Sometimes, I wish I was a teenager again so I'd have time to sit around and listen to music. Nowadays, the only time I have to listen to music is when I'm driving. That's unfortunate because Nightwish is one of those once a decade bands that comes along and really hits you. If I had time, I'd buy their entire catalog and review it. So far only have three CDs and 2 DVDs.

My buddy Ryan (not the football coach) told me to pick up Nightwish's Once and I have no regrets. I can say with relative ease that this is hands down the best album of the 2000s so far. If you don't have it, what the hell are you waiting for? Don't read the rest of this article, just go out and buy it. NOW! Wait! Make sure you buy the version with 13 songs, the two bonus tracks.

You're still here? Oh, you already have it. Cool.

Tarja is long gone, and Nightwish's fans are waiting for their latest offering, which is hopefully on par with Once.

Dark Chest of Wonder - The opening riff hits you like a punch in the face. If you're wondering how to start that album you've been working on, this is how it's done.

Wish I Had an Angel - The first single, and with good reason. A tight song with Marco contributing some of the vocals

Nemo - Another single, and a little bit softer than the previous two songs. Nice melodies throughout

Planet Hell - Nicely done metal piece

Creek Mary's Blood - An opus over eight minutes long featuring John Two Hawks doing some spoken word. Would be cheese if written by anyone else, but it's brilliant when written by Tuomas.

The Siren - A solid metal piece interlaced with a symphony and electric violin. On the almost creepy side. I love how Marco's and Tarja's vocals trade off on this one. Everything just works

Dead Gardens - The weakest song on the album, but still a decent metal piece

Romanticide - One of the heavier pieces on the album with a nice guitar solo from Emppu to boot.

Ghost Love Score - This song signals the album's second wind. Where it tapered off with Dead Gardens, it strengthens here. It just amazes me how much melody Tuomas could put in one album.

Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan - I was told that this means "death creates the artist." It's in Finnish, and a pretty melody between Tarja and the symphony.

Higher Than Hope - The grand finale and what a finale at that! The only song on the album where Tuomas wasn't the primary writer. Marco was. Excellent chorus, and what a way to end an album.

Bonus tracks. Now I hope you bought the album with bonus tracks, because they're quite good.

White Night Fantasy - The song sounds just like the name. Close your eyes and listen to it and it will take you to that world.

Live to Tell the Tale - You ever see the movie Legend? This would have been a good song for the closing credits. I know, that movie already had a good song in the closing credits. I'm just saying this would have been too.

The tragic thing about this album is it's the last album Tarja will ever make for Nightwish. I've heard both sides of the tale. Tuomas claims Tarja has become a diva. Tarja's camp insinuated that Tuomas was madly in love with Tarja and since he couldn't have her, he had to fire her from the band.

I'm not taking sides on this because for the fans, it's a lose-lose. Tuomas writes the best music of any band today and Tarja has one of the best female voices. Marco, Emppu, and Jukka are fine musicians as well and I'm just glad that those four are still together and will produce another album soon for us fans.