C.
OSA Webmistress
- Aug 11, 2007
- 2,573
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^Yes, I notice with this album that you really need more than a few listens to take it all in. It's quite a sonic journey.
Imaginaerum Opinions
- Thread starter Tramz
- Start date
^ I think that's true for any album I listen to, not just Nightwish or other symphonic metal bands. I simply need a little bit of time to properly absorb everything from the album.
As I said yesterday, I would be doing a track-by-track review of the album, and here it is. I also assigned ratings to each song. I admit I went a little overboard with my reviews on Storytime and Song of Myself, but the other songs have much shorter reviews. Sorry about the overall length.
Taikatalvi (8/10) - This is pretty much an intro song, because of the length. Even though it has vocals, it feels more like an intro song. Marco does a good job singing on here with his soft vocals. This song sounds very pleasant to listen to with its soft keyboard sounds and orchestral arrangements and I think it does a great job of capturing the essence of the winter season.
Storytime (10/10) - The first real song on this album starts off with a blast, a fairly upbeat song with a lot of energy packed into it. I know there are some people who weren't too impressed by this song or feel that it's merely just an average song, and I can understand your reasons why. With this being a single, the song is intended for a commerical audience and some people hate commercism in music. Regardless of this, I still love this song and you have to understand where I'm coming from when it comes my reason for loving this song. For me, there is a trend when it comes to the Nightwish singles. I have a habit of falling in love with the Nightwish singles, perhaps due to the fact they are catchy. Among the several singles I love includes stuff like Sleeping Sun, Deep Silent Complete, Ever Dream, Bless the Child, Nemo, The Siren, and Amaranth. I love most of the singles and with a strong trend like that, the odds are very likely I'll fall in love with another single. This is one song that I have found myself hitting the repeat button often, which is a sign that I really love this song, although I'm not sure if I would actually label as my overall favorite from this album.
Ghost River (8/10) - Awesome, a duet between Anette and Marco. Quite possibly the best duet between them. The children's choir also sounds very fantastic in this song. I've heard others saying this is like a "Planet Hell 2.0", but I really don't think so. It sounds quite different than "Planet Hell" (having a more noticable orchestra sound), and it doesn't have the long build-up that "Planet Hell" has before the vocals come in. The only similiarity to "Planet Hell" is the duet in here, but that's about all.
Slow, Love, Slow (3/10) - Ugh... *groans over this song*. With a name like that, I thought it would turn out better than it actually did. But well, I was wrong. It's so hard to get into this song for some reason. I don't think I would blame it on the jazzy sound of this song, because I have no experience at all with jazz. I can't hate jazz music unless I've actually heard it before. Looking at the lyrics, they don't seem to impress me that much. I'd like to give this song a chance to grow on me, but I'm not sure if that will happen.
I Want My Tears Back (8/10) - Before this album was released, I was expecting this to be some sort of "emo" song with a song name like that. I was very wrong on that assumption. The song ended up being much better than I had expected. It actually sounds catchy, partly because of Troy's use of the pipes on this song. Lyrics aren't too bad here, I actually like parts of the lyrics.
Scaretale (9/10) - I originally thought this song would sound creepy (in a bad way), so I wasn't really too interested at first. Then I heard this song for the first time and it was much better than I thought. The song does sound creepy, but in a good way though. This song sounds somewhat circus-y, actually. After the first minute of the song, it really begins to pick up quite a bit with the epic orchestral parts, which is quite catchy. Anette proves that she can be versatile in this song, by sounding sinister during parts of the song. She's definitely come a long way since DPP, and this is one of her good vocal performances on the album.
Arabesque (5/10) - An instrumental in the middle of the album. This was not something I was expecting out of this song. Given the band's habit towards making Middle Eastern type songs, I thought this would be another one of those songs and at least I was right about that. This song makes me picture someone traveling across a desert in the Middle East. A fairly average song, but the low rating comes from the song length and the lack of vocals.
Turn Loose The Mermaids (6/10) - This is the only true ballad on the album, alongside "Slow, Love, Slow". Sounds like another average song for me. It didn't really impress me at all, but I still think it was definitely better than "Slow, Love, Slow". Since I like the lyrics here, I think it has a better chance to grow on me compared to "Slow, Love, Slow".
Rest Calm (10/10) - It's tough to classify this song as a ballad or not. Sure, this song has some ballad moments, but the guitars are prevalent in this song too. I like the lyrics for this song and I'd consider them to be the best lyrics from this album. The children's choir really works out well with Anette here, and makes the song pleasant to listen to. As always, Marco works out well with Anette too.
The Crow, The Owl And The Dove (7/10) - Feels a bit like "The Islander" from DPP, which was a song that didn't really care for. I think this is better than "The Islander", because I think it has the better lyrics. This still an somewhat average song for me, but I gave some credit here to the lyrics. Troy also gets an opportunity to show off his vocals in this song, which are pretty good here.
Last Ride of the Day (9/10) - Reminds me a little bit of "Storytime" in the way it sounds. As with "Storytime", it's got plenty of catchy moments. This song does sound more epic than "Storytime" though. I think this song has a good chance of being the next single, but who knows. I could end up being wrong. Lyrically, this song isn't quite as good as "Storytime", but it doesn't really hurt the overall rating I've given out.
Song of Myself (7/10) - The first half of the song is amazing, with some good orchestral moments. I liked the reference to "Escapist" to start off the song, which is very close to being my favorite Nightwish song. Some old themes pop up in this song, like the Dead Boy. This song might have had the biggest surprise of the album, with a 6 1/2 minute poem, leaving only 7 minutes for the main part of the song. I felt the poem took up too much space, but I do appreciate Tuomas's effort he put into the poem. There were small parts of the poem that did sound beautiful, so it wasn't a terrible poem by any means. The poem is written on Walt Whitman's writing style, but I can't compare this poem to his writing style as I've never read any of his poems. First half of the song would get a 9/10 from me, but the long, overdrawn poem drags that down to a 7/10.
Imaginaerum (7/10) - A song that goes out and mixes various orchestral sections from every song and places it all into one song. In a way, this a "Best of" song when it comes to the best orchestral arrangements from the album. This seems like a song that might be good to listen to if I ever want to relax for a bit. Great way to end this album.
Potential candidates for my favorite song - Storytime, I Want My Tears Back, Scaretale, Rest Calm, and Last Ride of the Day.
I still need more time to really decide on that one. And that's my review. I started working on this review shortly before 11:00 AM today, but it took a while because I was tired, plus I also had trouble figuring out what to say about each song. Sometimes, I couldn't come up with the right words at times.
As I said yesterday, I would be doing a track-by-track review of the album, and here it is. I also assigned ratings to each song. I admit I went a little overboard with my reviews on Storytime and Song of Myself, but the other songs have much shorter reviews. Sorry about the overall length.
Taikatalvi (8/10) - This is pretty much an intro song, because of the length. Even though it has vocals, it feels more like an intro song. Marco does a good job singing on here with his soft vocals. This song sounds very pleasant to listen to with its soft keyboard sounds and orchestral arrangements and I think it does a great job of capturing the essence of the winter season.
Storytime (10/10) - The first real song on this album starts off with a blast, a fairly upbeat song with a lot of energy packed into it. I know there are some people who weren't too impressed by this song or feel that it's merely just an average song, and I can understand your reasons why. With this being a single, the song is intended for a commerical audience and some people hate commercism in music. Regardless of this, I still love this song and you have to understand where I'm coming from when it comes my reason for loving this song. For me, there is a trend when it comes to the Nightwish singles. I have a habit of falling in love with the Nightwish singles, perhaps due to the fact they are catchy. Among the several singles I love includes stuff like Sleeping Sun, Deep Silent Complete, Ever Dream, Bless the Child, Nemo, The Siren, and Amaranth. I love most of the singles and with a strong trend like that, the odds are very likely I'll fall in love with another single. This is one song that I have found myself hitting the repeat button often, which is a sign that I really love this song, although I'm not sure if I would actually label as my overall favorite from this album.
Ghost River (8/10) - Awesome, a duet between Anette and Marco. Quite possibly the best duet between them. The children's choir also sounds very fantastic in this song. I've heard others saying this is like a "Planet Hell 2.0", but I really don't think so. It sounds quite different than "Planet Hell" (having a more noticable orchestra sound), and it doesn't have the long build-up that "Planet Hell" has before the vocals come in. The only similiarity to "Planet Hell" is the duet in here, but that's about all.
Slow, Love, Slow (3/10) - Ugh... *groans over this song*. With a name like that, I thought it would turn out better than it actually did. But well, I was wrong. It's so hard to get into this song for some reason. I don't think I would blame it on the jazzy sound of this song, because I have no experience at all with jazz. I can't hate jazz music unless I've actually heard it before. Looking at the lyrics, they don't seem to impress me that much. I'd like to give this song a chance to grow on me, but I'm not sure if that will happen.
I Want My Tears Back (8/10) - Before this album was released, I was expecting this to be some sort of "emo" song with a song name like that. I was very wrong on that assumption. The song ended up being much better than I had expected. It actually sounds catchy, partly because of Troy's use of the pipes on this song. Lyrics aren't too bad here, I actually like parts of the lyrics.
Scaretale (9/10) - I originally thought this song would sound creepy (in a bad way), so I wasn't really too interested at first. Then I heard this song for the first time and it was much better than I thought. The song does sound creepy, but in a good way though. This song sounds somewhat circus-y, actually. After the first minute of the song, it really begins to pick up quite a bit with the epic orchestral parts, which is quite catchy. Anette proves that she can be versatile in this song, by sounding sinister during parts of the song. She's definitely come a long way since DPP, and this is one of her good vocal performances on the album.
Arabesque (5/10) - An instrumental in the middle of the album. This was not something I was expecting out of this song. Given the band's habit towards making Middle Eastern type songs, I thought this would be another one of those songs and at least I was right about that. This song makes me picture someone traveling across a desert in the Middle East. A fairly average song, but the low rating comes from the song length and the lack of vocals.
Turn Loose The Mermaids (6/10) - This is the only true ballad on the album, alongside "Slow, Love, Slow". Sounds like another average song for me. It didn't really impress me at all, but I still think it was definitely better than "Slow, Love, Slow". Since I like the lyrics here, I think it has a better chance to grow on me compared to "Slow, Love, Slow".
Rest Calm (10/10) - It's tough to classify this song as a ballad or not. Sure, this song has some ballad moments, but the guitars are prevalent in this song too. I like the lyrics for this song and I'd consider them to be the best lyrics from this album. The children's choir really works out well with Anette here, and makes the song pleasant to listen to. As always, Marco works out well with Anette too.
The Crow, The Owl And The Dove (7/10) - Feels a bit like "The Islander" from DPP, which was a song that didn't really care for. I think this is better than "The Islander", because I think it has the better lyrics. This still an somewhat average song for me, but I gave some credit here to the lyrics. Troy also gets an opportunity to show off his vocals in this song, which are pretty good here.
Last Ride of the Day (9/10) - Reminds me a little bit of "Storytime" in the way it sounds. As with "Storytime", it's got plenty of catchy moments. This song does sound more epic than "Storytime" though. I think this song has a good chance of being the next single, but who knows. I could end up being wrong. Lyrically, this song isn't quite as good as "Storytime", but it doesn't really hurt the overall rating I've given out.
Song of Myself (7/10) - The first half of the song is amazing, with some good orchestral moments. I liked the reference to "Escapist" to start off the song, which is very close to being my favorite Nightwish song. Some old themes pop up in this song, like the Dead Boy. This song might have had the biggest surprise of the album, with a 6 1/2 minute poem, leaving only 7 minutes for the main part of the song. I felt the poem took up too much space, but I do appreciate Tuomas's effort he put into the poem. There were small parts of the poem that did sound beautiful, so it wasn't a terrible poem by any means. The poem is written on Walt Whitman's writing style, but I can't compare this poem to his writing style as I've never read any of his poems. First half of the song would get a 9/10 from me, but the long, overdrawn poem drags that down to a 7/10.
Imaginaerum (7/10) - A song that goes out and mixes various orchestral sections from every song and places it all into one song. In a way, this a "Best of" song when it comes to the best orchestral arrangements from the album. This seems like a song that might be good to listen to if I ever want to relax for a bit. Great way to end this album.
Potential candidates for my favorite song - Storytime, I Want My Tears Back, Scaretale, Rest Calm, and Last Ride of the Day.
I still need more time to really decide on that one. And that's my review. I started working on this review shortly before 11:00 AM today, but it took a while because I was tired, plus I also had trouble figuring out what to say about each song. Sometimes, I couldn't come up with the right words at times.
I really really like Imaginaerum. The only track I haven't gotten into so much would be Slow, Love, Slow and I think it's just because it's really different and I need some more listens. I really wanted to get back to the classic stuff, which I feel this album has a lot of. A lot of really "THAT'S SO NIGHTWISH!" moments, like the duelling guitar/keyboard/pipes instrumental in I Want My Tears Back (sounds like Wishmaster to me, so much), the piano lines in Storytime which remind me so much of Oceanborn, and the Birdy Song, which sounds much like AFF but more polished and arty somehow.
Yeah, overall, pretty pleased. It's pretty much exactly what I thought it would be, and predictably, my favourite is probably Turn Loose the Mermaids. That song was the one I was most looking forward to, and it actually turned out to be my favourite, which is weird since my predictions on my fav songs are usually never right.
Yeah, overall, pretty pleased. It's pretty much exactly what I thought it would be, and predictably, my favourite is probably Turn Loose the Mermaids. That song was the one I was most looking forward to, and it actually turned out to be my favourite, which is weird since my predictions on my fav songs are usually never right.
C.
OSA Webmistress
- Aug 11, 2007
- 2,573
- 1
- 38
I think I'm the only one who is citing "SLS" as my favorite song so far, because it *is* so different!
Still waiting for my "real" copy to arrive from Finland...Michele, I'll e-mail you as soon as it gets here!!!
Still waiting for my "real" copy to arrive from Finland...Michele, I'll e-mail you as soon as it gets here!!!
I'm not sure if SLS is my absolute favorite on the album, but I've been championing it pretty steadily. It's a very good song that is destined to be under rated by an audience that might not be as inclined towards jazzy elements as another might.
I suppose I am predisposed. One of my all time favorite bands is a jazzfunk outfit named Incognito, so I came out of SLS pleasantly surprised.
I suppose I am predisposed. One of my all time favorite bands is a jazzfunk outfit named Incognito, so I came out of SLS pleasantly surprised.
C.
OSA Webmistress
- Aug 11, 2007
- 2,573
- 1
- 38
Michele, I got the CD you sent! It arrived safely, and it looks beautiful!!! Can't wait to listen to the instrumental CD.
Thank you Bianca74. I'm glad you liked my review.
C., it's great that you finally got your CD. I have yet to actually listen to the instrumental versions, I'll do that eventually.
C., it's great that you finally got your CD. I have yet to actually listen to the instrumental versions, I'll do that eventually.
SheisMySin
Member
- Apr 24, 2006
- 606
- 5
- 16
Let me preface this by saying, Nightwish is my FAVORITE band. I have been a fan of them since I first discovered Oceanborn however long ago...12+ years ago. Also, I've only heard these songs a few times...so I'm sure my opinions will change.
First off - I get the CD in the mail from the Nightwish shop (super fast shipping!) and when I put it in my computer, the name of the CD and track listing doesn't even show up. All I see are "track 1, track 2, etc". Maybe everyone else has the text to go with these songs, but for me - this is SLOPPY!!!
Tracks:
1. Taikatalvi - What the f@#$@#ing f@#$@# is this? lmao Instant skip EVERY time. Please don't tell me this is a concept album, and I need to appreciate this...whatever direction Tuomas has decided to go in.
2. Storytime - Love this song! It should have been the first track on the album.
3. Ghost River - Love the opening guitar riff...sounds like Van Halen or something. The more I hear that riff...the more I notice I don't hear Emmpu's jamming solos anywhere on this CD. Average song...good chorus.
4. Slow, Love, Slow - What? Are you kidding me? A Jazz song as the 3rd song? I can MAYBE get with this song if it was MUCH later down in the order, but the 3rd song? Just when I'm getting into rocking out? Horrible choice to put 3rd...it kills any momentum the CD was having. That said - NOT a fan of the song. I thought maybe they would try to infuse metal with Jazz....but really it's just out of place....it's experimental...bleh.
5. I want my tears back - Like it...like the celtic sounds...not a great song though. In the middle towards the end, the celtic/guitar dual isn't very inventive or complex...just simple sounds repeating. WHERE is a guitar solo for crying out loud in here? It screams for one. Not a fan...it gets old fast. But so far, Annette's vocals I dig, and fun chorus.
6. Scaretale - If Taikatalvi wasn't 1, and Slow Love Slow wasn't 3, this would be a great 1,2,3,4 punch. Anyway...love the intro and opening riff. Basically this is a very theatrical song...reminds me of Savatage or Broadway. Love what they are trying to do, but sorry...Annette's vocals are NOT powerful enough to really do this song justice. Tarja would have murdered this song.
Then the song breaks into some circus BS...and this great metal riff becomes secondary and the broadway-ness of the song takes forefront. It's just too much theatricalness for me...which doesn't accent the song, but clutters it up. Then it goes back to the metal...but too late...the last 45 seconds of the song is just awful. Time to skip again to the next song.
7. Arabesque - lmao - WHAT?? Okay, is it some requirement that every NW album needs to have some instrumental? Maybe if they would have infused some metal originality with this, it would have been good, but it's just a cheap soundtrack song to Prince of Persia. It doesn't even go anywhere! Musically...it's just...seems to keep building to nowhere. Awful - skip from now one everytime I play this CD.
8. Turn loose the mermaids - Ugh. Okay, this is why Tarja reigns supreme...because she could take a song like this and make is SO spectacular. Annette's vocals can't carry this kind of slow song. Eva was good because it was catchy...this is like "the Islander" only worse.
So by now, with the end of Scaretale, Arabesque, and Mermaids....a HUGE chunk of this album is just wasted and skipped for me.
9. Rest Calm - Like it....will probably like this more with repeat listens. FINALLY we get some Emmpu soloing! Still, nothing awesome...but good.
10. Crow Owl and Dove - WHAT!?!? 3 crap slow songs in a row, followed by Rest Calm which gets me going again, just to go right back into more slow? That said, I like the song. It's like the Islander to me. Slow, but when I'm in the mood, I'll play this and sing a long.
11. Last Ride of the Day - Probably the 2nd best song on the album for me. Intro is classic power NW. Vocals sound like Carmina Burama Orf. Love the musical melody of the vocals...but the more I listen and criticize, I think the music once again is overpowering Annette. Still, a fun song, and great chorus, but Annette gets lost...and we get some Emmpu jamming a bit...not much though.
12. Song of myself - Love the first part...nowhere NEAR as epic as Ghost Love Score, but it's nice....some awesome riifs...although the breakdown chugging is stale and uninventive. 7 minutes into this, the song falls apart, and some shi#$$ narrative drags ON and ON for 6 minutes. Listened to it once...but never again - SKIP.
13. Whatever...At this point I'm tired of the second rate orchestra conducting. It's one thing to hear John Williams or Danny Elfman create a masterpiece with an orchestra, but on here...it's just...cheap. Sorry, no other way for me to put it. This should be on disc 2 where it's all instrumental.
SO - my final thoughts - this is EASILY Nightwish's worst album. There's only a couple standout tracks, and some good solid ones, but TONS of filler and skip songs. They just don't flow as a CD. If I'm in the mood for something soft...I'll play something soft. I don't want to play NW to rock out, only to have to keep skipping songs.
Ugh!!! So MAD right now...
X
First off - I get the CD in the mail from the Nightwish shop (super fast shipping!) and when I put it in my computer, the name of the CD and track listing doesn't even show up. All I see are "track 1, track 2, etc". Maybe everyone else has the text to go with these songs, but for me - this is SLOPPY!!!
Tracks:
1. Taikatalvi - What the f@#$@#ing f@#$@# is this? lmao Instant skip EVERY time. Please don't tell me this is a concept album, and I need to appreciate this...whatever direction Tuomas has decided to go in.
2. Storytime - Love this song! It should have been the first track on the album.
3. Ghost River - Love the opening guitar riff...sounds like Van Halen or something. The more I hear that riff...the more I notice I don't hear Emmpu's jamming solos anywhere on this CD. Average song...good chorus.
4. Slow, Love, Slow - What? Are you kidding me? A Jazz song as the 3rd song? I can MAYBE get with this song if it was MUCH later down in the order, but the 3rd song? Just when I'm getting into rocking out? Horrible choice to put 3rd...it kills any momentum the CD was having. That said - NOT a fan of the song. I thought maybe they would try to infuse metal with Jazz....but really it's just out of place....it's experimental...bleh.
5. I want my tears back - Like it...like the celtic sounds...not a great song though. In the middle towards the end, the celtic/guitar dual isn't very inventive or complex...just simple sounds repeating. WHERE is a guitar solo for crying out loud in here? It screams for one. Not a fan...it gets old fast. But so far, Annette's vocals I dig, and fun chorus.
6. Scaretale - If Taikatalvi wasn't 1, and Slow Love Slow wasn't 3, this would be a great 1,2,3,4 punch. Anyway...love the intro and opening riff. Basically this is a very theatrical song...reminds me of Savatage or Broadway. Love what they are trying to do, but sorry...Annette's vocals are NOT powerful enough to really do this song justice. Tarja would have murdered this song.
Then the song breaks into some circus BS...and this great metal riff becomes secondary and the broadway-ness of the song takes forefront. It's just too much theatricalness for me...which doesn't accent the song, but clutters it up. Then it goes back to the metal...but too late...the last 45 seconds of the song is just awful. Time to skip again to the next song.
7. Arabesque - lmao - WHAT?? Okay, is it some requirement that every NW album needs to have some instrumental? Maybe if they would have infused some metal originality with this, it would have been good, but it's just a cheap soundtrack song to Prince of Persia. It doesn't even go anywhere! Musically...it's just...seems to keep building to nowhere. Awful - skip from now one everytime I play this CD.
8. Turn loose the mermaids - Ugh. Okay, this is why Tarja reigns supreme...because she could take a song like this and make is SO spectacular. Annette's vocals can't carry this kind of slow song. Eva was good because it was catchy...this is like "the Islander" only worse.
So by now, with the end of Scaretale, Arabesque, and Mermaids....a HUGE chunk of this album is just wasted and skipped for me.
9. Rest Calm - Like it....will probably like this more with repeat listens. FINALLY we get some Emmpu soloing! Still, nothing awesome...but good.
10. Crow Owl and Dove - WHAT!?!? 3 crap slow songs in a row, followed by Rest Calm which gets me going again, just to go right back into more slow? That said, I like the song. It's like the Islander to me. Slow, but when I'm in the mood, I'll play this and sing a long.
11. Last Ride of the Day - Probably the 2nd best song on the album for me. Intro is classic power NW. Vocals sound like Carmina Burama Orf. Love the musical melody of the vocals...but the more I listen and criticize, I think the music once again is overpowering Annette. Still, a fun song, and great chorus, but Annette gets lost...and we get some Emmpu jamming a bit...not much though.
12. Song of myself - Love the first part...nowhere NEAR as epic as Ghost Love Score, but it's nice....some awesome riifs...although the breakdown chugging is stale and uninventive. 7 minutes into this, the song falls apart, and some shi#$$ narrative drags ON and ON for 6 minutes. Listened to it once...but never again - SKIP.
13. Whatever...At this point I'm tired of the second rate orchestra conducting. It's one thing to hear John Williams or Danny Elfman create a masterpiece with an orchestra, but on here...it's just...cheap. Sorry, no other way for me to put it. This should be on disc 2 where it's all instrumental.
SO - my final thoughts - this is EASILY Nightwish's worst album. There's only a couple standout tracks, and some good solid ones, but TONS of filler and skip songs. They just don't flow as a CD. If I'm in the mood for something soft...I'll play something soft. I don't want to play NW to rock out, only to have to keep skipping songs.
Ugh!!! So MAD right now...
X
C.
OSA Webmistress
- Aug 11, 2007
- 2,573
- 1
- 38
I'm going to merge this with the "Imaginaerum Opinions" thread. Let's keep all reviews of this album to this thread. 
Getting ready to listen to the instrumental CD.
Getting ready to listen to the instrumental CD.
I'm about to listen to the instrumental version of the album. This will be fun so I can have an easier time hearing the orchestra and instruments.
SheisMySin
Member
- Apr 24, 2006
- 606
- 5
- 16
I'm going to merge this with the "Imaginaerum Opinions" thread. Let's keep all reviews of this album to this thread.
Getting ready to listen to the instrumental CD.
I think you stink for moving this to its own thread. It's the first negative review, and it would have been nice to get some convo about people who are less than thrilled with this release!
X
SheisMySin: It kind of sounds like you want them to make the same power metal jam ad nauseum. Every song you liked approached a traditional song for Nightwish, every song you hated had them branching out in some form or another. But that's why this is an opinion thread, because I could not disagree with those sentiments more. :]
I've said it before. If all a band does is recreate your favorite album, they are creatively dead and might as well play greatest hits at a free outdoor festival like some pathetic oldies band milking past glories.
I've said it before. If all a band does is recreate your favorite album, they are creatively dead and might as well play greatest hits at a free outdoor festival like some pathetic oldies band milking past glories.
Calinn
Queen of Sleep
I somehow understand someone who would love a band to always stick to the very same kind of sound, it may be because it's a sound we particularly feel or like.
Still, I am a person who is heavily attracted by several genres and I absolutely love when someone creates something interesting by mixing them. I listen to power/symphonic/industrial/death/nu/heavy metal, hard rock, rock, pop, folk, soul, classical, industrial, punk, hip hop, jazz, whatever, but I can't say I prefer one genre to the other. So I really love when, like in Imaginaerum, metal, rock, folk and classical music are mixed together. A few years ago I was a tr00er metalhead, so my opinion would have been different back then, but loving very variegated artists opened my mind to different sounds, and taking piano lessons opened for me the doors to jazz and classical music (NW failed at this, really. I don't know why but they made me interested in singing and piano, but not really into classical music) which I really couldn't understand before.
All this to say that I think it's fair that someone ends up being disappointed by this record, I can't understand those who complains about Anette's interpretations (wtf??), but those who are disappointed by the sound, the score-ish structure, the combination of the music and Anette's voice type are understandable, IMHO. It's all about taste at this point, especially when someone doesn't dig the genre NW are exploring within a certain song. I mean, there's people who adore DPP and I dislike it strongly (but I'm LOVING Imaginaerum), it's fair. So, negative reviews are needed and fair, until they're not bitchy. I like well-explained complaints, I found out you learn a lot of things by confronting your opinion with the diametrically diverging ones.
Still, I am a person who is heavily attracted by several genres and I absolutely love when someone creates something interesting by mixing them. I listen to power/symphonic/industrial/death/nu/heavy metal, hard rock, rock, pop, folk, soul, classical, industrial, punk, hip hop, jazz, whatever, but I can't say I prefer one genre to the other. So I really love when, like in Imaginaerum, metal, rock, folk and classical music are mixed together. A few years ago I was a tr00er metalhead, so my opinion would have been different back then, but loving very variegated artists opened my mind to different sounds, and taking piano lessons opened for me the doors to jazz and classical music (NW failed at this, really. I don't know why but they made me interested in singing and piano, but not really into classical music) which I really couldn't understand before.
All this to say that I think it's fair that someone ends up being disappointed by this record, I can't understand those who complains about Anette's interpretations (wtf??), but those who are disappointed by the sound, the score-ish structure, the combination of the music and Anette's voice type are understandable, IMHO. It's all about taste at this point, especially when someone doesn't dig the genre NW are exploring within a certain song. I mean, there's people who adore DPP and I dislike it strongly (but I'm LOVING Imaginaerum), it's fair. So, negative reviews are needed and fair, until they're not bitchy. I like well-explained complaints, I found out you learn a lot of things by confronting your opinion with the diametrically diverging ones.
C.
OSA Webmistress
- Aug 11, 2007
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SheismySin: Since this is the thread for opinions about Imaginaerum, I felt that it should include opinions from all sides; that we shouldn't have all positive reviews here, or that the negative ones should have its own separate place.
SheisMySin
Member
- Apr 24, 2006
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I don't mind my favorite band experimenting and taking a new direction. I know they can't keep repeating the same album. That said - would you call all their other ones copycats of one another? Was Century Child a copycat of Wishmaster? Was Once a copycat of CC? No - they were evolving.
The whole lullaby/arabian/folk/circus/jazz sound of the new CD is fine with me...I just wish it was better and fit better into the context. It's not wrong to want to hear more soloing from Emmpu.
I still am not sure I get the album concept anyway, but maybe I need to see the movie for it all to work. It's like...it starts off with some children's theme...then it just flips to slow jazz. Whaa? And then it goes to some arabian music? lol Where did that come in?
Like I said in my review, I've only heard each song a few times, so I might grow to love it like I did with DPP. To me, and album is worth buying when it has 3 or 4 songs they I like on it. This has 5 or 6, so it's still a good CD...just not nearly close to the other masterpieces.
X
The whole lullaby/arabian/folk/circus/jazz sound of the new CD is fine with me...I just wish it was better and fit better into the context. It's not wrong to want to hear more soloing from Emmpu.
I still am not sure I get the album concept anyway, but maybe I need to see the movie for it all to work. It's like...it starts off with some children's theme...then it just flips to slow jazz. Whaa? And then it goes to some arabian music? lol Where did that come in?
Like I said in my review, I've only heard each song a few times, so I might grow to love it like I did with DPP. To me, and album is worth buying when it has 3 or 4 songs they I like on it. This has 5 or 6, so it's still a good CD...just not nearly close to the other masterpieces.
X
SheIsMySin: A fair point about their previous albums being an evolution.
I liked Arabesque for it's strong percussive elements. But it's true I can see how for some it might seem to be out of left field. I didn't have a problem with the placing of "Slow, Love, Slow" either. At most, perhaps it could have been made song 5. One assumes they are placed precisely for the story. Of course I like jazz, so it wasn't as much of a shock to me as to some.
I do agree with you on the circus elements. I "get" the notion that not every sound you hear in an album should necessarily be pleasant or straight forward. Sometimes you have to move outside that paradigm. It all depends what the moment calls for. But the circus elements are just a touch cheesy for me.
I do find Turn Loose The Mermaids to be boring for my taste, but I am surprised at the reaction to "The Crow, The Owl, and The Dove". For me, this is an album highlight. It's a slow song properly done.
I think we can safely say one thing: Whether one likes Imaginaerum or not, Tuomas and the band packed a ton of creative ideas into one album. Some might feel that it was perhaps too many. But kudos to them for even having these ideas to get out.
And for the record? The song I've been coming back to most? Song of Myself. I would have a hard time calling it better than past opus/epics like Beauty of the Beast, GLS, P&P or even FantasMic, but the first half is top shelf stuff.
I liked Arabesque for it's strong percussive elements. But it's true I can see how for some it might seem to be out of left field. I didn't have a problem with the placing of "Slow, Love, Slow" either. At most, perhaps it could have been made song 5. One assumes they are placed precisely for the story. Of course I like jazz, so it wasn't as much of a shock to me as to some.
I do agree with you on the circus elements. I "get" the notion that not every sound you hear in an album should necessarily be pleasant or straight forward. Sometimes you have to move outside that paradigm. It all depends what the moment calls for. But the circus elements are just a touch cheesy for me.
I do find Turn Loose The Mermaids to be boring for my taste, but I am surprised at the reaction to "The Crow, The Owl, and The Dove". For me, this is an album highlight. It's a slow song properly done.
I think we can safely say one thing: Whether one likes Imaginaerum or not, Tuomas and the band packed a ton of creative ideas into one album. Some might feel that it was perhaps too many. But kudos to them for even having these ideas to get out.
And for the record? The song I've been coming back to most? Song of Myself. I would have a hard time calling it better than past opus/epics like Beauty of the Beast, GLS, P&P or even FantasMic, but the first half is top shelf stuff.
Taimi
Wishmistress
Not an album that will be getting much play from me after I experienced a flashback listening to I Want My Tears Back... That 'Scent Of Grandfatherly Love' line... it brings back some nasty memories, and pretty much spoiled the whole experience. If it happened once, whats to keep it from happening again?
C.
OSA Webmistress
- Aug 11, 2007
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^Maybe you can read our "Misheard Lyrics" thread, and someone there will post something about that line that will make you think of something else?
Tramz: I agree, I'm pretty addicted to "Song of Myself" right now. I don't think it will ever be GLS, BOTB, or P&P for me, but it will have a special place of its own. And am I the only one who digs the spoken poetry part?
SheismySin: I can't remember if I said this to you before, but I agree with you that I'm having trouble figuring where this is a concept album too. I keep hoping that the movie will clarify a lot of the things that seem to be missing here, or are the "threads" that tie the songs together.
Tramz: I agree, I'm pretty addicted to "Song of Myself" right now. I don't think it will ever be GLS, BOTB, or P&P for me, but it will have a special place of its own. And am I the only one who digs the spoken poetry part?
SheismySin: I can't remember if I said this to you before, but I agree with you that I'm having trouble figuring where this is a concept album too. I keep hoping that the movie will clarify a lot of the things that seem to be missing here, or are the "threads" that tie the songs together.
Taimi
Wishmistress
C: I don't think reading the "Misheard Lyrics" thread is going to help much. How I interpret it isn't what he meant, but it hits people differently. I'll PM you what I'm referring to but don't what to mention in public, very private.
