Addictions of the Emily Pt 2

I couldn't fit all my dorkiness into one post, so I present now part 2 of 'Addictions of the Emily'.  This one will focus on music.

Music

 Nightwish

Nightwish is a Finnish symphonice metal band that's become my absolute favorite.  They mesh heavy guitar and bass with melodic keyboard and orchestra sounds.  Their original singer had a classically trained voice, so combining it with the powerful music made a wonderful combination.  Tarja Turunen (old singer) was involved in Nightwish for... six albums, I think?  Plus a handful of singles and concert DVDs here and there.  I recommend looking up 'End of an Era' as far as concert DVDs go - it was the last live performance the group did before Tarja split from the band.

The newer singer, Anette Olzen has a very different sound than Tarja did.  Her voice isn't classically trained, giving Nightwish a more mainstream-ish sound (though they're far from pop or anything, don't get me wrong).  There have been fan wars over which singer is best.  Personally, I like'em both - each have their strong points, but I think Tarja is my preferred singer. xD  With Anette, there has been one official album released, a live album and a few singles.  As far as I know, Nightwish is in the middle of producing a second album at the moment, which will probably be preceded by a single or two.

As for the other members of the group, the drummer's name is Jukka Nevalainen, who is awesome.  Honestly, that guy has to have biceps and back and shoulder muscles of steel from how intense he gets when playing the drums.  It's really cool to watch.  I wanna high-five him. o:<

The guitarist's name is Emppu Vuorinen.  From what I've seen of him on stage, he's really skilled. ...And a bit of a goofball, apparently. xD  When he's up there playing, you can tell he's having a good time, haha.  It's amusing to watch and I can't help but smile at the guy flying around on stage, haha.

The keyboardist's name is Tuomas Holopainen.  He's actually responsible for writing most of the music that Nightwish plays.  To say this guy is talented is a vast understatement.  He reminds me of Captain Jack Sparrow too. :P  I found a stray kitten one time and named him Tuomas after the keyboardist. xD  Little Tuomas probably isn't so little anymore, and he has a nice home now. :3

And finally, the bassist's name is Marco Hietala.  The first time I saw him, it was in Nightwish's music video 'Wish I Had an Angel' that played at the end of the movie 'Alone in the Dark'.  My first thought:  "This guy braid's his beard... Dude"  Along with playing the bass, Marco sings as well, and harmonizes very well with both Tarja and Anette.  He's also in a number of other bands too.  That guy must not sleep, honestly. xD

So yeah.  I started listening to this band in probably around 2005 (the year Tarja left, but I didn't know that at the time. xD)  And since then, I've managed to grab myself all the albums. :D  I even got my dad into them too, haha.  It's funny to hear the car pull up outside the house when he gets home from work and hear 'Dark Chest of Wonders' through the closed window.  He blasts it louder than I do, yeesh. xD

This is their video for 'Over the Hills and Far Away', a remake originally by Gary Moore.  It's really good and features Tarja on the vocals.  (And Jukka at the beginning going nuts on the drums. O:<)

"Battlefield"

Not a band, but a single song.  This is the song playing in the background of 'Robot Unicorn Attack Heavy Metal' which is where I first heard it. (You bandwagon jumper, Emily!) Guilty. :P

Anyways, it's by Blind Guardian, who's been around for a while apparently.  I had a few of their albums already when I heard this song, but I had never gotten around to actually going through them.  But anyways, this song... is so awesome. xD This is my 'Driving down the highway probably faster than I should be' song.  It gets me so pumped. O:<  It's awesome. <3

"Propane Nightmares"

This is actually an electronica, borderline techno song. xD  I know, surprised me too.  It's by the band Pendulum, who have a few different albums out, but this is the song I like most.

This is my Happy Song.  I play this whenever I'm stressed or pissed or sad and it gets me bouncing around the room within moments. xD  I don't know why it has such an effect on me, but I love it. <3

This is the song I play every. single. morning. on the bus on my way to my 8am class.  It gets me out of that "SCHOOL AUGH" mood. xD  I don't think I'll ever get sick of this song, haha.

Right so.  My music 'addictions'. xD  Only three of them compared to the billion and a half of the computer things addictions in my previous post, haha.  Next up is Food/Beveragey things. Iced tea, here I come. O:<