Fugazi

Ultima Grace, Anette's new collaboration released only in Japan so far, has been posted on YouTube. Anette says on Facebook: 01. A Legend Begins 02. Getting On With Life 03. Cry For The Rain 04. Powers Of North And East 05. Beguile By Night 06. Ripples 07. Rise 08. Night Hunt 09. Double Caution 10. The Lost 11. Requiem

I think it will be a hassle to follow Floor on the German TV show Sing Meinen Song, because of copyrights and paywalls and such, but here's some info about what to expect. First the episode schedule. Just like Beste Zangers each episode is devoted to one artist, and the others will sing from that artist's repertoire. 26 April - Episode 1: Clueso 3 May - Episode 2: SDP 10 May - Episode 3: ELIF 17 May - Episode 4: Kelvin Jones 24 May - Episode 5: LOTTE 31 May - Episode 6: Floor Jansen 7 June - Episode 7: Johannes Oerding 14 June - Episode 8: Duets Next the songs. My source is https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/panorama/sing-meinen-song-2022-teilnehmer-lieder-staffel-9-id60840911.html Episode 1: Clueso SDP - Keinen Zentimeter ELIF - Chicago Kelvin Jones - Tanzen Johannes Oerding - Flugmodus Floor Jansen - Zu schnell vorbei LOTTE - Gewinner Episode 2: SDP Clueso - Tanz aus der Reihe LOTTE - Ich will nur, dass du weißt ELIF - Ne Leiche Kelvin Jones - Kurz für immer bleiben Floor Jansen - Unikat Johannes Oerding - Millionen Liebeslieder Episode 3: ELIF Floor Jansen - Freunde LOTTE - NUR MIR Kelvin Jones - Alles helal Johannes Oerding - Unter meiner Haut SDP - Ich bring dich bald um Babe Clueso - Anlauf nehmen Folge 4: Kelvin Jones Clueso - Love to go Johannes Oerding - Only thing we know ELIF - Don’t let me go SDP - Seventeen Floor Jansen - Call you home LOTTE - Cry A Little Less Episode 5: LOTTE Kelvin Jones - Mehr davon Floor Jansen - Mauern Clueso - Zu jung ELIF - Auf beiden Beinen Johannes Oerding - DUNKELROT ZU SCHWARZ SDP - Fuck baby I’m in Love Episode 6: Floor Jansen LOTTE - Noise (Nightwish) Clueso - Sleeping Sun (Nightwish) Kelvin Jones - Storytime (Nightwish) ELIF - Fire (Floor Jansen) Johannes Oerding - While Love Died (Northward) SDP - Amaranth (Nightwish) Episode 7: Johannes Oerding SDP - Zwischen Mann und Kind Floor Jansen - Anfassen LOTTE - Alles okay Clueso - Im Februar Kelvin Jones - Blinde Passagiere ELIF - Alles brennt Episode 8: Duets Kelvin Jones / Clueso - Tanzen SDP / Floor Jansen - Amaranth Johannes Oerding / LOTTE - DUNKELROT ZU SCHWARZ SDP / LOTTE - F*ck Baby I’m in Love Clueso / Johannes Oerding - Im Februar Floor Jansen / Kelvin Jones - Call you home Clueso / SDP - Tanz aus der Reihe

And here's the full press conference that Tarja held after leaving the band. Unfortunately it's untranslated, except for a summary in the YouTube comments below the video. Is there a translated video available somewhere? 🤔

Not every quiz will be about Tarja, but let's get this started with a few questions about Tarja's career! 1. What is the name of Tarja's latest (2019) studio album? 2. Where was Tarja born? (at least the country!) 3. How old is Tarja? (give or take 2 years!) 4. Name one TV show that Tarja took part in. 5. In what country does Tarja currently live? 6. How many octaves is Tarja's current vocal range? 7. Name one band Tarja collaborated with during her solo career. 8. When was Tarja's last concert with Nightwish? (at least the year) 9. Name Tarja's biographical book released in 2021. 10. Who was Tarja's first piano teacher? Answers will be posted in a couple of days! 🤘

In The Raw (2019) Track list (with relevant threads when available) Dead Promises (featuring Björn Strid) Goodbye Stranger (featuring Cristina Scabbia) Tears in Rain Rail Roads You and I The Golden Chamber (Awaken - Loputon Yo - Alchemy) Spirits of the Sea Silent Masquerade (featuring Tommy Karevik) Serene Shadow Play Related tracks (released as Extra Raw - Box Set Edition Bonus CD) Dead Promises" (Single Version) Spirits of the Sea (Carlinhos Percussion Mix) Railroads (Demo) Goodbye Stranger (Solo Version) You and I (Band Version) Spirits of the Sea (Bartly's Water Remix) Silent Masquerade (Solo Version) Promotional material: Tarja naked, vulnerable but aggressive like never before on her brand new album “In The Raw” http://tarjaturunen.com/tarja-in-the-raw-new-album/ As the saying goes, not all that glitters is gold. But then again, not all that is gold necessarily glitters. It was this idea that struck Finnish singer Tarja Turunen as she began work on her seventh solo album, “In The Raw”. “Gold, we think, is something polished and perfect, sophisticated, a luxury – but in its natural state it’s a raw element”, explains Tarja. Just like the music on her upcoming album: a combination of sophisticated and refined orchestration, choir and her classically trained voice with a raw, dark heavy musical core. Simply put, “In The Raw” is a gold-plated work of wonder. Three years on from her last album, 2016’s “The Shadow Self”, “In The Raw” finds Tarja and her beautiful voice sounding, as ever, truly stunning. Working with many of the same musicians and production team as before, the intention was to bring out the idea of rawness to match the feelings Tarja was having from the very beginning of the process. The album finds Tarja going to raw, personal places in her lyrics. Opening herself up more than ever before, she says she was left feeling naked by her honesty, but also pleased at where she had gone with her words. The first look at the album, the brand-new song “Dead Promises”, is all this and more. Matching the stunning power of Tarja’s voice with a thunderous guitar, the aggression she speaks of is brought to the front, not threatening to shatter something fragile, but reinforcing its power. “I really like how the guitar sounds: in your face,” she says. “If I’m singing powerfully, I need something powerful behind me so that I don’t feel like I am left alone.” Fans will find that the album includes an amazing duet version of the song with guest vocals by Björn “Speed” Strid of Soilwork. Dead Promises “The only direction that I gave to Alex Scholpp before we started working on the composition of “Dead Promises” was, that I wanted to have a song on the album, which would make people (and myself) jump in my shows. Like crazy He came up with this guitar based great tune and I liked the mood of it since the first listening. I also decided already then to have the guitar very present in the song. The raw sound of rhythm guitars in general gives me the energy that I need in order to feel relaxed while I sing. I have a powerful voice which needs support from my band, so that I don’t feel like left alone. Precisely this raw, aggressive, edgy sound was common to other demos of the album too. I started to think that I didn’t want to loose that sound this time and while we would have orchestration, choirs and lots of rich elements all through the album, the guitars and the band will need to be the main thing this time. And the complete “Raw” concept started to take shape. I loved adding a few operatic vocals on the song, which has become my trademark since the beginning of my rock career. Before my own vocal recordings began, I thought of the possibility to have this song as a duet on the album. Björn “Speed” Strid from Soilwork is a talented singer who I have been admiring for a long time. When he accepted to take part in my song, I knew it would be just amazing. He did a great job where you can hear his amazing vocal range.”

Tarja has a rich solo discography, in various styles. Using the Wikipedia classification, she released rock/metal albums, classic albums and of course Christmas albums. Rock/Metal In The Raw (2019) The Shadow Self (2016) Colours In The Dark (2013) What Lies Beneath (2010) My Winter Storm (2007) Classical Ave Maria - En Plein Air (2015) Christmas From Spirits and Ghosts (Score for a Dark Christmas) (2017) Henkäys ikuisuudesta (2006)

"World In My Eyes" is out. A very interesting take on the classic hit, another very moody interpretation. Edit: And now with a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFQIUvi_fhY

According to Floor, as mentioned in a couple of interviews, there will be an Australian leg to this tour, likely in January 2023. The Decades tour didn't reach Australia, so good for them!

Mkay now there's also a lyric video of Fire, produced by Floor's resourceful husband Hannes Van Dahl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igk1ojA1bxA I guess there must be a marketing reason I don't understand why a song needs both a lyric and a formal video? 🤔

Sort of the 'End Of An Era' of Delain, the last concert with Charlotte on Valentine's Day 2020. The pandemic took care of the rest of the tour, then the band fell apart. Unfortunately as far as I know there's no professional recording from this foreshortened tour that started on February 6th 2020 and ended after only 5 shows. Setlist

They should send it to me for constructive criticism. 😏 I wonder if they're now going to sit on the demo until Summer 2023. 🤔

Yes, Floor didn't use any professionals already involved in Nightwish. It appears to be a completely new team for this solo endeavour. I posted the lyrics as well. In her single release live stream, she says this song is basically about the pandemic and going back to life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94u2A3E79HI Also she will perform live mid-April at Paaspop (Netherlands), a show postponed from 2021.

Ok just saw the video (I know I'm late, working my ass off! 😬)... The pop look will take some getting used to, but the video is very nice! Has Floor the required credentials now for Eurovision? 😁 If you're interested in the credits for the song: Written by Floor Jansen, Gordon Groothedde, Wouter Hardy Strings arranged by Wouter Hardy Mixed by Gordon Groothedde Mastered by Darius van Helfteren Recorded at GG Studio Among other things, Gordon Groothedde co-wrote After Forever's Energize Me.

The video is not available yet in my timezone, but the audio is here: At first listen, a fine power ballad. Vocals are immaculate of course. I think this will be very popular with the Beste Zangers-minded fans.

I tried ripping the DVD to MP4 using VLC, and I don't find the result very impressive. It's very similar to my playing the DVD directly on my computer. What method are you guys using, if I may ask?

I don't think they are, or at least I can't seem to find anything about it on the Internet. There's also a video coming on the 25th for the song Fire. 🔥 Lyrics:

I'm not sure I get it, it's an "independent distributor" part of Warner Music. 🤔 https://www.ada-music.com/ https://www.facebook.com/AlternativeDistributionAlliance

Yes, this is all very horrific and even worse is watching all of it on the news and feeling the Western world has no clue how to save these people without starting a global war. I have family in Eastern Europe and while I'm not very close to them and they're not in any sort of immediate danger I can tell they're very concerned about it all. I do look forward to your reports on the gigs, music will help brighten the mood. 🙂 Only one month left! 😮

He's back now, but I agree the latest have been underwhelming. Maybe it's me getting tired of his style, I guess it ain't easy being a reactor and keeping things fresh. 🤔

Ha yes I see it too... Unlikely, but then I think Martijn talked about collaborations too, like on the first album. Who knows, perhaps Marko will be involved again in some fashion? 😮

Interesting, I will give it a try. 😮

Crewish are having a contest on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crewish/posts/470763007817207

Just got mine, indeed the booklet is very nice! Heavy glossy paper stock, 24 pages, great making-of pictures... 👍 One thing I noticed though is that there are barely any pictures of Emppu. 🤔 And the booklet text sounds like sales material for the virtual concerts company. It's titled "Another successful virtual concert promotion for Fullsteam and Zoan". 🙄😁 I can't comment on the remastering because I haven't watched it in full yet, but the DVD image quality is lesser than the original stream -- unless there's a problem with my DVD player? Left: streaming capture, right: DVD capture (click to enlarge).

The Russia, Belarus and Ukraine dates have been removed from the official NW website.

I agree, there are too many hurdles to make a reunion tour plausible. Not the least is that band management would have to deal with Tarja's husband who is still her manager, and we know their history. And frankly I'm not of those asking for a reunion tour. I would feel bad for Floor, having to share the stage. I don't really need Tarja singing the same old songs again, unless they perform songs they never played live before. I would probably be thrilled to see Tarja live with Nightwish once (and for the first time) but it wouldn't be the same Nightwish anyway. So yeah, I won't mind if they do it but it's not on my bucket list.