The Poet and The Pendulum is a beautiful song, 14 min, when Tuomas was totally book, writing the most disgusting words and the most personal of his career. Consisting of 4 parts, it is even more majestic as Ghost Love Score; time and money spent for orchestral parts at Abbey Road were not in vain: Anette sings, backed Marco and a boy soprano voice of astonishing purity. Suit Bye Bye Beautiful, sincere and straightforward farewell to Tarja who failed to realize that Nightwish was not just a "hobby" for her; it is the most direct words ever written by Tuomas, on a very catchy background, the twin piece Wish I Had an Angel. Amaranth is the second single, a song friendly mid tempo, the most joyous of the album, which would have been a B-side without the voice of Anette which literally transcends; a title to bring Nemo. Cadence of her last breath sounds a bit American for my taste, it's almost like the What have you Done Within Temptation.
Master Passion Greed is another big personal slap Tuomas, since in this way he settles accounts with Marcelo, manager and husband of Tarja, which he describes as greedy, greedy, and that is in large part responsible for the Tarja ouster from other members of the group. Here Marco sings solo a heavy track, with heavy riffs, very dark, one of the best tracks on the album. Eva follows the single "which is not a" released on the Internet only, a Planplan ballad that was there to be the voice of Anette Olzon to the public. Sahara is a fairly common track while interesting, the theme is Egypt; Whoever Brings the Night on Anette sings much lower than usual, a performance she managed perfectly, on this relatively short but effective way.
Ballad For the Heart I once Had a very nice title, which surprises from the outset with the voice of Anette, who certainly knows how to sing in several registers (the only one she would never practice being lyrical, one can say bye bye to live covers of The Phantom of the Opera). Islander makes great Marco; this is just great, a voice that can go up (so listen Reach demo of Amaranth, before they found a singer, it's amazing), be very folk (the Islander is a good example) or very heavy (Master Passion Greed); he succeeded in all shades, including this song on guitar, he composed himself.
Last of the Wilds is an instrumental that reveals the very desires of the Celtic group, fully exploited in 7 Days to the Wolves or Anette and Marco also complement that Tarja and he did. Note the final round, with the Irish viols, a true moment of pure pleasure. Meadows of Heaven pleasantly closes the album on a note of nostalgia, innocence.
With this sixth album, Nightwish singer confirms that is not a group; the pleasure of making music together ever worth that greed of a singer who failed to see where his interest, above all, that no one is irreplaceable. Anette Olzon has a different voice, a style of her own, more rock and less lyrical than Tarja, either in the voice, the attitude or the clothes (we can say goodbye to long robes etc, then Tarja is finite). We waited a little group at the turn, but from my point of view, they were able to continue doing what they loved, always with great talent, originality and class.
