11 January 2010

A few things on Nightwish

One of my favorite bands of all time is Nightwish. Naturally, I head over to YouTube to check them out in concert once in a while. Then I read the comments, and I get frustrated and tired at the same time. This is why:

When Nightwish was first formed, their lead singer was Tarja Turunen -- a classically trained charismatic woman. Her voice is powerful and very beautiful when paired with the rocking guitars of heavy metal. Example below:



In 2005, Nightwish kicked Tarja out of the band via open letter. She went on to start a solo career while Nightwish held open auditions for a new singer. About a year later, in May 2006, Nightwish announced Anette Olzen as their new lead singer and released the single "Eva" so fans wouldn't judge her by a picture or past work. They released their latest album Dark Passion Play in 2007.


This is not "Eva".

If you actually go to YouTube to watch these, read the comments. So many people comment on the awesomeness of Tarja and how Anette sucks. I wonder if they've ever listened to Dark Passion Play. Personally, I love that album better than the others because it offers a wider variety than their older albums. A lot of the songs featuring Tarja have the same style and blend together. The songs featuring Anette aren't the same song redone with a different melody, which is what Tarja seems to sing all the time.

So that's my opinion on the matter. Both Tarja and Anette are great singers in their own right. I prefer Anette because she brought the band a great deal more freedom than Tarja seemed to do. This opinion is expressed here because it gets lost in YouTube comments.

Now go, enjoy the singers, and be sure to comment on your favorite Nightwish songs. I'm a fan of "Nemo", "The Poet and the Pendulum", "The Islander", and "Sahara".

On a side note, I found another live video of Anette last night also singing "Nemo" as above. About a minute and a half through, when she sings the lyrics "touch me with your love", Tuomas pats her on the head. Unfortunately, I couldn't find that video again. *tear*

2 comments:

  1. Creepy... being a nightwish fan myself, i knew this story... but on the same day you posted this, i discovered that the reserve had happened to Evanescence: the original band members, aside from the singer, had quit or been fired and have reformed as a new band with a new singer.... and then had the poor taste to cover one of Evanescences biggest hits in their unveiling (technically they own the rights to it, not the singer, but still....).

    Comparisons, bickering and expletives abound. I like the sound of the new line up, but it sounds like it's in for drama...

    P.S. I like Anette more in general as well, but i've always had something for alto power singers...

    P.P.S. if you like Nightwish, especially with anette, you should look into After Forever. They're in that general category of "Female Fronted Symphonic Metal" that is Nightwishes pigeon hole. Their lead singer can do both the light classical, and the alto power belting, adding some fluidity to the bands music. It's a bit darker than nightwish though and more hard rock. Earlier stuff even has the annoying "death growl" crap but Floor (singer) makes it worth tolerating. Within Temptation is similar and inbetween After Forever and Nightwish.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've listened to Within Temptation, but only on Pandora radio so I can say with finality that my listening of them has been limited. Thanks for the recommendations, I'll be sure to look into them!

    ReplyDelete

Please comment with respect and good grammar.