Tarja
Biography
Best known as the female vocalist for Finnish gothic/symphonic metal act Nightwish, Tarja (full name Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen) was born on August 17, 1977, in Kitee, Finland. Her prowess as a soprano landed her a place studying classical voice at the Sibelius Academy in Kuopio, where fellow student Tuomas Holopainen took on Tarja as vocalist for his musical project, which was to be christened Nightwish in 1996. Tarja continued to pursue solo interests during her time recording and touring with Nightwish, including a solo in a 1999 rock ballet, a 2002 tour of South America, and a 2004 Christmas single, entitled "Yhden Enkelin Unelma" (One Angel's Dream). In 2005, Tarja was asked (via "open letter") to leave Nightwish, the rest of the band citing financial and personal concerns. A public display of he-said/she-said followed, and Tarja became a solo artist full-time. After her forced departure, Tarja made some live appearances, as well as an appearance on an album of her brother's work before beginning work on an album of her own. October 2007 saw the release of that first solo album, My Winter Storm, which was released on Spinefarm Records. ~ Chris True, All Music Guide
Selected Discography
My Winter Storm
2008
I think Anette sings a few Tarja-era songs fine ("Ghost Love Score" and "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" ) but in others she hasn't done too well with ("The Siren" and "Nemo").
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I must say that the Tarja vs. Anette war is not as bad as some other singer wars I find. a band I like called Escape the Fate has their old singer thrown in jail for some reason and a new singer has taken his place. the fans won't shut their traps about it on the band page. it's worse on Youtube.
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I'm reasonably certain you'd have to catch Nightwish live to hear that, since none of their current releases feature Anette singing any old material.
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It seems to me that Nightwish changed styles of music a little to accomodate for the different singer (from what I've heard so far), but I haven't heard Anette sing a 'Tarja era' song, so I'm just adding my 2 cents to the comments I've been reading.
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I don't think Anette is a bad singer. She's pretty good, actually. However, when a band writes a song it takes into account the singer they currently have. If you switch styles of singers, the old songs may not sound right, and you are forced to either be criticized or discarding the old ones. That is why most bands replace a singer with someone who sounds very similar (and, for the record, people b**ch about that too).
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Don't listen to Plague's naysaying, DPP is awesome and you should definitely get it. I've had that album playing almost non-stop in my car ever since I acquired it, and it hasn't gotten old yet!
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I'm not trying to place one singer over another, but Tarja's voice is pretty good. Anette is great too, but she wasn't the best choice in Nightwish. maybe I'm biased because I haven't bought DDP yet, but my opinion keeps changing since I can't yet see the full picture.
but to add on, yes, maybe Nightwish kicked her out (rather rudely, yes) because of ego clashes. it makes sense since Tarja did dress and act like a diva in the live clips I've seen on the internet... |
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@Matthew: Dark Moor's first singer, Elisa, sounded like a pre-pubescen t boy. Their new singer also sounds pre-pubescen t , thus their success at sounding exactly the same.
Annette from Nightwish does have a poppish voice, as does Sharon Den Adel, Christina Scabbia, and others. And in addition, she doesn't have a good poppish voice. Sharon and Christina at least have a good tone. Plus Nightwish's new riffs with Annette on vocals kind of just suck. |
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Well you have groups like Dark Moor who went from a female to a male vocalist and yet somehow manage to STILL sound exactly the same (I honestly have no idea how they pulled that off).
On Anette: It's not that she sounds like a pop singer (by that logic Sharon den Adel from Within Temptation and most of the other female leads from similar symphonic metal bands do too), it's just that there was no way you could imagine Tarja singing pop. |
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I agree with you Roonil, but let's face it: unless Nightwish had found a singer whose voice is almost exactly like Tarja's, they'd sound different, regardless. The reason I say this is because Visons of Atlantis hired a new vocalist for their third album, but she sounds almost exactly like the previous one, so they sound about the same.
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Tarja has such a beautiful voice, im glad shes still recording! Nightwish is still good (even if anette sounds like a pop singer), but its not the same without tarja.
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I'm not really sure where I stand on the whole Nightwish issue, but I certainly enjoyed the song from this album that Pandora presented me with.
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I would be incredibly surprised if Tarja really didn't want to tour the USA.
I don't agree with them firing her by way of an open letter, but there are 2 sides to every story. If you read the letter (I think it's on Wikipedia) you'll see why they wanted her to leave, but that could have been done more professional l y . |
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Why the f**k did Nightwish kick her out? She is a f**king great vocalist! And if it was inevitable, they should of sent it out via personal email, and not an open letter. What f**king a**-hats.
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Not sure if it is heresay, but I heard Tarja absolutely refused to tour the U.S. and the band really wanted to get into that scene. I totally agree that bands change because they are made of people who change themselves. If they did the same thing on every album, it would become stale and predictable.
~~I would also like to shamelessly plug a band I recently found called Dark Moor. Two of my fav songs so far are 'The Fall of Melnibone' & 'The Silver Key'. /\/eTaL 4 Life!! |
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@pretty_kitt y 0 7 1 2 9 5 : Nightwish is still around, they just have Anette Olzon recruited as lead singer. Just thought you should know.
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Though I am sad that the band broke up, I still think that both the band and Tarja make great music. But what msbahe said is true, they do have lifecycles. Even if the band is gone, now there's the unique sound of Tarja.
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live separate lives. That is a fact. As human beings all we can do is embrace the present and live life. If you spend your life whining and reaching for the past, you are destined to waste your future and die reaching. Live life and reach for what pleases you now.
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In my opinion great artists/band s have an almost human lifecycle. That is to say that like human life it is the finite nature of an artist/band that makes the time we have with them truly a treasure. I’ll always love the old Nightwish, and though it’s true that as fans we’ll never get that exact music again, the important thing to focus on is how lucky we are to have had our lives touched and enriched by the sharing of their gifts. Now Nightwish and Tara have both been reborn and have gone on to
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"She has one of the most beautiful, professional l y trained voices ever." It is truly Assinine to say anything otherwise. Her voice is truly amazing. Nightwish will NEVER be the same without her...
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dilemarr, Tarja was fired from Nightwish she didn't leave although I think it was just a matter of time before she went solo. We're all entitled to our opinion, but to say that her voice sucks just because she's not with Nightwish is, frankly, assinine. She has one of the most beautiful, professional l y trained voices ever. C'mon fans, back me up!
I can't wait for her next CD. |
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Night Wish has a different yet just as great quality whether or not she is the lead singer. After all is The Islander not a great song? Or The Poet and the Pendulum? Her work is great as well so please don't whine that she is now a solo artist, it just means you get her without the band that supported her.
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It was a sad day indeed when she left. I haven't heard any of this yet, though.
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Amanda Conley, I agree w/you.
For myself, I will not purchase any more NW album or whatever that does not have Tarja on it. For me(& others), the magic that IS Nightwish is the combination of Tuomas's music & lyrics & Tarja's beautifully powerful & sometimes operatic vocals. Since NW booted Tarja, The said magic no longer exists w/in NW. Nightwish is very much a shadow of it's former self. |
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I'm happy for her solo career. She was an essencial member of Nightwish, shame they got rid of her!!
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Nightwish is not as good as it was with Tarja. She BELONGS TO NIGHTWISH. It was the worst idea to get rid of her.
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What i was refering to, was my opinion that Tarja's voice sucks.. i dislike her solo work
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Nightwish is so lame without a good voice to hold them together.
Tuomas is still amazing... but that new chick's voice is so weak, I just can't listen to their new stuff. |
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Simply put one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard and I am so glad that she is continuing to produce new albums even after that affair with Nightwish,wh o lost one of the main factors for its sucess. I am so thankful that she has gifted the world with her voice once again.
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Beautiful young lady with an amazing voice like an angel! Keep up the great work!
I hope your continued success endures. Nightwish lost a tremendous voice... whether she left of her own volition, or was ousted-- if rumors have any validity. Nightwish... y o u gotta get her back! |
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That's almost exactly what happened. Egos clashed, members felt entitled to more of the earnings, creative direction was being challenged, etc. It's ashame that successful bands can't find compromise. Success can sometimes poison people. The aftermath of such a breakdown is the ruination of something wonderful, and the loss of career momentum for all involved. It's sad that it happens so frequently to so many artists.
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Even if she was not forced out of the band, Tarja probably would have gone solo eventually.
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I think the other member's of Nightwish felt threatened by Tarja's popularity & she may have been acting more like a diva than they felt was appropriate within the band (they're called "Nightwish," not "Tarja's Nightwish"). She also may have not been given as much artistic freedom as she thought she should have which creates a lot of tension. I'm sure there were "ego battles" between Tarja & Tuomas which put even more of a strain on their friendship.
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Please correct me if I am wrong, but it sounds to me that Tarja was ousted because her popularity went to her head. If this is true, I think Nightwish fans could be much worse-off than they are now.
Pride is perhaps the greatest enemy many bands will ever face. It destroyed the Beatles. Would it have destroyed Nightwish? Has it already? Suppose that Nightwish HAD kept Tarja. What would have been? With pride and emnity in the band, would their music be worth listening to? |
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AK makes a good point. I personally do prefer Tarja, but AK's comment makes sense. They're both talented in their own ways, and should be respected.
and to answer angel of anarchy's question, I LOVE Tarja. |
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