A pleasantly written labour of love
Paul Lawrence | Australia | 01/04/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Mape Ollila apparently wrote this official biography after touring with the band to various destinations off and on over four years and the story certainly does the reader a great service by looking at the formative years of the band and not just concentrating on the more lucrative Once era. He also appears to have the confidence of the various members of Nightwish both present and previous and while he's obviously a fan of the band he seems to have been able to keep a reasonable degree of perspective. Which makes this book so much more than many books you'd get on bands that are basically Wikipedia excerpts in print. And the fact this book covers from 1996 to 2006 is an interesting point to remember - perhaps we'll get another official biography in ten years time?
Ollila has also been able to use a stack of quotes from people not actually in the band, managers and the like who help to flesh out the story and make the book feel very inclusive, not just the bands point of view. And while this work was most certainly first written in Finnish (apparently one of the more complicated European languages) one gets the feeling that this translation was done carefully to retain the correct meanings and inflections of the original quotes from those involved.
Consequently this is probably a must buy for any half serious Nightwish fan because Olilla is smart enough to focus the book on the interpersonal relationships of the band members and their various employees. And thus keep the human drama front and centre which makes the discussion of facts and figures so much more digestable. Olilla seems to have had a huge wad of access to the band and there is plenty of the usual back stage antics stories though almost the only time a person is mentioned as being part of that person is a roadie or manager or somesuch, which for a band mostly consisting of young fellows seems hardly creditable. Rather than wearing their excesses proudly on their sleeve as per Motley Crue the band choose discretion and after all, this is an official biography. Perhaps an unofficial one would of had more salacious morsels. And at several points in the book the personal problems of various band members are alluded to. But not expanded upon. Given a number of pages are given over to how revealing Tuomas was in the interview footage on the End of Innocence DVD it seems strange to suddenly get all gunshy in print.
In truth much of the book does deal with the later more successful years of the time period in question and there is a heck of a lot of time spent on the descent into interpersonal acrimony that saw the bands singer Tarja Turunen ousted so publicly. And the entire episode is well documented with all sides having their say with the notable exclusion of Tarjas personal manager/husband Marcelo. Who remains mute thoughout the book really. Which in itself speaks volumes.
Olilla has succeeded here in making this book a humanistic work aimed at fans with grit enough to ensure it's not solely aimed at teenage fans looking for gushing praise, the main protagonists are seen as human and thus fallible and while there are times when you think the author has had to pull a few punches not even Tuomas comes across as the all wise guru. The colour photos add nothing to the story but are a nice enough addition and the discography is a retentive anoraks dream come true. And utterly out of date 30 seconds after the book was sent to the publishers most probably!
I simply devoured this book while away on a business trip as it offered history, drama and insight while being easily readable. With the Nightwish story now entering it's second decade perhaps Mr Olilla will grace us with another relaxed and readable account of this bands doings in the time period 2007 -2016. Heres hoping."
Nightwish revealed
Zeal | 12/19/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A well written book that sheds light on the band. Being a Nightwish fan I was, in someways, disappointed or perhaps disillusioned to realize that Nightwish----a band that creates grandiose and borderline epic music--is really made up of kids who grew up touring. I would recommend this book to anyone who considers herself or himself to be a Nightwish fan. Expect a realistic look at the band members, the industry, and what has held them together."
