Metal Reviews

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Great review and the score is bang on. It's a pretty good album that doesn't quite reach the highs of some of their other releases, but very good nonetheless. I think you brought up a good point that it will require a re-listen after watching the movie. I too don't care much for the poem in Song Of Myself but as you said it might make sense to have it their within the context of the movie. And I agree that Anette is one of the highlights....it looks like they really challenged her on her vocal abilities and she succeeds again.

Now while I agree with the score my opinion actually differs on certain tracks. Rest Calm and The Crow, The Owl, and The Dove are the two tracks that didn't do much for me. I do agree, though, that the title track is useless. But I think Ghost River and Scaretale are great. Those two along with Last Ride Of The Day, Turn Loose The Mermaids, and Storytime are my favourites on this one.

Why Scaretale isn't listed in the Killing songs is beyond me (it's the only track I can listen to no matter when, for some reason). Otherwise, very good review.

My opinion's probably in the minority, but I think the Nightwish train IS derailing...

Here's my take, for those who care, and missed seeing it in the other section of the forum.

http://www.angelfire.com/music5/metalcd ... EVIEW.html

Scaretale is a cool track, but not a killing one in my opinion. I think whatever he does with it in the movie will probably be awesome, but as far as the album goes, doesn't really hit me like that.

Cool review man. While I do not necessarily agree with you, I can still see where you are coming from.

Thanks for checking it out.

Well, the "Hoo-hahs" and "lalalas" sure are killing me. In a good AND a bad way at the same time, which is quite the achievement.

@ Clint: I hear you. Nightwish isn't what it was anymore, and probably never will be again. Especially not with Anette as a singer. I don't really like Tarja's singing (not my thing), but the band was special at the time. Unique. Now you just don't know what to think, everything seems for a moment overdone and uninspired, and then suddenly awesome.

I see Dark Passion Play and this album as "transition" albums. My feeling is the band wants to bury Tarja's era one and for all, but do not know how to do it without losing everyone in the process. I never was a fan of Nightwish, so I don't know, but this is how I feel.

Anyway. I think the album is good for what it is. I suspect a poor replay value though (well... just as Dark Passion Play).

I agree with you, this release is a 70/100 tops for me. A definite drop from their previous album. Lacuna Coil's recent album is a lot more enjoyable and a much better option for fans of female fronted metal bands. I'm also anxiously awaiting Epica's new record.

I was wondering about Lacuna Coil. They haven't really interested me in years, but the new single is decent enough, maybe it is time to give them another shot? And yeah, looking forward to Epica.

Good album for what it is and while I did enjoy it for a while this one just doesn't have the lasting impact of my favourite Nightwish releases.
As for Epica that's one band that surpassed Nightwish quite a while ago for me can't wait for their new one.

As I said before, weakest Nightwish record, but good nonetheless. Cool review but it sound like it is defending this album a little too much ( comparing the strongest Imaginaerum songs to shittiest DPP tracks - DPP is way better than this) and claiming that it contains (no way, best tracks on their last two are better than best tracks here ).
Don`t misunderstand me, I like Imaginauerum, it is fun. My score - 75.

Great Review! Their songs always appeal like a one time listen and then you just find yourself playing this over and over and never get bored. Holopainen is a magician of layers.

93/100

I agree with you, a genius at work and I would call this one their best album since century child too.

It is fun and catchy and even if I prefer Tarja before Annette I think she does a great job on this album. And then I cannot understand how someone can complain on Hietala`s vocals. That voice (too me) belongs to top 5 metal singers in the world.


my score: 91/100

You know what, Marco does have great vocals but on this album I think there might be, dare I say, too much Marco? Out of 11 songs (not counting the instrumentals) he's featured on 8 of them including the intro track. That was one of the first things I noticed when I first listened to the album.

Compare that to DPP where he's on 5 songs out of 12 (again excluding the instrumental).

That is an interesting point. Part of me wonders if they did it to provide a blend with Annette's style. When you listen to Tarja sing, she is a dominant presence that I think overshadows whoever she sings with, even Marco. However with Annette, the duets between her and Marco work perfectly (again Slow, Love, Slow), and maybe this is a dynamic they didn't have before that they decided to dial up on this album. I personally love it, because anyone that has listened to Tarot knows that Marco can carry his own, no questions asked, and seeing him take more of a front-man role to go with Annette can pay off big time in their future.

Lacuna Coil's latest is their best since Comalies. It's not better than Comalies but it's very enjoyable. It's been a long while since anything they have done have been this good. Intoxicated, Trip The Darkness and Kill the light are some of the good tracks found on their release.

As for Nightwish for me Century Child(Oceanborn being a close second) is their best release and all though they have had some good tracks like Ghost love score on their last three albums nothing touches or comes even close to the overall quality of Century Child. Imaginaerum contains too often the same riff recycled all over the place and it's pretty blatant. You know the riffs found on Bye Bye beautiful, except, here, it lost it's appeal and it just seems like lazy work. Although some moments are purely genius, a lot of the songs sound disjointed which hinders the flow of the album. After a full listen, I personally don't feel like giving it a second consecutive spin, like I sometimes do with good releases and that for me is a sign that Nightwish has dropped the ball.

Slow Love Slow is horrible.

Why?

Perhaps we won't be able to fully appreciate this album until we experience its context within the film. I think it stands alone rather well but I will reserve final judgement until after I see the film.