Nightwish – Imaginaerum: Random Thoughts/First Impressions

 

 

Full disclosure. I enjoy Nightwish, particularly post-Tarja Turunen era Nightwish. They’re a welcome break in my admittedly male vocal dominated listening habits and they offer something that is genuinely unique and refreshing. Wait a second, did he say unique? Surely I jest right? There are dozens upon dozens of metal bands that have realized that their climb to the top of festival bills and European album charts will be made easier by acquiring the talents of a relatively attractive front woman delivering lily-tongued serenades over the top of their scaled back rock riffs disguised as metal. Granted, and yes, most of them unfortunately fall short in the one area where it counts (no, not bust size dammit), namely in the songwriting.

 

This is where Nightwish presses its advantage and far outdistances its peers. Without exaggeration, I’ve become convinced that band leader/keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen is a songwriting prodigy; one of those rare talents that understands what it takes to craft beautiful melodies that shimmer; inventive hooks that seem to appear out of nowhere yet feel as if they were always there, waiting for someone to discover them. He understands his songwriting strengths lay in pop foundations and plays to that, yet has been able through change and chance to continually refresh his music so that it hardly ever becomes stale. Not every song is a winner, but more often than not he has base hits and a handful of home runs. He has at last count, seven albums worth.

 

The biggest change of course has been the dismissal of previous vocalist Tarja Turunen, whose powerful operatic vocals often overshadowed the musical talent underneath. I was never a huge Tarja fan despite jumping on the Nightwish bandwagon with 2000’s Wishmaster. No denying, they made great records with Tarja at the helm, Century Child in particular is a classic, but I could only handle her vocals in small doses. A few songs here or there. She has a unique and awesome voice but its not without its flaws – glaring, annoying flaws. It was like trying to enjoy a piece of cake loaded with too much goddamn frosting – after awhile you’d feel your enamel stripping away. I’d keep coming back for seconds of course. The songs were so good, I couldn’t resist. Yet after they released Once in 2005, I’d often find myself wishing they had a different vocalist. By then she was grating on my nerves. I was a Tuomas Holopainen fan, he was writing the songs that had me hooked, and it was his perspective that informed the lyrics, something that he was unafraid to hide. Go back and listen to those old Tarja fronted records, if you even halfway pay attention to the lyrics you’ll realize that those songs were all personal snapshots of Holopainen’s wishful, dreamlike, Disney-fueled perspective. Tarja was merely acting as an interpreter, yet it was her vocal personality that was most closely associated with the band.

 

Nightwish Mach 2.0

Enter Anette Olzon. She has a few loud internet detractors, she always will, as Tarja cast a pretty wide net to snare some permanent fanboys/girls upon her exit. Thats fine, she makes solo records now – enjoy them if you can. I’m glad they chose Anette, for a few simple reasons. She is not an operatic vocalist, nor does she make any overtures to attempt to emulate one. She’s a pop singer through and through and her simple, clear, ABBA-esque voice has allowed Holopainen to stretch his talents to new styles of song craft. ABBA-esque should not be confused as an insult. The Swedes were the masters of the shimmering melody and ultra catchy chorus, and whats more telling is that ABBA was able to translate their formula to so many different styles (Fernando, or Waterloo anyone?) and it is this ability that has now been granted to Nightwish via their new singer.

 

Olzon delivers excellent, convincing performances, and with her malleability as a vocalist Holopainen has begun to diversify his songwriting outside of the symphonic power metal style he was forced to remain in with Tarja. This started tentatively with 2007’s Dark Passion Play;  and now with Imaginaerum he has extended his range from jazzy lounge, to folky Loreena McKennitt styled balladry, Tim Burton inspired theatricality, to pure bombastic orchestra infused metal. Olzon fits in everywhere, and she even shows a few new vocal tricks on Imaginaerum‘s more adventurous tracks such as “Scaretale” where she shows some grittiness in her delivery as a performer in a bizarre, nightmarish circus. Her abilities to bring light and shade to her voice, seen on the new album in the distinctions between its heavier, darker tracks and its lush, folkly ballads have greatly improved from Dark Passion Play – she is now able to sound completely different from one song to another.

 

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8ykQLYnX0&w=560&h=243]

 

 

Cutting to the core here, with Olzon at the vocal helm, Nightwish is simply more interesting musically. They are more adventurous, veer far out of metal territory with greater ease, and have truly developed into something that is remarkably original in spirit and intent. Honestly I think it took Tarja leaving for me to realize just how vital the other band members’ contributions were to Nightwish’s sound; she was just that much of an overwhelming presence. Things fall into place better now, every contributor is able to be heard and their importance understood. I’ve read a few early reviews of the new album that comment upon the introduction of more organic instrumentation woven into the band’s trademarked keyboard driven sounds. I would argue that this is merely a continuation of what they started on Dark Passion Play, only this time Holopainen knew the voice he was writing for, and felt far more comfortable to take more musical risks, knowing that his vocalist would be able to adapt accordingly. Thrown aside are the keyboard driven power metal crutches that marred much of the Once album. I’ve written a lot here, and while I have only been able to listen to Imaginaerum repeatedly for little over a week now, I’m certain it will find a place on next week’s Best of 2011 feature.

6 Comments

  1. Lucy
    December 18, 2011

    Awsome review dude! I agree 100%! 😉

    Reply
  2. The Metal Pigeon
    December 29, 2011

    Thanks for reading!

    Reply
  3. Irlasviel
    January 9, 2012

    Very interesting review. I have to admit, I’ve never listened to them, as mostly everyone I know or read dislikes them, and thus I had scarcely ever read a positive review of them. Might give them a whirl and see.

    Reply
  4. The Metal Pigeon
    January 9, 2012

    Definitely give the new album a shot, and perhaps youtube browse some of their older classics (actually I think they have a best of collection for their Tarja Turunen-era material). You really have go in with a suspension of cynicism, and also know what you’re going to get, especially in regards to the female vocals being what they are. They get a lot of flak from metal fans in general for being poppy, light toned, and at times, sentimental and saccharine. The thing is, those are the things they do best (and often better than anybody). I liken that to someone criticizing Katy Perry for only singing pop music — what else is she supposed to sing??

    They’re a great band, have a unique sound and identity which is quickly becoming a rarity out there, and a terrific songwriter. Their new record was second in my best of 2011 list.

    Reply
  5. Alicia G
    October 4, 2012

    Commenting on an old article, and I apologize for that, but… in my opinion, Imaginaerum isn’t Nightwish’s best. I liked a majority of their older works, including Once, and DPP was good for a few dozen play-throughs, but it didn’t feel like Imaginaerum had an “identity”, it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. An album needn’t have a theme which carries all the way through (like Within Temptation’s “Unforgiven”), but I couldn’t help but feel like there wasn’t as much of a soul to it this time. I know the band was trying to evolve their sound, and they succeeded, I’m just not sure it was in the right direction.

    Reply
    1. The Metal Pigeon
      October 4, 2012

      Well, I think that it being musically all over the place was what made me love it, but as far as having a theme, I suppose it was acting as snapshots of what this upcoming film is supposed to be about. Individually I think I can isolate their basic “gist” simply through the lyrics but I’d be willing to bet that it would feel a lot more thematic overall when the film is taken into account. That being said, I think it featured some of Nightwish’s brightest moments, such as “The Crow, The Owl, and the Dove” which may just have the best lyrics to date of any of their songs — actually really beautifully constructed, elegant, and filled with powerful imagery. “Rest Calm” is a powerful piece that grows better and better every time I listen to it (love those alternating children’s choirs vs Anette at the end with the bombastic orchestration uplift with Marco’s tortured “wooooahhhh”), and I dunno — I just think there’s so many super-catchy/dramatic moments that satisfy my melodic cravings when I listen to songs like “Last Ride of the Day”, “Song of Myself” (Marcos lines in there are awesome), and “I Want My Tears Back” that I walk away from every listen immensely satisfied. And “Ghost River” I love because its just the most bonkers juxtaposition of musical elements working in strange harmony to create this one otherworldly song. Do yourself a favor and give it some time and go back to the album, perhaps after you’ve gotten to see the film… who knows it might change your opinion of the album.

      Reply

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