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tj_dragonblade...Yeah, it's about two months overdue. Not that anyone was actually waiting for my opinion. ^_^;
Annette is not Tarja. But Nightwish is still Nightwish.
And while I'm sure the debate raging among fans over Annette vs. Tarja will continue on and on and on*cough* it's the Van Halen of Finnish metal, ahaha, I find that it's really an insignificant point. Certainly Tarja's unique and operatic stylings will be missed, and I for one will always be curious as to what this could have sounded like with her on board, but that's no reason not to welcome Annette with open ears. The difference between them is very distinct, but that change and that difference flow into the evolution of the band, even if Annette's vocals do sound a little more like 'everyone else'. She's reminiscent of Amy Lee (Evanescence), of Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil), or perhaps what might happen if Kelly Clarkson decided to sing rock/metal. Again, this is not an inherently bad thing despite the fact that even I kind of wince at my own description. ^_^; If Nightwish sounded like 'everyone else', it would be a problem, but they do not. When one listens to the music, to the composition and the production and all the layers of sound blended in - there's no mistaking them.
Dear god, they are still Nightwish.
I learned many years ago, with Yanni's Live at the Acropolis recording, the kind of power that a full orchestra has over an assortment of keyboards and a handful of studio musicians. Nightwish is clearly of the same school of thought; the full orchestral and choral backing that was incorporated on Once returns full force here on DPP to glorious effect. I long to hear some of the older work rendered with this sort of power - 'Gethsemane' in particular. But back to DPP. It starts off with 'The Poet and the Pendulum', an epic endeavor nearly fourteen minutes long and one of my favorites from the album (though it did take a few listens for me to warm up to it). It ranges all over the place, incorporating boy-soprano vocals and Marco's nearly-incoherent howling to off-set Annette's lead here and there and while it first struck me as rather odd to put such a massive, epic thing as the album opener, it really makes perfect sense when one realizes that the song seems to be songwriter Tuomas' telling of his creative death-and-rebirth in the wake of Tarja's dismissal. Pardon my run-on. A couple of the other tracks also point to the RL drama of the band - 'Bye Bye Beautiful' is a bittersweet sort of resignation and farewell to Tarja despite the fact that musically, it's very scathing; 'Master Passion Greed' is a blistering dose of venom aimed at her husband, who the band seems to view as the root of her downfall. The latter is also easily the most dismissible track on the album, in my opinion. 'Amaranth', on the other hand, has the feel of a perfectly-tailored single, and evokes thoughts of 'Nemo' in its construction, though there are places that sound as though Annette is straining uncomfortably at the bounds of her range. Not as bad as Tuomas/Marco (whichever it was) on the demo version, when it was a song called 'Reach', though. *twitches* That one borders on downright painful.
Annette has plenty of opportunity to prove herself a capable vocalist otherwise, however, from the soft-to-sweeping melancholy of the achingly lovely 'Eva' to the heartfelt-yet-resigned remorse of 'For the Heart I Once Had' to the big, bold presence of 'Sahara', a piece that plays at Middle-Eastern melodic sensibilities in the orchestrals and evokes a sense of Scheherazade in the lyrics. Annette has a lower register than Tarja, and it lends a warmer sound to her voice and the songs, more of a red than a blue, a spring than a winter, a...a...Tarja's voice has a very cold beauty in it, and I don't mean any insult in that. I mean that it's beautiful in the way that glaciers and crystals and the stillness-in-the-woods-after-snowfall are beautiful, that...ack. My metaphors are running away from me. If Tarja's voice is a diamond, then, Annette's is more of a rose. Equally beautiful in very different ways.
Two of the stand-out tracks on the album, though, are those where Annette is not out front. Both have a sound that points to Celtic influence, and while it's something of a departure from the classic Nightwish sound, I hope it's not a one-time thing. Because god, does it ever work for them. 'The Islander' features Marco on lead vocals, and for once he's *gasp* actually singing instead of that bleeding-lung throat-shredding howling that we usually hear from him. And he's not half-bad at it, either. Annette provides backing vocals, and together they create a beautiful blend that harks to bardic tradition. Doesn't hurt anything that the lyrics and the mood of the song are a weathered-to-soft sort of mood, the final days of an aged seafarer-slash-lighthouse-keeper. I'm guessing. Very much in a resonant vein, for me. It ends on a note of surf against the shore and flows directly into the instrumental track 'Last of the Wilds', an up-tempo and remarkable sort of Celtic-flavored folk-rock-metal jam session thing that is difficult to really describe any better than that and is best just listened to for oneself.
There are tracks that have less 'oomph' for me, too, though - the afore-mentioned 'Master Passion Greed' and the equally-forgettable 'Whoever Brings the Night'; 'Seven Days to the Wolves' is not by any means a bad song but I personally just don't 'feel' it as much. The same for 'Meadows of Heaven', which could have been perhaps better served by cutting it shorter.
So. Overall. Good album. I would encourage any fan of Nightwish to give it a good listen and see if the evolving band still fits into his or her own personal fan-space. I would encourage those who don't know the band to become acquainted. ^_~
Then again, I've always favored 'Van Hagar' over classic Van Halen, so value my opinion at your own risk. ^_~
Oh. And. As a post-script, it should be noted that one will want a speaker system capable of handling a finely-tuned and fully-loaded bottom-end to appreciate the power of this thing. Standard-issue iPod headphones don't cut it. Neither do the blown-out speakers in my Jeep, but that's another subject entirely. ^_^; If your sub-woofers aren't up to snuff, you're going to get a lot of minute rattle not unlike a soft static underneath, and that can really overshadow the awesomeness.
Annette is not Tarja. But Nightwish is still Nightwish.
And while I'm sure the debate raging among fans over Annette vs. Tarja will continue on and on and on
Dear god, they are still Nightwish.
I learned many years ago, with Yanni's Live at the Acropolis recording, the kind of power that a full orchestra has over an assortment of keyboards and a handful of studio musicians. Nightwish is clearly of the same school of thought; the full orchestral and choral backing that was incorporated on Once returns full force here on DPP to glorious effect. I long to hear some of the older work rendered with this sort of power - 'Gethsemane' in particular. But back to DPP. It starts off with 'The Poet and the Pendulum', an epic endeavor nearly fourteen minutes long and one of my favorites from the album (though it did take a few listens for me to warm up to it). It ranges all over the place, incorporating boy-soprano vocals and Marco's nearly-incoherent howling to off-set Annette's lead here and there and while it first struck me as rather odd to put such a massive, epic thing as the album opener, it really makes perfect sense when one realizes that the song seems to be songwriter Tuomas' telling of his creative death-and-rebirth in the wake of Tarja's dismissal. Pardon my run-on. A couple of the other tracks also point to the RL drama of the band - 'Bye Bye Beautiful' is a bittersweet sort of resignation and farewell to Tarja despite the fact that musically, it's very scathing; 'Master Passion Greed' is a blistering dose of venom aimed at her husband, who the band seems to view as the root of her downfall. The latter is also easily the most dismissible track on the album, in my opinion. 'Amaranth', on the other hand, has the feel of a perfectly-tailored single, and evokes thoughts of 'Nemo' in its construction, though there are places that sound as though Annette is straining uncomfortably at the bounds of her range. Not as bad as Tuomas/Marco (whichever it was) on the demo version, when it was a song called 'Reach', though. *twitches* That one borders on downright painful.
Annette has plenty of opportunity to prove herself a capable vocalist otherwise, however, from the soft-to-sweeping melancholy of the achingly lovely 'Eva' to the heartfelt-yet-resigned remorse of 'For the Heart I Once Had' to the big, bold presence of 'Sahara', a piece that plays at Middle-Eastern melodic sensibilities in the orchestrals and evokes a sense of Scheherazade in the lyrics. Annette has a lower register than Tarja, and it lends a warmer sound to her voice and the songs, more of a red than a blue, a spring than a winter, a...a...Tarja's voice has a very cold beauty in it, and I don't mean any insult in that. I mean that it's beautiful in the way that glaciers and crystals and the stillness-in-the-woods-after-snowfall are beautiful, that...ack. My metaphors are running away from me. If Tarja's voice is a diamond, then, Annette's is more of a rose. Equally beautiful in very different ways.
Two of the stand-out tracks on the album, though, are those where Annette is not out front. Both have a sound that points to Celtic influence, and while it's something of a departure from the classic Nightwish sound, I hope it's not a one-time thing. Because god, does it ever work for them. 'The Islander' features Marco on lead vocals, and for once he's *gasp* actually singing instead of that bleeding-lung throat-shredding howling that we usually hear from him. And he's not half-bad at it, either. Annette provides backing vocals, and together they create a beautiful blend that harks to bardic tradition. Doesn't hurt anything that the lyrics and the mood of the song are a weathered-to-soft sort of mood, the final days of an aged seafarer-slash-lighthouse-keeper. I'm guessing. Very much in a resonant vein, for me. It ends on a note of surf against the shore and flows directly into the instrumental track 'Last of the Wilds', an up-tempo and remarkable sort of Celtic-flavored folk-rock-metal jam session thing that is difficult to really describe any better than that and is best just listened to for oneself.
There are tracks that have less 'oomph' for me, too, though - the afore-mentioned 'Master Passion Greed' and the equally-forgettable 'Whoever Brings the Night'; 'Seven Days to the Wolves' is not by any means a bad song but I personally just don't 'feel' it as much. The same for 'Meadows of Heaven', which could have been perhaps better served by cutting it shorter.
So. Overall. Good album. I would encourage any fan of Nightwish to give it a good listen and see if the evolving band still fits into his or her own personal fan-space. I would encourage those who don't know the band to become acquainted. ^_~
Then again, I've always favored 'Van Hagar' over classic Van Halen, so value my opinion at your own risk. ^_~
Oh. And. As a post-script, it should be noted that one will want a speaker system capable of handling a finely-tuned and fully-loaded bottom-end to appreciate the power of this thing. Standard-issue iPod headphones don't cut it. Neither do the blown-out speakers in my Jeep, but that's another subject entirely. ^_^; If your sub-woofers aren't up to snuff, you're going to get a lot of minute rattle not unlike a soft static underneath, and that can really overshadow the awesomeness.
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no subject
Date: 2007-11-20 11:24 am (UTC)Speaking of Tarja, have you heard her new album yet? It's quite good.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 05:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-29 08:54 am (UTC)I happened to have acquired the album through the kindness of a friend, and if you're interested, I'm more than happy to extend that kindness to you. Just let me know. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-01 10:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-02 05:41 am (UTC)^_^
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Date: 2008-01-07 07:39 am (UTC)