Sonata Arctica thread

[Evermind]

Track-by-track video #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmA-Nv050fQ I thought WDYDITWD?

I thought that was an extreme surprise expression from the first glance.

[adace]

album samples: https://us.7digital.com/artist/sonata-arctica/release/pariahs-child-2

[Shadow2222]

I'm pretty happy at first listen with every song, to be honest. Even WDYDITWDSADLFJALSDJA sounds really good. In fact, the title, when sang in context in the song, fits quite well.

[?]

The samples sound pretty good - a lot of songs sound better than the two singles and I'm convinced this album will be better than SGHN. However, the songs don't seem to be very speedy and I can already imagine the power metal fans crying "boohoo, this isn't old-school enough!"

[Evermind]

I agree, samples are nice, my expectations for this album is very high now. The song I'm excited about the most are Blood, War-dad and the epic of course.

[PolarizeMe]

Sounds promising...will think about buying the album at some point this year, probably when I go see them in September.

[wolfking]

''a Sonata song about cars and drifting, really?''

lol wut?

[?]

In some video interview Tony was asked which SA song could be suitable for a video game and he said Running Lights would fit a game like Need for Speed, because it's about driving (fast!).

[wolfking]

lol, oh Tony. 

[?]

Some news in Finnish, regarding Ecliptica 2.0 and an official biography written by Marko "Mape" Ollila - both are coming out in the fall: https://www.soundi.fi/uutiset/raskas-suomalaisbandi-nauhoittaa-maineikkaan-debyyttinsa-uudelleen-myos-kirja-luvassa

Tony's comment on the re-recording of Ecliptica, translated by me:

"The idea of re-recording the album came from the Japanese label and after a moment of pondering I nodded approvingly. At the time Ecliptica turned out a little demoish in many ways and my vocals didn't completely work out in the best possible way", says Sonata frontman Tony Kakko.

"Due to these few factors I consider our sophomore record Silence the actual debut - I mean, as a showcase of what we are truly capable of. We did release the song Wolf & Raven from Silence in 2008 as a strongly rearranged version, but for Ecliptica there's not going to be a whole lot of actual arrangement work. Instead, the songs are going to be played in the spirit of the originals, albeit executed better in every way."

Regarding the book:

"We've done lots of interviews and other work regarding the book. We may not be the band whose closet is full of undisclosed skeletons, but the book will probably include numerous juicy stories."

[Shadow2222]

Ooh, nice to have some definite confirmation on the Ecliptica re-recording. I don't suppose the book might be in English? I'd love to be able to read it.

[ErHaO]

I do not really like the new album as a whole package. But some songs are absolutely awesome and make me smile (for the lack of a better description). Tony Kakko really shines on this album imo. Love seems to break down my testosterone, I do not like it. And I do like a lot of SA's ballads.

And I am hyped for that re-recording. I never listen to Ecliptica as I think it sounds crappy overall and the vocals are sometimes annoying. But the songs itself are really good (I do listen to some live renditions often). Nice to hear they don't take the Wolf Raven remake approach but just aim to give some good songs a worthy recording.

[wolfking]

I don't like the idea of re-recording it with the current lineup. 

[JRundquist]

The new album sounds like Sonata Arctica wrote the soundtrack to a Pixar Movie.



I haven't figured out if that's a good or a bad thing yet.

[?]

Ooh, nice to have some definite confirmation on the Ecliptica re-recording. I don't suppose the book might be in English? I'd love to be able to read it.

Probably just in Finnish, at least for now, but the same author has written a book on Nightwish that got published in both Finnish and English, so there may be a translation for this later.

[?]

I just checked out Pariah's Child on Spotify... I know I need to listen to it more, but my first impression is that after the solid first half the album goes downhill. Blood stood out the most (despite the unnecessary speech synthesizer bit) and could potentially become one of my all-time favorites. Take One Breath, Running Lights and What Did You Do... are good as well, but Half a Marathon Man is incredibly irritating, X Marks the Spot is kind of funny yet WTF-worthy and annoying at the same time, Love is pretty meh and Larger than Life sounds epic for the sake of being epic.

"A happier version of TDOG" is a pretty good description of the musical style - Running Lights is definitely power metal and there are faster sections in some songs, but I think this album has much more in common with the last three records than the first four (I don't mind, though). I'm glad they got rid of the "let's repeat the chorus 500 times" syndrome that plagued SGHN and brought back the more adventurous song structures, but I doubt this album will become a classic in my books. On the other hand, I loved Stones at first, but a year after its release I started to find it boring, so I'm sure PC will age better.

[Kosmo]

I really like the melody in Marathon Man but other than that it falls kind of flat. X is actually among my favorites on the album and Love went from being average to an instant skip for me, it's so boring. Larger than Life is alright but unnecessarily long.

I have the album spinning in the background a lot and it's starting to feel a lot like Stones in a way that I like it, but it's not that engaging. Blood is definitely the top dog on this thing.

[?]

A sample of the Japanese bonus track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4tfbwiHij8 I'd love to hear this song in full

The biography will be published in September (only in Finnish) and the cover looks pretty cool:

[ErHaO]

That sample sounds pretty interesting. I kind of hate it when bands make the bonus tracks some of the most interesting stuff.

Especially Stones Grow Her Name had this. I like Tonight I Dance Alone, One Two Free Fall was awesome (and actually has, unlike Pariah's Child, a classic SA vibe) and I absolutely love the acoustic version of Somewhere Close To you. The other acoustic bonus tracks were also pretty solid.

[Evermind]

I hope they'll realize what they're missing not releasing it in English. I, and I'm sure many others, would buy this book in a heartbeat if it was in English. And this cover looks thrilling.

[?]

I'd be shocked if the book wasn't released in English at some point, because the fan stories they were collecting a while ago will most likely appear in it. Maybe next year?

[gazinwales]

I'm sure it will be released in English at some stage.
It's not just merely a question of 'releasing it'.
Your first need to get the book translated and then find a publisher.

[?]

Also, even if the book doesn't get published in English, I can share some juicy bits once I've read it

[?]

The full version of No Pain is on YT now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcTx9L6ZeXI

It's a pretty depressive song by Sonata standards, but that's not a bad thing in my books

[MoraWintersoul]

Half A Marathon Man is one of my favorite Sonata songs ever. P'sC is somewhere mid-tier, but as a fan of eight years, I am satisfied overall.

[ErHaO]

Okay, after listening to PC a lot last weekend, I have to say it grew on me a bit after initially not really digging it.

Great tracks (some of the best SA tracks):
-Cloud Factory
-What Did You Do in the War Dad
-Take One Breath
-X Marks The Spot

Good tracks:
-Half A Marathon Man (could do without that useless intro though)
-Wolves Die Young
-Running Lights
-Blood

Bad tracks:
-Love (I like some of the verses, but the lyrics and overall sweetness ruin it)
-Larger Than Life (If like 5 minutes were cut, it would probably a pretty good song)

No Pain sounds like a track that will be under "good" for me.

Overall, A pretty solid album. Tony's vocals are his best yet I think and there are some nice proggy parts in the songs here and there. The album is pretty varied and covers a lot of themes (both silly and serious and both done well for most songs). Too bad the ballad and epic are not that good (things SA can be very good at). Running Lights and Wolves Die Young could benefit from a different mix though. I like the tunes, but I feel there could be a little more power in the instrumental department.

[?]

Good tracks:
-Half A Marathon Man (could do without that useless intro though)

The intro is actually the only part I like; without it HAAM would be the worst Sonata song ever IMO

The album isn't on Spotify anymore and I have to wait a while until I get my hands on the CD

[MoraWintersoul]

Good tracks:
-Half A Marathon Man (could do without that useless intro though)

The intro is actually the only part I like; without it HAAM would be the worst Sonata song ever IMO

fight me

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

[Dittomist]

The new album has finally started to grow on me. After my first couple of listens, I was worried that this would be the first Sonata Arctica album I wasn't even going to buy, but now there are only a couple tracks that do nothing for me: Love (ugh, I cannot believe this sapfest is going to be the next single, and nobody appreciates ballads more than me!) and Take One Breath.
For the most part, this seems to be a lighter, weirder, and happier side of Sonata, and there isn't a single moment that reaches the heaviness of "Somewhere Close to You" or "Losing My Insanity" from the last album.
At the moment, my favorite tracks are: Cloud Factory (a perfect choice for a single--so melodic and catchy), Half a Marathon Man, Running Lights, X Marks the Spot, and Larger than Life (it took about 5-6 tries until I realized how beautiful it is).

[Destiny Of Chaos]

After 2 listens, this is my least favorite SA effort. Hopefully, it'll grow.

[?]

Setlist for the first night of the European tour: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/sonata-arctica/2014/effenaar-eindhoven-netherlands-4bc39fb6.html

I'm surprised there are only 4 songs from the new album, but great to see Blood there. HAMM sucks IMO, but I guess it works well live like the SGHN stuff The lack of Unia is sad, but I expected it when Tony said Paid in Full would be dropped in some interview. Henkka mentioned in his blog that they rehearsed almost 30 songs for the anniversary dates and the PC tour, so there'll probably be some rotation. I bet San Sebastian will be played on the next Finnish tour, because it wasn't brought back until recently.

[Evermind]

Yeah, we had like what, 7 songs from SGHN?
Actually, they can rotate whatever they want as long as WPBO stays.

[wolfking]

Just listened to this for the first time, and my first impressions are not good.  Will definitely give it time though.

[?]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBACRtmu0VQ

I actually like the video, but I don't know whether that's because it's actually beautiful, or because it's not as generic as 90% of metal videos or as horrible as The Wolves... Unfortunately the song is way too syrupy for my taste - I like In the Dark, but in general Tony is better at writing sad ballads. I might feel differently if I was in love with somebody, but at the moment I agree with what Tony said in the FB post: "happiness is boring"