Is the new Nightwish song any good? - NIGHTWISH - PERFUME OF THE TIMELESS - Analysis & Reaction 

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After listening to a piece like this repeatedly, I love to have someone knowledgeable do this sort of analysis. You do it in a very accessible manner, which I appreciate since I have no musical training! Two thumbs up.

Thank you, Home Gnome, for requesting this and thank you, JW, for a great analysis. I think the orchestra represents the flow of time in this song and because of that it's bigger than the band members. We as humans are just a tiny part of history.

Now that's what we call a true objective analysis. Thank you sir.

JW never disappoints, excellent as ever and much appreciated.

I loved your analysis on this. You really have a wonderful ear for music, the way you pick it up so quickly after just 1 or 2 listens :)

They should enter their videos into small film showings. Would be brilliant. Its an amazing, profound, and beautiful piece.

Your detailed and informative reactions are always worthwhile. And your ear training is spot on.

Thanks John - fantastic reaction as always - great mix of analysis, reaction and humour. I think you highlighted what I'm enjoying so much about this track is the orchestral prominence - I'm not sure if this is deliberate to emphasize the difference from the previous album but will be interesting to see how the rest of the album compares.

Had to go and buy you a cup of coffee. You deserve it after that great analysis!

I really like your work, serious, didactic... And I also really like Tuomas's music, it is inspiring... I am always looking as a musician to create something great, but with my feet on the ground, and it is very difficult to achieve it. And this Finnish Jack Sparrow has it innately. Greetings from Argentina!

One of my favourites reaction channels out there! I love Nightwish and their music and the way you react to their songs and explain us the intricate composition behind their musicality it's just 5 stars, love it! Keep up the good work mate I absolutely love it!

Love the composition, it grows on you when hearing it more often. Conclusion so far: love it, all Nightwish characteristics are in there❣️ Loved your reaction as always 🙏🏻

"You are the dream of many ancestors"... what a statement !!!! Another massive song from The Master Tuomas Holopainen. Wow, just WOW... I know I have my nitpicks about this songs sound mix (especially Floor's vocals), but when I Really Dive In (pun intended) to the music and lyrics, this song is as massive as "The Greatest Show on Earth". This Song makes you think... and thats Good, because there are sadly less and less people who can think and wonder about life and all its grand workings on this day and age... Great and informative Reaction my good sir !!!! NWSU/FloorFan/Epican/ayreonaut/TWA 🤘😎🤘

Thanks for your very detailed analysis! I have now seen that little "adventure" around 20 times and hear or see everytime new details! Especially the video fitts so brilliant to the music!!! Its also a masterwork! For me, this is the best video art work i ever saw - its epic. The making of it would be very intresting for me! As a fan of Nightwish for nearly 3 decades, i cant wait for the new album on 20th september!

Been waiting for this reaction and it was definitely worth a wait. Thanks!

I was looking forward to your reaction to this one! Expertise reaction and silly jokes that make me giggle. What more could I ask for!

awesome reaction to this wonderful band and this amazing release. Loved the video... adored Floor's magical voice throughout. And I also really enjoyed how Troy comes in so soft and lovely at the end. Loved it.

Really well done analysis, again.

Ok, you convinced me. Subscribed. Great reaction. Thanks. 🤘😎🤘

Another unique dissection. Geat!!!!

Thank you for the breakdown of the song. Your content is unique. It is a pleasure and a priviledge to see such musical skills in this kind of context. Thanks again!

Dude, as a music lover who has zero musical talent, I can't believe how quickly you picked up on stuff and replicated it. Crazy good man! 🤜🤛

A Great Reaction! 👏 Your musical talent outlines the musical talents from Tuomas & Nightwish 40:45 I knew you would love this little transition!

Did not think it could be possible, but here you are surpassing my all time high JWSoundworks reaction to Gethsemane❤ BTW about the "thong" the free diver (there seem to three in this clip, but I think I recognize Guillaume Néry) is wearing: "....Yeah, the beaver tail. The straps for tucking in your thumbs while freefalling are used by some of the pro freedivers, but not Guillaume in this video. They're usually just two rubber bands around the upper thighs. They're mainly for relaxation, to keep the arms close to the body in a relaxed way." In general they are meant to connect the upper part of the diving suit with the pants.

Great breakdown of the song! I learn a lot from you.

Thank you for your reaction sir😊😊 That's a nice song The mix is different like you were saying but it's nice. It is nice to have someone like you to have a lot of knowledge in music And can describe to us Why They choose to do this with some lyrics or The sound. Thank you very much for sharing with us 😊😊hello from Chicago

About the composition, tuomas definitely comes up with the song and maintain structure, but, in terms of the drums, kai is actually the one that composes much of the drumming parts when he listens to the demos, along with floor's vocals and guitar parts, tuomas kind of gives the general idea of what he wants and the band have their input into it, but definitely the last say is from tuomas

Good morning John. I think this mix was done for the overall concept of the song. Even Floor's vocals were in the mix/choir which we are told was intentional. We are all one, less emphasis on the individual. Your knowledge, talent, and music always impresses me John. Love the Shumann cipher info. It is a clock. It represents turning back the clock. Back in time. I think the wet suit is so tight it would show a quite indecent genital bulge in certain shots. Loved in my friend. You should definitely be making a great living of your musical talent. 🤘🤘

Love a composers view! An epic journey! I can't remember being so excited in anticipation, for quite a while! Tuomas doing his déjà vu tricks… "Cinema", the music release doesn't have so many effects. Radioactivity. [Paradise? What about us?]. Creation of stars, neurons, our ancestors. [I think, therefore I am], [Queen!] A drop of water. Galápagos Marine Iguana, _in the blink of an eye._ [Darwin, 11 Sub-species, on different islands, each differing in size, shape and colour] Freediving. [Ocean Born?]. The Yonaguni Monument. [Deep Silent Complete?] We are the dream of many ancestors. [Everdream?] “A railroad across waters, the scent of grandfatherly love”, [I want my tears back] Natural History Museum Library at Tring, Hertfordshire, UK, Charles Darwin, His Letters, Voyage of HMS Beagle, etc. [TGSOE]. *Underwater rivers* (of different salinity, with toxic Hydrogen Sulphide!). Freedivers: Guillaume Néry (with his wife doing some of the video!) [This ancient unseen stream] Tommi Pasanen also filming, Pavlos Kourtellas. (Footage from “One Breath Around The World” filmed by Franck Seguin) National Geographic, Free Diver; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-L4qM1IEhtNQ.html Scary Giant Angler Fish! [ *“Songs of the Humpback Whale”,* a 1970 album of humpback whale songs, recorded by Roger Payne, Katie Payne and Frank Watlington, is still the best-selling nature sounds album of all time!]. Coelacanth (thought to be long extinct, there was a video clip in the entrance to The Natural History Museum in London). *Impossible animals and birds!* Hyenas are not capable of walking vertically downwards! Thomas letting you know, _this is imagination…_ Poor baby Barn Owl :) Winding up a music box, for a lullaby? [Taikatalvi?] How many arms does scary Floor have? Muppet comedy? *Dodo.* Extinction by man. Leap of faith, [Élan?]. “The elsewhere creatures yet unseen, Finally your number came up, free fall awaits the brave”. Landing _On the_ “Origin of Species”. Where is TGSOE? 5:34 "Eyes of Sharbat Gula", that ‘look’ from Floor! *Finches,* the specific adaptation of which inspired Charles Darwin. Goldfinch taking flight. Spooky Tuomas grabbing a book. [Interstellar?] Why is Kai thumbing pages backwards? [History?] Poor Emppu "sneezing" :) [“The Siren”, What was that movie: "The Abyss”?] The Greenland shark (a Sleeper Shark), is the world’s longest living vertebrate. It can live for *400 years!* Troy the magician. The Butterfly effect! [Fringe?] Troy could be a great Walter Bishop! Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare. The flight of Terns. Mona Lisa. Jukka vanishing. Finches again. Did the diver actually get to swim with Humpback Whales and vertically sleeping Sperm Whales? *Perfume, Ambergris! We are the distillation of our ancestors dreams.* Tuomas the tree-hugger becomes a tree. Wrecks. Humanity, waste, litter. *Water is life. “WE WERE HERE!”* “In one drop of water, are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one aspect of you, are found all the aspects of existence.” ― Kahlil Gibran Jr. “Life in us is like the water in a river.” ― Henry David Thoreau “Water is the driving force in nature.” ― Leonardo da Vinci “The past resembles the future more than one drop of water resembles another.” ― Ibn Khaldun “Water is sufficient... the spirit moves over water.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Ecce Homo Edited & Directed by: Ville Lipiäinen (of course!) © A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts Limited Oy 2024 [Jukka Nevalainen, Managing Director].

Great reaction as usual! Thanks Btw, Tuomas writes the general line off music, they all give their own colour to it snd bring in ideas

Brilliant song. Brilliant mix. Brilliant reactor. All good things come in threes :)

Thank you for not letting us wait too long for your analysis 😊

This is such a cool channel, and yeah - those drums!

As always, well worth watching your analysis, it makes me appreciate every song even more. Thank you! 👏 And thank you Home Gnome for your persistence! 👍

Got the same Exorcist poster as you! By the way,,, man you have got some musical ears,very talented.

Nightwish dont dissapoint "did you feel the ghost energy song" I listened to this song maybe 50 times by now, and it is one i like to listen to with my headphones or without, its really a good song, when i can do so to me. Some say Floors voice is low in the mix, and i can agree its hard to get all words she sing, but if you look at it soundwise it sounds amazing!! and after a listen or 2, you know most of lyrics, and its no problem at all, its done fully on purpose for the sound experince of it.. cant wait for rest of album!! Yesterwynde is the opening track on new album, i belive its only like a intro, its a little over 2 min long, #2 on album then is a almost 10 min song, thats proberly another epic!! #3 is where i think they bring in a heavy track, and this Perfume of the timeless is #5.. so i think its gonna be a good mix of heavy songs, Epics, and maybe a full balled.. Perfume of the timeless, well its almonst a ghost energy song right, telling all these ancestors is perfume around in a timeless world, being around you still, also a message that your existens matters!! i feel tuomas also put in a little message that mankind could do better still, Einstein turn to ape.. The title of the album is a word made by band member Troy Donockley, which Holopainen describes as the feeling of time, history, memory, and being connected to past generation, who have "all had their lives, their ups and downs, and they don't exist anymore, except as atoms scattered all over the universe. And we're going to be in that state pretty soon as well. So that should give you something to think about." Holopainen has described the album as being about humanism, history, and the inspiration thereof, and that outlook of the album is positive and optimistic ] Track listing Yesterwynde: release date 20th September 2024 All tracks are written by Tuomas Holopainen. Yesterwynde track listingNo. Title Length 1. "Yesterwynde" 2:43" 2. "An Ocean of Strange Islands" 9:26 3. "The Antikythera Mechanism" 5:55 4. "The Day of..." 4:34 5. "Perfume of the Timeless" 8:11 6. "Sway" 4:23 7. "The Children of 'Ata" 5:37 8. "Something Whispered Follow Me" 6:39 9. "Spider Silk" 6:26 10. "Hiraeth" 6:14 11. "The Weave" 4:53 12. "Lanternlight" 6:06 Total length: 71:07

🤗🍒🤘🏻 well done and welcome to the Nightwish Family

I always like your reactions and humour! Thanks for that! Edit: I meant ‘analysis’, since it is so much more than a reaction!😀

Absolutely loved your analysis and breakdown of this song. One thing I thought about after hearing the song a bunch of times I feel the chromatic decents are echoing the step wise manner of ancestry (DNA passed from both parents to the offspring, and onto the next direct descendant - just like the chromatic drop). The melody line and chorus are so catchy it grabs you from first listen.

I think you just will love thier new single ”An Ocean Of Strange Islands”. It’s a small masterpiece in itself. Looking forward to you reaction JW 🙂🎶

A good sincere reaction to this song, I thought the same way on the first listen. Although the admiration only grows the more you see and listen to it. Thank you🙏

Brilliant as usual ❤

Nice when you got some better reactions on RU-vid. Thanks for that. I look forward for the next one. Greeting from the Netherlands

Nightwish fan here. Again your reactions are best in youtube. So professional and love to hear things I never would thought otherwise. I hope you will react more to the new coming album! All the best in your life and thanks for making this content.

Obvious choice for a Schumann style cipher are the four bases of DNA (T A G C ) Troy probably playing a hammered dulcimer in that final part.

You know that D A B F motif you said there might be some kind of code... To me that part sounds like an altered version of that chime that clocks play on the hour but without the second part (B G A D, D A B G). It makes sense with the timeless theme, it feels unfinished or yet to come.

The third chorus hits me hard like that meteor, because the power of those horns! Love that brass. I might be a bit biased by my own bass singing voice, I think Troy's part might have been nice in a lower octave.

Nice to see the movie poster behind you combined with the owl in the Nightwish clip! 😂 And of course a great analysis to learn from, for which I thank you!

Some of the divig scenes are from the short documentary One breath around the world, which can be found on RU-vid. A 12 minute film about free diving. I watched it, and it was very beautiful, but I still couldn’t figure out what is it with those thong that the diver is wearing. 😄 But I really love this song and video anyway!

Thank you, John. Fascinating analysis. I wasn't overly impressed with the song originally, but your breakdown helped me hear a lot of things I was missing. So I finally searched for the motif that Floor sang in her first entry - Tribal from the last album. Was that a deliberate tie-in to that album, or just a melody that Tuomas liked? As usual, many questions from the great man. I was waiting and hoping for your analysis to do exactly what it has done: helped me see what was going on. Thank you again. Btw; ever thought of a collab with Frank Tedesco? Two fabulous piano improvisors together - I'm sure sparks would fly...

I've been interested in seeing the reaction from reviewers I respect such as yourself, after feeling underwhelmed myself. Thanks for your thoughts, both positive and less than ebullient ones. I think I finally have reached the point where I tap out on my Nightwish journey, but glad to see they still bring others joy.

So glad you liked the orchestra up front. Many reactors complain that Floor is too low in the mix instead. The band explained the artistic choice behind it. Still, there are people complaining knowing that and even putting out versions that correct the 'mistake' by Tuomas. I don't understand those people. Apart from the usual great analysis I did like your acknowledgement as a composer to the choice of another composer.

Maybe weird, but that combination of fast rhythm and brass blasts made me think of orchestral Strawinsky

love the reaction

Tuomas did compose all tracks on upcoming album, i belive he basicly got a idea of how all in band should sound when he show hes work to the rest, but he also allow new ideas from each to be applied, and sometimes it could end up way diffrent then Tuomas planned at first, i think.. but most is good ideas from Tuomas, so im gussing a lot just need a little polish..

That was a well spent 48.25 minuets, I could have listen to more. Love hearing you thoughts on Tuomas' compositions and your take on the piano. This one just keeps growing on you, can't wait to hear where the others go. You might find this interesting, it's Tuomas and the first part of the making of Yesteryear. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-N7Q_T58n_Nw.htmlsi=XSxcZB7OI8uEScJ9

Thank you! 😎👍

The male voice is Troy.

Hi i'm writing you from italy, for me you are Number 1 for musical competence. I would be very happy to have your opinion on a piece by Vasco Rossi live "c'è chi dice no" from the Modena Park concerto in front of 250.000 fans. Hello and congratulations

"Politely informs the band members how to play the part" - your little smirk makes me kind of hear the crack of a whip 🤣 Superman wears his pants on the outside, too, doesn't he 🙂Thank you so much for your analysis, it made me hear things I didn't consciously noticed before. Having no knowledge on how to mix vocals to me the vocals sound just right. Floor is "just a small part of it all" and not the leading character of the song, which to me makes total sense given the topic of being just one of a million loves. I may be completely wrong though 🤔 That doesn't lessen my enjoyment, I really like this song. Again, thank you very much for your work, and thank you to HomeGnome for making the reqest 🥰

About the mix and balance between the band and the orchestra. In NW live recordings the orchestra is typically not as loud as in album versions. And in the previous album (Human Nature) they didn't have full orchestra, just some strings, so the sound and mix was quite different. It might also be about this particular song. Their is no distinctive guitar riff in the verse and chorus, guitar and bass are playing just some basic stuff with power chords for that driving beat. It wouldn't make much sense to make those louder, since there's not much happening. The more interesting stuff is played by the orchestra, so it is a good thing that you can hear that clearly. Interesting to see how are the rest of the album is mixed. Traditionally the NW album mix has been depending a lot on the song. Some songs are guitar driven, some are not.

Yes!

You are my favorite my most Nightwish reactor. Very educated... Subscribed. Like the hat... Got kind of a Colin Farrell thing going on.

Thanks

The 4 note dissonant motif reminds me of the "going back in time" motif from Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and is reinforced by some of the visuals eg Darwin turning into an ape.

Yes, JW all the extra sounds are on the album as I heard them on another reaction without video.

I suspect this will be better live.

at 36:43, was that a velociraptor or triceratops sound effect? 🤔

hello mr, I am your fan from Indonesia 🇲🇨, PLEASE I really want you to react to MYRATH - BELIEVER, I hope you like it like we here really admire their musicality, thank you GOD BLESS YOU 🇲🇨❤️

Troy on vocals at the end

I honestly think they made a mistake in the mixdown. Maybe it's specifically done like this for the video, but it doesn't work for my ears. It's almost like they left a dry vocal stem turned off when bouncing or something.

I don't understand this discussion about the sound mix in any way. Nightwish has made the reasons for the sound mix public. It's legitimate that you don't like it. But you can't say that it's wrong. The only thing wrong is the presumption of knowing better.

It's very stupid questions, one gona love it another not,I'm love it!!!

the more i listen to the song the more i like it, except the troy singing part at the end.. which doesnt mean i dont like troy. but i feel like it doesnt fit to this song. honestly i think he should focus on his instrumental talent an leave the vocals with floor.

I meen have,,,

I love Nightwish so much, but I don't think everything is okay in this song. If something was done on purpose, it doesn't mean it's good, imo. Floor's voice begins to get lost not only on the chorus, but even without it the song sounds like it was made according to patterns which doesn't disappoint, but just... it doesn't respond in the soul. However it will be very interesting to listen to the whole album.

Haha that was my biggest question was about the underpants too. Seemed more out of place than anything other weird thing in the video.

The video sound effects are not on the album.

🤘😁🇫🇮💙🪄🇫🇮🎼✨💯👍

*BAND-MAID* is calling you back with *Don't you tell ME (Official Live Video)*

The mix does not do the song justice. Tuomas took 8 passes to mix this as he seemed fit. Sometimes, more passes can degenerate the mix. It seems like he got further away from the dynamics the more times he mixed it. I have tried my hardest to love this song, but it seems like a throwaway tune due to the murky mix. For instance, the huge potential of the chorus is lost with the orchestral elements dominating the drums, vocals and guitar. It seems like the orchestral parts are given too much preference, drowning out even Floor's pristine vocals.

I still don't like the mix. I can't even hear all the lyrics

No.

Think they need to work on the mix a bit

Also blinded by the videoclip.. the song..the vocal mix is ​​terrible even though it was intended that way. Bad choice. Moreover, the composition has become a kind of compilation single, everything has already been heard from Nightwish. A dime a dozen, nothing special. I can’t help but feel, and it pains me, that on this song they sound more like an aspiring, ambitious Nightwish wannabe band than Nightwish itself; one that’s knocking on the door of promotion from the Championship rather than the 28 times Premier League title holders. It’s as if they’ve extracted the ingredients from previous work and re-cooked them but forgot to add the herbs and spices. And the goose bumps have gone AWOL too.

It's a mediocre song with nothing interesting going on. Bad mix, overly long intro and outro. Reminds me of modern Iron Maiden. I feel like Tuomas has disappeared up his own ass since Endless Forms Most Beautiful, which was a great album with very precise song writing.