I've been holding back from posting about what I think of this album because it's quite hard to marshall my thoughts on it. I think it's an amazing piece of work, and I can see why some people are struggling with it, because the melodies aren't where the melodies usually are with Nightwish. This is something new, not just a new singer, but a new approach to songwriting. And when it works, my God, does it work.
"Yours Is An Empty Hope" and "The Eyes of Sharbat Gula" are the two strongest songs here - The orchestration on YIAEH is simply stunning. Every other track is a strong classic (loving "Weak Fantasy" the more I hear it, and "Edema Ruh" is great fun), although I haven't quite gelled with "My Walden" yet. Even "Our Decades In The Sun" is pretty impressive in itself, although I'm not quite sure it fits with the mood of the rest of the album. And yes, "The Greatest Show On Earth" could lose the animal noises and about 4 minutes, but it's still a great listen.
In short, I'm loving this album. It's thought-provoking, challenging, sing-alongable, difficult, different and... Nightwish. There's no other word for it.