"Greatest Show On Earth" by Nightwish Reaction/Analysis by Musician/Producer
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2023
- "Greatest Show On Earth" by Nightwish Reaction/Analysis by Musician/Producer
Original Video: • 🎼 Nightwish 🎶 The Grea...
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Can we all take a minute to appreciate how Kai is an absolute machine. So impressive.
He's tighter than a.....drum!
Have you listen to THE POET AND THE PENDULUM? MY FAVORITE NIGHTWISH.
almost as good as Jukka
I concur
@@richardmead5969 Kai is technically much better than Jukka. Kai is one of the world best metal drummers. Jukka is not as talented on technical side and speed of hands. He is still very good drummer, and the undetstanding how to play in different parts to make song better and strengthening many places the music. In that sense hr is not below Kai, only technical part, fastness, wrist working etc..and Jukka is more "cinematic" when playing, thats why so loved...
I was there at that gig! Me and my husband had never seen Nightwish live before. I was in tears and my husband was asking the question 'what just happened?' all I know is it was something incredibly special. Thank you for taking me back to that gig
This is not just my favourite Nightwish song, it is my favourite song ever. I still struggle to listen to this all the way through without being brought to tears. I adore how intelligent it is. There's so much going on in it that it takes a number of listens just to hear those nuances. Lyrically it's the work of a genius poet. No more, no less.
A true reaction from someone who knows how to appreciate a masterpiece.
Thank you!
We were here ❤ Thank you for the moment in time ❤
The emotion on the fans' faces at the end, says it all.
Thanks for doing every track from this concert Jeff - it's been a treat.🇬🇧🤘🤘
Yes, theres quite some cases of tears runing down those faces... and its just what i feel, watching this some 8y later, a mere video redcording, and STILL it brings those tears...
This IS Art, very very unbelievable Journey. Perfect, grazy as hell.... Wha More? Most epic "song" ever. ❤️❤️
I completely agree about this masterpiece. I consider it the greatest composition of my long lifetime, replacing “The Gates of Delirium” by Yes, which held the spot since the 80’s. Definitely my favorite song of all-time. Where TGOD covered war and Peace, TGSOE covered the creation of the universe to the likely demise of mankind in a mere 21 minutes. The final composition “The Understanding” performed by the London Symphony to which they took their well-deserved bows, is the hero’s theme they deserved. Tuomas is just an empath who writes to our heart and hits the mark in every single song. What a treat to watch with you. Thank you, my friend!
An empath who is out of touch with the USA, it seems. There is a vast difference between Europe and the USA, they live in the dark ages today.
"The final composition “The Understanding” performed by the London Symphony to which they took their well-deserved bows, is the hero’s theme they deserved. " Well said and I agree fully. It is the hero's theme
@@milton1448 Thank you for your kind words. It's beautiful in every way!
You are correct. Both Tuomas and Floor are powerful, world-class empaths, each in their own way.
was my song of all time but after discovering ELAN its number 2!
A brief history of the universe, of the earth, of life, of humans, of technology, of music (did you notice 😊), all rolled into a 21 minute masterpiece, the end of which is marked by 12,000 metalheads observing perfect order for an Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Biology to recite Charles Darwin. That's spine-shiveringly powerful!!!
For me, Poet and the Pendulum from this same concert is my favourite metal song of all time, but Greatest Show is Tuomas' magnum opus, his genius! Did you notice the nods to music from history (Throat singing, tribal fireside, Bach's minute in G, Vivaldi, Metallica, techno beat)... they basically spent 30 seconds ish taking us through a brief history of music (immediately following you saying "sounds like Halloween). Some will say Tampere is the best version to watch, but this Wembley version has far superior sound and mixing in my opinion. It is definitely worth watching Tampere as well because it's a bigger concert, more open and with more spectacular pyro and visuals.
My next suggestion has to be Nightwish's rendition of Pink Floyd's High Hopes (Live End of an Era)... I've waited so long for you to react to that one
I agree. And yes please, react to Nightwishs version of High Hopes. Greetings from germany 🔥🤘🫶
There are so many “hidden gems” that Tuomas included in the lyrics & the music.
14:23 The musical tributes include animals, African tribal drumming, then through the Gregorian chant in Dies Irae (Mozart), Bach’s Minuet in G Major followed by his famous Fugue in D Minor, followed by American banjo music, Metallica’s Enter Sandman riff , finally ending in Rap/Hip-Hop and 90s dance music.
Pretty Good isn’t it?!!
You will enjoy Tampere 2015 too! 😊
I've discovered a few:
Easter Eggs of Tuomas:
A single grain of sand.
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand. And a Heaven in a Wild Flower.
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand. And Eternity in an hour”. By William Blake.
Sandman, Metallica riff.
Sand in an hourglass, the flashing lights as a passage of time, day/night/day/night.
More than the sand grains of Sahara.
Umm, the Phillip Glass style piano at the beginning, glass is made from sand...
Haha!
Another deep one:
The almost throw away line: ”Do as you would be done by”?
A character in the book, by Charles Kingsley, “The Water Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby”.
Mrs. Do-as-you-would-be-done-by. A reminder to be nice to other people.
It was written as part satire in support of Charles Darwin's “On The Origin of Species”.
A childhood story of love, class difference, morals.
Ocean Born, Tuomas?
@@stpfs9281 ”Do as you would be done by” could also mean Revenge. Only humans seem to have this behaviour, or at least they are the ones who cultivate it
"Greatest Show on Earth", "Ghost Love Score" and "Poem and the Pendulum" - The three best Nightwish songs. They are just epic.
the girl at the front row is a LEGEND
The seemingly repetitive keyboard notes in the first few minutes are reminiscent of the trillions of random combinations it took to evolve a viable RNA / DNA. Each combination attempt took a few nanoseconds each, but given "a hundred million centuries" something finnally clicked.. .and life took a foot hold... resulting in endless forms most beautiful and wonderful.
i am quite sure no one else has made heavy metal and incorporated into it the sounds, colors, layers, accents horns flutes pipes quite the way and to the caliber that this band has that is quite clear the energy and effortless transitions married these classical elements talk about a epic music made by man this what i mean when i say i think if anyone else were to make this kind of music the way nightwish processes epic music compositions it may not be as well received somebody would say you leave that kind of music making to these incredibly talented individuals continue to be blown away with what they can do with thematic elements and when marko and floor start harmonizing vocals
The transition to "the toolmaker" is absolutely flawless.
This song at Tampere has always been my favorite but each time I see this version, it’s slowly becoming my favorite! I always cry at the end because it is just so epic! But let’s face it, there is no bad version, there are no bad Nightwish songs….I love them all!
Ditto here
Yeah man, I always liked the Tampere version more, but the intro of this version is just so incredibly beautiful with Troy and his EBow. I have never in my life heard something this beautiful.
Strauss, Wagner, Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky....Holopainen! Tuomas is right up there with the best. As Pip Williams has stated, ''I can’t think of another metal/rock songwriter who manages to write such compelling melodies and storylines''.
And I discovered another great composer/storyteller this year; Ren Gill. What a great time to be alive 🙂
A metal band with a classically trained vocalist performing a 20 minute song in which the lyrics are from a science text book about the history of life on Earth! I know all those words but they make no sense in that order! My brain just melted.
😃👏👏👏
Don't apologise for letting the video play out Jeff - there would have been complaints if you'd cut it off I'm sure.🇬🇧🤘🤘
I'm not crying, you're crying!
Nightwish army Denmark reporting in 🤘
I agree, their best song ever.
One of the greatest pieces of music of all time, written by one of the great musical geniuses of all time, played by one of the greatest groups of musicians of all time, sung by one of the greatest singers of all time, with some of the greatest visuals and effects of all time and featuring (and inspired by) one of the greatest theoretical evolutionary scientists of all time. What more do you need ? :-)
The title of the issue is taken from a 2009 book by evolutionary biologist and atheist writer Richard Dawkins, about the evidence for biological evolution. Dawkins also contributes to the album. Holopainen explained to HMV in March 2015: "I wrote him a letter a little over a year ago and explained what ideas we had for this album, mainly about evolution. Since one of the songs goes straight to one of his books, it felt like a perfect match to try and recite him on the album. A few weeks later, he sent me an email accepting the invitation."
"Later in 2014, we recorded his parts at Hats Off Studios, Oxford. This is a huge honour for us, as Dawkins is one of our greatest heroes and his writings have been a huge inspiration for the album."
This performance of this song is my absolute favorite from Nightwish. I saw them play this at a smallish venue in NYC last year and although it was fantastic, I would have loved to hear them do it with Marco just once live. Never mind, I still count myself lucky. Thanks, a really great reaction.
I was at that show too! Certainly a night I will never forget.
I saw them at Sweden rock last summer and i really missed Marko. But they where fantastic anyway
@@cipondiss7195 Same here, absolutely brilliant.
@@fredriknilsson6042 Exactly. And at least we will always have lots of high quality videos like this one to watch over and over!
Nightwish sings you a evolutionary thesis and brings you tears doing it.
The lump in my throat always starts after the last note of the song when Tuomas puts his hands on his head. It continues through Dawkins reading the Darwin quote at the end. I love it. Thanks, Jeff. I loved your Wembley journey.
Absolutely!
Hello from Greece. Thanks again Mr Jeff for your reaction to this masterpiece. Happy to see you again.
I found Nightwish at 61 yrs old after growing up through 60's 70's and 80's. Nothing after that ever moved me. Until a former band mate introduced me to Nightwish but the introduction of Floor to the band blew me away and have remained my all time greatest band since. That over my previous fave bands of Uriah Heep,, BTO and Pink Floyd. The Wacken 2013 festival performance still moves, me. But this track whether at Wembley or Tampere it just kicks rear end.
The track Shoemaker off the Human Nature album is stunning (official video). Then performance of it at Hellfest 2022 just awesome... Particularly the end. Floor is just too awesome... Goddess of Metal....
Please note I am Paul and Venessa comes up here as she registered under her name... 😊
i’ve always loved this version more over tamperes… 1) intro with the e.bow is mesmerising 2) intro feels more agile 3) ending with mr dawkins and 4) i was there!!! 😊
love you mentioning at the start “floors vocals here are very cool” and me thinking… hold your ears!! 😂
all about this song is amazing, lyrics are so beautifully written, so meaningful… and the entire composition until the end… that ending with the orchestra always brings me to tears 😢 such a journey!
To me, the most amazing part is 12,500 screaming metal heads going dead silent to listen to Dawkins. Just incredible.
I concur
82,000 u mean?
@@dmj4966 Don`t mix up Wembley Arena and Stadium......... in December its not Open Air........
Richard Dawkins equals Wembley....that's 82000, Tampered was less
@@dmj4966 Watch the record of the concert....7:06: SHE said: ...in this sold out Wembley Arena......
Ask aunt google.....Wembley Arena capacity 12.500.....
Ask aunt google Wembley Stadium: capacity 90.000.....
Everywhere in the available literatur its told that this gig was in Wembley Arena.
At 19.December 2015.
Here it is!!!! 😃
It is quite amazing, what Nightwish can do together. Not a slacker among their bunch, they are all in for the show.
This song is beyond masterpiece from Tuomas, our metal Mozart 🤘I was at their last concert this year, June 17th and this song was the last one. I tell you, if you ever have a chance going to see them live, go! I was was speechless, overwhelmed, when I drove back to home (Oulu city) from Vaasa city where the concert was. They have absolutely fantastic live shows and I cannot find proper words to describe what I experienced. Everyone metal fan there were such polite people and having good time experiencing Nightwish. I am so waiting for their newest album maybe released 2024. I have all their studio albums since 1996 incuding -96 very rare The Collector's Edition album. Keep going reacting 🤘
I am always amazed that after a performance of almost 2 hours, they still deliver this energy and quality. this band is simply amazing🤟🏻🤟🏻🎶🎶
My favorite Nightwish song because of it sort of optimism. Next to the last part of The Poet And The Pendulum @ Wembley
I would have to agree. For me, this is Nightwish's greatest masterpiece to date.
Yes, my favourite to.
You have quietly become one of my favorite reaction channels, and perhaps quiet is the key word. You are very obviously quite knowledgeable about music and add great insight, but you do so with respect to the music presented. You allow yourself to become a fan, and that is how music brings us all together. A group of people moved and bonded in emotion and spirit by a musical creation of another human being. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, emotions and energy with us.
To me this indeed is the greatest show on earth, brings me to tears everytime.
Thank you Steve I really appreciate that!
This was really the greatest show on earth. ❤
Metal and orchestral music go so well togehter
I enjoyed watching this again with you. This song kind of saved my life. Long story, happy ending. ••• Thanks! PEACE!!!
Thank you for letting it play all the way through.
Hey Jeff. A masterpiece ,a magnum opus. Inspired by the Richard Dawkins book of the same name, it is about the formation of the solar system and the evolution of life on Earth.
Yes ,Troy's part starts with EBOW here. That's one of the differences between this concert and the other awesome full version video at Tampere 2015. There he starts with Irish Low Whistle. Tampere is also outdoors with fireworks, but no Richard Dawkins on stage. The quote from Darwin's The Origin of Species he does live here, is read over the top of the credits. Check out that version later.
Animal noises is correct, the emergence of mammals and humans.
There is even an evolution of music section, playing several pieces of music including Minuet in G major by Christian Petzold, Toccata and Fuge=ue in D minor by J.S. Bach, Gregorian chant from the choir, the Enter Sandman riff and EDM.
Some of the references :
5 sections of the song, the first is entitled 4.6. As in 4.6 billion years. The age of the planet.
L.U.C.A. - last universal common ancestor. The last life form from which all current life on Earth descends.
Lucy of the Afar. AT the time of discovery in 1974, the oldest human ancestor remains found, dating to about 3.2 million years.
God of the gaps. Mankind would create a god to explain something they came across that was beyond their understanding.
Enter ratkind. Some theories suggest rats will take over when mankind's time is over.
WE WERE HERE!!!!
🤩💥💯🎶
*OPUS PERFECTUM*
🤘😎 🇫🇮 💙
She looks amazing? SHE IS JUST FREAKING AMAZING !!!
Somehow, I knew you would love this one, Jeff XD
Buenos Aires 2018 "Decades: World Tour" full gig next please!!!!
I concur
I'm a simple man, it's Everdream for me 😊 Don't get me wrong though, TGSoE is also my favorite, as are all Nightwish songs 😁
This video has a special place in my heart.
This was the first Nightwish song & video that YT decided to recommend to me.
I instantly became a big Nightwish fan after I recovered (and picked my jaw off the ground) after experiencing this amazing music, visuals, and lyrics.
Amazing ❤❤❤❤❤ Nightwish ❤❤ from South Africa 🇿🇦 thank you🙏
Floor: "Enter Luca"
Marko: "Enter Ionia"
Emppu: "Enter Sandman" 😉
We were here (to witness greatness and to be alive). BTW, the Van Dahl-Jansen family just got a beautiful 2nd baby girl, Lucy! 🍼
Thanks Jeff and greetings from The Netherlands.
Whilst I do not subscribe to the "Theory of Evolution" I wholeheartedly subscribe to the music of this phenomenal band. This is the absolute Gold Standard of live music. Heck they all are from this phenomenal band all masters of their craft fronted by the best performer and vocalist that I have ever had the pleasure and privilege to see and hear. Thank you Jeff. 🙏😊👍❤️
@Stratele Studios: What blows my mind is that Tuomas has written a song about the 14.8 billion years of universal history, and boiled that song down into a mere 24 minutes -- in a song that is an ode to the sheer awe and beauty of life on Earth.
And here is what was said at the end, by Dr. Richard Dawkins:
"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds, it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here. We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state, from which the vast majority have never stirred?" ~ Dr. Richard Dawkins, _The Greatest Show On Earth_
I've been waiting for this one! I'm with you, I think this is their greatest masterpiece. It's only my second favorite version, though. My favorite is the Tampere version. I hope you get to that one at some point too (or better yet, the entire concert). It's different enough that it's definitely worthy of a second reaction.
All the best! 👍🤘🤟
Tuomas brain should be studied by science,he is just not normal in his ability to compose these masterpieces
"Music is what emotions sound like".
I think that he is a "Highly Sensitive Person", (that goes for Floor too),
the love of nature, "I love not man the less, but nature more",
maybe even a bit of synesthesia: "Terribly sweet perfume deafens me", from Song of Myself.
This song is so awesome in its scope and beauty. Great reaction.
you should definitely check out Tampere, same composition and, as we know Nightwish, presented differently. Masterful🤟🏻🤟🏻🎶🎶
Now that I have watched mostly all of your reactions let me tell you, that I am absolutely stunned by them. You are right, everybody has his own so called 'best nightwish song' himself. For most of us especially me there is the rule: The best NW-song I've ever heard is the one I just listened to.
Let me apprechiate your wonderful journey thru the times once again and mention, that there is another concert with lots of surprises and some of my favourite songs like Stargazers .... it is the concert of Tampere in 2019. Maybe - I hope - you will get back to your successful reactions with it?
Thank you a lot for all the work you did and see you again hopefully! Greetings from Germany! Oh, first part of my restlife bucktlist which is a Soloconcert of Floor will acur on the 1st of June in Eindhoven/NL - I will be there and am simply f***ing excited like never b4 in my past 64 years..
I hope to get to Tampere soon as I’ve heard great things about that concert!
👍Hey Jeff, "Aren't we the lucky ones" that we can enjoy a band like Nightwish in OUR lifetime,yes a truly epic topic and song.😉🤘
Ville Lipiäinen deserves a lot of praise - he's the guy behind all of these concert videos, and he does an amazing job.
i agree - Nightwish live videos always seem to manage to convey the theatre of actual show, rather than the editor trying to make the show out of their editing. You feel like you were actually there.
Wacken 2013 was his masterpiece, in this gig he missed one or two highlights but in Tampere he was great again imho
No 1
Amazing Journey & Epic performance
👍👍👍🤘🤘🤘🤘👋👋👋
Great reaction ❤️
Thank you!! 😅
Tampere next..NWA🇫🇮🤘👍😎🔥
I can't say it's my favorite in respect of my feeling to other songs, but I would say it is the best their song yet (and performance), and, I would dare to say it's the best song in the history (yet)!
Excellent reaction again Jeff... what a song & meaning.... BUT, do yourself a huuuge favour, react (or at least watch in your own time) the version from Tampere , Nightwish home country, own fans, bigger stadium, more fireworks !!,,, its stunning ... I guarantee nobody will mind if you do a reaction to this version , enjoy... 🤘🤘🤘
Hi, very very beautiful, thank you
Thank you too
This is the second part of my evidence for Tuomas being an alchemist. He gets depressed, channels that into his writing and produces _The_ _Poet_ _and_ _the_ _Pendulum;_ then he gets happy again, and produces this! My favourite long-form NW work, and part of what makes EFMB my all-time favourite album from anyone. It was sorta-kinda the closer when we saw them at Wembley last year, but they replaced the final orchestral section with _Ad_ _Astra_ (from their most recent album). My wife and I were both transfixed.
I challenge anyone to watch this and then claim that a secular worldview means one can't have spirituality or feel awe ❤
Yes TRUE MASTERPIECE, but This is second for me ❤. First is Ghost Love Score from beginning… and then came Floorgasm. Always first 🎉
Loved how emotional you got at the end of the "epic" and to Richard Dawkins. I get the same every time I watch this and it's probaby been 100+ times!
Thanks Jeff. I knew you would love this one! You really should do the full concert from Tampere, as this has some songs you haven't seen and is visually perhaps the ultimate Nightwish experience! Love your reactions - keep 'em coming! All the best from the UK.
Great reaction to this masterpiece! WE WERE HERE!! 🌎
Thank you for your great and knowledgeable reaction. Not sure if you're a 'real' reactor because you didn't take up 75% of the screen and you even removed yourself on 18 min so we could see the celebration of the crew and their audience. This is so much appreciated by me, you've earned a new subscriber.
Hahaha, I always try to put the music first! Thanks for noticing! 😃🫶
Send them to the Superbowle you have the Greatest show om Earth 🤘🤘🤘
What can you say anymore..Masterpiece 🔥🤘❤️🇫🇮
Great reaction, this song is such an adventure everytime I see someone react to it. And calling her a siren just before she adds some primeval growls.... I would love it if you react to songs by Auri (Tuomas, Troy and Johanna) and maybe solo performance of Floor in 2021 at Live in Amsterdam, Face Your Demons (song originally by her first band, After Forever).
This is their "Magnum opus" to date. As a patriotic Finn l prefer the Tampere version, but this is great too with the real Richard Dawkins. I saw them live 16.6 2023 at Kitee Rantakenttä, Finland. They played this with the real fireworks (like Tampere 2015). Floor was very heavily pregnant there, but still they delivered a full two-hours show. 😎👍
Since the 70's my favorite song has been Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven". It wasn't until 2015 that a winner was found, this song by Nightwish. And this song by Nightwish is still at number one.
There are a few variations of the song. The album version is 24 minutes long. This version that ends the concert is about 20 minutes long and if they play it in the middle of the concert, it was about 10-11 minutes long as I remember.
I love the orchestral version too!
You get to hear the intricacies going on in the background, the short solos of various instruments, the ominouus brass, the triumphant strings.
This song is without a doubt their finest, epic, masterpiece! It brings tears to my eyes at the end. I know if I saw them in concert, I would very emotional throughout the whole concert!
really how can it get any better
My favorites. Oh, many. Beauty in sorrow : dead poys poem. Anger: master passion Greed. Nature: this you just looked. Mental: many but favorite is so g of myself. Instrumental: last of the wilds. Cover: high hopes and phantom of the opera. Singing/storytelling: ghost river. Atmosphere : Poet and the Pendelum, many.
Well, you asked.
It's awesome in the true definition of that word.
Lyrically, there are so many little things he included for the history of our earth and us humans, then the music. Everyone playing at the top of their game.
Then vocals 😊 speechless.
Just super! The mini music history in there from the harpischord, to classical, to the Metallica Riff - was so fun.
Metal Mozart - no question.
Hi Jeff
Well, not even in my top 5. I used to have a top 3 then the rest.
It changed to top 5 and the rest but TGSOE and Weak Fantasy have been creeping up so I would say top 7 now. (TPATP is No 1 for me - same show).
I have a few quotes from the band on the making of the album and the song and some of my own I terpretations, gathered over time...
Troy: At some point we ended up watching Richard Dawkins lectures on the internet. After a while I suggested, half in jest, that maybe we should ask Dawkins to be our special guest on the new album.
Tuomas: It was an amazing idea, and I immedia\tely started wondering if could really make it happen.
Jukka: We were naturally a bit sceptical, too - we had to try and ask him of course, but it was better not to have such high hopes. Dawkins had pretty much shied away from popular culture apart from one episode of The Simpsons.
Troy: I enthusiastically assured them that I can make this work, like "You'll see, guys". Well the next morning I wasn't feeling so confident any more and I rtemembered Tuomas and Jukka going "Told you so"
TUOMAS: Still, there was no way we could let it drop without at least trying. So we started thinking about a proper manner to approach Dawkins. We decided our best option would be to send him a hand-written, polite letter, where we would tell him about the band, the scientific themes on the forthcoming album and the fact that he had been a great inspiration
TROY: We got no reply, so we sent another letter. In the end, I guess we had a bit of luck, because it turned out Dawkins personal assistant knew the band and actually liked Nightwish. He suggested that Dawkins should take our inquiry seriously
TUOMAS: I was in Paris doing interviews for the Scrooge album. When I got back to the hotel in the evening. I noticed there was an email from Dawkins, something like, "1 went to the internet and browsed your band, and what I heard l liked very much. So I'd be happy to co-operate.
FLOOR: Tuomas sent us a triumphant message: "You won't believe what just
M happened: Dawkins said yes!"
TROY: It was obvious from the start that Dawkins' appearance would attract a lot of attention - both positive and negative. His book God Delusion had created a worldwide controversy. after all.
JUKKA: We didn't invite Dawkins to be on our album to criticize religion but to speak as a scientist: an evolutionary biologist. Of course neither the fans nor anybody else outside the band knew it at that point.
TUOMAS: There has been a lot of unreasonable criticism hurled at him for all kinds of reasons. A lot of people seem to ignore the fact that Dawkins is also happy to listen to contrary opinions and is always open for new ideas. In that sense, he's like Esko Valtaoja, with whom we had the honour to work on Showtime, Storytime DVD.
I had endless possibilities in my hands for "The Greatest Show on Earth" What is the sound of crumpling continental plates that mountains are made of? Or the disintegration of radioactive components? Or the sound of space particles bombarding the earth? And how would I refer to immortal works of music composed by man? Well, I included shades of "Dies Irae" by Thomas Celano, "Toccata" and "Fuga" by Johann Sebastian Bach, banjo music from Western movies, "Rock around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets, and "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. I was also thinking about borrowing "Sandstorm" by Darude, but in the end, we just went for an unrecognizable techno loop.
Also Petzold and Bach.
Recording - and Jukka Resigning:
MARCO: Kaitsu handled the drum parts admirably, so we could continue with the other instruments right away, This time we tried to concentrate on one song at a
time and kept on working on it till we felt there was nothing more we could add.
TROY: And we didn't even have thunder. Rauhala does not have the best sound proofing in the world, so it would have been pretty challenging to mike the instruments if there had been rain and thunderclaps.
TUOMAS: I actually got off easier than I expected, because a lot of the demo keyboards from Hämeenlinna were good enough to be included on the album. The stuff in "Sea-Worn Driftwood", part five of "The Greatest Show on Earth", for example, was salvaged straight off the demo. In Hämeenlinna, I had explained to Tero that this passage would be about "whales singing and rats taking over the world". I had just come up with that improvised stuff, and it made it on the album
MARCO: Recording the vocals was teamwork in the best possible sense, no matter who was behind the mike. We kicked around suggestions and tried out all kinds of last minute ideas. Like, "Hey Floor, throw in some of that sweet upper octave of yours in the second verse...
Yeah, that's a nice touch!"
FLOOR: Marco kept on surprising us. He might just suddenly say, "Wait, I have an idea!" Then he'd pull out his bass and introduce an excellent harmony
MARCO: It was great fun recording the vocals. I've never had the chance to impersonate a troglodyte in front of a microphone before, so creating gorilla sounds for "The Greatest Show on Earth" was pretty hilarious. I didn't want to undermine the majesty of the song in any way, but I didn't exactly do it with a straight face, either!
TROY: I recorded my own ape grunts at home. To get in character, I took off my shirt, banged my chest with my fists, and pretended I was an ancient Homo Erectus. I think my wife was a bit worried
MARCO: I cut my bass parts pretty quickly in about one and a half days. I even got a bit lazy towards the evening of the first day - if I had really pushed it, I might have been able to complete them in a single day.
Notes:
The first part, "Four Point Six", is a reference to the age of our planet -in billions of years. The journey starts with a simple but persistent keyboard theme, interrupted by massive thunder claps - the origin of life that despite the murderous bombardment by asteroids, sprouts time and again and finally manages to grow permanent roots. The word "archaean" in the lyrics refers to the Archean Eon, the first of the geological eons of the world (Gaea).
The second part of the song chronicles the birth and the first on Earth. "Enter Luca" is a reference to an early life form, an acronym for the Last Universal Common Ancestor. We can make assumptions about the characteristics of Luca and other early life forms by reading the DNA of current organisms: "There's a writing in the garden, leading us to the mother of all."
Right from the beginning, one of the key characteristics of living cells has been the ability to sense their environment and react to their perceptions: "Ion channels welcoming the outside world."
In the third part, chronicling the age of man, there's a fascinating reminder: All of us current organisms are descendants of an
unbroken lineage of winners. "Not a single one of your fathers died young".
"Little Lucy of the Afar" refers to the famous fossil of Australopithecus Afarensis that was found in Afari, Ethiopia, a hominin that might have been the ancestor of man (genus Homo). In the long run, all species have the tendency to become extinct, and a fitting vision of the future of mankind is presented in the song, "One day'Il cease to be" On the other hand, man had earlier had "a dream to understand" and "[given] birth to poetry" . He wanted to leave his mark stating "We were here!" In the fourth part, man strives to understand it all, and Richard Dawkins takes up the story once again with a surprising claim:"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. The explanation folows shortly."Most people are never going die, because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been herein my place, but who will in fact never see the light of day, outnumber the sand grains of Sahara."
In the fifth and final part, Dawkins recites the concuding words of The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: "From so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."
FLOOR: I felt real good after the final rehearsals [for EFMB] in a New York studio. There were obviously many challenging parts in the set - I'd have to be extra careful in the beginning of "The Greatest Show on Earth", for example because some of the phones rise from the back of the throat but "operatic vocals are produced in the front of the mouth
Both Wembley and Tampere versions of this song are great, but for me nothing can touch TPATP, also Wembley💔 (you reacted to that already)
My favorite too, always emotional, & that Tuomas! Keep reading those inspiring books, for you know what to with the information, & Floor is the best storyteller to tell it,& you hsve the best band I've ever seen to deliver it musically to your always hungry Fandom for NIGHTWISH!! Cannot wait for the new album!!❤❤❤❤
Have you done Shoemaker? If not think you will love it. I suggest the studio version, for the video is wondrous! Then later catch the live, or better yet, a twofer!
I believe this is Tuomas's most important composition.
I personaly like the Tampere version better, but either way, its simply majestic!
This and both versions of "Phantom of the Opera" are my favorite Nightwish songs. Oh, and their Pink Floyd cover of "High Hopes" is a favorite too
I feel privileged to have seen this live two nights back to back in UK last year
I don’t think I could pick a favorite, but if I HAD to, this one would definitely be a contender. Wonderful reaction/analysis!
Check the Islander live at Tampere for some Marko singing
well you finally did it, you opened that last special box of chocolates, it is so sweet..........they are such an awesome band... I can only thank them for all their wonderful music
Can't say this is my favorite, I have about 10 Nightwish favorites depending on my mood at the moment. LOL
Seeing them live was definitely a bucket list moment. There are few bands where you can feel their joy at performing like you can with Nightwish.
The absolute beauty of this song/masterpiece can still bring me to tears . It's one-off my favourite songs, not just nughtwish songs but all songs of all time
A legendary concert and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those who attended. The impact of this epic song is only matched by The Poet and the Pendulum, from the same concert.
Floor: Enter LUCA
Marko: Enter Ionia
Emppu: Enter Sandman
Try the Tampere version. Doesn't have Richard Dawkins. But it's a even great perform. The best of all......