This is my interpretation of the album song by song after listening to the orchestral version first, and then two or three listens to the the regular cd, and it took me most of the weekend to write it. Now up front I am a Nightwish fan boy and have been since 2000, so this may seem a little biased, but hey it's my opinion.
"Imaginaerum the new album by Nightwish can be best described as a sonic journey through the main characters imagination that tempts the listeners to open theirs. There are songs that combine strange, bold, daring, sensual, outrageous, and above all epic elements. The songwriting and musicianship of the Finnish/Swedish quintet simply gets better with age. The band has an ability to progress within themselves. The music on this release will most likely test the boundaries of most fans expectations.
Taikatalvi, which Tuomas has described as the first ever intro song by Nightwish. It is sung in Finnish by Marco, who has an underrated vocal style that has him being one of the most sought after quest male vocalists. The song commences with the foreboding sound of a music box winding up the album for the rollers coaster ride to come.
Storytime the first single from the albumic has more of the typical Nightwish sound that most fans expect. The riffs have that heavy crunch as The band sets the sound levels clear past 11. As soon as Anette Olzen begins to sing, You can tell she seems much more comfortable on this release. She still sounds cute in contrast to years of the contra alto operatic vocal style of Tarja, but any shortcoming she may have is made up for with pure pizazz and sensuality. Anette really lets her hair down on this album. This album was made for her vocal style and there are even songs on here that I cannot imagine Tarja singing.
Ghost River takes a slight turn which can only be labeled as controlled chaos. Once the verse kicks in and Marco takes a slightly harsher vocal approach, it takes a minute before you can understand the direction. Once the chorus kicks, the song opens up and you realize that this is one of the most interesting songs the band has ever written.
Slow, Love, Slow is like transporting back to an undergound gin joint during prohibition. During the slow piano infused jazz number, you can envision Anette sprawled out on a piano in the smoke filled gin joint. An infectious and sensual ballad, the song tests and breaks down the nearly limitless boundaries of Nightwish. The song ends with 30 seconds of clock ticking, like a timer to one of the albums best tracks.
I Want My Tears Back starts with Marco/Anette belting out the chorus of a typically huge Nightwish anthem. Just when you expect a driving guitar riff, Troy Donockley (on Uilleann pipes) and Dennot Crehan(Hardanger fiddle) hits you with the melody. The combo of Donockley/Creham return for a solo sounding a bit like Nightwish playing during a performance of Riverdance or as musical backdrop for the scene from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" where Snow White dances with the dwarfs pure Disney.
Scaretale is a scarey gripping tale that is one defining tracks on the album that represents these immensely talented musicians. The song begins with a movie score intro morphing into a flashy and very crunchy section, but then ruptures into what sounds like a narrated nightmare come to life. Anette, who is the hosts of the nightmare, really elevates her vocal delivery into what could be called "scarey". The highest point of the song comes at 3:58 until 5:32 , where Marco sings the part of the carnival barker as the band does a musical interlude reminiscent of a Tim Burton musical. Then back to movie score and the crunchy heavy section with Marco and Anette dueting again. This song has to be one of the bands best achievements and one of my favorites from the album
Arabesque is a bombastic instrumental with elements drawn from classical movie scores, and Middle Eastern elements. It is a thrilling score with incredible drum beats that could be the movie score for a movie like "Lawerance Of Arabia" or "Prince of Persia" or it could be he intro to some really crunchy power metal song, but it actually does good as a stand alone song. It really shows that Jukka Nevalanian is more than a one dimensional drummer he is a true precussionist.
Turn Loose the Mermaids sounds like the sequel to The Islander, All the elements are there, the sea, the folk style, but Anette alone on vocals. The whistling portion adds more a Celtic folk touch to the mix in my opinion.
Rest Calm is anything but. One of the albums heaviest numbers. To me this song could have been on a Tarot album but with Marco and Anette sharing and dueting in a seven minute song that takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride switching back and forth from the heavy verses to the quieter and calmer chorus. i have to say their duets are really, really good, even better on this song than others. Emppu provides some really good riffs throughout the entire song, again i will say he is underrated as a guitar player. At the 4:40 mark Marc's vocals will stn you and give you goose bumps. The addition of the boys choir adds a nice touch.
"The Crow, the Owl and the Dove" This song makes a strong case to be one of the best tracks on this album. Marco and Anettes duets in this song are nothing short of remarkable, and stirring and Haunting. You can tell this will be a fan favorite and one of the bands most accessible songs. Every aspect of this song works. I especially love the whistle in the background, reminds me a little of the cedar flutes of John Two Hawks.
Last Ride of the Day How do you say this without causing a ruckus among fans, but to me this is the most Nightwish sounding song of the album, its an up tempo cruncher sung beautifully by Anette while a haunting choir chants behind her on the chorus. Marco's backing vocals are enought to send chills down your spine especially at the 2:50 mark. Again Emppu does some good shredding towrd the end. Reminds me of what Tuomas said of this song, the last roller coaster ride before the park closes.
Song Of Myself is a thirteen minute opus that has soaring choirs and enchanting music, with some good riffs by Erno. Again Anette feels totally at ease with this song, and the duets with Marco are again remarkable. Even with the second half of the song comprising of mostly narration, guess the narration has to be there for the movie, i like the music behind the narration it is perfectly fine as is.
Imaginaerum, a classical wrap up of the album in movie score style. It was created by Pip Williams and adapted from the music created by Tuomas. it is really a nice way to end the album, kinda of a tranquilizer after what you ears and senses have been put through.
Hope you enjoyed the review and I also hope you enjoyed the album as much as i did.
.
s
"Imaginaerum the new album by Nightwish can be best described as a sonic journey through the main characters imagination that tempts the listeners to open theirs. There are songs that combine strange, bold, daring, sensual, outrageous, and above all epic elements. The songwriting and musicianship of the Finnish/Swedish quintet simply gets better with age. The band has an ability to progress within themselves. The music on this release will most likely test the boundaries of most fans expectations.
Taikatalvi, which Tuomas has described as the first ever intro song by Nightwish. It is sung in Finnish by Marco, who has an underrated vocal style that has him being one of the most sought after quest male vocalists. The song commences with the foreboding sound of a music box winding up the album for the rollers coaster ride to come.
Storytime the first single from the albumic has more of the typical Nightwish sound that most fans expect. The riffs have that heavy crunch as The band sets the sound levels clear past 11. As soon as Anette Olzen begins to sing, You can tell she seems much more comfortable on this release. She still sounds cute in contrast to years of the contra alto operatic vocal style of Tarja, but any shortcoming she may have is made up for with pure pizazz and sensuality. Anette really lets her hair down on this album. This album was made for her vocal style and there are even songs on here that I cannot imagine Tarja singing.
Ghost River takes a slight turn which can only be labeled as controlled chaos. Once the verse kicks in and Marco takes a slightly harsher vocal approach, it takes a minute before you can understand the direction. Once the chorus kicks, the song opens up and you realize that this is one of the most interesting songs the band has ever written.
Slow, Love, Slow is like transporting back to an undergound gin joint during prohibition. During the slow piano infused jazz number, you can envision Anette sprawled out on a piano in the smoke filled gin joint. An infectious and sensual ballad, the song tests and breaks down the nearly limitless boundaries of Nightwish. The song ends with 30 seconds of clock ticking, like a timer to one of the albums best tracks.
I Want My Tears Back starts with Marco/Anette belting out the chorus of a typically huge Nightwish anthem. Just when you expect a driving guitar riff, Troy Donockley (on Uilleann pipes) and Dennot Crehan(Hardanger fiddle) hits you with the melody. The combo of Donockley/Creham return for a solo sounding a bit like Nightwish playing during a performance of Riverdance or as musical backdrop for the scene from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" where Snow White dances with the dwarfs pure Disney.
Scaretale is a scarey gripping tale that is one defining tracks on the album that represents these immensely talented musicians. The song begins with a movie score intro morphing into a flashy and very crunchy section, but then ruptures into what sounds like a narrated nightmare come to life. Anette, who is the hosts of the nightmare, really elevates her vocal delivery into what could be called "scarey". The highest point of the song comes at 3:58 until 5:32 , where Marco sings the part of the carnival barker as the band does a musical interlude reminiscent of a Tim Burton musical. Then back to movie score and the crunchy heavy section with Marco and Anette dueting again. This song has to be one of the bands best achievements and one of my favorites from the album
Arabesque is a bombastic instrumental with elements drawn from classical movie scores, and Middle Eastern elements. It is a thrilling score with incredible drum beats that could be the movie score for a movie like "Lawerance Of Arabia" or "Prince of Persia" or it could be he intro to some really crunchy power metal song, but it actually does good as a stand alone song. It really shows that Jukka Nevalanian is more than a one dimensional drummer he is a true precussionist.
Turn Loose the Mermaids sounds like the sequel to The Islander, All the elements are there, the sea, the folk style, but Anette alone on vocals. The whistling portion adds more a Celtic folk touch to the mix in my opinion.
Rest Calm is anything but. One of the albums heaviest numbers. To me this song could have been on a Tarot album but with Marco and Anette sharing and dueting in a seven minute song that takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride switching back and forth from the heavy verses to the quieter and calmer chorus. i have to say their duets are really, really good, even better on this song than others. Emppu provides some really good riffs throughout the entire song, again i will say he is underrated as a guitar player. At the 4:40 mark Marc's vocals will stn you and give you goose bumps. The addition of the boys choir adds a nice touch.
"The Crow, the Owl and the Dove" This song makes a strong case to be one of the best tracks on this album. Marco and Anettes duets in this song are nothing short of remarkable, and stirring and Haunting. You can tell this will be a fan favorite and one of the bands most accessible songs. Every aspect of this song works. I especially love the whistle in the background, reminds me a little of the cedar flutes of John Two Hawks.
Last Ride of the Day How do you say this without causing a ruckus among fans, but to me this is the most Nightwish sounding song of the album, its an up tempo cruncher sung beautifully by Anette while a haunting choir chants behind her on the chorus. Marco's backing vocals are enought to send chills down your spine especially at the 2:50 mark. Again Emppu does some good shredding towrd the end. Reminds me of what Tuomas said of this song, the last roller coaster ride before the park closes.
Song Of Myself is a thirteen minute opus that has soaring choirs and enchanting music, with some good riffs by Erno. Again Anette feels totally at ease with this song, and the duets with Marco are again remarkable. Even with the second half of the song comprising of mostly narration, guess the narration has to be there for the movie, i like the music behind the narration it is perfectly fine as is.
Imaginaerum, a classical wrap up of the album in movie score style. It was created by Pip Williams and adapted from the music created by Tuomas. it is really a nice way to end the album, kinda of a tranquilizer after what you ears and senses have been put through.
Hope you enjoyed the review and I also hope you enjoyed the album as much as i did.
.
s
