:: Tarja - My Winter Storm

Tarja

For many fans, Tarja Turunen’s debut solo outing ‘Henkäys Ikuisuudesta’ (released in 2006) was somewhat of a disappointment. Instead of continuing on in the same symphonic/power metal direction as her former act Nightwish, ‘Henkäys Ikuisuudesta’ instead saw Turunen focus solely on classical arrangements, with the overall theme of the album based around Christmas songs. Now onto her second solo release ‘My Winter Storm’, the Finnish soprano aims to please fans with a return to somewhat familiar territory. After a brief and pointless classical introduction ‘Ite, Missa Est’, ‘My Winter Storm’ begins with the opening single ‘I Walk Alone’. It’s quite obvious that Tarja Turunen is the star of the show here, with her vocals the main focal point in the song. But that’s not to say that the underlying classical/heavy guitar arrangement doesn’t impress, because it does. The lush arrangement has an air for the dramatic, and only adds to Turunen’s operatic performance perfectly. Guitars on the other hand do feature a little more on ‘Lost Northern Star’, ‘My Little Phoenix’, the darker ‘Ciarán’s Well’ and the faster ‘Die Alive’, all of which will no doubt be the most appealing tracks on the album for older fans of Nightwish.

Yet, for the most part, the songs on ‘My Winter Storm’ pit Turunen against classical arrangement, with ‘The Reign’, ‘Boy And The Ghost’ and the stunning ‘Oasis’ representing the best of what the album (And Turunen for that matter) has to offer. But unfortunately, the album also boasts its fair share of filler as well. Too many songs (Namely ‘Our Great Divide’, ‘Damned And Divine’, ‘Minor Heaven’ and the acoustic ‘Calling Grace’) simply sound unimaginative and bland to really stand out, while the bombastic cover of Alice Cooper’s ‘Poison’ sounds too mechanical and out of place on the album’s overall tone. All up, Turunen’s sophomore effort is a bit of hit and miss affair. There are some truly amazing songs here from Turunen, but an equal number of forgettable efforts that have a tendency to make the hour long album seem almost twice as long. If you’re expecting another Nightwish sounding release with ‘My Winter Storm’, then you’ll be sorely disappointment for most of this. But if you’re a fan of Turunen’s voice, and preferred the slower and more symphonic side of Turunen’s former band, you will definitely find some merit in ‘My Winter Storm’.