Imaginaerum Opinions

What is the overall opinion, what have you heard/read, would you say that it's been positive, for the most part? What are those, who've been fans every since almost the beginning, say? I really want to like "Slow, love, slow", I really do, but listening to it some more, I'm afraid I will never like it. The same goes for "Scaretale", though "Ghost river" is growing on me a little :)
But 9 out of 13 is not bad! I forgot to mention the last track, "Imaginaerum", very beautiful, especially the "Storytime" part of it!
 
My overall opinion is that it is a good album and a fine addition to the Nightwish legacy. it's better than DPP, though DPP goes far on the strength of P&P alone. I don't really want to compare eras. The only album it stands a chance against would be AFF anyway, and listening to classics like Elvenpath and Astral Romance (as I write this) make that a 50/50 proposition.

It's still to early to make definitive judgments. That said, I would like to raise a question: For quite some time I've been suggesting Imaginaerum could very well turn out to be Anette's Oceanborn. That is to say, the second album with a vocalist, so now there is familiarity, it leads to the creation of a golden age of production. So the question: As I had wondered, do you consider Imaginaerum to be Anette's Oceanborn?
 
Maybe I am the odd person out here but I am really loving Scaretale. Of course I want my Tears back is quickly becoming one of my favorites along with Rest Calm. I also really like the first part of Song of Myself, but the speaking part just doesn't do it for me, maybe if they had cut it down to like the last few lines that are spoken. The Last Ride of the Day really hasn't grown on me yet. I am sure it will eventually. I think what happened was I read to many reviews on it before I actually listened to it and I was expecting well, something more.
 
I really think that you're right Tramz. I told someone that I think that Imaginaerum is really the beginning of a new era.
 
I listened to the album like nonstop from yesterday evening and I really love the whole album! Of course there are some fillers on it, but the overall feeling is just amazing!

I have to admit that Scaretale is by far my favorite after a few listens;-) The child choir is just mind-blowing and this song is like Nightwish going humppa, if you know what i mean;-) I can really imagine marco dancing around the christmas tree while listening to that part of the song:D

Storytime, I Want My Tears Back and Last Ride of the Day are really typical Nightwish songs, i really like.

Taikatalvi is somehow like a lullaby for me, but I really love that one.

I am not quite sure what to think of slow love slow so far. it definitly creates the image of this smoky jazz-club but it still has to grow a bit on me.

Arabesque is the only filler for me on the album, ghost river and rest calm (especially the refrain) are amazing, the two acoustic tracks (Turn Loose the mermais, the crow...) are also very good. After listening to them i really can imagine Nightwish doing an acoustic album in the future.

I am still trying to figure out who spoke which parts on the second part of song of myself. i have to listen a few more times to that song to say whether i like it better than P&P / GLS.

Imaginaerum really sums up the album and is just amazing, great work.

All in all, a very good Nightwish album, really looking forward to the live gigs now:)
 
I'm not so good at writing reviews, but I must say I like them all. Maybe Storytime a bit less, but anyway.
Indeed, Arabesque may sound like a filler, but I'm sure it will fit perfectly in the context of the movie.
Mastering could have been better though.

PS: nice to see some familiar faces here
 
It looks like I'm one of the people that are less annoyed by Arabesque :p I think it fits well in the album, it's a nice bridge, well crafted. It won't work as a standalone track, but in the context of the album I think it works good.
My favourites at the moment are Scaretale, Slow Love Slow, Birdie Song, Want my tears back, Last Ride of the Day and Song of Myself (I really enjoy all of it, it's long but the poem is really moving and the changing voices avoid it to get boring).
 
Definitely! A few people who heard the album before I did were saying that "Arabesque" would fit nicely along with "Sahara" in live shows, and I would really love to see some kind of medley between those two songs, it would be awesome!

Ben: Maybe Bianca or Enigma can clear this up for us, as they are from Finland, but I believe "Taikatalvi" means a type of lullaby in Finnish.

Welcome to all the NW forum folks! :wave:
 
C. said:
...I believe "Taikatalvi" means a type of lullaby in Finnish.
Click to expand...

Well, actually it means 'magical winter', I understand a conscious reference by Tuomas to Tove Jansson's book Moominland Midwinter, originally Trollvinter in Swedish. The Finnish edition is titled - surprise, surprise - Taikatalvi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moominland_Midwinter).

Many seem to hear lullaby sort of qualities in the song, but I guess that's not intended, at least judging by the lyrics.
 
I see pere got first to explain about the author and the book, but since I wrote this before starting translating the lyrics, I'll post the whole chapter.


"Taikatalvi" [Magic winter] (Originally Swedish: "Trollvinter"; English version: "Moominland Midwinter") is the title of a novel by Tove Jansson, a late Finnish-Swedish author who created the Moomin and wrote a series of novels and illustrated books about them. Her stories about the Moomins are like tales, but also carry some deeper philosohical layers which made them popular among both children and adults. The books can be read simply as fairytales, or examined through the human ideals entwined in the Moomin everyday life and the Moomin Valley's conflicts with the outer world.

Tuomas said that the song "Taikatalvi" is a bow to the author and also his own illustration of the story in the book which happens during a winter when one of the Moomins wakes up from his usual hibernation and experiences the winter.

I translated the lyrics to my best ability, even I think a good portion of the mental images may have fainted or blurred in the process. Sorry folks, translating poetry isn't too easy...


Magic Winter
(orig: Taikatalvi, Finnish lyrics by Tuomas Holopainen)

Of my children the dearest this stage is
Where moonlight walks on the alleys
A bent spruce twig, summer nursed by the
White ocean so vast
Who'll on the ghost-moon's wings
Arrive to take me home

On the wintery land a moment like eternity
Which on a kitten's paws sneaks to me
Here at the spring of tales I may live where
The violin of enormous longing
Paints it's eternal tune
It's song will awaken the land

.
 
Well Enigma, you did a damn good job! Thanks for the translation!

Talking about moments in the sun, ís there anyone else that thinks it's a pity that Emppu didn't write any of the music on any of the songs on the album? Marco did his share with the excellent "Birdie" song, but where is Emppu's contribution as far as songwriting goes?

It's great that people have such different view of "Scaretale" and "Slow, love, slow", and I wished I'd like both of these songs, but they still haven't grown on me, and I think that they won't either... But hey, the other songs more than make up for it!
 
Kiitos, Enigma and Pere, for clearing this up! Thanks for the translation!

Welcome to the board, Pere! :wave:

Michele: I know a lot of other people have complained about Emppu's lack of guitar parts on the album, but I'm not sure if he helped contribute to any of the songwriting. Far as I know, Marco wrote "Birdie" and Pip Williams wrote "Imaginaerum".

And I wouldn't worry too much about the songs that haven't grown on you yet; I wasn't crazy about "Meadows of Heaven" when DPP first came out, but I would say now that it's one of my favorite songs. :D
 
C.....: It says in the credits that "All music by Tuomas Holopainen except The Crow, The Owl And The Dove" by Marco Hietala.
So I guess that Emppu didn't co-write any songs on this album, like he did on a few songs on the other albums.
 
Thanks, C, happy to join the merry company.

As regards the album, so much is going on about it all around the web it's a bit difficult to say anything meaningful somebody else already hasn't said, but maybe this: I'm really loving Anette's vocals e.g. from 1:00 through to 1:50 and again 2:30 to 3:30 in the Song of Myself. Really powerful, on a par with anything NW have done IMO. Last Ride is her forte as well.
 
I have yet to listen to the new album (my copy is somewhere along the way) but I have heard 'Storytime' & 'The Crow, The Owl and the Dove' and I love both songs from being so different from one the other. Judging by the official samples (and various reviews) it seems to be quite a versatile album, music/vocal-wise. I really have to listen to the damn thing in high quality before expressing my opinion.
 
C. said:
Tramz: It's a bit of a harsh phrase for me to say that I was never "blown away" by GLS the first time I heard it, because it's my favorite Once song after "Planet Hell". But it just took a while to knock "Beauty of the Beast" off the throne for me, that's all.
Click to expand...

"Beauty of the Beast" is my favorite epic, above "Ghost Love Score" and "TPATP".

I've listened to the entire album quite a lot so far, but I just need a little bit more time to fully digest this album. I'm going to be spending some time actually listening to the album while reading the lyrics as the song plays. Sometime tomorrow, I should be able to provide a track-by-track review of the album.
 
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