish's most innovative songs is somewhere between ludicrous and assinine.

All in all, I agree with previous reviewers - buying several Nightwish CDs and getting the full experience is a much better idea than buying this decent, but incomplete compilation CD. I personally own four Nightwish CDs and I can think of only two tracks off the top of my head that I honestly didn't enjoy. Go for it - and if you're a beginner and just getting into Nightwish, I'd have to say that Oceanborn is probably the best place to start, as Wishmaster and Once are a more intensive and Century Child is a bit weak. Have fun.