Vertigo
2007
1. Ite, Missa Est (Intro)
2. I Walk Alone
3. Lost Northern Star
4. Seeking for the Reign (Interlude)
5. Reign
6. Escape of the Doll (Interlude)
7. My Little Phoenix
8. Boy and the Ghost
9. Sing for Me
10. Oasis
11. Poison (Alice Cooper Cover)
12. Our Great Divide
13. Sunset (Interlude)
14. Damned and Divine
15. Alive
16. Minor Heaven
17. Ciarán's Well
18. Calling Grace
It took some debate before I even decided I was going to review this solo outing by Tarja Turunen. I don't think I can even now justify this as a metal release and that is what I like to stick to, but there are certainly metal moments on My Winter Storm. Also, there is that whole Nightwish fanbase interest so why not.
As I said, this is not a metal release. If you want this to be wall to wall metal than please stop reading as you will only be disappointed. That said, as Nightwish has always had a fair dose of the symphonic there should be something familiar about this album to any Nightwish fan. Out of the 14 actual full length tracks I would say 6 contain anything resembling metal guitar so that is less than half. The rest of the album is vocal-centric showcases with backing orchestration that could easily find a home among world/new age music or Celine Dion-ish pop and soundtrack fare.
The metal or symphonic rock material ranges from the poppy single structure of I Walk Alone backed with some minimalistic guitar building to the heavier chorus to the all out metal leads found in Ciaran's Well... both of which work quite nicely. Other symphonic rock to metal numbers include Lost Northern Star with it's heavy slow burn groove, Die Alive & My Little Phoenix, and the excellently pompous and big cover of Poison. Definitely a great take on the song and the nice build ups really lend themselves to Tarja belting out the big choruses.
The rest of the 8 full lengths are pretty much vocal & orchestrated with little metal interest. For those who can enjoy other types of music like this I'd say these tracks are pretty good. I myself am a fan of female vocal albums and new agey sort of stuff like Enya and Loreena McKennitt so I do actually appreciate this sort of thing. If you like well sung symphonic music than there really is a lot to like about these other tracks as well. There is a lot of feeling here and the songs do showcase Tarja's voice quite nicely.
If you don't go into this album with purely metal expectations and can appreciate the sort of music this album presents then I think it is well worth your time. Personally, I think this album is much better than what Nightwish managed to put out in Tarja's absence so take that for what it's worth.
Highlights: Die Alive, Lost Northern Star, Ciaran's Well
Rating - 3.5/5
2. I Walk Alone
3. Lost Northern Star
4. Seeking for the Reign (Interlude)
5. Reign
6. Escape of the Doll (Interlude)
7. My Little Phoenix
8. Boy and the Ghost
9. Sing for Me
10. Oasis
11. Poison (Alice Cooper Cover)
12. Our Great Divide
13. Sunset (Interlude)
14. Damned and Divine
15. Alive
16. Minor Heaven
17. Ciarán's Well
18. Calling Grace
It took some debate before I even decided I was going to review this solo outing by Tarja Turunen. I don't think I can even now justify this as a metal release and that is what I like to stick to, but there are certainly metal moments on My Winter Storm. Also, there is that whole Nightwish fanbase interest so why not.
As I said, this is not a metal release. If you want this to be wall to wall metal than please stop reading as you will only be disappointed. That said, as Nightwish has always had a fair dose of the symphonic there should be something familiar about this album to any Nightwish fan. Out of the 14 actual full length tracks I would say 6 contain anything resembling metal guitar so that is less than half. The rest of the album is vocal-centric showcases with backing orchestration that could easily find a home among world/new age music or Celine Dion-ish pop and soundtrack fare.
The metal or symphonic rock material ranges from the poppy single structure of I Walk Alone backed with some minimalistic guitar building to the heavier chorus to the all out metal leads found in Ciaran's Well... both of which work quite nicely. Other symphonic rock to metal numbers include Lost Northern Star with it's heavy slow burn groove, Die Alive & My Little Phoenix, and the excellently pompous and big cover of Poison. Definitely a great take on the song and the nice build ups really lend themselves to Tarja belting out the big choruses.
The rest of the 8 full lengths are pretty much vocal & orchestrated with little metal interest. For those who can enjoy other types of music like this I'd say these tracks are pretty good. I myself am a fan of female vocal albums and new agey sort of stuff like Enya and Loreena McKennitt so I do actually appreciate this sort of thing. If you like well sung symphonic music than there really is a lot to like about these other tracks as well. There is a lot of feeling here and the songs do showcase Tarja's voice quite nicely.
If you don't go into this album with purely metal expectations and can appreciate the sort of music this album presents then I think it is well worth your time. Personally, I think this album is much better than what Nightwish managed to put out in Tarja's absence so take that for what it's worth.
Highlights: Die Alive, Lost Northern Star, Ciaran's Well
Rating - 3.5/5
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