Track Listing

1. IWALKALONE
2. LOST NORTHERN STAR
3. THE REIGN
4. MY LITTLE PHOENIX
5. BOY ANDTHE GHOST
6. SING FOR ME
7. OASIS
8. POISON
9. OUR GREAT DIVIDE
10. DAMNEDAND DIVINE
11. DIE ALIVE
12. THE SEER*
13. MINOR HEAVEN
14. CIARAN'SWELL
15. CALLING GRACE*BONUS TRACK FOR THE UK

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7927 in Music
• Released on: 2007-11-19
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Spine-tingling stuff!
I bought this cd on the strength of Tarja's work with Nightwish, most of which is excellent. Simply put, I adore this album! Some tracks stand out for me, my favourite being Our Great Divide - possibly the most hauntingly beautiful song I have ever heard. Warning - listen to it in a warm room, it will send shivers down your spine! But there's not a bad track on the album and I have never heard anything remotely like it. Absolutely wonderful, can't get enough of it.

Potential .. Maybe Better To Come...
This isnt a perfect album by any means but considering its only Tarja's second its more than satisfactory and there is the potential for a very successful solo career.
Comparisons wil inevitably be made with Nightwish - basically if you like Nightwish you should find plenty here to enjoy but they dont sound alike.
Nightwish's last album had a greater share of Heavier moments than Tarja's but tracks here like Die Alive cater for metal fans. There are a lot of ballads/epic style tracks here - one or two are a bit average but there are some really classy moments such as Boy And The Ghost.
There is a hell of a lot of orchestration here courtesy of the Czech Film Orchestra - at least as much as ahem N********. And its quality - Its very, very cinematic in tone & feel. Really lush & warm and not just out to be bombastic as is often the case. Relax, the Wagnerian themes are there to be found if this is your thing. I always prefer a real orchestra to samples & keyboards anyday and hopefully its here to stay!
Drums in fairness are nothing outstanding but arent really required to be.
Bass is punchy & warm courtesy of Doug Wimbish (Ex Living Colour). Guitar is sharp although maybe a little nu metal in tone (not style) - there arent mant solos here either, i cant actually remember any in fact.
Vocals; Tarja is never going to hit the operatic heights of Oceanborn but these vocals are easily as good as anything else she's done (and certainly better than the Europop vocals of Annette Olzon)
The production is fantastic - it sounds a million dollars!!!
This is a good symphonic metal album with more emphasis on the S than the M. And i think there will be better to come!
N******** on the other hand i feel may stagnate if they persist with their current singer. I hope im wrong because they still write very good music and Tarja has some way to go before drawing level in the songwriting stakes. The answer is obvious but looks unlikely :-(

It's not the tree that leaves the flower
I have loved Tarja's voice ever since I first heard Nightwish, but what becomes apparent to me from listening to this album is that it needed Nightwish's genius to bring out its full quality. Yes, she is a superb vocalist, but without Twomas, sadly, the whole thing lacks the thrill and excitement I felt when she first crashed into my consciousness. Even her cover of Alice Cooper's Poison doesn't display the vitality of the original. Sorry: I have played My Winter Storm repeatedly to try and reappraise it but I cannot help the inevitable conclusion that Tarja was far better with Nightwish than without. What remains is a sort of middle-of-the-road cabaret act - highly professional but lacking in impact. As Twomas wrote in the undoubtedly autobiographical 'Bye Bye Beautiful', 'It's not the tree that leaves the flower, but the flower that leaves the tree.' I wish I could have liked it better.