 |
| Floor Jansen and Anette Olzon |
Oh first of all, I must say sorry if there are some spelling/grammar mistakes in this post, it's past midnight, I'm tired and writing in my second language and way to lazy to read myself a second time after having written this, so I apologize to you all haha :P
First, here is a (very brief) introduction to the history of the band's vocalists. Nigthwish was created in 1996 with the finnish soprano Tarja Turunen as frontwoman. In 2005, Tarja was fired from the band (in a very unclassy and unprofessional way I must say) via an open letter anyone could read on the internet. After these events, the band started auditions to find their new lead vocalist, and it was announced in 2007 that the swedish vocalist Anette Olzon would be the band's new singer. Nightwish has released two albums with Anette, Dark Passion Play in 2007 and Imaginaerum in 2012. They have also filmed a movie that is yet to be released, and toured all over the world. Yet on october 1st it was announced that Nightwish and Anette had decided to part ways. Since then Floor Jansen, the famous ex-vocalist from After Forever, has replaced her and will finish the Imaginaerum world tour as lead vocalist of Nightwish.
 |
| Nightwish with Tarja Turunen |
For me, it came as a shock when I first read about Anette leaving the band. Anette had always been a very controversial singer amongst the fans because her way of singing is very different from Tarja's. Tarja sings with operatic vocals, whereas Anette's vocal style is more rock and not operatic at all. Personnaly, everyone knows that Tarja Turunen is my favourite vocalist ever, yet, I loved Anette from the first time I heard her voice. I think she has a very unique and powerful voice and brought a whole new energy to the band which I appreciated a lot. I had the chance to see Nightwish live three times with Anette in 2007 and 2008, and I must say she was amazing. So when I knew she left the band, I felt the same kind of sadness, disappointment and anger I felt in 2005 when it was announced Tarja had been fired.
 |
| Nightwish with Anette Olzon |
It is hard to have an opinion about Nightwish, because I do like their music, but they seem to have a weird way of treating their female vocalists. First of all I never have forgiven them for the way they got rid of Tarja in 2005 and, having followed her as an artist for ages, I don't believe all they wrote about her in the open letter via which she was fired. So I always had the feeling things would go wrong with Anette and it turned out I was right. I think it all started during the Dark Passion Play world tour in 2008 and 2009, when Anette had a nervous breakdown because of the extensive world tour, saying things in interview such has how she could understand how Tarja had felt when she was in the band. During the tour, she also hired her own personnal manager, a move the band never liked. Tarja had done the same when she was in the band and it turned out to be one of the main reasons of the conflict between them all. The DPP tour turned out to be a Nightmare for Anette and the band when she left the stage crying in the middle of a song, forcing Nightwish to end the show without her. After this tour, they took a break that lasted a few years.
In 2011, Nightwish was back with a new album and a new world tour. Everything seemed to be fine in the band again, until very recently. On the 28th of September, Anette fell ill and was transported to the hospital a few hours before the beginning of the gig at Ogden Theater, Denver, USA. Nightwish still decided to carry one with the show, without Anette's consent, and asked Elize Ryd (Amaranthe) and Alyssa White Gluz (The Agonist at the time, now vocalist of Arch Enemy), two vocalists from their opening act, to replace her for the show. Elize and Alyssa had only a few hours to learn the songs and rehearse but managed to carry on with the show very well. On the following day, Anette announced on her blog that she had never been contacted by the band and never they asked her permission to play the show without her. To make a long story short, she said how she was disappointed by the band and how she thought they had made a bad decision. Only a few days later it was announced that the band and her had decided to part ways, stating that ''In recent times it has become increasingly obvious
that the direction and the needs of the band were in conflict, and this
has led to a division from which we [Nightwish] cannot recover.'' (source) On the same day Nightwish made the announcement they also announced Floor Jansen would replace Anette Olzon to end the Imaginaerum world tour, because Anette had left in the middle of the tour and Nightwish has no intention to cancel any show.
 |
| Nightwish with Floor Jansen |
Well I am not here to judge Nightwish but more to give my opinion on vocalists. So here I go! I think Nightwish made a very good move by taking a legendary singer such as Floor Jansen as a replacement. Floor is already known and loved by the fans, which is a very good thing for them. I always loved Anette, but many fans didnt because her voice was so different from Tarja. Floor can sing operatic, which Anette could not, and for that Nightwish might regain the respect of old fans who did not accept Anette. Also, by taking a singer such as her they play safe because I think the reaction of the fans would be less violent than when Anette was announced. So far, from what I read on the internet, the majority of fans seem to be happy to see Floor in the band.
As for me, I always loved Floor Jansen and hearing her sing Nightwish songs is really good. She sings all Tarja's songs very well, and it's nice to hear these songs sung in an operatic voice like before (even though I did love A LOT how Anette sang Tarja's songs). The thing is though, she has a bit more difficulty to sing Anette's songs. She sings them good, but I think it could be a lot better, so hopefully with a bit more time and practice she will improve. (That last statement was written when Floor had just joined Nightwish. Now that I have seen the live show Showtime-Storytime, I think she does an excellent job singing both Tarja and Anette songs!!!). Don't get me wrong though, I still think Floor is probably one of the best vocalists Nightwish could have as a replacement for Tarja and Anette. Here is her singing Dark Chest of Wonders :
With all that said, I really wish the best for Nightwish and Anette in the future. I hope Anette will join another band or go on a solo career because I really love her and her voice and I really feel bad for what happened to her in Nightwish because she is an amazing woman and she deserves way better!
What about you all? Let me know what you think of this whole situation, of Tarja, Anette, Floor and Nightwish! Feel free to express yourself on that matter :)
UPDATE : So I know this post is still being read by some people so I decided to update it, a little less than two years later. Floor is now officially Nightwish's singer, which is a news I am delighted about. She does a fantastic job, as we have seen on Nightwish's live release Showtime Storytime. Here is a clip from that dvd, where Floor brilliantly performs Ghost Love Score from the album Once.
That performance is mind-blowing and proves Floor is a great choice for the band. Nightwish is recording a brand new album with Floor on vocals, so I am excited to hear that :D
Also, the truth about Anette's dismissal has come to light since then. When the band decided to part ways with Anette, they claimed it was a mutual decision between the band and her. According to Olzon, this was not exactly the truth. The truth was that Nightwish actually fired her, in the same way they had fired Tarja Turunen. I will not say I can judge them, because I do not know what is going on within the band but still, I was very disappointed to learn this. Here is an interesting article about the whole situation. Firing her like that was I think quite disrespectful and I am sure there could have been better ways to handle the problem. Anette made claims about the band not including her in the decision making-processes and the fact the revenue was not split equally within the band (which caused her a financial loss). Nightwish naturally denied those claims and even called them defamation, but I will say this, I believe Anette 100%. Why? Because back in 2005 when Tarja Turunen was fired, she made the exact same claims about the band, which Nightwish also tried to denied. Look for interviews, there's evidence all over the internet. Let's just hope things will go well with Floor Jansen and that they won't offer her the same treatment as they did for their previous vocalists...
On a lighter note, Anette Olzon has since then released her first solo album, Shine, which I must say is amazing. You should give it a listen it is totally worth it! Here is the song Lies from it :
So that's it for now :) I shall update this post again if need comes to !
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to let me know what you think