OK, so I have rarely ever retracted my statements in the history of OSA, but I think it's time.
I have been in posession of DPP for nearly 2 weeks, and I have to be honest, it's all I've listened to the entire time (except for a few times when I gave the new HIM album a spin or two).
"The Poet and the Pendulum": This exceeded any expectations I had going into this, knowing what the song was, knowing that it was an epic. It seems like every Nightwish epic tops the one before. When I first heard "Ghost Love Score", I didn't think it was possible to ever top "Beauty of the Beast". Then once I became a believer, I found it hard to imagine that anything could EVER topple "Ghost Love Score", especially when there is no more Tarja. But by God, Tuomas has done it! This is hands-down my favorite song on the album and if they perform it live on Sunday I could die a happy girl.
"Bye Bye Beautiful": Even from hearing the low-quality promos, I had a feeling this would be a favorite for me. Hearing the "Finnish"-ed version only makes this more kick-ass. This is a song where when I first heard it, it haunted my mind for months. I could not wait to finally hear it and not hear some guy talking over it: "You are listening to the new Nightwish album, Dark Passion Play."
"Amaranth": An OK song, but I have to be honest, I'm sick to death of it already. I'll be glad to hear it live on Sunday so whenever I listen to the album from here on out, I can just skip over it. The "reaching, searching" part that Anette does is just too similar to Sharon den Adel's "angry" voice for my liking (i.e., such as songs like "Caged").
"Cadence of Her Last Breath": A lot of fans seem to give this a lot of grief, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. It's a great rockin' tune.
"Master Passion Greed": WOW! Makes "Slaying the Dreamer" look like a love song. Knowing who the song is about and the details of those incidents only make the angst of the song only more heartfelt.
"Eva": The first song of the new album I had ever heard. When I first heard it, I mourned the loss of Tarja and wondered what the hell Tuomas heard in Anette that was so great. Then, like a fungus, it slowly grew on me. Her vocals really move me on this track, though. They are sweet and sincere.
"Sahara": My second-favorite song on the album. I just love the whole vibe of it. The orchestration on this track is flawless.
"Whoever Brings the Night": A song that definitely runs hot and cold with me. It's quirky and different, and the chorus sticks in your head like cement glue. I love the orchestration part towards the middle, it makes me think of the Isengard scenes in the LOTR movies. I don't think it's a bad song, but it's not one of the tracks on the album that I am entirely crazy about at this time.
"For the Heart I Once Had": When I heard this title, I expected it to be a ballad in the nature of something like "Ocean Soul". So to hear something so upbeat, it was almost a disappointment. This is another one of those tracks that I am on the fence about. The chorus is catchy and I don't easily forget it after I have listened to it, and for the most part it's a good song, and I do feel it growing on me with more listens.
"The Islander": Sorry to anyone who likes this song, but this has got to be the most boring song Nightwish has ever written. It's got a good vibe, but somehow, a band like Within Temptation could better pull it off. I have heard it was the highlight of the live shows, though, so I'm holding out to see that for myself to see if my opinion of the song changes.
"Last of the Wilds": A f*cking awesome instrumental that seems to pick up where "Moondance" left off.
"7 Days to the Wolves": Another of my least-favorite songs, just one of those tunes that is not doing anything for me as of yet. The best way I can describe this song is this is the closest to imagining what Nightwish might have sounded like if Cristina from Lacuna Coil had been Tarja's replacement. Especially in the first verse, her voice reminds me a lot of Cristina.
"Meadows of Heaven": This song could have been among the many of the heart-wrenching ballads that Nightwish is famous for, but to me, it falls flat. Anette's vocals are nice, but rather boring. The verse about "Yuletide without flight", I imagine Tarja singing that, and I know that if she had sang something like that, I would cry like a child upon hearing it. But Anette does not seem to invoke those same feelings within me with her voice yet.
Overall opinion: I was wary about how Nightwish was going to make an album without Tarja, but damn, they have! Many of the tunes, Anette fits right in and while I'll always feel Tarja's loss, there are some moments on the album where I find myself totally embracing the new era and accepting the direction that Nightwish is now going in. I have always been a person to believe that music is about moving forward and not looking back, so at this point, to whine and complain that this is not Tarja anymore, I feel is really self-serving. I think all of us know that the old era of Nightwish is over, and it ended on the final night of the Once tour. If anything, DPP shows us that this is a new era, and we can either go along for the ride or stay left behind at Tarja station.
There are some areas where Anette can improve, but I think a lot of people forget that these songs were written in full before she even joined the band, so some awkward moments are to be expected. And as far as the old songs go, I am still a little nervous about hearing them live.
But as a whole, the album is a solid piece of work and Tuomas' compositions are as brilliant as ever. I think I finally understand now why he chose Anette. Many times when I was listening to the album, I found myself reminded of other singers on the femme-metal scene. "7 Days" made me think of Cristina. "Amaranth" made me think of Sharon. "Eva" made me think of Sabine. A couple moments in some songs made me think of Charlotte from Delain. Not to say that Anette isn't unique in her own way, but I think by choosing her, it was almost Tuomas way of saying that he could have taken any of these ladies on the scene in as the replacement, and make it work. I have to take my hat off to him for that. I was wrong to doubt his songwriting genius, seeing as how I'd never been disappointed by it in the past. Well, I guess it wasn't so much his songwriting I was doubting as much as his judgment. Which I guess in essence, is almost the same thing.
Technically, all my statements about missing Tarja's voice do still stand, but to say that I don't "feel" Anette, that is not entirely true anymore. And I'm glad. I wouldn't resign myself to being an Anetteholic, but I was never a Tarjaholic, so I guess that's fair enough. I've come to learn that when a band changes lineup, I tend to go where the songwriter goes; as I've said in past posts, I find it easier to get used to a different voice than a different band and songwriting approach altogether. And as someone at Nightwish forum pointed out, with Tarja's solo career, if we so wish, we have two good musical projects to look forward to instead of one.
In closing, bring on November 4th!
Give or take one hour if i have the hour set incorrectly by 1 over there (which sometimes happens). So not exactly 24 hours ;] But it's all petty semantics anyway. The important part is that it's out there and sounding good.
