Imaginaerum is Tuomas Holopainen, Nightwish main composer’s masterpiece. It’s an ambitious multi faceted album that former vocalist/diva Tarja Turunen could never deliver. Not because current frontwoman Annette Olzon is a better vocalist than Tarja, it’s because (and I’m sure this will get many raised eyebrows) Annette is a more versatile performer. C’mon, take a listen to Imaginaerum with an open mind and you will come to the same conclusion. After Tarja was unceremoniously fired from the band after the final concert of the “Once” tour, expectations were high, perhaps TOO high for her replacement.  The hiring of Olzon and release of “Dark Passion Play” was met with criticism and scorn for the legion of Tarja supporters, which led to a stress filled tour and eventual breakdown for Olzon. Despite that fact, DPP was a great achievement and saw Nightwish become an international sensation where before they had only been a cult favorite.

But enough of the history lesson, Tarja is gone and so is the shy, reserved Annette. Replacing her is a new, confident Annette, whose voice shines on the rocking lead single “Storytime” and shares lead vocals with bass player Marco Hietala on the powerful symphonic majesty of “Ghost Town”. On “Slow Love Slow” (my personal favorite), Annette transforms into a sultry and sexy jazz piano lounge singer. Hietala returns on co- lead vocals for the heavy folk metal of “I Want My Tears Back”, which the Celtic breakdown is very reminiscent of the Maiden song “Dance of Death”. “Scaretale” features the typical Symphonic bombast that Nightwish is known for and again Olzon’s theatrical vocals take center stage and fit the song perfectly. The breakdown of “Scaretale” also features an “Evil Ringmaster” and an almost circus-like musical interlude. As the song title implies, the instrumental passage “Arabesque” has a middle- eastern feel to it leading into a trio of beautiful ballads beginning with “Turn Loose The Mermaids”, “Rest Calm” (an epic power metal ballad featuring the duo of Hietala on the heavy verses and Olzon on the bridges and soft sounding choruses) and “The Crow, The Owl, and the Dove” which features acoustic guitar, a string section, and beautiful vocal melodies and harmonies. The epic symphonic power metal bombast makes a return on the heavy track “Last Ride of The Day”. “Song for Myself” is the only track that loses me half way through when it turns into spoken word dialogue from one of the album’s “characters”, but even this slight deviation isn’t enough to lose any ratings points from me. The title track “Imaginaerum” is an instrumental reprise of the “movie score” and a perfect way to end an amazing journey of an album. I am looking forward to the “Imaginaerum” movie that is scheduled for release in 2012. If the movie is anything like the soundtrack, it’s going to be a feast for the eyes as well as the ears!

Rating: 10.0