Album Review: Imaginaerum - Nightwish

Nightwish is back with another album. Notable facts about this one:

1. First album written with Annette
2. Concept album? paired with a movie?

ok, so second point is not completely true, but interesting to note the vastness of the world that Nightwish has created around this album. With that said, the album should stand alone as a single piece of work for it to be anywhere near good.

Overall the album is good. AS very good, lush standard album by Nightwish. However, in comparison to Dark Passion Play, it pales in comparison. I think Imaginareum is a much more solid and consistent album than DPP. However, the danger in that is that album is so safe and consistent that it fails to explore the cliff's edge of what the music might turn into. Here is the difference, Annette's involvement in the album. Now not to say that Annette's creative capacity was a detriment to the album, quite the contrary, her input created a much more solid and consistent album at the end of the day. However, the album is crafted around her voice (safe). It's like the story of Metallica during their recording of Death Magnetic. Rick Rubin suggested that James go back to singing in E rather than Eb because his voice is more vulnerable. This also pushes James to go further with his vocals. Much like why, Load and Reload are such generic, consistent, nice sounding albums; Imaginareum contains the same weaknesses. Dark Passion Play pushed Annette to the point where some songs she couldn't even sing songs live, until after many many weeks of practice.
Another weakness, but not isolated to this album, is the lack of individual presence of any of the musicians in the band, with maybe the exception of Jukka. Nightwish has always played music fit for the virtuoso, but none of the members really are much of virtuosos themselves. Which is not a slag in anyway. Dark Passion Play had an Annette that really had something to prove, and it comes out in the mix. However with all Nightwish albums, Marko, Emppu, Tuomas, none of them are distinguishable, they get lost in the surroundings of the orchestra. This is more of a personal taste, where I would like to be able to feel the feelings of the individual musicians, but I can understand the sentiment of Tuomas wanting one band, one sound, type of mentality.

My final complaint of this album, is not so much the last medley track of the album, which to me feels like a cope out of an outro. Is an interesting idea to have a medley of all the songs on the album to finish off the album however, the execution was not thought through enough. The medley is the track that plays at the end of a broadway show, that reminds the audience the main themes of the show, so that they go home humming the really really catchy/memorable part of the show. So, translating that, the medley is not the last track of the album, the closer is the epic on the album Song of Myself. Song of Myself is not a song that any show, in any circumstance (I really shouldn't generalize like that), should end on. It leaves a weak impression of the album, because the show ends on this song.

With all that said, this album is awesome. Tuomas without a doubt is still a maestro. Commanding of every note that leaves his heart and soul. The lightness and happiness that comes out of this album is a stark contrast from Dark Passion Play. DPP was dark and damaging, Imaginaerum takes you on a ride through the clouds and takes you to a higher plane far away from the darkness.

Notable tracks:

• Nightwish's jazz track - Slow, Love, Slow
• Symphonic Power Metal like it should be - I Want My Tears Back
• What the album should have finished on - Last Ride of the Day

To the Times Past

I'm back to post something because it's been a long time since my last post.

A more personal story for me these days, is my commitment to music. For current circumstances, I understand why music is no longer in my life. However, the question I ask myself is "will I ever have it back?" Will I ever love music like I loved it before. It's a scary thought, a life without the thing that has kept me alive for so many years. It's the thing that kept me from plunging deep into the darkness, lost forever in my own abyss. But what is a life without music? I do not know. Can I survive without it? Only time will tell. I can't remember the last time that music truly got me excited. Nightwish's new album is awesome and a younger self would be all over that. I listen to it now, I see the genius of Tuomas. I look at the transitions, the dynamics, the counterpoints, etc., I see what is pure genius, I see what I would change myself. But it's the same magic in my heart. I see the magic but am not a part of it. Lou Reed and Metallica's new album, I would also be all over that (I will do a review of Lulu soon, to explain my controversial view). And yet, Metallica doesn't light my fire anymore. And it isn't like the music is any less magical, I hear and see new bands coming from everywhere. And they're brilliant. Coeur de Pirate; I would have gotten to know her whole musical career, but I've seen to have strayed from that path. Music just isn't resonating with me anymore. What I know for a fact is that, music is just as resonate (or maybe even more) than what it was just a few years ago. Right now is the brink, the music scene goes through booms and busts, and it's about to hit it's climax. I can feel it. and yet, instead of keeping my ears to the ground, and looking for that breaking point. I'm uninterested and un-opinionated. One day when I'm ready, I will see if the music will accept me back. But for the next moment in my life, I must walk away from the comforts of what I know, and face the world without the colours and magic that once surrounded my life.