The Shadow Self

Landmark album for Tarja; one of the best albums of the year in the hard rock/heavy metal genre. And the best album she has ever been involved with, at least in part because after some 20 years, coming from her far away ‘classical music’ training, Tarja has finally become a full-fledged heavy metal singer. Her voice has deepened without losing its extreme range, her annunciation is sharper, her confidence is at an all time high – as a vocalist she is, as someone else said, “the elite of the elite”. Also her music is now more tuneful/catchy and she has seemed to find her natural home in this genre. None of this could really have been predicted 10 years ago – kudos to her for all the work it required. Other descriptions that can be applied to this record: powerful, diverse, inventive, complex, layered top-notch sound quality, and meaningful, poetic lyrics. It has all the energy one associates with this field, plus soaring vocals and symphonic elements that elevate the listener. There are no weak tracks, and too many highlights to mention; my personal favorite cuts are ‘Innocence’ and ‘Diva’ (very likely Tarja’s “ode to Nightwish”). One further note: Tarja and her husband produced this amazing record; other artists should hire them as producers!

Tarja consistently improves on her past work as she explores the musical realms she envisions. There is a lot to digest here, and I need to listen more to fully appreciate what she's managed to accomplish with this collection. The stand out track to me is "Demon's In You", with the lead singer from Arch Enemy (Alissa White-Gluz) assisting in both the catchy refrain vocals and the quite jarring and sinister sounding growl accompaniment. It's spectacular in every sense. If you can, catch the live performance on YouTube filmed at Wacken. The most haunting musical motif for me is in the final track, "Too Many", an almost hypnotic, trance-inducing exploration of the power of a solitary note in repetition. The only downside is the track includes about 3 minutes of dead airspace punctuated with a one and a half minute mash that's entertaining in it's own right, but should have been a different track without the unnecessarily long lead time.

A wonderful album overall, especially when taken in combination with The Brightest Void. Because the release date for this album was announced and prominently displayed on Amazon at the time I purchased The Brightest Void, they feel like the same double album to me. Unfortunately, I ended up liking the first album better and, with months to wait until this one was available, there was too much hype to live up to. Add to that the fact that Tarja was coming off of Colours in the Dark, which is PHENOMENAL, and wonderful comes off ever so slightly disappointing. Overall, though, I did enjoy the album. Favorite track is "Diva". The only one I can't seem to get into/listen to all the way through is the Muse cover "Supremacy".

This album was released so close to the Brightest Void, it probably could have been released as a double cd, but I think it works to have the two released separately. The selections on this cd sound more eclectic and rock-guitar driven than some of her earlier releases. For that reason, the album has less of a "concept" approach or thematic feel one finds in My Winter Storm, What Lies Beneath, or Colours in the Dark. That's not a bad thing here since each song separately stands on its own. For me the songs with the most resilience are "Innocence", a song which has a repeating melody that reverberates in my mind; the piano passages are a nice contrasting element. "Demon's In You" seems to have about three different sound-scapes which also contrasts Tarja's vocals with those of Alissa's (it's a shame Alissa can't add her part to every live performance of the song, although she did so at Wacken). "Supremacy" gives Tarja the chance to demonstrate her dynamic vocal range and probably has the highest note on the album. What follows are two songs which really represent some of Tarja's finest efforts & demonstrate the eclectic excellence of this album. "The Living End" is beautiful in its simplicity and could be the anthem of the decade. The carnivalesque "Diva" is epic in its story-telling of catharsis and self-actualization. Tarja's innovative productions never cease to amaze.

The Shadow Self is Tarja's best album to date. This album blends everything that she has done in the past and presents it to us in perfect package. The things that I like most about Tarja is that she is not afraid to take risks when she produces her albums. These risks can pay off in a shiny rocket kind of way or just fall utterly flat on the floor begging for it to be brought back to life or to be buried and never thought of again. After listening to this album, I appreciated the twists and turns of the album, due to the plot line, the main heart beat throughout the album. This main heartbeat keeps the listener going through the plot and taking in those twists and turns to give the listener a chance to go back time and time again to rediscover those twists and find new ones later on. Tarja has outdone herself on this album and in my opinion has finally hit her stride on what she wants to do. I look forward to other projects she will do in the future.

I believe this is my first review of music on Amazon. It would not surprise me if I have purchased over a thousand CDs and Vinyl albums from Amazon over the last dozen years. I bought this on vinyl and just listened to it. I had my wife accompany me to re-listen to the first track, first side. It starts with a wall of complex sounds and beautiful music and may actually move you emotionally. It is not like hearing Dark Side of the Moon for the first time but it is in the ball park.

It's official Tarja has truly surpassed her old group Nightwish, while their output has diminished since they kicked her out the group, she has only grown stronger with each release. On her seventh (for some reason Brightest Void considered to be an EP), she contains her balance of soft and hard rock, but unlike her previous albums this one is definitely much more on the hard rock side. Her vocals are on point as usual, and the guests that she has accompanying her complaints her very well, especially Alissa White-Glutz on "Demons In You" (you should definitely pick up that single). Every song on here is stellar and any could be platinum sellers. The best song on here is without a doubt "Demons in You", followed by Supremacy (a cover of the Muse song), and Eagle Eye and No Bitter End the latter two was featured on The Brightest Void.

There is one really good song, the album production sounds rushed and Tarja sounds a bit stressed. Song writing is weak overall but better than her last effort which I never purchased. I would suggest slowing down and placing more effort on writing good songs. She still sounds great, maybe hire some better song writers. I am revising my review on this. When I first listened I had a really hard time getting into it, but after several listens my opinion has completely changed. It mostly all sounds fantastic.