Tarja Turunen - My Winter Storm

Embarking on her solo career after being asked to leave her former band, Nightwish, Tarja released "My Winter Storm." Unlike her previous band, there is a noticable abscence of a heavy metal sound. This comes as no surprise considering that she trained as a classical singer in college, and was not into metal when first joining Nightwish. This may be a turn off for some, but it's quite the opposite.

The whole album feels like a movie soundtrack, and though it's not perfect, it is quite enjoyable. First, why it is not perfect, and to put it simply, the album is confusing. Confusing because she attempts to incorporate characters into it that never really coincide or fit with each other. Now, this could be taken as each song being completely unrelated, and in that sense it's acceptable, but in her first music video she has each character in it, and while it may look interesting it is also confusing. It is worth noting that her first video was for the song "I Walk Alone," which is a reply to being told to leave her former band, and the song essentially says that she does not need them to have a successful music career.

Musically the album is interesting, with the exception of a few out of place tracks. Most notable is "Ciaran's Well," which tries too hard to be a heavy metal song, but it comes out forced and out of place. Then there is "Oasis," a song that never ends, or for that matter begins. The middle of the song has her singing in Finnish, which is interesting and done well, but the rest is a dreadfully long, uninspired, string instrumental that drags far too long into the song.

Though, the amount of good songs outweigh the bad. After playing the song "Boy and the Ghost" to various people and having them all display the same reaction proves that the song accomplishes its goal. That is, to put a feeling of hopelessness into the song, which then turns itself into a beautifully depressing song. Truth be told, there really isn't an uplifting song on the entire album except for "Sing for Me" and surprisingly, when translated into English, "Oasis."

If anyone has been following Nightwish the they are either going to hate or love Tarja's voice. For those who have never heard her refer do not rely on just one Nightwish album to demonstrate her talents, instead listen to "My Winter Storm." It would be a cliche to say that this is a hidden gem, and it actually isn't, only in America it is. In an age where it is possible to listen to a whole album online there is really no reason not to give it a chance. When all is said and done the final grade for this album is: 8.5/10