Moji utisci:
1) Ite, missa est / I Walk Alone – I quite like this song, it’s got some spooky, music-box feeling, and the orchestral arrangements are done really well. This would be even an excellent song, if only the electric guitars had been left out. Really, they sound so artificially “glued” to this song, as if they were there just for the sake of being there, and greatly spoil its atmosphere.
2) Lost Northern Star – Interesting combination of Tarja’s operatic vocals, and dark metal music. Very beautiful lyrics.
3) Seeking For The Reign / The Reign – One of the highlights of the album. Gorgeous symphonic ballad, supported by tender cello parts and Tarja’s impressively emotional singing. This song has got a very visualizing effect. However, the dynamic percussions at the end of the song sound a bit out of tune with this slow melody. One of the few songs on this album that doesn’t create a dark, but rather relaxing and melancholic mood.
4) The Escape Of The Doll / My Little Phoenix – I love Tarja’s girly voice in the verses, but all in all, this song is pretty boring, especially the chorus. The orchestra tries to add some dramatic touch, but not so convincingly.
5) Die Alive – Probably the weakest point of My Winter Storm. This is a song that has absolutely nothing that would make me interested in it. Sort of a catchy heavy rock tune, but again very dull and uninspiring.
6) Boy And The Ghost – But this is certainly the best song of MWS! Beautiful ballad started by the piano, and then the orchestra takes over with Tarja’s singing, which in this song is nothing less than perfect! You can hear so much passion and emotion in every word she sings. The melodies are so great, choir bombastic, and the song just drives you. I don’t get the lyrics though, but this still makes BOTG one of the best Tarja’s vocal performances ever.
7) Sing For Me – This song begins with some creepy demonic voices. I liked the general idea of the song, but I can’ help thinking of how great this song would sound if it had been produced in pop manner, and not in a forced heavy one. The choir work here is great.
8) Oasis – Only Tarja’s brainchild in this album and it made me thirsty to hear more of her composing abilities in the future. Totally atmospheric piece, minimalist piano parts, ambient cello and orchestra sounds, and voice in a role of a mere instrument, helping to create the calm and melancholic atmosphere. Great job. Tarja! However, I don’t get how the title Oasis reflects the mood of this song, and its place in the album called My WINTER Storm. I think the name Tundra would describe this song much better.
9) Poison – I was skeptical when I heard Tarja was to cover this song, and the final result is slightly better than I’d expected, but still not satisfactory. This song provided such a great chance for Turunen to show some completely different, kinky side of her voice and personality, but she succeeded only half a way in that. Not to mention that this version completely fails to make my arm hair go straight as the original one does. The electric cello solo is interesting, but the whole song has been produced in a very confusing and strange way. In my opinion, one shouldn’t cover a song if one can’t make it better than the original. This applies to the Poison case as well.
10) Our Great Divide – Very interesting ballad. It reminds me of some evergreen melodies from 60’s and 70’s, and I like this song very much due to that. Very “flowing” song, and makes me think of a sea coast, I don’t know why.
11) Sunset / Damned And Divine – Another great atmospheric ballad. I really like the special effects in this song, and the high vocals in Sunset. I think this would make a good second single for Tarja.
12) Ciaran’s Well – I didn’t like this song when I first heard it as a voice-over sample, but now compared to other heavy tracks on this album, it’s even good! It captures nicely the atmosphere of a haunted Irish well, with raw guitars and background murmuring. And also a nice opportunity for Tarja to do some vocal exhibitions with changing tonalities in verses, screaming out some high notes and opera staccatos in the end.
13) Minor Heaven – Beautiful piece, led by piano and violin. The guitars kick in the middle of the song, but withdraw before the end. A catchy chorus.
14) Calling Grace – Peaceful outro of the album, with acoustic guitar, cello and voice only. Beautiful melody, but this song somehow sounds cut off before it should. Maybe they should have made it a little longer. I find very interesting the fact that Tarja said she had got even some ideas for her next album with this song.
And Bonus songs:
15) Damned Vampire & Gothic Divine – The aforementioned song, but now with electric guitars. And they totally spoil this song. Avoid this version.
16) I Walk Alone (Artist Version) – I see no big difference, just that the orchestra is a bit more prominent in this version, and that’s why I like it more than the one that ended up on the very album.
17) I Walk Alone (In Extremo remix) – I like the bagpipe parts, but I don’t see how on Earth do they make a whole with vocals of I Walk Alone?! Totally forced merging of these two.
All in all, this album is totally different than I expected from Tarja Turunen’s first solo effort. And first of all, I won’t compare it to Nightwish’s newest release, because it just would not be fair to any of them, and is totally unnecessary.
While My Winter Storm possesses ballads that are truly inspiring, and full of emotions, some of them being even little master-pieces, the heavy songs are to me a small disappointment. Some of them are everything but creative and interesting, and some of them would be good songs, if only they lacked the forced use of distortion. The only heavy song in this album that I would call really great is Lost Northern Star. Knowing that Tarja had over a hundred offered songs to choose from, I can’t wonder enough how Die Alive or My Little Phoenix ended up in top15. Her music taste seems to be rather strange.
However, what is sure is that Tarja vocally shines in this album, covering wide range of vocal styles and emotions expressed. Maybe some more vocal experiments would be welcome, but I am sure she will fulfill it on her next records. Also, I loved the special sound effects used in the songs. They gave really cinematic touch to the music, and created at times a very tense and creepy atmosphere (well, it’s no wonder as she hired Hollywood’s best experts for this task).
Oh, and another thing that annoyed me. The title of the intro is in Latin, and in couple of songs the choir is singing a few Latin words. I think it is such a cliché to have some choir singing trivial Latin phrases just to make pseudo-gothic or churchy atmosphere. Come on, Tarja, be original, make your choir sing in Estonian or Swahili!
In the end, I must say that this album is promising, and I hope that Tarja will stick in future to more mellow music style, because the softer side of My Winter Storm is truly exceptional and represents the real strength of our new Tarja.
Highlights: Boy And the Ghost, Oasis, The Reign, Lost Northern Star
