Album Info Hide Show Artist: Nightwish Album: Endless Forms Most Beautiful Released: Europe, 2024 Tracklist: A1 Shudder Before The Beautiful A2 Weak Fantasy A3 lan B1 Yours Is An Empty Hope B2 Our Decades In The Sun B3 My Walden C1 Endless Forms Most Beautiful C2 Edema Ruh C3 Alpenglow C4 The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula The Greatest Show On Earth Info About Buying Vinyl From Our Record Store We are a small independent record store located at 211 High St, Preston in Melbourne, Australia (North of Northcote, between Thornbury & Reservoir) We buy and sell new and used vinyl records – if you have a collection you’d like to sell please click here . We ship Australia wide for a flat rate of $10 for standard shipping or $15 for express post. Free Shipping for orders $150 and over. You can also pick up your order in store, just select Local Pickup at the checkout. We also ship internationally – prices vary depending on weight and location. 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If you change your mind you have 30 days to return your record but you must cover the cost of returning it to the store. You can contact our Melbourne record shop at (03) 9939 3807 or at [email protected] Happy Listening! Description Hide Show Nightwishs Endless Forms Most Beautiful arrived in March 2015 on Nuclear Blast with the kind of confidence only a band on its third life can muster. Its the first studio album with Floor Jansen at the mic and Troy Donockley as a full-time member, and it features Kai Hahto on drums while Jukka Nevalainen stepped aside for health reasons. That alone would mark a major pivot, but Tuomas Holopainen didnt just change voices. He lit the fuse on a concept steeped in Darwin, Dawkins, and the poetry of evolution, borrowing its title from the famous closing line of On the Origin of Species. The result feels both grand and grounded, like a nature documentary scored with power chords and a full orchestra. Shudder Before the Beautiful kicks off with Richard Dawkins spoken word, the lucky ones passage that sets the scale of the record. What follows is a surge of cresting strings, Emppu Vuorinens crisp rhythm guitar, and Floors clean, bracing top line. Its a statement of intent: science and wonder, not swords and dragons. Weak Fantasy hits harder, riffing with a muscular bite while Marco Hietalas harmonies tangle with Floors leads. Then comes lan, the early single that drew fans in from every corner. Its a folk-lifted anthem with Donockleys uilleann pipes and low whistles threading through Holopainens keys, like mist rolling over a valley before the drums kick in. That Celtic color deepens on My Walden, which practically dances out of the speakers. Nightwish have flirted with these textures before, but here they feel integral. Donockleys presence stabilizes the bands palette, so the orchestra (arranged once again by Pip Williams) isnt a coat of gloss, its another limb. When the choir rises behind the band, especially in the songs closing passages, its hard not to picture a camera swooping across ridgelines. Theres heart amid the spectacle. Our Decades in the Sun stands out as a tender ballad, widely discussed at the time as a tribute to the band members parents. Floor keeps it simple and human, and that restraint pays off when the strings bloom. Alpenglow swings back to speed with a chorus that seems purpose-built for festival fields. And The Eyes of Sharbat Gula stops the album cold in a good way, an instrumental built around a slow, haunted motif that nods to the famous National Geographic photograph. Its a reminder that the albums fascination with life and time isnt abstract. There are real faces behind the themes. Then theres The Greatest Show on Earth, a 20-plus minute suite that has become a modern Nightwish touchstone. Its where the evolutionary arc goes full panorama, from primordial stirrings to human voices and back to silence, with Dawkins returning to frame it. You can hear Holopainens love of film scores and symphonic rock threading through each movement. For all its length, the piece never loses the plot. It feels earned, like the capstone the record keeps pointing toward. Production-wise, Endless Forms Most Beautiful benefits from familiar hands and smart choices. Williams orchestrations and the London sessions give the choir and strings a real-world punch, not a plug-in sheen. Kai Hahtos drumming is both precise and alive, and that matters when the arrangements get dense. Hietalas bass tone is chewy and supportive, his vocal counterpoints still the bands secret weapon. Floor holds the center with a mix of clarity and steel, switching from operatic lift to rock grit without showboating. If youve waded through Nightwish albums on vinyl before, you know how much these dynamics matter when a record gets loud. This one breathes. It landed well. The album topped the charts in Finland and made a strong showing across Europe, which felt like validation for a band embracing science as mythos. ToxicAngels artwork ties it together: roots, bones, stars, a sense of becoming. If youre crate-digging for Nightwish vinyl and spot Endless Forms Most Beautiful vinyl in a gatefold, dont overthink it. Its the sound of a veteran group finding a new thesis and nailing it. For anyone building a symphonic metal shelf, this belongs next to Once and Dark Passion Play as a different kind of triumph. If you cant find a copy at your local Melbourne record store, you can always buy Nightwish records online. Either way, spin it loud. The sweep suits the format, and these songs reveal new edges with each play. A small note to international shoppers hunting vinyl records Australia might appreciate: patience pays off, because this albums dynamic swells and quiet interludes really shine on a clean pressing. Product Reviews Hide Show Write a Review