Anette

[crimrose]

Anette has transformed on this album. It sounds like she was given much more freedom with her interpretations. Scaretale is a good example, but all of it really, she sounds much more like this is how SHE feels about the song, of course with Tuomas' help.

I dunno, she just sounds much more "directed" on DPP, like she wasn't so sure what to do because it was her first NW album and she wasn't really sure how she wanted to sound with a metal band, and believed she could do it but was unsteady on her feet, so to speak, especially with all the expectations. Now, people either embrace her as the lead vocalist and continue to buy and enjoy Nightwish music, or they don't and they move onto something different that they do like. Most people got all the venom out of their systems by now. So now she seems more confident that the people who will come and see the band, are actually there to see her as well, at least to some extent. She feels confident in herself as The Nightwish Singer, y'know? She's found how to replace Tarja without having to be her. She's found her own identity in the band.

I think with DPP, the band was probably there the whole time, being like, "Okay, you should try to sing it like this" when she stumbled or felt unsure. From what Tuomas said, and Anette as well, it sounds more like Tuomas sat down with her and said, "This is what this song is supposed to convey, this is the mood, these are the feelings. Cool? Now go. Sing."
And she sang based on what he said, but was given a lot more artistic licence in terms of what she could do. It has so much more of a jammy feeling, if that makes sense? Like she was in the studio singing, and Tuomas was just like, "Wow, that random thing you just did, that was awesome, let's do that." It has that freshness about it. I love it. She's the best part of this album for me. Honestly. And while I always liked Anette, I was never a huge huge fan. I'm converted now.

 

[C.]

Yeah, it takes a while to become an Anette convert; she won me over with her live performance, so that's usually what I would say to anyone that is on the fence about her, to see a Nightwish show. But Imaginaerum is definitely proof that she has found her niche within the band.

 

[Hyperspace]

Anette didn't have to win me over at all, because I got into Nightwish after DPP was already released. So I had nothing against her and never had to try and get used to her voice.

But yeah, Anette clearly does a much better job on this album than DPP.

 

[C.]

I suppose some of the fans who got into the band post-Tarja are lucky that way; they have no bias towards either singer or did not have to go through a "transition period".

 

[Bianca74]

I did read, and sorry for spamming, that Anette said in a recent interview, that when she went to youtube to check the reactions to "Storytime", that she was surprised how many people still want Tarja back.
Can you imagine how difficult it is for her to be a part of NW knowing that there still are a lot of people that wish she wasn't in the band?

I feel that she did a good job on DPP, it was her first album with NW, the songs weren't written to suit her voice in particular, and she still sounds very good on many songs.

 

[Calinn]

Anette should learn not to give a shit about You Tube comments. There's people there who still claims that Tori Amos is copying Kate Bush after 20 years. Most of the comments there are dumb.

 

[Tramz]

Seriously. Reading Youtube comments are a colossal waste of time. Taking anything said there to heart is just wrong. you can't go looking for humanity in the den of animals.

Quite honestly, Anette or anyone is better off coming to a fan club (yes, such as this). You'll still get honest opinions, but never cruel opinions.

The simple truth is that comparing singers has become an apples and oranges situation. It is a rather drastic change, now that Anette has fully integrated her sound into the band. Neither vocalist would really suit the music created for the other. Appreciate and love the original era for what it was, and fall in love again with the new era now that it has arrived in full.

 

[C.]

Yeah, YouTube is just like Blabbermouth: full of haters who just want to write nasty comments for the sake of writing nasty comments.

 

[St Enigma]

.

Spinefarm Records just posted the new video of Swallow The Sun called "Cathedral Walls" on Youtube.

Reason to link it here is that Anette performs the female vocals in the song

​

Both the song and Anette are awesome


.

 

[Calinn]

The song is really beautiful, not the kind of music I listen to, but I really liked it. Not a fan of growl, though

 

[Eldar]

I have never heard of Swallow the Sun before (something new to dig into, no doubt) and I admit I was curious when Anette mentioned their colaboration in her blog. I really like the song and esp. the contrast between Anette's melancholic voice and the growls. Awesome work; that lady never ceases to amaze me!

 

[C.]

Kiitos Engima; can't wait to hear it!

 

[Taimi]

I have to say, I really appreciate that we can discuss things like this without it turning into a flame war.

We can say that we don't like her/ love her to bits and pieces, and that's fine, because that's our opinions.

 

[nettitaikatalvi]

OK so I will say what I think about Anette without reading the other comments here because I don't want to change my mind even subconsciously
Fine, Tarja is one of my favorite singers and her voice is awesome but if you listened to Nightwish because of Tarja and stopped because of Anette- well then you are more like a Tarja fan than a Nightwish one. Nightwish is a band with 5 people in it, not only one. If it was with only one person that should be Holopainen because this is his band and he writes the songs.
Anette is a very sweet person and an amazing singer- no doubt. Her voice is different than Tarja's but so what? It doesn't mean she's not good and let's don't forget- Tuomas chose her not because the way she looks like but because of her brilliant voice. Some people say that she is "too old" for the band which is stupid- Marco is older than her and I believe that there is no age limit when it comes to music- the only rule is music to be in our hearts.
Some people say that she is fake- I believe she's not. There was an interview with her and Tuomas and when they asked her something like: "Have you ever listened to Nightwish before?" she said directly into Tuomas's eyes "No". If she was fake she would probably say: "Oh, yes and I love them and blah blah blah.."
However, nobody's perfect- neither Anette, nor Tarja. Like, can you imagine Anette singing this

or Tarja singing this

In my opinion Nightwish are getting better and better with Anette.
I prefer Tarja's voice, but the songs with Anette are better.
And let's don't forget that Anette is not stupid- she knows that some of the fans will never like her and will talk sh*t about her in every single video on Youtube, but despite that she is there. I bet she isn't doing it only for money- she enjoys is despite the haters.

 

[C.]

^Couldn't have said it better!

And you know? I always rather liked that Anette was not familiar with Nightwish's music before joining. I don't think having a fan for a bandmate would have gone over well, or more accurately, someone who already knew the music might have felt the pressure of replacing Tarja a lot more than someone who was unaware of all the inner turmoils of the band at that point.

 

[Bianca74]

I really have to take my hat off to Anette, because it can't be easy for her, since there are a lot of NW fans who still don't accept her. I think that with the new songs, and I know I've said this berfore, she's shown that she deserves a place in NW, and despite what some say, Tuomas has taken her voice into consideration when writing the new songs. That kind of challange must also be nice for a songwriter.
I too, think that everyone is entitled to have an opinion, and that it's great that it hasn't started a "flame war" as Taimi put it.
I don't expect everyone to like her voice, it wouldn't be realistic. Not everyone liked Tarja's voice either. I have a friend that said to me, that he thinks Tarja would fit better in a choir than as a lead singer!
And that Anette has one of the greatest voices he's ever heard, and he's not even NW fan!

 

[C.]

^I've heard a lot of that sentiment as well; especially going to shows during the DPP tour, a lot of people saying "I never was much into their music with Tarja but I really like them now."

 

[pyjujiop]

I've never understood why anyone would choose to denigrate either woman. I never knew about Nightwish until long after Tarja had left the band, but it just so happened that the very first Nightwish songs I heard were ones where Tarja was the singer. In fact, I discovered Nightwish through a song I liked that Tarja sang as a guest in another band.

Later on, I heard DPP and liked it too, but I consider Imaginaerum to be the true start of the Anette era in Nightwish. Tuomas has said before that he didn't really know how to write songs for Anette when she first joined the band, and you can tell that some of the songs on DPP were written with a "generic" female lead, most likely before she even joined the band. But now, I think they're going places musically that they never would, or could, have gone with Tarja. Instead of Escapist, I ask people if they could ever imagine Tarja singing Scaretale.

They're both great singers, just with different styles. I'm glad we have all of the old Nightwish albums to enjoy, and I'm also grateful to be able to enjoy their work with Anette, and the stuff Tarja has done in her solo career as well. She's been able to try some stuff she never could have done as a part of Nightwish, and she seems to be happy, and Nightwish seems to be happy.

As for Anette herself, I absolutely love her. Wonderful singer, great with the fans, and had the guts to take this gig and stick with it even though she knew a lot of people would hate her just because she wasn't Tarja. Plus, she made the greatest band in the world even better. What's not to like?

 

[C.]

^

 

[crimrose]

I don't know if any of you have read Metal Hammer's issue on Nightwish (if you haven't, you can go see it on the official English forum, Joana kindly posted it there). I wouldn't worry too much about it, because it's a bad interview, but this part Anette said caught my eye.

She said that a woman in South America went up to her and told her (because the woman was a Tarja fanatic) that she wanted her to be shot in the head in front of her son.

Like, what the hell, man?

I know that yes, many people love Tarja and despise Anette's voice, but...it's just a VOICE. It's so strange to me how people can take it so seriously as to actually want Anette dead because she took a job that was very eagerly offered to her! Why shouldn't she be allowed to live out her dreams? If anyone deserves the "blame", it's Tuomas, Emppu, Jukka and Marco! They're the ones who chose her. They didn't have to.

I just feel so bad for Anette. Even if I totally hated her as a singer, that's no excuse for people to get so ridiculously obsessed with Tarja as to actually wish Anette any harm.

And THIS is why the majority of Tarja fans scare me. Because the ones who are totally devoted to her...it's like a religion. If anyone wanted to know why Tarja fans generally scare the hell out of me, this is a simple answer.