Tarja - Solo Career

Wrongway1985

Fan of Nightwish naturally enough...

When Tarja left was intrigued to hear her solo stuff but checked out "Winter Storm" at the time and made mind up pretty quickly it was far removed from Nightwish and likely this route wasn't for me.

Fast-forward to recently enough and heard "Demons in You" which was right up my street so got hold of the latest album "Shadow Self" which I think is absolutely top drawer! Doesn't matter if its the slow or heavier stuff on there it's all great even the Muse cover she couldn't even do that wrong!

Basically beginning to wonder did I pull the trigger too soon? Does Shadow Self happen to be her best work in peoples opinion and is Winter Storm even worth a revisit, what have I missed in between etc.

Blackhorse Slim

Strangely enough, I think My Winter Storm was her best solo album, and Shadow Self the weakest, although still very good. My Winter Storm hangs together better as an album imo, despite the varied songwriters involved. The Shadow Self has heavier guitars, there has been a gradual move away from orchestral parts towards a heavier sound over the 4 studio albums. MWS definitely the softest, most orchestral and "pop", but still a rock album. Not too different from "Once" imo, which would be my favourite Nightwish album.

But honestly there are not huge differences in style between her albums - on the Shadow Self, songs like Demons in You, Innocence, and Diva show some new ideas but others like No Bitter End, Love to Hate, Eagle Eye would fit comfortably enough on any of her previous albums - except maybe MWS. Check out Dark Star or Crimson Deep from What Lies Beneath, or Darkness or Neverlight from Colours in the Dark. FWIW, I wasn't hugely impressed by the live album Act I.

Wrongway1985

Thanks Slim will check those out and revisit MWS also