Nightwish

[adace1]

Wow this thread has been dead for quite a while lol. Well I just wanted to post a link to the samples for the new album Imaginaerum. I don't know if they'll stay up so listen to them while you can. This album is gonna be amazing.

http://www.amazon.de/Imaginaerum-Deluxe-Ve.../dp/B0067HNR2I/

[J2112YYZ]

The new single "Storytime" is a very catchy tune. It's also the kind of song you've come to expect from them which isn't a bad thing. I saw them twice on their last tour and both shows were great. Hopefully they tour North America enough again that I can see them another time.

[1 of the 7]

A former customer of mine is really into Nightwish and made me a mix of a bunch of their songs through the years. I liked what I heard! Really should get them out again sometime.

[adace1]

So I just listened to the new album. Truly amazing. Turn Loose the Mermaids and Rest Calm are especially stunning songs.

[J2112YYZ]

I took me a few listens but i'm digging most of the new stuff. Though there are a few odd moments like the middle part in Scaretale and the five minute talking bit at the end of Song Of Myself.

 

Overall it's a good album but it might take a few more listens for it to grow on me a bit better and truely experience the full scope of everything that's going on.

[adace1]

Some more thoughts on the album: Song of Myself started out great but the life was just sucked right out of it by the spoken poetry. It's certainly not on the level of Ghost Love Score. That said, it's still one of the best albums of the year and Anette is a ridiculously good singer. Her vocals have matured significantly since DPP. DPP is still my favorite Nightwish album though but Imaginaerum might displace after a few more listens.

[J2112YYZ]

QUOTE (adace1 @ Nov 29 2011, 11:25 PM)

Some more thoughts on the album: Song of Myself started out great but the life was just sucked right out of it by the spoken poetry. It's certainly not on the level of Ghost Love Score. That said, it's still one of the best albums of the year and Anette is a ridiculously good singer. Her vocals have matured significantly since DPP. DPP is still my favorite Nightwish album though but Imaginaerum might displace after a few more listens.

I agree with everything you said here except for DPP being their best album. While I do like the album a lot, I don't think anything they ever do will top Century Child. I think the musical atmosphere and the lyrics on that album are as good as it gets not only when it comes to Nightwish but for the whole symphonic metal genre.

[PolarizeMe]

I've known Nightwish for quite awhile although I'll admit that I've never really listened to them that much other than a song or two when Tarja was still in the band. But today, I took a listen to Imaginaerum after talking to my friend who's a huge fan about the new album. From what I heard, I really enjoyed it, more than I thought I was going to at first. I thought Storytime was really catchy, and I really liked Slow, Love Slow, I Want My Tears Back, and The Crow, The Owl, And The Dove. I do want say that I thought that one of the riffs in I Want My Tears Back sounded something like Iron Maiden's Dance of Death, I don't know if that's just me though.

 

Based on Imaginaerum alone I dig Nightwish a bit more, and I want to try to get into their back catalog because I think I might really get into them after getting to know their stuff better, although my friend told me to avoid Dark Passion Play until later. Any recommendations on which albums I should start off with?

[J2112YYZ]

QUOTE (PolarizeMe @ Nov 30 2011, 10:26 PM)

I've known Nightwish for quite awhile although I'll admit that I've never really listened to them that much other than a song or two when Tarja was still in the band. But today, I took a listen to Imaginaerum after talking to my friend who's a huge fan about the new album. From what I heard, I really enjoyed it, more than I thought I was going to at first. I thought Storytime was really catchy, and I really liked Slow, Love Slow, I Want My Tears Back, and The Crow, The Owl, And The Dove. I do want say that I thought that one of the riffs in I Want My Tears Back sounded something like Iron Maiden's Dance of Death, I don't know if that's just me though. Based on Imaginaerum alone I dig Nightwish a bit more, and I want to try to get into their back catalog because I think I might really get into them after getting to know their stuff better, although my friend told me to avoid Dark Passion Play until later. Any recommendations on which albums I should start off with?

My favorite album of theirs is 2002s Century Child. So i'd recommended that one. The album is their darkest both musically and lyrically but then again most of Nightwish's material does dwell on the darker side of things. I'm not sure why your friend would tell you to avoid Dark Passion Play since there's some very good stuff on there like "The Poet And The Pendulum" which is easily one of their best songs.

 

I wouldn't try their first album Angel's Fall First right away because I don't think they were really Nightwish on that album. They hadn't really found their sound yet. The next four albums Oceanborn, Wishmaster, Century Child and Once you can't go wrong with though.

 

After that they fired Tarja as their singer because she was focusing too much on wanting to do a solo thing and alienating herself from the band more and more. She also didn't wanna tour North America that much because she didn't like playing smaller venues, since in Europe they were playing arenas. There was an open letter released about it which you can find on the internet.

 

They then hired Anette Olzon as their singer and released DPP and did three North American legs on that tour. Hopefully they will do the same with the new album to.

[J2112YYZ]

Just thought I would let anyone who's interested know that last week Anette left Nightwish in the middle of their North American tour. It is believed to be for health reasons but nothing has been 100 percent confirmed yet. It appears that she was going to leave after they recorded their live DVD in Finland next month but for some reason her departure got pushed up.

 

Taking over on vocals is Floor Jansen formerly of After Forever. She was already going to be Anette's replacement for the rest of this tour anyways it turns out. No word on if she's gonna be asked to become a permanent member or not yet. But since she can do the Tarja material justice and has enough versatillity to do the Anette material as well, it would be wise for them to keep her. Most of the fans are loving her performances so far. There's a bunch of videos already up on youtube of her performing with Nightwish. She's a great fit and doing an awesome job on everything i've seen. Hopefully the band decides to keep her. It would be rather stupid if they didn't.

[H. P. L.]

I'm not really much into this band, but this line-up change has been quite polarizing among the local metal community. Fans of Tarja, fans of Annette, fans of Floor. Day one Floor can't sing in a childrens choir, day two she's the best thing ever. Welcome to the internet, everybody.

Me, I've been loving Floor since Ayreon.

[J2112YYZ]

If somebody actually said that Floor couldn't sing in a children's choir, that person really doesn't know the first thing about her vocal ablilities. She has such a great range and power in her voice. She's really bringing some new life to the Nightwish songs i've seen her do on youtube. I didn't know that she started another band called ReVamp once After Forever had ended. I'm guessing if she gets offered a permanent job with Nightwish that will become her side band. Nightwish will bring her a lot more fame and a much bigger paycheck. I don't see why she would turn the job down if it's offered.

[H. P. L.]

For me, it was always a case of a very talented singer who couldn't find the right material to shine through.

I admit I don't know much about After Forever, but all I heard was quite generic soprano-fronted metal. Ayreon material was a bit more complex and original, at least.

I'll be happy if she can find quality songs in Nightwish (I'll check them out), but that's all she really needs. Maybe she'll mature in her own songwriter, with time.

 

 

PS: No, they didn't actually mention the choir, in reality it had more to do with defecating and such...

[J2112YYZ]

QUOTE (H. P. L. @ Oct 11 2012, 11:03 AM)

For me, it was always a case of a very talented singer who couldn't find the right material to shine through. I admit I don't know much about After Forever, but all I heard was quite generic soprano-fronted metal. Ayreon material was a bit more complex and original, at least. I'll be happy if she can find quality songs in Nightwish (I'll check them out), but that's all she really needs. Maybe she'll mature in her own songwriter, with time. PS: No, they didn't actually mention the choir, in reality it had more to do with defecating and such...

Here's a song off After Forever's final album that shows off Floor's rock voice:

 

[ColdFireYYZ]

I've never heard of Floor before this announcement but I listened to some Youtube videos of her with After Forever and her voice is excellent.

 

I only have 2 Nightwish albums, Once and Imaginaerum (which, coincidentally, I'm listening to right now), and I like both of them a lot. So I'm not extremely familiar with their music but I hope Floor becomes their permanent singer because I imagine her sounding great with the band.

[J2112YYZ]

QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Oct 11 2012, 07:01 PM)

I've never heard of Floor before this announcement but I listened to some Youtube videos of her with After Forever and her voice is excellent. I only have 2 Nightwish albums, Once and Imaginaerum (which, coincidentally, I'm listening to right now), and I like both of them a lot. So I'm not extremely familiar with their music but I hope Floor becomes their permanent singer because I imagine her sounding great with the band.

Get the albums Wishmaster and Century Child next. Then get Dark Passion Play after that.

 

Here's a few videos of Floor with Nightwish:

 

Dark Chest Of Wonders:

 

Amaranth:

 

Ghost River:

[quickfree]

Floor is a better singer than Anette as evidenced through Revamp and After Forever. I actually became fan of the last Revamp album. Was hoping she'd continue working with the project and they were full steam ahead for a second album next Spring. Now it seems like Nightwish will take a great deal more time.

 

What concerns me is the after effects of spending as many years as Anette and Tarja did in Nightwish only to get the boot again. Tarja rebounded fine with her solo career. One of the reasons Floor's old band After Forever disbanded was due to her too much stress in her life and Nightwish is not exactly the most ideal situation if you want to avoid undue stress.

 

And to the fans who waited for so long for Imaginaerum the past few years, it must be difficult for them to adjust to yet another new singer as awkward a moment as the first few weeks of dates on this tour. This was a huge, huge album with a feature movie and the biggest of the band's career like Pink Floyd's The Wall. Which may sound a bit overblown but you can make reasonable comparison. Anette singing simply can't be ignored since it is a integral part of the record.

[Mr. Not]

Still don't consider these guys to be much at all power metal.

[J2112YYZ]

QUOTE (Mr. IsNot @ Oct 12 2012, 01:08 PM)

Still don't consider these guys to be much at all power metal.

Why would you? They're a symphonic metal band. There's some power metal elements but anyone who lables them that is just plain ignorant about their music.

[J2112YYZ]

QUOTE (quickfree @ Oct 12 2012, 12:05 PM)

Floor is a better singer than Anette as evidenced through Revamp and After Forever. I actually became fan of the last Revamp album. Was hoping she'd continue working with the project and they were full steam ahead for a second album next Spring. Now it seems like Nightwish will take a great deal more time. What concerns me is the after effects of spending as many years as Anette and Tarja did in Nightwish only to get the boot again. Tarja rebounded fine with her solo career. One of the reasons Floor's old band After Forever disbanded was due to her too much stress in her life and Nightwish is not exactly the most ideal situation if you want to avoid undue stress. And to the fans who waited for so long for Imaginaerum the past few years, it must be difficult for them to adjust to yet another new singer as awkward a moment as the first few weeks of dates on this tour. This was a huge, huge album with a feature movie and the biggest of the band's career like Pink Floyd's The Wall. Which may sound a bit overblown but you can make reasonable comparison. Anette singing simply can't be ignored since it is a integral part of the record.

From what I gathered with Floor when it comes to the stress thing is that she had someone else, an agent i'm guessing, doing her shcedule and it became to hectic. Now, she has taken charge of everything herself and she balances it all on her own. ReVamp does have a new album coming out next year, I think it's supposed to be out in the spring.

 

Let's be honest here, ReVamp isn't shit compared to potentially becoming the new singer of Nightwish. They are the most popular symphonic metal band ever and most people consider them the measuring stick in that genre. ReVamp would no doubt become Floor's side project if she stays with Nightwish. The other members of the band, except for Tuomas, have side projects, so she will be no different in that case.

 

You're right that we can't ignore Anette sang on the new abum and she did a great job on it. But we can't ignore the fact that she wasn't cut out for touring. On their last tour they had to cancel a number of shows because she got sick and it was the same thing on this tour. She got sick befoe the North American tour started and then she got sick again in the middle of it. She was becoming a liability to the band and it was best for them to part because of this. Fans aren't ignoring that Anette sang on Imaginaerum, I think because the band got a singer the caliber of Floor to take over is helping everyone to move on. We're not forgetting about Anette it's just with Floor coming in it's softened the blow of her departure quite a bit.

 

I saw Nightwish live last month and they were excellent. The band was great and Anette had improved greatly as a live singer and frontwoman so much since the other two times I saw them on their last tour. Unfortunately, whatever her health issues are didn't make it possible for the band to carry on with her. Cancelling shows means losing money and I don't think the band wanted to do that again considering how much they've got tied up in the movie right now.

[Mr. Not]

QUOTE (J2112YYZ @ Oct 12 2012, 03:58 PM)

QUOTE (Mr. IsNot @ Oct 12 2012, 01:08 PM) Still don't consider these guys to be much at all power metal. Why would you? They're a symphonic metal band. There's some power metal elements but anyone who lables them that is just plain ignorant about their music. This newest album is still considered power metal via wiki. Perplexes me. They had notable power metal elements only in their earlier work.

[J2112YYZ]

QUOTE (Mr. IsNot @ Oct 13 2012, 01:31 AM)

QUOTE (J2112YYZ @ Oct 12 2012, 03:58 PM) QUOTE (Mr. IsNot @ Oct 12 2012, 01:08 PM) Still don't consider these guys to be much at all power metal. Why would you? They're a symphonic metal band. There's some power metal elements but anyone who lables them that is just plain ignorant about their music. This newest album is still considered power metal via wiki. Perplexes me. They had notable power metal elements only in their earlier work. Well, if wiki considers them power metal then they must be   Yes, their first couple of albums were more in the power metal vein but musically they've always been more symphonic than power. Especially since 2002 when they pretty much went completely symphonic and have stayed that way since then. None of their fans consider them power metal at all, so there's no reason you should either.   I can see why they were labled that in the begining because the symphonic genre was still pretty unknown and they were one of the originals with that sound. When a band is one of the first of a particular genre it's always hard for people to label them at first. Since they had fantasy/fairytale lyrics style lyrics on the first two albums it was easier for people to call them power metal at first I guess.

[TheAccountant]

Wow. No, its WOW. No, its WOW!! More like HOLY SPIT!!!!

 

This is huge to me.

 

I got into Nightwish in the last year when I came across a video of "Amaraneth" on Youtube and was just blown away. That lead me to "Over the Hills & far Away" which really blew my mind. The funny thing was that at first I thought Amaraneth was the older song so my initial reaction was "Dang, they had a good singer (Anette) but what an improvement when they upgraded to this other, dark haired gal (Tarja)"

 

Little did I realize that Tarja came 1st and was tossed out of the band and replaced with Annette.

 

Bottom line is that I was not an old time fan who was really used to one sound / style / singer and then shocked by the change and then caught up in the Anette vs. Tarja warfare / arguments which seems to rage on line with a furry which makes any Sammy Hagar vs. DLR or Ozzy vs. Dio arguments pail by comparison.

 

Since then I have picked up most of the work by this group including:

 

Angeles Fall First

Oceanborn

Once

Dark Passion Play

Imaginaerum

Made In Hong Kong

Over The Hills and Far Away

Century Child

Wishmaster

Tarja's 2 solo albums

The End of an Era

The End of Innocence

From Wish's to Eternity

 

Love their music. Great songs by Tuomas, great singing by Tarja (who's solo albums don't do to much for me) great musicianship by everybody in the group, ok singing by Anette. The group has jumped into my top 10 groups. Just love their music.

 

Still as much as I don't dislike Anette (and do like some of her work) I do find her to be the weak link in the group. I have a great deal of respect for her coming into the group after Tarja was tossed out. That had to have been a very hard thing to do.

 

I can understand why the group tossed Tarja out. I think all of the stated reasons really only scratch the surface of the problem. The real problem was that she had grown and changed while the guys were, well, guys who were content to hang out and drink. She had married and liked seeing the world. They all liked staying at home in Finland and drinking. Those differences (plus all the stated reasons) were just pulling the band apart and the group had to toss her, or she was going to leave. One way or the other she was leaving and by tossing her the guys moved up the when and gave the group a chance to start looking for a new singer at their pace, not having it forced on them. Anette than came in to a very bad place and I respect her for having the guts to try it and the skill to do as good of a job as she has done.

 

That being said, Anette was the weak link (IMHO). Her voice just is not really a good fit for Nightwish's style. I give Tuomas a lot of credit for his song writing efforts to craft songs for her vocal skills.

 

Floor, based on what I have seen on Youtube, seems to have a voice that can handle the songs written for Tarja better than Anette's can and seems to do a decent job on the songs written for Anette. Seems to be a big improvement for the group.

 

I feel bad for Anette for her health issues and for all the hate she has taken in the on line Tarja vs. Anette comparison's / battles. Liked her work but man, for Nightwish (IMHO) if they can get Floor to stay it would be a huge improvement. Just my opinion. Either way, I wish Anette, Floor, Nightwish and Tarja all well. Hoping for more great music from all of them (and perhaps the chance to actually see Nightwish live someday!!!).

[J2112YYZ]

Yeah, Anette was the weak link in the group. Especially on DPP where all the songs were writen beofre she came in and most of the music is overpowering her vocals. On Imaginaerum her vocals shined brightly because Tuomas was able to write material that catered to her voice and it turned out to be a very good album. When it came to live performances, Anette did the best she could with the Tarja stuff but the songs weren't really the same. It wasn't her fault though since Tarja was such a different vocalist that Anette could only do so much when it came to the old stuff. She did as good of a job with the older stuff as she could though.

 

There was a lot going on that lead to Tarja's dimissal. She was increasingly disconnecting herself from the band. She would spend all her time with her husband/manager and looking to start a solo career. She wasn't even showing up for soundcheck with the band. She wouldn't even see the band much on tour at all except for when it was showtime. Tarja not wanting to hang out and party with the guys wasn't why she was let go, she was in general not even associating with them much at all in the end.

 

Floor would be the perfect fit for them. She's been a fan and a friend of the band for years. You can tell by the videos on youtube how much she enjoys performing with them. I'm sure she has no problem hanging out with the guys in the band but I don't believe she's a drinker/partier. She takes great pride in her ability to sing and is also a vocal teacher, so she knows how to take care of her voice. I'm guessing she doesn't drink, at least not too much, or do anything else that would potentially harm her voice in any way.

 

I saw Nightwish live last month and it was a great show. Here's the setlist from it:

 

Storytime

Wish I Had An Angel

Amaranth

7 Days To The Wolves

The Siren

Slow, Love, Slow

I Want My Tears Back

The Crow, The Owl And The Dove

The Islander

Nemo (acuostic)

Last Of The Wilds

Planet Hell

Ghost River

Over The Hills And Far Away

Song Of Myself (without the long spoken word part at the end)

Last Ride Of The Day

 

[PolarizeMe]

QUOTE (J2112YYZ @ Oct 13 2012, 06:32 PM)

I saw Nightwish live last month and it was a great show. Here's the setlist from it: Storytime Wish I Had An Angel Amaranth 7 Days To The Wolves The Siren Slow, Love, Slow I Want My Tears Back The Crow, The Owl And The Dove The Islander Nemo (acuostic) Last Of The Wilds Planet Hell Ghost River Over The Hills And Far Away Song Of Myself (without the long spoken word part at the end) Last Ride Of The Day

I saw Nightwish live for the first time last month as well, and unfortunately The Crow, The Owl And the Dove was omitted from the set. I think they omitted it because I saw them at the Beacon Theater and in NYC there's a strict 11PM curtain call for venues like that and Radio City. From what I remembered from the show, Anette sounded great that night and the band looked really happy to be there.

 

With that being said, I'm sad to see Anette go, but I totally respect her/the band's decision to part ways. Her voice wasn't the best live, and with her current state of health, it would've been dangerous to continue touring if she keeps getting ill at some point on tour. Plus, she has 2 sons and also lives with her boyfriend (who's the bassist of Pain, who are opening for Nightwish on their European tour next month), so maybe one of her reasons for leaving was to spend more time with her family, and that's also understandable considering how she's mostly away on tour which leaves little time to be with her sons.

 

I too hope that Floor becomes the next singer for the band, and I hope she'll be willing to have ReVamped as a side project like what Marco does for Tarot. To be frank, I think Floor's the only one who could make both Tarja and Anette fans happy because IMO, she's kinda like a hybrid of both Tarja and Anette's voice. She's perfect for Tarja's songs and she does a great job of singing Anette's songs with her vocal style. I think her vocals for Anette's songs are improving as each show goes on based on the videos I saw from her first show up to now.