Ghost Love Score 9.8 The poet 9.7 The greatest show 9.9 How would anybody be able to complain? The three big ones from Nightwish at the top three places. That totally works for me.
This will go down in history as one of the most incredible musical achievements of humankind. It really makes me appreciate life. I couldn’t be more grateful 😊
Not sure if I 100% agree either. But this was the height of everything Nightwish culminated over the years. Still, in my opinion the best song of theirs by far from anything else.
This song is about evolution, the greatest show is life on Earth. What they showed you was the birth of Earth from the original big bang and the chaos in the universe (the fireworks in the beginning) Floor was singing about the first sunrise in the opera part. After that we see evolution the part that moved you so much. Then you saw the water and Floor introducing a new form of life when evolution took life from sea to Earth. The breathing part (in fact are primal sounds, ape like sounds) and from there evolution took us to humans. Enter LUCA (last universal common ancestor) Enter Life (Lucy of the AFAR - basically first human like fossil they found) After that you see how humans evolve into not always the best (hunger for shiny rocks and wanting to rule the world) The Giant mushroom cloud was indeed the atomic bomb (and now nuclear bombs).. Enter ratkind... if we destroy Earth with these bombs it's predicted that rodents survive and will start evolution again. This whole song was inspired by Darwin and Richard Dawkins (if you look at the last 5 mins of the Wembley concert you will see Dawkins come on stage and say the last phrase which is from Darwin) Tuomas is a scientist (he wanted to become a marine biologist) and he doesn't do anything just to do it, everything has a purpose. OK I have written a book... I told you in your very first reaction of GLS that this song would top it. 9.9 is great it deserves that. One minor thing on a great reaction... you missed Emppu playing Enter Sandman :) Marko - Enter Ionia Floor - Enter Life Emppu - Enter Sandman
No no… not The Big Bang, because of the stars in the background screens, the fireworks 💥 represents the multiple Supernovae and Novae of exploding stars ✨ which created the matter the elements in our solar system, and therefore Earth 🌍. And therefore Life and the Evolution of Life on Earth 🌍.
Actually, there was never ever a 'big bang', because as we all know (or should know), sound can NOT travel through a vacuum. So, it was, in fact, a BIG flash. :o)
The fact that he still loved the song and placed that high score without understanding the meaning speaks volumes about it, it's a great composition both musically and lyrically I do think it's not always ideal to have it played live, I think the song is too special to be performed in every tour so I hope they don't do it again in the incoming shows
@ Baz Selby..But was IT a vacuum? All kinds of stuff spreading out with ununderstandable mass of everything. Viewing IT outside yes..But inside that scenery IT must have been an unimaginable BANG 😜😃😃😃 Just a thought 😃
@@THEDavidHeretic Howcome you missed the music history part? You were probably not paying attention cause it sounded out of context =) It'll make more sense when you know what the lyrics are about.
@@THEDavidHeretic Like you said, Tuomas doesn't compose anything unnecessary or filling parts. as you werent paying attention to the lyrics, i'll forgive you. It was confusing and out of the context - but if you'll listen it again, it's in the context. Try listening the Wembley version, altough it doesn't have fireworks, it has Dawkings on a stage. Nightwish doesn't have anything unneccessary on stage or in music. Only the things needed.
This song is a masterpiece. As someone who studied biology at the university, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it, I so rarely get to see(hear) terms such as LUCA, Archaean, atavistic, in my daily life. And not even Lucy from the Afar is referenced that often by popular media. And of course Dawkins is kind of my hero, and the ending is so powerful and uplifting. I cannot rate it musically other than I just like it, but the lyrics are exceptionally well done, it is clear that they were done by someone who is not just really great with the language, but also has a deep understanding of the subject and manages to compress whole volumes of books into a very poetic verses.
Although the end was narrated by Dawkins, the text actually was from Darwin from the origin of species, although I have a sense you already knew that.😉
I guess one of the reason for you to rate the the Holy Trinity songs of Nightwish (Ghost Love Score, The Poet and the Pendulum, The Greatest Show on Earth) into this order is because you're a musician and as stated in this reaction, you don't so much follow the lyrics or the story, you focus on music. And so many people have emotional connections to The Poet and the Pendulum because of the story behind it. Anyways, all three songs are masterpieces and when the scores are: 9.9, 9.8 and 9.7, why argue which song gets which grade.
Totally agree. Musically speaking, Greatest Show is the most impressive, but something about the themes of the other two lyrically just resonates with me slightly more. I haven't listened to Greatest Show as much yet though, so this could change.
As someone else pointed out, this song is about the universe and the evolution of life on Earth up to the present day. This song is about us, and our planet. I am not surprised this got the score it did, and it is definitely worth the score. While there are several parts in this song that always pull at my emotions, it is always the "We were here" part that gets me the most choked up. Having heard them perform this song live twice, it is not only a line referring to being at that concert on that night at that given moment, but also just in the fact that we are alive. Even though our existence is but a brief moment of time in the cosmic, we were here. We lived, we loved, and the way Tuomas encapsulated his love of science and the universe into this one 24 minute song is always breath-taking. But even with it being a 24 minute song, it definitely doesn't feel like it. And the man doing the narration is biologist Richard Dawkins, and the narration he reads is taken from his book "The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution." The live performance of this song in the Wembley concert actually features Dawkins himself coming out on stage at the end to give the closing narration to the song and the concert, which I thought was actually pretty cool.
Just an opinion: You should *never* feel embarrassed about tearing up, especially from something as universal as wonderful music. Part of the reason I follow you David, is you show those emotions, even though you suppress them a bit. Keep enjoying music, we enjoy it with you, and just might shed a tear ourselves at times. 🎶+❤=😭
If we ever send up something like the Voyager probes again, I'd want this video on it. I could not feel better represented, as a human being, as by this song, this performance, or these artists.
Singing like this at the closing of the show is amazing. You can have a singer like Floor and you'd never hear them on the big stage if you didn't have incredible songwriters like Tuomas. This song is where everything comes together. Possibly the greatest live performance i've ever seen
You should also check out the Wembley version as the introduction with Troy is different. Instead of the low whistle and pipes, he plays it on a guitar with an E-Bow and produces a very haunting sound. It would be interesting to know which one you prefer. Professor Richard Dawkins appears onstage wth them at the end to read that passage from Darwin. It's quite the moment.
You would be amazed Zanet....you would be amazed. I've already had to block 2 numbskulls who felt insulted I didn't give this "the 10 it deserves", and then proceeded to call me a bunch of colorful names and get personal.
@@THEDavidHeretic What´s wrong with people these days??? As if we don´t have problems far more serious than your score on a reaction vid! Anyway, would not have predicted you ever would give such high score...I thougt Ghost love Score was the highest...Great video, keep doing what you do best and don´t let some idiots get to you. YOU ARE A GREAT REACTOR!!
I knew that if any song would get 9.9 that would be The Greatest Show On Earth. Absolute perfection. Three best Nightwish live songs have 9.7, 9.8 and now 9.9. Who can be displeased with this? Probably the best reaction of this masterpiece song EVER
David, if you sometimes have some extra time, you should listen this without any breaks. Now, that you know that the Greatest Show is about evolution on this tiny planet, you might get a little bit more out of the piece. I have listened this dozens of times (as almost all of Nightwish performances) and every time I liked it more (as all of Nightwish performances). At the end Marco encourages the audience sing "We Were Here" in finnish, so you don't necessarily have to try to figure out what he says. And when Floor says "kiitos", it means "thank you". Extra conclusion: Even Vladimir Putin is a mosquito shit in the course of evolution. Strength to Ukraine.
I've easily listened to this song several hundred times. But that ending of "We were here" gives me the chills and tearing up every. single. time.... There was a LOT of emotion in this song. Its easily Nightwish's best songs. Toumas outdid himself with this one. Toumas also is on record somewhere talking about how this song, when original composed was 30+ minutes long. I would have loved to have heard it honestly. Im sure other people will mention this, Richard Dawkins read several passages of his book directly for this Album. One of their shows he even came out at the end of the show to read it directly on stage. Also, Floor's parents were at this show watching her. At the end of those "We were here" you can hear she was purposely letting her air supply out all the way. She literally was singing her heart out. She is such a gem to all of us her in Nightwish. I was excited when I seen this reaction. Thanks for it!
Hey David ! Great as always. Just a quick info. This 20min song is about the universe. From begining of time as we know, earth , life and all. That part begining at 36:00 is the part life emerges. And after that caveman voices resembles first humans. The song has too much to uncover on lyrics. I hope you can dive into it in your free time
I've never listened to this song before because I was a fan of Tarja's Nightwish era. And he didn't give any chances to the work of symphonic metallists with the participation of Flor. When I first heard this song here on this channel, I realized that Nightwish were able to bring rock music (in a broad sense) to the level of world classics, and if Bach or Mozart heard this music, they would also shed tears, I am convinced of this. The splendor of the music in this song has reached its absolute.
The greatest show on earth got the greatest reaction on earth. I shouted so loud when you announced 9.9, my wife came over to my room to check up on me 😉.
When the whole background went red and Floor does the operatic sound, it is the extinction of dinosaures and at the same time you hear apes screaming. They getting the upperhand now. Then the background went green and all 3 of them doing the tribal growlsound. Mankind is bourne
Excellent review, excellent rating, and I totally agree on your ratings - and especially the reasoning behind the ratings - of Poet and the Pendulum and the Ghost Love Score also. Hell, this must mean that I must be as good of a musician as you are then! But anyway, I have watched so many reviews of this song, and you still managed to add lots of stuff that I have not heard from anyone else so far. Excellent work, thank you once again! However, one thing I was hoping you to notice, and I think you kind of missed it at this first listen, was the instrumental middle part, which was Tuomas taking a shot of presenting the f***ing evolution of music in the middle of a song about evolution - I guess that is what geniuses do - through some elements added to the background; from tribal drumming and choir singing to a variety of classical music, all the way to Metallica and even adding some techno at the end. I would recommend you to check it out once more, I am sure you will enjoy it once you pick it up!
I think the true brilliance of Nightwish cannot be fully understood by any single person. Instrumentalists appreciate the compositions. Poets appreciate the lyrics. Vocalists appreciate the singing. Performers appreciate the stagecraft.
CONGRATULATIONS FOR THE COMMENT. I ALSO FELT SO MUCH ABOUT THIS MUSIC. PERFECT . IT TELLS IN 20 MINUTES THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE, THE EARTH, THE FIRST MICROBIAL LIVES, THE ARRIVAL OF ANIMALS, MAN AND FINALLY THEIR DESTRUCTION AND A NEW BEGINNING OF LIFE ON EARTH.👏👏👏👏👏👏
Good call on not cutting the final part, it’s actually part of the song! If you haven’t done so yet, read the lyrics; as people are telling you in the comments it’s about the evolution of the universe and Earth, hence the title. There’s a bit where they go over the history of music, ending with the Enter Sandman riff, did you catch it? I TOTALLY CALLED THAT SCORE. I KNEW THAT’S THE SCORE YOU WERE GONNA GIVE IT! There’s a reason many people believe this song to be Tuomas’ magnum opus. Edit: I am absolutely happy with the score btw
Loved watching you enjoy every moment of this, even if you did ignore my notes about the song ending not being the end and the low views being as it's the unoffical lyric video to help with not getting blocked 😁... Thanks for the in-depth reaction - I did think you'd talk about the production more though (I guess you liked it 🤣) It's no surprise to me that the showman would prefer this one over the lyrics/meaning of Poet I guess it'll be a different experience for you live in May with a smaller indoor venue and no Marko, but should still be amazing to see this in the flesh - I still have to wait until November...
Thanks for requesting this Home Gnome. This is an epic piece of music which for me is made better by lyrics and the story it is telling. I love how Tuomas managed to get so many details about evolution in it. He truly is a genius.
@@homegnome2429Out the big 3 my favorite as well. I truly hope they will play this in concerts to come. I have tickets from the cancelled show (indoor) but also for an outdoor festival in June (which also features Metallica). Can't wait.
@@littleraven28 Don't see why not - they did in Oslo right? With the reschedule I've ended up with 2 tickets 2 nights in a row...so if they go ahead will have to see what to do! 😁
You have completed the Holy Trinity of Nightwish (Ghost Love Score, Poet and the Pendulum, The Greatest Show on Earth), and you may now consider yourself officially baptized and reborn into the Nightwish Army
Well I can’t speak for any other Nightwish fan, but the ‘holy trinity’ of Nightwish songs, GLS, TPaTP and GSOE scored 9.8, 9.7 & 9.9 respectively, and I am very happy about that. Top job reviewing all songs and I thank you for your insight and comments. Well done sir!
Excellent reaction and analysis - as always ;) And don’t worry - most fans binge Nightwish reactions, so we are used to seeing people cry. No shame in that, quite the contrary - its a huge compliment to the song
As a biologist and my favourite band made an astonishing evolution song, when I heard it for the first time I was out of my mind, because not only it was about something I love but in itself as music it was amazing
Great review, as I expected. Thank you. When/if you listen to it again, pay attention to the little homage in the backing track to Bach with the harpsichord (14:19) and Empuu's homage riff from Enter Sandman (14:44). I thought you would notice those.
This song is played slightly diferently in Wembley, worth a listen, but my point is this is song about evolution of life, up until our demise ("enter ratkind"). And there are hidden easter eggs with parts from famous songs in our past. How many can you find?
Or in the Buenos Aires show from 2018. Where Troy does both. I actually love this one even more. The way Tuomas And Troy is highlighted with the strobes. And the stars. It looks like they are floating among the start. Its so beautiful! th-cam.com/video/9_MmyY7xSEY/w-d-xo.html
That chorus is my favorite part of the song as well. First time you hear it it's like filling yourself with joy or happiness, something like that (well in your case tears lol) Great reaction!
Great, excellent reaction! Every time you do a Nightwish reaction, I save it to watch in my first free moment in the day. And to this day I was never, ever disappointed. It usually doesn't matter to me the score you give, as it only shows your musical preferences or, maybe, your analysis on the musical prowess for the band. But MAN I didn't see this coming!!! 9.9!!! The title "The Greatest Show On Earth" refers to life. Life is the greatest show on Earth. And the song tries to represent from the Big Bang (the powerful song change when everybody comes is) until we are no more on this Earth (the ratkind). Even the "We Were Here" part refers to the legacy that we, the human kind, left on the planet (in the perspective of someone after we are no more). The part where the scenario changes to red represents the beginning of the humans, the suspense represented by Floor haunting and dissonant notes and the first tribal humans represented my Marko's grunts and Kai's tribal drums. Now only my opinion. I learned to respect you so much as an musician, watching other reactions not only from Nightwish, but for Babymetal, Unleash The Archers, Rush, Bandmaid, Tool.... your analysis and your point are really relevant and many times makes me appreciate the songs even more. That being said, the fact that the three biggest scores on your channel went to Nightwish songs puts a HUGE smile on my face. I heard what you said in the reaction of Ghost Love Score about your score of 9.8 and I always took it in consideration. I thought you would give a 9.7 or even a 9.6. But WOW!!!! 9.9!!! And your reasoning simply makes sense. I just can't understand how a real Nightwish can be angry with these scores. Even if you have given a lower score to all Nightwish songs, it's YOUR opinion. You don't have to go with the masses and make the majority happy. Of course we enjoy when someone likes the same songs we do, but hey... Thank God people are different and show us songs outside of our own music box. This is how we grow. We may like or dislike, it doesn't matter. The wrong thing to do is to be hostile to someone just because he/she doesn't agree with you... some wars started this way and we don't need any more of it in the world. I laughed A LOT when you started to wonder what the lyrics is about, because I've seen how you don't focus in the lyrics. But this song has so much storytelling that really intrigues us... Tuomas is a genious when it comes to make music (and it's not even in his native language, which is finnish). Thank you for the EXCELLENT reaction and for the nice surprise! And sorry for the long comment.
This was very enjoyable to watch. Thank you for mentioning me as one of the people who pushed you towards this song. Song? A performance. I will not repeat the background story the other commenting people have included, yes, this is the history of the whole world. And yes, this was enjoyable to watch as you progress through the billions of years and come respectfully to the firework show with Floor "We Were Here"-ing with the backing vocals.
Taking the win 😄 I love your reviews and breakdowns and I love sharing great music like this in this kind of way. In my opinion, this performance was Awesome in the truest sense. I am in Awe. And I enjoy thoroughly hearing your opinion too. And thank you for that too because I appreciate the effort you put in to making these videos! Remember, Stay Fabulous!
I just found this after a year--I was one of the people who recommended "Ghost Love Score", and I would never get butt-hurt over your score on this one. Honestly, I would rank the three songs in exactly the order you have ranked them, but even if your order were different, I would have no complaints. For me this is greatest band founded between 1985 and 2015--a thirty year period. I was lucky enough to finally see them recently for the first time. They were top of my bucket list.
I am a Nightwish fan from the early days, and there a songs I don't know the lyrics to to this day. Same for Epica or other bands I love. Good lyrics add to the pleasure, and I do read and appreciate them, but for me it is always the music. The best lyrics won't work for me if I do not love the music!
9.9- and 20 Minutes of selfrehearsing, that means, you really really did get emotianly invested, and that for me is the Best from That. NW had another Soul bring to thinking and enjoying some Score of Music, rather then dealing with this crazy World out there. You really apreciate it, as i get in this 73 Minutes, which i sit out here with you. And thats great:). Thx for your Investment in this Recap, as an non Patreon i didnt pay any monetary Fair to the Entertainment to all the Recaps of you i enjoyed so far, so everthing you said is fact, give it an 8 i dont care, as long as i can vision your recapping this Works your Way. Thy Again. Stay Healthy! NWA Bavaria North out.
My favorite parts: 1) Floors intro - plain beautiful 2) Marco+Floor harmonizing with a lot of grit on 'Atavistic Dread of the hunted" 3) the line "enter history, the grand finale, ENTER RATKIND" - and the way Floor delivers it, just outstanding 4) the litte 'Metallica - Enter Sandman" reference shortly before the 'We were here' section - did you notice it? if not listen again :D 5) the ending - I experienced this tour live and the 'We were here' lines just gave me goosebumps and made me tear up. Witnessing this in a large crowd is just ... undescribable. No wonder, I very much agree with your score and actually I also agree with your ranking of the Nightwish 'Big 3', although Ghost Love Score and The Poet and the Pendulum are a very close call for me.
Obviously, the music is stirring. But when you add the lyrics, which pertain to our origins and our mortality, it puts it over the top. Especially those of us that came from a religious background and ignored science and biology our whole lives. This was a wake up call for me at 60 years old. You're never too old to wake up and learn!!! 🤘
Ooo I’m glad I came back! The GLS reaction from you and the wife was purely beautiful! Thank you for showing NW and Floor some major love!!! I wanna see what you think of Jarkko Ahola!!!
Don't fight it David. Just feel it! Never apologize for honest human emotional reactions. It is what great music is all about my friend. The interlude was to introduce early man to the evolution process. It is called "The Toolmaker". Evolution is "The Greatest Show on Earth". You and I and all of us are a big part of the show. Did you catch the final musical section right before the "We were Here". It started with the main melody from Bach's "Toccata en Fugue in D minor" on the keyboard, and ended with Emppu playing 2 riffs from Metallica's "Enter Sandman"? This was Tuomas' way of paying tribute to the evolution of music from classical to metal. Genius. 9.9! Where do we go from here David?
The highlight for me was the drum solo, but what an epic show. I would love to see them live, I bet the vibes in the crowd are awesome. Great review as always Mr DH, I respect your insight greatly
David, I’m glad you chose to react to this performance instead of the Wembley performance. This version is so much more emotionally explosive and impactful. The Wembley performance, although very good in its own right, would have not received your 9.9. There are no pipes, no fireworks, no runway for Floor to walk into the middle of the crowd. I absolutely agree with your score for this one.
Thanks, took me a while to watch this, but it was worth waiting. You really summed it up great, you saw and heard everything the music, the stage. I can listen to this over and over again with headphone from the cd. Thanks, loved this.
David... great reaction as always. Uilleann means elbow in Gaelic. All Uilleann pipes are bellows driven by the elbow as far as I know. I think someone invented something to replace the bellows and drones but they have always been played with the elbow historically.
I am so glad that there are a handfull of People out there ,such as yourself, who realy know what they are talking about! Realy educate their viewers! There are far too many out there that listen to the songs and at the end say " oh i liked that" and thats it! Thank you david for taking time for doing this and for making us "better listeners'!!
You asked about the breakdown in the middle with the red scene and Floor's operatic vocals. It could refer to the meteor strike which ended the dinosaurs, then you have the time skip "After about a billion years..." which doesn't quite line up perfectly with the history of the planet as we know it, but it's a possible theory anyway. In any case before that breakdown they were showcasing more simpler and smaller organisms (and Tuomas' keyboards played a lot of shorter notes) and after the breakdown you'd have more advanced and bigger organisms like the mammals we know today (and Tuomas' keyboards played longer notes this time). Plus by then we have the handy travelers out of Africa, so this is when the earliest humans started to wander around the globe. The ape sounds you accredited to Marco are actually done by all three of them, Floor is just growling in her usual ways and Troy is also grunting along. There's a reason for every single moment in this "song." It's jam packed with references from start to end in all of its various layers.
Hey, David. Was otherwise occupied for a few days and missed this one, of course. Great react, great score. Thought this one would do it for you. And hey, don't sweat it, man. I've seen Floor reduce big, burly, bearded bikers to tears. She does it to us all. Peace out, brother! 🤘😎🤘
Hi David, thanks again for the great analysis of the music and performance !! You'll see that the score you gave won't give any doubt once you watched again and have a good look and understanding of the lyrics. As already stated in other comments it's not only a masterpiece from a music and performance perspective but the lyrics and meaning are also something special..........
The song is about life, starting from nothing to the big bang then following evolution through to mankind. Great review, and I don't disagree with the score, I absolutely love this song.
To me, this is peak Nightwish. There's just a perfect vibe flowing through this entire performance, as if some Muse, some pure spirit of music were making sure everything went exactly right. The entire band is 100% in sync, and they're all 100% in control of their art. This is genuinely the most moving piece of music I've ever heard.
Great score! I actually predicted 9.9. I didn't think you'd give a 10, but figured you'd go the next level down. This is my favorite Nightwish song, and my favorite performance of that song, so I wholeheartedly agree. Well done! I really enjoyed this reaction and analysis.
A few years ago my wife and I visited Smoo Cave on the North Coast of Scotland, it's a Huge cave opening 60m wide 30m high and goes back quite far, sitting in the middle of the cave was a German guy playing the uillean pipes and making a beautiful haunting sound in the cave, we sat there and listened to him for more than an hour. Now to listen to the rest of your dissertation ;) Keep up the good work!
Once again an excellent video! I enjoyed it This is my own favorite song from Nightwish. Ever since it came out and I mean the 24 minute album version. I originally heard it on the radio. Next time I was on TH-cam and I listened to it probably five times in a row ... I had to wait a bit for the album itself, because it had been promised to buy me as a gift, so ... Fun fact. The song was originally longer, but Tuomas cut it (I remember) 6 minutes off for the album. I've always wondered what he took away. Because 6 minutes is the length of an entire normal song! At gigs, Nightwish presents this in two different lengths. This closing version of the gig is 21 minutes and then if the song is in the middle of the set list, they will make it an 11 minute version of it.
For me this belongs among those important and legendary performances in the history of music! For example on that level like Pink Floyd's legendary performance of Comfortably Numb in the Earls Court in London in 1994 (Division Bell tour, Pulse DVD). Yup, this is as close to perfection as you can get from every point and I'm so glad you agree with impressive 9.9 score! Excellent reaction David, exactly what this masterpiece deserves! I don't know why it doesn't have more views, but you are definitely not pushed by the algorithm as other reactors. Is it because of the length, I don't know. But something is wrong here, seams like a slight shadow ban, cause you got recommended to me only few days ago, and that's not normal for someone who listens Nightwish reactions quite frequently. Or was I just blind and didn't notice, I don't know. But your view count confirms there's something fishy going on cause you are knowledgeable and entertaining reactor, you should have more views and recommendations :) I see most of the things were explained in the comments and I'm sure you realized that last orchestral and spoken part is also part of the song, they just use it to greet the crowd, cause band doesn't play that part anyway. That video doesn't have many views cause it has been deleted and re-uploaded several times by various users. Unfortunately Nightwish chose to upload Wembley version of The Greatest Show On Earth on their channel but most of us agree that Tampere version is better because of the open air feel and grandiosity of stage and performance, and what about that fireworks synchronization with the music hits, absolutely amazing! Luckily you listen to what ppl suggest cause by now you didn't pick a single 'wrong' video in your reactions. Well, it's past 5am here in Croatia, time to go to bed :)
The greatest show on earth is: Evolution! that's what this is all about. And about that part where the screen went red and the sound somehow mystical: I guess is it the period after coming out of the sea (blue) and starting populating the land (green) where we do not know much about, but where the human species came into existence. after that: hunting. At the end: Metal Mozart fully in control: checking even the fireworks: th-cam.com/video/8IBOZYunVrA/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for reacting to TheGreatest Show on Earth, it's one of my favorite Nightwish songs. I always gives me goosebumps. You can say, without exaggeration, that the theme of the song is epic, even cosmic, the creation of life on earth. I know of no other song that refers to: the Goldilocks Zone (ie the earth being in just the right zone around the sun for life to originate); scions of the Devonian Sea - human kind originating in the sea; stellar nursery; tapestry of chemistry, etc. Parts that give me goosebumps: "man took his time in the son" but that time will end; the rousing regain "We were here". There is so much in this song. I really appreciate how you analyzed the song so perfectly without exactly understanding what they are singing about, how the music and vocals are able to make you tear up and give you goosebumps just from the sounds which actually match the theme of the song. I completely agree with your 9.9 score. Thanks again for another brilliant reaction.
I totally respect that you are true and honest with your feelings and opinions. I also underastand you might not care about the lyrics much (my fiancee is the same!), and it is music that speaks to you. I personally really like to dive in the text and to know what the song is about. And with Nightwish it is really important . Tuomas always is telling stories. His albums are not random songs - it is always telling the story - the whole album. For example this album is all about theory of evolution, and this particulary song is about creation of the universe, and realization that we are just "small grain of sand" and our time will pass. I think knowin all that it makes me more emotional understanding the music and the lyrics. It gives the whole message. :)
Considering your build-up thought it was gonna be a 8.9 was sooooo happy that I was wrong. Love the score. And when you think about it the big three from Nightwish run.....9.7/9.8/9.9 Can't get much better than that. Thanks Home Gnome and David. Peace out.
Ghost Love Score 9.8
The poet 9.7
The greatest show 9.9
How would anybody be able to complain?
The three big ones from Nightwish at the top three places.
That totally works for me.
For me the 1-2-3 would be reversed i.e. Poet would get the 9.9. I watch GLS the most often though because Poet reduces me to a mess every time.
I'm sure some Nightwish fans complained about these songs not getting a perfect 10. LOL
@@billb.5183 Only 2 on this video so far, I had to block them for the name calling that went with the outrage of a score less than 10.
You'd be amaaaaaazed Anders....
@@THEDavidHeretic That's too funny. I'm thrilled when Band-Maid gets anything higher than an 8.5. Talk about spoiled. LOL
Floor: Enter Life
Marco: Enter Ionia
Emppu: Enter Sandman
This will go down in history as one of the most incredible musical achievements of humankind. It really makes me appreciate life. I couldn’t be more grateful 😊
Umm its not THAT good. I like it too, but....really?
@@gregkirk1842 yes really... I guess I like Nightwish just a bit 😅
Not sure if I 100% agree either. But this was the height of everything Nightwish culminated over the years. Still, in my opinion the best song of theirs by far from anything else.
@@gregkirk1842 Yes it is. Art is subjective remember.
@@lekalla right. But that was an objective statement.
This song is about evolution, the greatest show is life on Earth. What they showed you was the birth of Earth from the original big bang and the chaos in the universe (the fireworks in the beginning) Floor was singing about the first sunrise in the opera part. After that we see evolution the part that moved you so much. Then you saw the water and Floor introducing a new form of life when evolution took life from sea to Earth. The breathing part (in fact are primal sounds, ape like sounds) and from there evolution took us to humans. Enter LUCA (last universal common ancestor) Enter Life (Lucy of the AFAR - basically first human like fossil they found) After that you see how humans evolve into not always the best (hunger for shiny rocks and wanting to rule the world) The Giant mushroom cloud was indeed the atomic bomb (and now nuclear bombs).. Enter ratkind... if we destroy Earth with these bombs it's predicted that rodents survive and will start evolution again.
This whole song was inspired by Darwin and Richard Dawkins (if you look at the last 5 mins of the Wembley concert you will see Dawkins come on stage and say the last phrase which is from Darwin) Tuomas is a scientist (he wanted to become a marine biologist) and he doesn't do anything just to do it, everything has a purpose.
OK I have written a book... I told you in your very first reaction of GLS that this song would top it. 9.9 is great it deserves that.
One minor thing on a great reaction... you missed Emppu playing Enter Sandman :)
Marko - Enter Ionia
Floor - Enter Life
Emppu - Enter Sandman
No no… not The Big Bang, because of the stars in the background screens, the fireworks 💥 represents the multiple Supernovae and Novae of exploding stars ✨ which created the matter the elements in our solar system, and therefore Earth 🌍. And therefore Life and the Evolution of Life on Earth 🌍.
And Hunger for shiny rocks was always interpreted as our lust for daimonds.
Actually, there was never ever a 'big bang', because as we all know (or should know), sound can NOT travel through a vacuum. So, it was, in fact, a BIG flash. :o)
The fact that he still loved the song and placed that high score without understanding the meaning speaks volumes about it, it's a great composition both musically and lyrically
I do think it's not always ideal to have it played live, I think the song is too special to be performed in every tour so I hope they don't do it again in the incoming shows
@ Baz Selby..But was IT a vacuum?
All kinds of stuff spreading out with ununderstandable mass of everything.
Viewing IT outside yes..But inside that scenery IT must have been an unimaginable BANG 😜😃😃😃
Just a thought 😃
Most reactors: wow is that a kind of electric bagpipe
DH: so here's the pros and cons of different uilleann pipes designs
Well I do my best to stand a cut above the usual reactor.
@@THEDavidHeretic And that you do, sir. Thanks and congrats on another epic reaction.
@@THEDavidHeretic Howcome you missed the music history part? You were probably not paying attention cause it sounded out of context =) It'll make more sense when you know what the lyrics are about.
@@THEDavidHeretic Like you said, Tuomas doesn't compose anything unnecessary or filling parts. as you werent paying attention to the lyrics, i'll forgive you. It was confusing and out of the context - but if you'll listen it again, it's in the context. Try listening the Wembley version, altough it doesn't have fireworks, it has Dawkings on a stage. Nightwish doesn't have anything unneccessary on stage or in music. Only the things needed.
Floor: "the first sunrise"
Also DH: "I have no idea what they're singing about"
😂😘
Was working in stage crew in that magical night. We were here ❤️🇫🇮
This song is a masterpiece. As someone who studied biology at the university, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it, I so rarely get to see(hear) terms such as LUCA, Archaean, atavistic, in my daily life. And not even Lucy from the Afar is referenced that often by popular media. And of course Dawkins is kind of my hero, and the ending is so powerful and uplifting. I cannot rate it musically other than I just like it, but the lyrics are exceptionally well done, it is clear that they were done by someone who is not just really great with the language, but also has a deep understanding of the subject and manages to compress whole volumes of books into a very poetic verses.
And, to think that English is his (Tuomas) second language!
Although the end was narrated by Dawkins, the text actually was from Darwin from the origin of species, although I have a sense you already knew that.😉
I guess one of the reason for you to rate the the Holy Trinity songs of Nightwish (Ghost Love Score, The Poet and the Pendulum, The Greatest Show on Earth) into this order is because you're a musician and as stated in this reaction, you don't so much follow the lyrics or the story, you focus on music. And so many people have emotional connections to The Poet and the Pendulum because of the story behind it. Anyways, all three songs are masterpieces and when the scores are: 9.9, 9.8 and 9.7, why argue which song gets which grade.
Totally agree. Musically speaking, Greatest Show is the most impressive, but something about the themes of the other two lyrically just resonates with me slightly more. I haven't listened to Greatest Show as much yet though, so this could change.
As someone else pointed out, this song is about the universe and the evolution of life on Earth up to the present day. This song is about us, and our planet. I am not surprised this got the score it did, and it is definitely worth the score. While there are several parts in this song that always pull at my emotions, it is always the "We were here" part that gets me the most choked up. Having heard them perform this song live twice, it is not only a line referring to being at that concert on that night at that given moment, but also just in the fact that we are alive. Even though our existence is but a brief moment of time in the cosmic, we were here. We lived, we loved, and the way Tuomas encapsulated his love of science and the universe into this one 24 minute song is always breath-taking. But even with it being a 24 minute song, it definitely doesn't feel like it.
And the man doing the narration is biologist Richard Dawkins, and the narration he reads is taken from his book "The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution." The live performance of this song in the Wembley concert actually features Dawkins himself coming out on stage at the end to give the closing narration to the song and the concert, which I thought was actually pretty cool.
Showing
Just an opinion: You should *never* feel embarrassed about tearing up, especially from something as universal as wonderful music. Part of the reason I follow you David, is you show those emotions, even though you suppress them a bit. Keep enjoying music, we enjoy it with you, and just might shed a tear ourselves at times. 🎶+❤=😭
If we ever send up something like the Voyager probes again, I'd want this video on it.
I could not feel better represented, as a human being, as by this song, this performance, or these artists.
Singing like this at the closing of the show is amazing. You can have a singer like Floor and you'd never hear them on the big stage if you didn't have incredible songwriters like Tuomas. This song is where everything comes together. Possibly the greatest live performance i've ever seen
You should also check out the Wembley version as the introduction with Troy is different. Instead of the low whistle and pipes, he plays it on a guitar with an E-Bow and produces a very haunting sound. It would be interesting to know which one you prefer.
Professor Richard Dawkins appears onstage wth them at the end to read that passage from Darwin. It's quite the moment.
This is Mammoth of a song. The whole Evolution! No other band than Nightwish can (and want) do this. ⛄👍
Actually... the unknown band Entropy did a nice attempt with 'Phases of Being'
Who would EVER complain about a 9.9 from DH? "...seek help... get therapy"
Fantastic reaction dude! Most enjoyable!
Best wishes from Namibia
You would be amazed Zanet....you would be amazed. I've already had to block 2 numbskulls who felt insulted I didn't give this "the 10 it deserves", and then proceeded to call me a bunch of colorful names and get personal.
@@THEDavidHeretic What´s wrong with people these days??? As if we don´t have problems far more serious than your score on a reaction vid! Anyway, would not have predicted you ever would give such high score...I thougt Ghost love Score was the highest...Great video, keep doing what you do best and don´t let some idiots get to you. YOU ARE A GREAT REACTOR!!
@@THEDavidHeretic Poor numbskulls...
I knew that if any song would get 9.9 that would be The Greatest Show On Earth. Absolute perfection. Three best Nightwish live songs have 9.7, 9.8 and now 9.9. Who can be displeased with this? Probably the best reaction of this masterpiece song EVER
Let’s not bicker over who killed who.
David, if you sometimes have some extra time, you should listen this without any breaks. Now, that you know that the Greatest Show is about evolution on this tiny planet, you might get a little bit more out of the piece. I have listened this dozens of times (as almost all of Nightwish performances) and every time I liked it more (as all of Nightwish performances). At the end Marco encourages the audience sing "We Were Here" in finnish, so you don't necessarily have to try to figure out what he says. And when Floor says "kiitos", it means "thank you". Extra conclusion: Even Vladimir Putin is a mosquito shit in the course of evolution. Strength to Ukraine.
Ukraine! Freedom. 🙏🙏🙏
Why bringing here the politics? Especially when you don't know the whole situation?
I've easily listened to this song several hundred times. But that ending of "We were here" gives me the chills and tearing up every. single. time....
There was a LOT of emotion in this song. Its easily Nightwish's best songs. Toumas outdid himself with this one. Toumas also is on record somewhere talking about how this song, when original composed was 30+ minutes long. I would have loved to have heard it honestly.
Im sure other people will mention this, Richard Dawkins read several passages of his book directly for this Album. One of their shows he even came out at the end of the show to read it directly on stage.
Also, Floor's parents were at this show watching her. At the end of those "We were here" you can hear she was purposely letting her air supply out all the way. She literally was singing her heart out. She is such a gem to all of us her in Nightwish.
I was excited when I seen this reaction. Thanks for it!
Hey David ! Great as always. Just a quick info. This 20min song is about the universe. From begining of time as we know, earth , life and all. That part begining at 36:00 is the part life emerges. And after that caveman voices resembles first humans. The song has too much to uncover on lyrics. I hope you can dive into it in your free time
I've never listened to this song before because I was a fan of Tarja's Nightwish era. And he didn't give any chances to the work of symphonic metallists with the participation of Flor. When I first heard this song here on this channel, I realized that Nightwish were able to bring rock music (in a broad sense) to the level of world classics, and if Bach or Mozart heard this music, they would also shed tears, I am convinced of this. The splendor of the music in this song has reached its absolute.
The greatest show on earth got the greatest reaction on earth. I shouted so loud when you announced 9.9, my wife came over to my room to check up on me 😉.
When the whole background went red and Floor does the operatic sound, it is the extinction of dinosaures and at the same time you hear apes screaming. They getting the upperhand now. Then the background went green and all 3 of them doing the tribal growlsound. Mankind is bourne
Excellent review, excellent rating, and I totally agree on your ratings - and especially the reasoning behind the ratings - of Poet and the Pendulum and the Ghost Love Score also. Hell, this must mean that I must be as good of a musician as you are then! But anyway, I have watched so many reviews of this song, and you still managed to add lots of stuff that I have not heard from anyone else so far. Excellent work, thank you once again! However, one thing I was hoping you to notice, and I think you kind of missed it at this first listen, was the instrumental middle part, which was Tuomas taking a shot of presenting the f***ing evolution of music in the middle of a song about evolution - I guess that is what geniuses do - through some elements added to the background; from tribal drumming and choir singing to a variety of classical music, all the way to Metallica and even adding some techno at the end. I would recommend you to check it out once more, I am sure you will enjoy it once you pick it up!
Not to be forgotten: The light show! Their light engineer is a top class one!
I think the true brilliance of Nightwish cannot be fully understood by any single person. Instrumentalists appreciate the compositions. Poets appreciate the lyrics. Vocalists appreciate the singing. Performers appreciate the stagecraft.
Well said, well said
Nightwish Army UK popping in for an amazing 9.9 .. great reaction, WE WERE HERE
We Were Here! 🤘
CONGRATULATIONS FOR THE COMMENT. I ALSO FELT SO MUCH ABOUT THIS MUSIC. PERFECT . IT TELLS IN 20 MINUTES THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE, THE EARTH, THE FIRST MICROBIAL LIVES, THE ARRIVAL OF ANIMALS, MAN AND FINALLY THEIR DESTRUCTION AND A NEW BEGINNING OF LIFE ON EARTH.👏👏👏👏👏👏
Good call on not cutting the final part, it’s actually part of the song!
If you haven’t done so yet, read the lyrics; as people are telling you in the comments it’s about the evolution of the universe and Earth, hence the title.
There’s a bit where they go over the history of music, ending with the Enter Sandman riff, did you catch it?
I TOTALLY CALLED THAT SCORE. I KNEW THAT’S THE SCORE YOU WERE GONNA GIVE IT! There’s a reason many people believe this song to be Tuomas’ magnum opus.
Edit: I am absolutely happy with the score btw
Loved watching you enjoy every moment of this, even if you did ignore my notes about the song ending not being the end and the low views being as it's the unoffical lyric video to help with not getting blocked 😁... Thanks for the in-depth reaction - I did think you'd talk about the production more though (I guess you liked it 🤣)
It's no surprise to me that the showman would prefer this one over the lyrics/meaning of Poet
I guess it'll be a different experience for you live in May with a smaller indoor venue and no Marko, but should still be amazing to see this in the flesh - I still have to wait until November...
Thanks for requesting this Home Gnome. This is an epic piece of music which for me is made better by lyrics and the story it is telling. I love how Tuomas managed to get so many details about evolution in it. He truly is a genius.
@@littleraven28 My favourite of the Big 3 - a culmination of everything NW. Thanks for the thanks as always 👍
@@homegnome2429Out the big 3 my favorite as well. I truly hope they will play this in concerts to come. I have tickets from the cancelled show (indoor) but also for an outdoor festival in June (which also features Metallica). Can't wait.
@@littleraven28 Don't see why not - they did in Oslo right? With the reschedule I've ended up with 2 tickets 2 nights in a row...so if they go ahead will have to see what to do! 😁
@@homegnome2429 hehehe what a nice luxory problem 😁
You have completed the Holy Trinity of Nightwish (Ghost Love Score, Poet and the Pendulum, The Greatest Show on Earth), and you may now consider yourself officially baptized and reborn into the Nightwish Army
Well I can’t speak for any other Nightwish fan, but the ‘holy trinity’ of Nightwish songs, GLS, TPaTP and GSOE scored 9.8, 9.7 & 9.9 respectively, and I am very happy about that. Top job reviewing all songs and I thank you for your insight and comments. Well done sir!
Excellent reaction and analysis - as always ;)
And don’t worry - most fans binge Nightwish reactions, so we are used to seeing people cry. No shame in that, quite the contrary - its a huge compliment to the song
Oh, and i also like this song better than Poet and the Pendulum - so you’re not alone :)
The joy in the end of the show 😍 they were so happy, home audience and big show! 🔥🤟❤️
As a biologist and my favourite band made an astonishing evolution song, when I heard it for the first time I was out of my mind, because not only it was about something I love but in itself as music it was amazing
Great review, as I expected. Thank you. When/if you listen to it again, pay attention to the little homage in the backing track to Bach with the harpsichord (14:19) and Empuu's homage riff from Enter Sandman (14:44). I thought you would notice those.
This song is played slightly diferently in Wembley, worth a listen, but my point is this is song about evolution of life, up until our demise ("enter ratkind"). And there are hidden easter eggs with parts from famous songs in our past.
How many can you find?
Or in the Buenos Aires show from 2018. Where Troy does both. I actually love this one even more. The way Tuomas And Troy is highlighted with the strobes. And the stars. It looks like they are floating among the start. Its so beautiful! th-cam.com/video/9_MmyY7xSEY/w-d-xo.html
@@marita2g Oh, you mean the one where Floor looks even more like goddess than usual?
@@goranelez9956 Yep! Hahaha 😂
That chorus is my favorite part of the song as well. First time you hear it it's like filling yourself with joy or happiness, something like that (well in your case tears lol)
Great reaction!
Great, excellent reaction! Every time you do a Nightwish reaction, I save it to watch in my first free moment in the day. And to this day I was never, ever disappointed.
It usually doesn't matter to me the score you give, as it only shows your musical preferences or, maybe, your analysis on the musical prowess for the band. But MAN I didn't see this coming!!! 9.9!!!
The title "The Greatest Show On Earth" refers to life. Life is the greatest show on Earth. And the song tries to represent from the Big Bang (the powerful song change when everybody comes is) until we are no more on this Earth (the ratkind). Even the "We Were Here" part refers to the legacy that we, the human kind, left on the planet (in the perspective of someone after we are no more).
The part where the scenario changes to red represents the beginning of the humans, the suspense represented by Floor haunting and dissonant notes and the first tribal humans represented my Marko's grunts and Kai's tribal drums.
Now only my opinion. I learned to respect you so much as an musician, watching other reactions not only from Nightwish, but for Babymetal, Unleash The Archers, Rush, Bandmaid, Tool.... your analysis and your point are really relevant and many times makes me appreciate the songs even more. That being said, the fact that the three biggest scores on your channel went to Nightwish songs puts a HUGE smile on my face. I heard what you said in the reaction of Ghost Love Score about your score of 9.8 and I always took it in consideration. I thought you would give a 9.7 or even a 9.6. But WOW!!!! 9.9!!! And your reasoning simply makes sense.
I just can't understand how a real Nightwish can be angry with these scores. Even if you have given a lower score to all Nightwish songs, it's YOUR opinion. You don't have to go with the masses and make the majority happy. Of course we enjoy when someone likes the same songs we do, but hey... Thank God people are different and show us songs outside of our own music box. This is how we grow. We may like or dislike, it doesn't matter. The wrong thing to do is to be hostile to someone just because he/she doesn't agree with you... some wars started this way and we don't need any more of it in the world.
I laughed A LOT when you started to wonder what the lyrics is about, because I've seen how you don't focus in the lyrics. But this song has so much storytelling that really intrigues us... Tuomas is a genious when it comes to make music (and it's not even in his native language, which is finnish).
Thank you for the EXCELLENT reaction and for the nice surprise! And sorry for the long comment.
This was very enjoyable to watch. Thank you for mentioning me as one of the people who pushed you towards this song. Song? A performance. I will not repeat the background story the other commenting people have included, yes, this is the history of the whole world. And yes, this was enjoyable to watch as you progress through the billions of years and come respectfully to the firework show with Floor "We Were Here"-ing with the backing vocals.
Taking the win 😄
I love your reviews and breakdowns and I love sharing great music like this in this kind of way. In my opinion, this performance was Awesome in the truest sense. I am in Awe. And I enjoy thoroughly hearing your opinion too. And thank you for that too because I appreciate the effort you put in to making these videos!
Remember, Stay Fabulous!
I just found this after a year--I was one of the people who recommended "Ghost Love Score", and I would never get butt-hurt over your score on this one. Honestly, I would rank the three songs in exactly the order you have ranked them, but even if your order were different, I would have no complaints. For me this is greatest band founded between 1985 and 2015--a thirty year period. I was lucky enough to finally see them recently for the first time. They were top of my bucket list.
I am a Nightwish fan from the early days, and there a songs I don't know the lyrics to to this day. Same for Epica or other bands I love. Good lyrics add to the pleasure, and I do read and appreciate them, but for me it is always the music. The best lyrics won't work for me if I do not love the music!
9.9- and 20 Minutes of selfrehearsing, that means, you really really did get emotianly invested, and that for me is the Best from That. NW had another Soul bring to thinking and enjoying some Score of Music, rather then dealing with this crazy World out there.
You really apreciate it, as i get in this 73 Minutes, which i sit out here with you. And thats great:). Thx for your Investment in this Recap, as an non Patreon i didnt pay any monetary Fair to the Entertainment to all the Recaps of you i enjoyed so far, so everthing you said is fact, give it an 8 i dont care, as long as i can vision your recapping this Works your Way. Thy Again.
Stay Healthy!
NWA Bavaria North out.
Great review David. I'm so glad you enjoyed this one - it's an epic, and richly deserves that score.
My favorite parts:
1) Floors intro - plain beautiful
2) Marco+Floor harmonizing with a lot of grit on 'Atavistic Dread of the hunted"
3) the line "enter history, the grand finale, ENTER RATKIND" - and the way Floor delivers it, just outstanding
4) the litte 'Metallica - Enter Sandman" reference shortly before the 'We were here' section - did you notice it? if not listen again :D
5) the ending - I experienced this tour live and the 'We were here' lines just gave me goosebumps and made me tear up. Witnessing this in a large crowd is just ... undescribable.
No wonder, I very much agree with your score and actually I also agree with your ranking of the Nightwish 'Big 3', although Ghost Love Score and The Poet and the Pendulum are a very close call for me.
Obviously, the music is stirring. But when you add the lyrics, which pertain to our origins and our mortality, it puts it over the top.
Especially those of us that came from a religious background and ignored science and biology our whole lives. This was a wake up call for me at 60 years old.
You're never too old to wake up and learn!!! 🤘
Ooo I’m glad I came back! The GLS reaction from you and the wife was purely beautiful! Thank you for showing NW and Floor some major love!!! I wanna see what you think of Jarkko Ahola!!!
let it happen... you can not prevent it embrace the amazingness that is NitghtWish
Tuomas is our modern day Mozart, a genius composer that gives us all amazing music, with a band of such talent making his writing come alive. 💖
Don't fight it David. Just feel it! Never apologize for honest human emotional reactions. It is what great music is all about my friend.
The interlude was to introduce early man to the evolution process. It is called "The Toolmaker". Evolution is "The Greatest Show on Earth". You and I and all of us are a big part of the show.
Did you catch the final musical section right before the "We were Here". It started with the main melody from Bach's "Toccata en Fugue in D minor" on the keyboard, and ended with Emppu playing 2 riffs from Metallica's "Enter Sandman"? This was Tuomas' way of paying tribute to the evolution of music from classical to metal. Genius.
9.9! Where do we go from here David?
The highlight for me was the drum solo, but what an epic show. I would love to see them live, I bet the vibes in the crowd are awesome. Great review as always Mr DH, I respect your insight greatly
David, I’m glad you chose to react to this performance instead of the Wembley performance. This version is so much more emotionally explosive and impactful. The Wembley performance, although very good in its own right, would have not received your 9.9. There are no pipes, no fireworks, no runway for Floor to walk into the middle of the crowd. I absolutely agree with your score for this one.
I find the Wembley performance more emotional and powerful personally.
Glad you enjoyed it David. One of my favourites. It is one to listen to more than once LOL.
Thanks, took me a while to watch this, but it was worth waiting. You really summed it up great, you saw and heard everything the music, the stage. I can listen to this over and over again with headphone from the cd. Thanks, loved this.
And one more thing, you are one of the very few, who immediately recognized, that all three are singing here, Floor, Marco and Troy, respect.
Taking the win with no objections! This was great, thank You!
David... great reaction as always. Uilleann means elbow in Gaelic. All Uilleann pipes are bellows driven by the elbow as far as I know. I think someone invented something to replace the bellows and drones but they have always been played with the elbow historically.
I am so glad that there are a handfull of People out there ,such as yourself, who realy know what they are talking about! Realy educate their viewers! There are far too many out there that listen to the songs and at the end say " oh i liked that" and thats it! Thank you david for taking time for doing this and for making us "better listeners'!!
this is a masterpiece
If im not mistaken the breathing pattern/ growl wasnt doing Marco alone. It was Floor and Marco.
You are the best and the one who knows what he writes about when he judges songs.
You asked about the breakdown in the middle with the red scene and Floor's operatic vocals. It could refer to the meteor strike which ended the dinosaurs, then you have the time skip "After about a billion years..." which doesn't quite line up perfectly with the history of the planet as we know it, but it's a possible theory anyway. In any case before that breakdown they were showcasing more simpler and smaller organisms (and Tuomas' keyboards played a lot of shorter notes) and after the breakdown you'd have more advanced and bigger organisms like the mammals we know today (and Tuomas' keyboards played longer notes this time). Plus by then we have the handy travelers out of Africa, so this is when the earliest humans started to wander around the globe. The ape sounds you accredited to Marco are actually done by all three of them, Floor is just growling in her usual ways and Troy is also grunting along.
There's a reason for every single moment in this "song." It's jam packed with references from start to end in all of its various layers.
And i love it, that you show your emotion to every song you make a reaction.
Nice see you again, reactions of a high level. Thanks for this.
Greeting from the Netherlands 🤘🏻🔥🇳🇱
Great score, glad you enjoyed the song. Rock on!
Hey, David.
Was otherwise occupied for a few days and missed this one, of course. Great react, great score. Thought this one would do it for you.
And hey, don't sweat it, man. I've seen Floor reduce big, burly, bearded bikers to tears. She does it to us all.
Peace out, brother! 🤘😎🤘
Hi David, thanks again for the great analysis of the music and performance !! You'll see that the score you gave won't give any doubt once you watched again and have a good look and understanding of the lyrics. As already stated in other comments it's not only a masterpiece from a music and performance perspective but the lyrics and meaning are also something special..........
I just love how you are still amazed by anything that Nightwish does :)
Great reaction & analysis 🇬🇧🤘👌👏👍
The song is about life, starting from nothing to the big bang then following evolution through to mankind. Great review, and I don't disagree with the score, I absolutely love this song.
I'm not a lyrics guy but I tell ya you really need them here
To me, this is peak Nightwish. There's just a perfect vibe flowing through this entire performance, as if some Muse, some pure spirit of music were making sure everything went exactly right. The entire band is 100% in sync, and they're all 100% in control of their art. This is genuinely the most moving piece of music I've ever heard.
I knew it! I knew that you would give that score. You surely might not but I am happy that you give :) Great reaction!
Great score! I actually predicted 9.9. I didn't think you'd give a 10, but figured you'd go the next level down.
This is my favorite Nightwish song, and my favorite performance of that song, so I wholeheartedly agree.
Well done! I really enjoyed this reaction and analysis.
David!
Till so far, 'this' was your 'greatest show'!!!
Loved every nanosec of it...glad you are here 🇳🇱🇺🇸🇳🇱
Boom! Great review, great score. Well done sir!
Perfect analysis, David! You get 9,9 for this analysis. 😆
A few years ago my wife and I visited Smoo Cave on the North Coast of Scotland, it's a Huge cave opening 60m wide 30m high and goes back quite far, sitting in the middle of the cave was a German guy playing the uillean pipes and making a beautiful haunting sound in the cave, we sat there and listened to him for more than an hour.
Now to listen to the rest of your dissertation ;) Keep up the good work!
Great reaction . 9.9 is a fantastic score TY ,You missed the quick Enter sandman riff by Emppu, I thought for sure you would catch it
Wow that’s a score!!! Glad you liked it!
Oh, you got to this one! This performance is just amazing.
Once again an excellent video! I enjoyed it
This is my own favorite song from Nightwish. Ever since it came out and I mean the 24 minute album version. I originally heard it on the radio. Next time I was on TH-cam and I listened to it probably five times in a row ... I had to wait a bit for the album itself, because it had been promised to buy me as a gift, so ...
Fun fact. The song was originally longer, but Tuomas cut it (I remember) 6 minutes off for the album. I've always wondered what he took away. Because 6 minutes is the length of an entire normal song!
At gigs, Nightwish presents this in two different lengths. This closing version of the gig is 21 minutes and then if the song is in the middle of the set list, they will make it an 11 minute version of it.
For me this belongs among those important and legendary performances in the history of music! For example on that level like Pink Floyd's legendary performance of Comfortably Numb in the Earls Court in London in 1994 (Division Bell tour, Pulse DVD). Yup, this is as close to perfection as you can get from every point and I'm so glad you agree with impressive 9.9 score! Excellent reaction David, exactly what this masterpiece deserves! I don't know why it doesn't have more views, but you are definitely not pushed by the algorithm as other reactors. Is it because of the length, I don't know. But something is wrong here, seams like a slight shadow ban, cause you got recommended to me only few days ago, and that's not normal for someone who listens Nightwish reactions quite frequently. Or was I just blind and didn't notice, I don't know. But your view count confirms there's something fishy going on cause you are knowledgeable and entertaining reactor, you should have more views and recommendations :) I see most of the things were explained in the comments and I'm sure you realized that last orchestral and spoken part is also part of the song, they just use it to greet the crowd, cause band doesn't play that part anyway. That video doesn't have many views cause it has been deleted and re-uploaded several times by various users. Unfortunately Nightwish chose to upload Wembley version of The Greatest Show On Earth on their channel but most of us agree that Tampere version is better because of the open air feel and grandiosity of stage and performance, and what about that fireworks synchronization with the music hits, absolutely amazing! Luckily you listen to what ppl suggest cause by now you didn't pick a single 'wrong' video in your reactions. Well, it's past 5am here in Croatia, time to go to bed :)
Beauty reaction...This song is a master piece..amazing..powerful and emotional
Absolutely brilliant review, I am totally agree with you there.
The greatest show on earth is: Evolution! that's what this is all about.
And about that part where the screen went red and the sound somehow mystical: I guess is it the period after coming out of the sea (blue) and starting populating the land (green) where we do not know much about, but where the human species came into existence. after that: hunting.
At the end: Metal Mozart fully in control: checking even the fireworks:
th-cam.com/video/8IBOZYunVrA/w-d-xo.html
This concert was their 20 anniversary concert given in their home country. Tuomas had to wait for Floor before he could write Greatest Show on Earth.
That's their masterpiece. The story of the creation of the universe, Earth and humans. We were here, and we watched your full reaction! :D
Great analysis Dave. I totally agree with your score. This song and performance is one of my favorite Nightwish tunes.
Great job David nobody will complain about this. Nightwish has the top three of your reactions and rightfully so.
Awesome score! I cheered 😁 🤘🤘🤘🤘
Thank you for reacting to TheGreatest Show on Earth, it's one of my favorite Nightwish songs. I always gives me goosebumps. You can say, without exaggeration, that the theme of the song is epic, even cosmic, the creation of life on earth. I know of no other song that refers to: the Goldilocks Zone (ie the earth being in just the right zone around the sun for life to originate); scions of the Devonian Sea - human kind originating in the sea; stellar nursery; tapestry of chemistry, etc. Parts that give me goosebumps: "man took his time in the son" but that time will end; the rousing regain "We were here". There is so much in this song.
I really appreciate how you analyzed the song so perfectly without exactly understanding what they are singing about, how the music and vocals are able to make you tear up and give you goosebumps just from the sounds which actually match the theme of the song.
I completely agree with your 9.9 score. Thanks again for another brilliant reaction.
I totally respect that you are true and honest with your feelings and opinions. I also underastand you might not care about the lyrics much (my fiancee is the same!), and it is music that speaks to you. I personally really like to dive in the text and to know what the song is about. And with Nightwish it is really important . Tuomas always is telling stories. His albums are not random songs - it is always telling the story - the whole album. For example this album is all about theory of evolution, and this particulary song is about creation of the universe, and realization that we are just "small grain of sand" and our time will pass. I think knowin all that it makes me more emotional understanding the music and the lyrics. It gives the whole message. :)
Breathtaking masterpiece. ” Man, he took his time in the sun, had a dream to understand a single grain of sand 🔥❤️
By the way, I love your second personality in the background.😂😂😘😘
Second time watching... Because why not 😜
13:35 I dunno if someone already mentioned it, but I've understood Tuoma's doing something to blow the rockets up with his elbow.
Considering your build-up thought it was gonna be a 8.9 was sooooo happy that I was wrong. Love the score. And when you think about it the big three from Nightwish run.....9.7/9.8/9.9 Can't get much better than that. Thanks Home Gnome and David. Peace out.