Review - Nightwish "Imaginaerum"

After much anticipation, Imaginaerum, the new album by my favourite band Nightwish, is finally in my possession. It has been a long wait (4 years since the brilliant Dark Passion Play) but it was worth it for this is truly a remarkable album. What pure joy I felt as I slipped the CD into the player before the journey of the imagination began. Each song leads onto the next with great ease, and the usual Nightwish sound remains. But there are so many other great elements all rolling and blending together making it probably their most epic album to date. But then I remember feeling the same when I first heard the Century Child and Once albums. In fact, almost all Nightwish songs leave me in awe and light a fire in my soul.

Here are my thoughts on each track (without ratings, because I don't really agree with ratings. You either like something or you don't.)

1. Taikatalvi

This short intro track starts off with a music box playing gently, leading into a fine lullaby-style vocal by Marco Hietala which is sung in Finnish. A simple but beautiful melody, with a fairytale winter wonderland feel, preparing us for the roller coaster ride ahead.

2. Storytime

This is the first single from the album and when I first heard this a few weeks ago I was simply blown away by its sheer power and energy. It put me in a good mood and I couldn't wait for the album. Love the choir melody and can't stop myself singing along. Very catchy and symphonic, what Nightwish does best.

3. Ghost River

Great guitar intro by Emppu Vuorinen. Nice vocals from both Marco and Anette Olzon, with the hauntingly beautiful voices of the children's choir in the background from the middle onwards. Great orchestral arrangements accompanying the guitars.

4. Slow, Love, Slow

Jazz isn't really my thing so I thought I wouldn't like this one, but to my surprise I like it a lot. Anette's vocal here is great, and proves that she can be a really versatile vocalist. This also shows Tuomas' amazing talent as a composer of various musical styles. I think I'm going to have fun singing along to this one.

5. I Want My Tears Back

I think this is my fave track (though it's very hard to decide at the moment). I love the Celtic parts a lot, and the sweet high vocal from Anette in the verse sounds great, complimenting the heavier parts with Marco. The Celtic instrumental break reminds me of Riverdance and made me start dancing around the living room as soon as I heard it. My 7 month old kitten Athena stared at me as if I'd gone mad. Great playing from both Troy Donockley and Emppu.

6. Scaretale

I love this scary, freaky song! Childhood nightmares abound here and I can hear many influences merging to create lots of creepy fun. It starts with children singing the sinister nursery rhyme "Ring a Ring o' Roses", setting the scene for the scary ride ahead. Then comes in a great heavy riff, followed by Anette with a witchy-sounding voice, which is a nice surprise and very theatrical. She is very good here, probably one of her best vocal performances. I also love the twisted circus feel in the middle with Marco, which reminds me of the The Who's rock musical Tommy (the holiday camp scene with Keith Moon for those that have seen it). There is also a 70s musical vibe going on in the choir and orchestral arrangements. The amazing thing is how it all blends together so well to create yet another epic Nightwish track.

7. Arabesque

Majestic instrumental track with a middle eastern influence. Conjures up movie images of desert sands, camels, harem girls, etc. Nice piece of music.

8. Turn Loose The Mermaids

I love this so much. The beautiful melody caught me at once, and Anette's angelic vocal suits it very well. An atmospheric medieval-style folk song which at first conjures up images of serene forests, fairy tale lakes and meadows, but soon throws in some nice surprises with an Ennio Morricone type instrumental break, spaghetti western style, as if Clint Eastwood just rode onto the scene. But it works. It really does, plus I really like Anette's lower range here.

9. Rest Calm

Such a catchy chorus that stayed in my mind for hours. Once again, I love the children's choir as it conveys the beauty of innocence. Plus it sits well with the heavy pounding Nightwish riffs which fans are familiar with.

10. The Crow, The Owl and The Dove

A nice, catchy rock ballad with a beautiful calming melody. One that I can't stop singing along to already. Nice vocal work from both Anette and Marco.

11. The Last Ride of The Day

Roller coaster rock! This is another one with a catchy chorus that I can't get out of my head. It's so energetic, heavy guitars and drums pounding along with gorgeous symphonic choir voices in background and a guitar solo from Emppu.

12. Song of Myself

This is wonderful. Divided into four parts: “From The Dusty Bookshelf”, “All That Great Heart Lying Still”, “Piano Black” and “Love”, it is, at almost 14 mins long, the longest track on the album. It includes amazing orchestral music and several minutes of a heartfelt poem at the end, recited by people close to Tuomas I believe. After a few listens this one really drew me in deeply, and as a poetry lover, I thought the poem was great.

13. Imaginaerum

Time to roll the credits. This is what will no doubt be used for the end credits of the Imaginaerum movie, which will be released next year. This orchestral score features a medley of songs from the Imaginaerum album.

This album is absolutely brilliant, and once again, like other Nightwish albums that have gone before, gave me shivers as soon as I heard it. It is clearly a majestic masterpiece and will be the soundtrack of my winter and probably most of 2012. I will no doubt play the instrumental CD (which came with the Limited Edition Double Digi-Book version), non-stop as I write my next novel. To me, the reason Nightwish are my favourite band is because all my influences, all my musical tastes, are so easily and brilliantly combined. It's the kind of music I wish I could write, had I been blessed with Tuomas Holopainen's talent.

Thank you Nightwish for another amazing album which will inspire me to no end and make my days a little better.