Nightwish - Imaginaerum review
| Band: | Nightwish |
| Album: | Imaginaerum |
| Style: | Symphonic power metal, Symphonic metal |
| Release date: | November 2011 |
Disc I
01. Taikatalvi
02. Storytime
03. Ghost River
04. Slow, Love, Slow
05. I Want My Tears Back
06. Scaretale
07. Arabesque
08. Turn Loose The Mermaids
09. Rest Calm
10. The Crow, The Owl And The Dove
11. Last Ride Of The Day
12. Song Of Myself
1 - From A Dusty Bookshelf
2 - All That Great Heart Lying Still
3 - Piano Black
4 - Love
13. Imaginaerum
Disc II [bonus] [2CD: instrumental version / tour edition: orchestral version]
01. Taikatalvi
02. Storytime
03. Ghost River
04. Slow, Love, Slow
05. I Want My Tears Back [instrumental version only]
06. Scaretale
07. Arabesque
08. Turn Loose The Mermaids
09. Rest Calm
10. The Crow, The Owl And The Dove
11. Last Ride Of The Day
12. Song Of Myself
1 - From A Dusty Bookshelf
2 - All That Great Heart Lying Still
3 - Piano Black
4 - Love
13. Imaginaerum
Disc III [DVD] [tour edition bonus]
+ Making Of Imaginaerum
+ Storytime [video]
Seventh album Imaginaerum is the band's second with new singer Anette, and comes with the added twist of an accompanying feature-length film next year. Nightwish who have always been at the forefront of symphonic metal, provide this latest addition to the catalogue with good intentions. Although presented as a stand-alone album, it perhaps pushes the line between creative indulgence and focused musicianship too far.
Imaginaerum sounds like all of Tuomas' influences, efforts and life's work culminated into one fairytale-like fantasy. The attention to detail, the emotion and care that has so obviously gone into this work is almost tangible, Imaginaerum is his most extravagant and imaginative project thus far.
More so than before, Nightwish take their brand of symphonic metal even further with hints of jazz and folk influence, and an even stronger desire for theatrics. "Storytime" might not open the album in the most adventurous of ways, but the catchy "Ghost River" is soon the first hit. The rest of the album is pieced together surprisingly well for the variety on offer; no two songs are the same like chapters in a book, as symphonic metal meets a selection of other styles. The band sound liberated, as if Dark Passion Play was the trial run and this is the real thing.
Imaginaerum has some great moments, from the up-beat and folky "I Want My Tears Back" to the stomping power metal "Last Ride Of The Day" and even Anette does a great, creepy performance on the fanciful "Scaretale". The album is far from perfect however, with some songs failing to register such as "Rest Calm", but perhaps the biggest flaw is that the whole thing just feels too much like a film soundtrack than an actual music-focused album.
All the detail, the effort and work that has gone into polishing this album doesn't salvage the fact that Imaginaerum was created with a film in mind, rather than a solid standalone album. Some songs included here are great, but they, along with the rest of the album feel almost like a by-product of a greater project.
The diversity on Imaginaerum is like no other Nightwish album. Although it is masterfully produced and put together, the cost of this diversity is the sometimes disjointed and chaptered feeling that a free-flowing album shouldn't have. Imaginaerum is a softer but more adventurous album than the previous, but it may leave a few scratching their head.
--
Symphonic metal
Finland
Length: 1:14:28
Nuclear Blast
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 10 |
Comments
Comments: 86
Visited by: 875 users
| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603  |
The last three paragraphs are spot-on as usually. Wonderful review, I must say. I gave this an 8 in the ratings, wanting to separate it from Once and DPP, but it's probably closer to 7,5. The problem for me is that, after a pause of four years, Tuomas could have come up with something a little less easy-listening.... guess that, since he already wants to be Hans Zimmer, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp in the same time, he kinda neglected the Zimmer-part. Being lighter on orchestras is a good thing, but the naive days of simple, upbeat, power metal riffs are a thing of the past and the band shouldn't attempt to resurrect them as it leaves a bad aftertaste of intentional repetitiveness. But no biggie, this is quite enjoyable and there are plenty more releases to listen to if one gets bored of this.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
ErnilEnNaur
Account deleted
Bravo!  I cannot agree more!I might as well have written this review myself. Though I might have been even more critical. The rating is fair. Every criticism is 100 % correct. All I would add, is that there are almost no decent riffs, the symphonic elements sound far too familiar and uninspired and that "Song Of Myself" is like a parody of previous masterpieces "Dead Boy's Poem" and "The Poet And The Pendulum". Superb review, "meh" album.
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Guest on 01.12.2011 at 17:18 The music part of it isn't all that exciting, but the narration is really nice, I love the accents of the people reading the lines and also some of the lines they're reading. Talk about being attentive, huh.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Crème fraiche Posts: 695  |
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| Crème fraiche Posts: 695 |
The spoken word on the second to last track kills me lol. IMO they could have scrapped that whole song. ;(
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
ErnilEnNaur
Account deleted Written by Milena on 01.12.2011 at 17:22 I cannot agree with "not too exciting". That is like saying that the bride of Wildenstein is not too pretty. You're too nice, MoraWintersoul  When I listen to that song, it feels like every single riff and melody is an echo of previous songs. I could swear it is almost done on purpose, but I cannot for the life of me figure out why Tuomas would do that. I think he actually thinks the song is good. The spoken lines sound like they were written by Timo Tolkki. I made a joke on another thread about how Tuomas must have confused Tolkki for Tolkien, but it would be lame to say that again. Oops. So yeah, basically I am very disappointed by this album.
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Guest on 01.12.2011 at 17:31 Lol, I'd very much like to believe Tuomas is not yet on the Tolkki level of losing touch with reality... not that I'm that fond of Tuomas, but having two guys like this would really be too much
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Dark Blood The Avenger Posts: 1435  |
Pretty good review. I haven't heard the album yet, hope to do it soon enough. And all things considered this is a very surprisingly good rate which turns my enthusiasm a little further. Maybe the idea of making a film along with a soundtrack album wasn't so bad after all. Looking forward to it.
---- It is humanity who must pay homage to the greatness of the Universe... not the Universe to the human narcissism. 
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| darklos Posts: 19 |
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| Zenzero Zenzero Posts: 472  |
I like it! Sometimes it seems that I'm listening to the first funny Helloween. but it's right when you say that it's a film soundtrack, songs too longs and, even if i like it, stranges!
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311  |
I'm currently listening to it for the third time. IMO, album has some outstanding moments ("Slow, Love, Slow", "Scaretale", "Ghost River") some boring moments ("Turn Loose The Mermaids", "Rest Calm") and some generic Nightwish moments you probably don't want to hear anymore ("Last Ride of the Day", "I Want My Tears Back") Anyway I really like the album when listened as a whole. But that may be just me and my weakness for concept albums. Also, I can stand Anette in this album as opposite to DPP... not to mention that the album itself is much better than DPP. For now, it has 8.2 or so from me
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
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| Carlonn Posts: 8 |
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| CyberSymphony Ollie Posts: 673  |
I Just finished listening the album and its definitely a huge album, full of musical adventure. Although, there are some absolutely amazing tracks on here. But also some average ones. Ghost River, Scaretale and Last Ride of the Day are the biggest highlights for me.
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| Hollberr Posts: 23 |
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| Kuroboshi Posts: 1168  |
I wonder how you had rated it if you didn't know it was connected with some movie.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Regardless of what it's connected to, if it's good it's good, if it sucks it sucks. Just look at Mastodon's Jonah Hex (sp.) EP.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311 |
Written by Kuroboshi on 02.12.2011 at 00:21 I wonder why a considerable amount of listeners think the album is based on the film.
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| Papa_Ray Posts: 46 |
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Papa_Ray on 02.12.2011 at 09:34 Those four categories don't always average out to the final score. Performance - how well the band plays their music. So they play their instruments well. Songwriting - the quality of music and lyrics. So the music is above average. Originality - how original this piece of work is. So it's comparably original. Production - the quality of sound. So it was incredibly well-produced. That doesn't mean the album is better than a 7 (or "good" rating). 
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| bodomdragon Posts: 49 |
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
ErnilEnNaur
Account deleted Written by bodomdragon on 02.12.2011 at 10:55 Oh no, don't forget what the critics said: "It will become a classic!" 
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| Enissa Posts: 815  |
Great review I must say, like you said, this album sounds much like a soundtrack, that they put alot of effort on the Orchestral arrangements and a little on the actual songwriting, which is petty, coz the album would've sound alot better if they do the compositions the same justice as the orchestra... Still, the Symphonic parts sound Epic, probably saving some of the songs, like "I Want My Tears Back" (with the awesome tin Wistle), "Scaretale" (with Anette sounding scary sometimes), but leaving some of the songs really average and below the radar, like "Slow Love Slow" (which the lovely jazz tune doesnt save), "Turn Loose the Mermaids", "The Crow..." and "Rest Calm", and thats why my favorite song is the instrumental piece "Arabesque" besides "Ghost River" and "Last Ride of the Day" which are awesome!! not to mention the lengthy "Song of Myself" that kicks off with a promising start, but ends after a 6 minutes of speech, which is quite disappointing. Thats why I think DPP is more beautiful than Imaginaerum. but my rating "8.5" is just because I love Soundtracks and Orchestral arrangements 
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Guest on 02.12.2011 at 10:10 Indeed, but if it were released after the movie, everyone would be pissed off, because Tuomas is the only person in the world who gives a shit about that movie what they should have done is just get out there and play music instead of making "big multimedial projects" straight out of their wet dreams.Guess one of the main reasons why I like this album better than Once and DPP is that I expected it to be the crappiest crap ever, so I was pleasantly surprised when I received something catchy and listenable.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
ErnilEnNaur
Account deleted Written by Milena on 02.12.2011 at 15:50 It could have been good. Films of that sort can be good sometimes, just look at Fantasia. The thing with movie soundtracks (and this album is a movie soundtrack) is that they aren't meant to be listened to or enjoyed completely independent of the film. Think of some the most well known film music like the Imperial March from Star Wars for example. Nobody listens to that song and simply enjoys the music, it is also about the scenes and characters that the music represented, it's about memories and nostalgia. The Star Wars soundtrack would still be great music even if the films themselves did not exist, but the music definitely has more value because it was in the film. I can imagine the songs on Imaginaerum fitting a film very well. The song "Ghost River" for example would be perfect for a scene where a kid is going down a waterfall or something and if the song was associated with that scene in our minds, then we'd enjoy it that much more, we would always have the combined effect of the audio and visuals in our heads. This is why I feel the film should have been released first or the two should have been released simultaneously. To release a soundtrack before a film is quite frankly idiotic. Written by Milena on 02.12.2011 at 15:50 Yep. Written by Milena on 02.12.2011 at 15:50 I almost wish it had been the crappiest crap ever. Maybe I am a sado-massochist at heart, but I actually take huge disappointments better than small ones. I love to love albums and sometimes I love to hate albums, but what I cannot stand is being left with the feeling of "meh". That's like the worst thing since bagpipes.
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311 |
Written by Guest on 02.12.2011 at 10:10 That doesn't prove anything. The "ending credits" song is just sections of all the previous songs of the record pieced together and played in orchestral format. Leaving out the possibility that this song is just an instrumental to finish the album like several albums do and not a ending credit song (completely legit)... It's completely possible the song was added afterwards when they realized "Hey, It'd be cool to have some ending credits, let's piece all the previous songs into 6 minutes of orchestra". I say this because they were recording drums and guitar way before announcing the film (and thus, making it). Since the film is recently in the makings, the movie was nothing but a concept in Toumas's head while he was writing the record and therefore, is it just an ordinary concept album. I really don't think the album is "not complete" if you aren't watching some cheesy movie images while listening to it
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311 |
Written by Guest on 02.12.2011 at 17:35 Of course. I you just say "I feel this album is missing something, I don't like it" then I have nothing to say since it is only your opinion. But I think is a fact it is not missing a cheesy movie to enjoy it 100%.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276  |
Written by Guest on 02.12.2011 at 17:35 Exactly This IS just poor written music without excuse
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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