CD Info
2011
Nuclear Blast Records
13  Tracks
Mostly English Lyrics

There are no words to describe the feeling of having my thumb hovering over the play button mere seconds after I put this album on my iPod, ready to experience the journey that Imaginaerum will to take me on. After months, no… years, of waiting, I sat back, closed my eyes, and prepared to be sucked into the world Tuomas and the gang have created for me. The gates were open, beckoning me in to enjoy the rides. From the first music-box notes of "Taikatalvi" I was gone. Not even my somewhat distracting roommate could drag me out. In fact, I told him I needed the room for about an hour and half to myself that day, to which he gave me a slightly suspicious and awkward look. I didn’t care though. I had my Nightwish, and that’s all that mattered.

By this time, I’d had heard "Storytime" nearly a hundred times already, but it was a moment of reassurance before heading into fully unfamiliar territory. I knew this song was good, incorporating all the different elements that make Nightwish who they are, so listening to it once more was still an exhilarating experience.

"Ghost River," however, was altogether something new, but to my not-so-surprise, my ears liked what they heard. Anette comes across confident and sure of herself, followed by an excellent performance by Marco. What really makes this song, however, is the addition of a children’s choir, which adds a creepy yet innocent vibe to the track. The ending is breathtaking, and I move on to "Slow, Love, Slow" assured that Nightwish has lost none if their flair for the epic, heavy, and dramatic.

How did I end up in the 1930’s? Unexpected as this is, though, I can’t say I’m complaining. Anette’s soothing, jazzy croon is intoxicating, and I’m impressed with the band’s ability to take another genre of music entirely and make it totally theirs. I’ll dub it "dark jazz" for now, and continue sitting here, enjoying the show and sipping my… what did they drink in bars in the 30’s?

"I Want My Tears Back" is a complete one-eighty from the last track, bringing in the many talents of Troy Donockley on various Celtic instruments. Anette and Marco sound like they’re having the times of their lives singing this song, and the battle between Emppu and the fiddle is nothing less than honey to my ears. This may be one of the most fun tracks Nightwish have done to date, and is certainly the best on this album so far.

"Scaretale" is, well, scary. I listened to this song once while driving in the middle of the night and the creepy little child voices in the beginning actually freaked me out quite a bit. This makes it no less epic, however, as Anette puts on her best witchy, evil voice lures you into the nightmare, where we follow the song into full-on carnival mode as Marco takes the role of the evil circus ringmaster. This sounds like it’s straight out of a movie, which, well, I suppose it kind of is. Either way, it’s a breathtaking ride, and I enjoyed all seven and a half minutes of it.

Tuomas can’t seem to resist his look-at-me-I-have-an-orchestra moments, which come across during the instrumental "Arabesque" as we fly over the Arabian Desert on our magic carpet, Aladdin-style. I know I’ve used the word ‘epic’ a hundred times already, but I honestly can’t find any other way to describe this song. Again, it’s a bit overly soundtrack-y, but I’ve read somewhere that this song was written specifically for a scene in the movie, so I suppose that’s excused.

Now it’s back to the world of Celtic folkiness with what might be my new favorite Nightwish song, "Turn Loose the Mermaids." Anette has never sounded so amazing, driving the listener to tears as she croons the lyrics to this lullaby of sorts. I’m a little iffy about the bridge, which sounds a bit like it’s out of a western, but it’s not even remotely enough to ruin the song. The fiddle part at the end is just icing on the cake.

"Rest Calm" might be the first bump on this ride. Though all the individual parts are as good as we expect from Nightwish, the verses and the chorus don’t really meld as well as they could. It seems a bit choppy overall. I’ll admit, though, that the children’s choir and the ending make sitting through the first half worth it and save this song from my pressing the ‘skip’ button every time. It’s still a great song overall, but compared to the rest of the album it just doesn’t live up.

"The Crow, the Owl, and the Dove" is the album’s third and final ballad. It’s not by all means a bad song, but even though this album is already completely diverse and all the songs sound have their own unique sound, this one still stands out as different from the others, probably due to the fact that it was mostly written by Marco. It’s a cute ballad and a joy to listen to, reminiscent of "The Islander" off the last album, but it’s nice to get back to the Nightwish I know and love with "Last of Ride of the Day," in full-on orchestra, choir, and metal mode.

The first time I heard "Song of Myself," I immediately thought of the most recent Doctor Who theme. They do sound a bit similar, and I could actually see this song perfectly soundtracking a particularly epic Doctor Who episode. But I digress. This is Imaginaerum’s crowning moment, and though it’s not as epic and ambitious as, say, "The Poet and the Pendulum," this song still packs a punch. The song is divided into four parts: "From a Dusty Bookshelf," "All That Great Heart Lying Still," "Piano Black," and "Love." I must say I love the chorus during "All That Great Heart Lying Still," and that the ending of "Piano Black" is probably one of Nightwish’s most epic moments. "Love" is a beautiful 7-minute long poem read by Troy Donockley and various others while accompanied by Emppu on the guitar and some gorgeous orchestration, but is admittedly rather long, especially if you’re not in the mood to listen to the words. It’s a little bit of an over-kill, but hardly detracts from the rest of the song.

The album ends with the title track Imaginaerum, which is what, I assume, will be played during the credits of the movie. Arranged by Pip Williams, the outro is an orchestral summary of the album, with the main musical themes popping up in order of appearance. It’s a great way to end the album and gives the listener a chance to catch their breath after the journey from which they just returned.

Years in the making, the new Nightwish album is now unveiled and holds surprises for every listener. Anette sounds like she’s at home with the material, which this time was written with her voice in mind, and gives a stunning and diverse performance. In fact, I’m fairly sure Tarja couldn’t have sung any of the songs on this album as well as Anette does, which just proves that the two are too different to compare. I have very few qualms with this album. Yes, it gets a little soundtracky once in a while, and yes, I’d say "Rest Calm" isn’t up to par with the other songs, but those can be overlooked. It all still sounds amazing. The only real criticism I have is that, though almost every songs sounds very much like a Nightwish song, the album moves from one style to another a bit too quickly. The transition from "Ghost River" to "Slow, Love, Slow" to "I Want My Tears Back" isn’t as smooth as it could be, as is the case with the change from "Arabesque" to "Turn Loose the Mermaids," but that might just be me being picky. What ride doesn’t have a few bumps, right? Overall, a great album, possibly Nightwish’s best, and most certainly my favorite of 2011!

There’s not a bad track on this record, but "I Want My Tears Back" and "Turn Loose the Mermaids" have cemented themselves among my favorite Nightwish songs of all time, so I guess I’ll consider those the "standout tracks."

10 / 10

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