Kauniita unia.

In the end, I was far too tired to get myself up at 07.00. Instead I'll wait till Monday; I'm sure that 'Eva' makes it quickly to the most wanted list on NRJ. I'll just listen to it then.

But more importantly I got the new Sonata Arctica album 'Unia' today. I am currently listening to it for the second time. I tend to be prone to be rather negative on any new stuff so it's likely that whatever I say here today about the music has probably changed by next week. But here's an amateur review on the album after the first four hours.

Overall I found the album not meeting my expectations. I am disappointed mainly due to the lack of what I see as *real* Sonata Arctica, songs that are played and sung "kovaa, korkealta ja jumalattoman nopeesti". Okay, it's heavy but Kakko, as far as I remember, doesn't get to shred with his voice that high, unfortunately. The same goes to Jani's guitar. 'Under your tree' is the obligatory Big Ballad; in this song the keyboards have quite a big role, as seems to be the case in some other songs as well. They do create a dreamscape-like atmosphere. 'Caleb' (I actually know someone bearing that name) reminds me of 'The boy who wanted to be a real puppet': they both tell an epic story. 'The Vice' is my personal favourite alongside with ‘Good enough is good enough’. I'm not quite sure what the trick is, but it probably has something to do with the neat combination of a catchy melody and heavy guitars and a nice, mysterious ending. But all the points for including the cello in 'My dream's but a drop of full for a nightmare' as well as the classical elements in ‘Good enough is good enough’! And the background part in Finnish in 'To create a warlike feel' also get deux points. Just make one song in Finnish and don't drown it in the English lyrics sung on top of it!

But as for the notorious ex-musical aspects. I don't know who is responsible, in the end, for what is printed in the booklet inside the covers, but whoever the hell it is... shame on you! It's bears T W O incomplete lyrics, those of 'To create a warlike feel' and 'Fly with the black swan'. Nun liebe kinder gebt fein acht! For once the covers are well-made and then someone lets incomplete lyrics get printed. There are also a considerable amount of apostrophes missing, not to mention misplaced lyrics.

All in all, this collection of dreams does flow forward nicely, but I feel like there's something missing. But as said, I'm viewing this from the point of view of a mundane listener with no knowledge of the actual playing or singing or mixing or the rest jargon things. I still like more the four previous albums but it'll probably change as soon as I truly get inside these songs. I'll try again then if I feel like ranting and raving how stupid I was not realising how ingenious some song was. The somewhat …eh… cowly ending of the album remains a mystery.

Grin and bear it, it's my blog.

- - -

The Meme of the Day:
This is the most appealing music meme I could find; it’s from http://www.sperari.com/archives/2006/03/21/music-meme/ and the rules are as follows:

Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 15 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly.
Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!
Step 6: World domination!

Just in case someone actually tries to figure out my results, let it be noted it is *not* Sonata Arctica, any of the albums. Here we go. Note bene; there were only nine songs on the album to begin with, hence it’s shorter than it should be.

1. I want you to know that I’m happy for you/ and I wish nothing but the best for you both
2. Ladies up in here tonight/ No fighting, no fighting
3. Äitis yrittää, veljeskin on onnistunut/ hankkii elantoa, seurustelee vakavasti
4. How can you possibly have fun with a jellyfish?
5. She sits in her corner singing herself to sleep/ Wrapped in all of the promises that no-one seems to keep
6. I am the Candyman - Coming from Bountyland/ I am the Candyman - Coming from Bountyland
7. Do you breath the name of your savior in your hour of need/ And taste the blame if the flavor should remind you of greed
8. I know there’s something in the wake of your smile/ I get a notion from the look in your eyes
9. Wake up/ Grab a brush and put a little (makeup)/ Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup)

Go on and give it a try. I want to know if anyone can find that one which is fairly tricky.