album Imaginaerum (2011)

[Fugazi]

Imaginaerum (2011)

 

Track list (with relevant threads when available)

1. Taikatalvi (lyrics)
2. Storytime (lyrics)  🎞️ official video
3. Ghost River (lyrics)
4. Slow, Love, Slow (lyrics)
5. I Want My Tears Back (lyrics)
6. Scaretale (lyrics)
7. Arabesque (instrumental)
8. Turn Loose The Mermaids (lyrics)
9. Rest Calm (lyrics)
10. The Crow, The Owl And The Dove (lyrics)
11. Last Ride Of The Day (lyrics)
12. Song Of Myself (lyrics)
    1. From A Dusty Bookshelf
    2. All That Great Heart Lying Still
    3. Piano Black
    4. Love
13. Imaginaerum (instrumental)

Bonus Tracks:

1. The Heart Asks Pleasure First (Michael Nyman cover; B-side of "The Crow, The Owl And The Dove") (lyrics)

 

From the band:

 

The cover artwork
"Originally, this was supposed to be the centerfold image of the album but once I and some mates saw the final image, we immediately knew that the hunt for the actual cover artwork was over. I believe this is Toxic Angel's finest piece of work yet, capturing the deepest essence of what Imaginaerum is all about. The power of imagination and places of wordless wonders, magic and awe, of longing and the surreal.
I emphasized from the start that not a single living thing should be seen in the picture, and Toxic was able to create that sublime but desolate, "all this waiting for you, and you only" - feeling. All you need is the courage to enter."
- Tuomas

 

Track-by-Track teasers
"Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it." - Henry David Thoreau

1. TAIKATALVI
This world is but a canvas for our imagination.
2. STORYTIME
How would it feel to take a midnight flight with a snowman through the most wondrous landscapes, like in the classic animated Yuletide film? The meaning of our very existence is created though stories, tales and imagination. They are at the very core of humanity.
3. GHOST RIVER
LIFE is the ultimate privilege; a river filled with wonders and horrors. Love, sorrow, beauty, evil and temptation. And we need them all to survive and enjoy the journey. Good, Evil, Pain and Pleasure - members one of another.
4. SLOW, LOVE, SLOW
Truest love needs no words, demands or promises. It is wordless territory, and thoroughly unconditional.
5. I WANT MY TEARS BACK
Longing for things long gone, but still possible to bring back.
6. SCARETALE
Monsters in the closet, squealing pigs, hordes of spiders and flesh-ripping harpies. A peak into childhood´s unforgettable nightmares- a vivid and twisted circus sideshow.
7. ARABESQUE
A catharsis to a nightmare. Giving birth through a death-dance.
8. TURN LOOSE THE MERMAIDS
We quietly witness as her dying loved one takes his last journey...forever now, a haunting moment of beauty and comfort.
9. REST CALM
Memories and hope are two things no-one can ever take away from you. The sweetness of my own past is a bottomless chest of comfort and inspiration.
10. THE CROW, THE OWL AND THE DOVE
"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me Truth" - Henry David Thoreau. Love is everything, and only Truth is our guide to a deeper state.
11. LAST RIDE OF THE DAY
The theme park is just about to close, but the rollercoaster runs one more time and you get to take the last ride by yourself. It`s dark and the fireworks have just started. Moments such as these are portals to infinite dreams, of deep realisation, and ultimately the thrilling awareness of being a speck of dust in this vast swirling cosmos.
12. SONG OF MYSELF
Our homage and version of Walt Whitman`s transcendental celebration of life and existence, delving deep into a personal catharsis.
13. IMAGINAERUM
Thank you for sharing the ride and we hope to welcome you back soon. The stage is lit, and the Magnificent Play is beginning...
- Tuomas

(from https://www.nuclearblast.de/en/label/music/band/news/details/518491.70948.nightwish-imaginaerum-release-date.html

 

NIGHTWISH EXCLUSIVE: Tuomas Holopainen’s Track-By-Track Guide To ‘Imaginaerum’!

(14/09/2011)

From <https://web.archive.org/web/20110927234552/http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/nightwish-exclusive-tuomas-holopainens-track-by-track-guide-to-imaginaerum/>

 

We’re so excited about new Nightwish opus ‘Imaginaerum’ that we got band mastermind Tuomas Holopainen to give us a track-by-track guide to the whole album! Nightwish will release their long-awaited new album ‘Imaginaerum’ on December 5 via Nuclear Blast, so we grabbed band writer-in-chief Tuomas Holopainen for an exclusive track-by-track guide! The album is the Finnish quintet’s follow-up to their awesome 2007 full-length, ‘Dark Passion Play’, and will be accompanied by a movie that’ll see a release some time in early 2012. Read on for Tuomas’ guide to the album…

 

Taikatalvi

“Since we’re doing the movie thing, every song on this album is composed to a certain story, so that’s how it all sounded. The movie needed an intro of winter landscapes and all that, and I wanted to give it an exotic touch of being in Finnish!”

 

Storytime

“That’s the first single, and it’s all about the [1982] animated classic ‘The Snowman’. It’s such cool stuff, and I think that ‘Walking In The Air’ is the best piece of music ever composed, so [I thought], ‘let’s do a remake of that’! It can be seen in the movie as well – not quite as I imagine it, but in a different way. Will we film a new video for the single? We will film something separate, but also [use] some exerts from the film.”

 

Ghost River

“Since this is a dramatic album about the celebration of life and existence, you need the dark side as well. I love the dark side and I love all kinds of evil stuff, so we needed a few songs to describe those. ‘Ghost River’ and ‘Rest Calm’ are the two songs that are talking about the dark side of life. It’s very Van Halen-ish!”

 

Slow, Love, Slow

“You want to challenge yourself to do something that you have absolutely no idea about, and none of us know anything about jazz! Our drummer even had to take some lessons to learn how to use the brush! It all started when I started watching ‘Twin Peaks’ again. I just loved the soundtrack and thought, ‘Could we do something like that?’, and this is the result.”

 

I Want My Tears Back

“It’s maybe one of the easiest songs on the album to approach, and it’s one of the only songs on the album that doesn’t include an orchestra or choir. I love the sea part with the pipes and violin!”

 

Scaretale

“This is our version of ‘Enter Sandman’. When it comes to the lyrics, it’s all about childhood nightmares.”

 

Arabesque

“‘Arabesque’ is a catharsis to ‘Scaretale’, and it’s one of the scenes that the movie desperately needed, so that’s why it’s there.”

 

Turn Loose The Mermaids

“One thing that I like to do is pay a little homage to certain things that I really respect – for example, the My Dying Bride album ‘Turn Loose The Swans’ is one of my all-time favourites, which is why this is called ‘Turn Loose The Mermaids’. It’s nothing to do with My Dying Bride other than the title, but it was born in the moment when I saw my grandfather die, and my grandmother was giving him the final message. It was one of the most emotional experiences of my life – it was so dark and beautiful at the same time. I had to make a song about it – the last thing she did was check his teeth, warm his toes, and then [say] ‘Good journey my love, see you soon’. She was 93 back then, and 15 minutes after, he died. I’d never seen a dead person before, and it was an emotional moment, so I wanted to do a song about it. The album’s all about life and the power and beauty of imagination, and I thought that we needed to include the final chapter of life, which is death. When you see the movie, you can understand why it’s there.”

 

Rest Calm

“It reminds me of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride a little bit. Again, it’s one of those crucial scenes in the movie that needed a song like this.”

 

The Crow, The Owl And The Dove

“I have to admit it’s a bit of a rip-off, because I’m a big fan of Henry David Thoreau, the poet from the 19th Century. I read his book ‘Walden’, where he said, ‘I don’t care about the love, the beauty, the pride or anything, just give me the truth. I thought there was a big philosophy behind that, and I started to think I could make a song about it. The crowd represents pride, the owl wisdom and the dove love and peace.”

 

Last Ride Of The Day

“I’m a fanatic when it comes to theme parks and roller-coasters. I’ve been to Disney World eight times now! Hollywood, Universal Studios, all this kinda stuff – it’s so, so, so good and you feel like a kid again. Also, it’s the perfect metaphor for life.”

 

Song Of Myself

“‘Song Of Myself’ is a book from Walt Witman, another one of my heroes. I wanted to pay homage to him and do the lyrics in a way that he would possibly write. It’s a real, open, thorough, personal catharsis – especially the spoken-word part. I don’t think it’s even going to be in the film because it’s so weird.”

 

Imaginaerum

“This is a medley for the end credits of the movie!”

 

 

Marko about some tracks :

(from https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-10-best-nightwish-songs-marco-hietala-once-dark-passion-play-imaginaerum-endless-forms-most-beautiful)

SCARETALE
“This would have to be one of my favourite songs off the Imaginaerum record, because of the bonkers stuff we managed to do there with the middle part. We haven’t played the song on this tour but I’d like it to come back, so we’ll see what happens on the next tour.”

LAST RIDE OF THE DAY
“I like the easy going punch that this song has. It’s a nice rock song and it’s always fun to do live. It’s a simple song, and I like the more straightforward rocking songs as well as the longer ones. Speaking of which, I managed to see Axl/DC a few weeks back and I thought they were great!”

 

Tuomas again:

(from https://metal.hu/tuomas-holopainen-nightwish-interview-2022-budapest-eng/)

The song Last Ride of the Day was inspired by the rollercoaster Hulk (The Incredible Hulk) in Islands of Adventure, Orlando. It’s a massive rollercoaster. I was able to get in on the very last ride of the day. The Sun had already set, not many people left, everybody was leaving, but they made one more round and I got in there. There was just something really magical about it and that is how the song was born.

[Fugazi]

Perhaps worth mentioning here, while there was only one official video made from this album (Storytime), Nuclear Blast held fan video contest for "The Crow, The Owl and The Dove", and it was won by Pedro José Antunes Hipólito Calvo from Portugal. His entry is a very nice animation, and the band was apparently very happy with his work.

Quote

Here's my entry for the Nightwish "The Crow, the Owl and the Dove" Nuclear Blast's Fan Video Contest.

And I must say, those last days were one hell of a journey! There were so many moments I felt happy, inspired, but others where I felt sad, nervous, affraid I would not meet the deadline... You name it! My state of mind was on a big roller coaster ride, like Imaginaerum! It is finished now, and I feel really happy for making it to the deadline.

I want to thank all my friends and family for the support! I wouldn't have managed to finish without it!

A very special thanks to Hen Mazolski, Luan Melo, PJ, The Living Tombstone, Phantom Badger, Bronified, TeiThePony and everyone from the Creative Collective for all the support and for helping me spread the video. 🙂

 

Quote

Hey guys, Pedro here. I feel so sad that Anette left... She sounds amazing in this song! One of the reasons I entered this contest was because I wanted to meet the band including her - which will be in London. Nuclear Blast had told me "the whole band voted your clip" and for that I really have to thank her too! I support their decision and it seems that she and the band are still friends. So Anette if you read this, thank you for all the work you have done in the band! Best wishes!!

 

[Fugazi]

Here's some behind-the-scenes material from the Imaginaerum album cycle:

• Making of the album (Tuomas, August 2010): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsU7Y7j7Now
• Recording the orchestra, choirs and percussions (Angel Studios London, February 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcxjKlUcjXo
• Imaginaerum pre-listening session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOoLXfCW75Q
• Tuomas talking about the first single, Storytime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cht4MGfANiY
• The band commenting on the Imaginaerum album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_c701C91xE
• Teaser for the Tour Edition of Imaginaerum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMpKSNES9l0

The Imaginaerum making-of documentary can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YzAREb_1Rw