Jaakko wrote:Indeed Ecliptica had some great highlights on it, the first track has to be one of the best of this fast powermetal crap has ever offered, Blank File that is. Better than any fast Stratovarius song, although the production and the solo work with keys and guitar totally suck. But the song is great.
Ecliptica is a really great album, with different kind of songs, from ballads to fast power. I wouldn't say that Ecliptica was better than any Strato, but at least the fast songs are more "direct".
Thus, Tony is a great vocalist, far under-estimated.
About the production if the album, I disagree with you. I think Ecliptica has a much better production than their other albums.
what's up with Within Temptation? I could consider them into the "commercial" category where you placed Nightwish when thinking about their latest album, but Mother Earth was HUGE. Can't take that away from them, brilliant shit I say.
The first thing I hate in W.T is the singing which is definitely too high and doesn't fit at all to the music. Sharon has a really beautiful "angel" voice, but she could keep that "angel" part for ambiance CDs or some little parts in W.T like ballads, and the rest of time to sing in the same registrer than in what she did in Avantasia or Tolkki's solo album.
Secondly, I think the music of WT is flat. If you remove all those orchestra things, there is really few left. Guitars aren't shaped enough, they should be louder than the orchestra, not the opposite.
Some melodies are pretty good, but most of them quite repetitive (is it track 3 Or track 4 in the last album ?)
Okay, I have to admit that my opinion is mostly based on their last album (which, as you probably already know, makes fan either happy either really disapointed). I've also seen "Ice Queen" videoclip. Music was repetitive and boring, voice was too high, and those guys acted like puppets. Not a good first impression... I have also their first album somewhere. I think it's quite ok, even if I still have pbms with Sharon voice.
And I still don't understand how female singing voice metal bands are so popular nowadays. They all sing in a "high and guimauve" (you know, like Céline Dionr, to make pp cry) or like "opera". Why not metal bands with a real metal singing ? I don't mean something like Arch Enemy, but at least something catchy. Not just "lalala, i'm an angel".
About Hanna Pakarinen, I dislike her thin and earbreaking voice, power is worthless without smooth colouring, she sounds nasty, ugh. I could say the same thing about many popular singers who are generally considered good, like Celine Dion, I just can't stand her voice on normal volume levels, it's torture...
Celine Dion can be a really good singer, but also a "nothing extraordinary" singer, or a "fucking screaming you'd like to smash her head off". Personally I think there are much better female singers on this planet who sings in the same level (i said the name Lara Fabian somewhere). Céline is over-estimated in my opinion, but still she is really ok. Somewhere, I read that Céline was the Pavarotti in feminin. It made me laugh
