The first single off the album, Storytime, was released on November 9, and quickly topped the Finnish single charts. The album was released in Finland on November 30. According to Iltasanomat, Imaginaerum sold more than 50,000 copies in Finland during the first day after release. It has been described as Nightwish's best album by Sonic Seducer and has been album of the month by Dutch metal magazine Aardschok Magazine.
The album has been described as following a natural development from Dark Passion Play, inspired greatly by film scores. Like Dark Passion Play as well as Once and Century Child, it features a live orchestra, again orchestrated by Pip Williams. The orchestrations have been described as "beautiful, twisted, tribal and cinematic", but will not be featured on every track as it was on Dark Passion Play. Bassist Marco Hietala has emphasized that the album is heavier than the predecessor. Imaginaerum is the first Nightwish album since their debut that features no music written by the guitarist Emppu Vuorinen. The reason for this, according to Vuorinen, is that after long and exhausting touring for Dark Passion Play, he had no interest to touch his instrument for months.
Holopainen has cited three major influences on the album — film director Tim Burton, author Neil Gaiman and painter Salvador Dalí. Musical influences include Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, Ennio Morricone, Christy Moore, Van Halen and Pantera, and one song especially - Rest Calm - is inspired by death/doom giants Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. Holopainen has called one song the "epic song of the album", Song Of Myself, which is almost as long as Dark Passion Play's The Poet And The Pendulum at 13 minutes. It is divided into four parts and especially influenced by poet Walt Whitman.
Taikatalvi
Nightwish Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mis kuutamo kujillaan kulkee
Taipunut havu, kesä hoivassa sen
Valkomeren niin aavan
Joka aavekuun siivin
Saapuu mut kotiin noutamaan
Päällä talvisen maan hetki kuin ikuisuus
Mi pienen kissan jaloin luokseni hiipii
Tääl tarinain lähteellä asua saan mis
Viulu valtavan kaihon
Ikisäveltään maalaa
Laulullaan herättää maan
The first verse of Nightwish's song Taikatalvi talks about how the stage upon which the singer appears is the dearest thing to them, more than anything else in the world. The moonlight is described as moving along the streets, casting shadows upon the trees that are bent under the weight of summer. The vast white ocean represents a spirit that arrives on its ghostly wings, coming to take the singer home.
In the second verse, the scene shifts to a wintry landscape that seems to last forever, while the singer is visited by a small cat. The story continues at a source where tales originate, and where the singer is allowed to live. In this place, the violin plays a melody of great sorrow, painting a picture of a life forever trapped in this otherworldly place. The singer sings a song that awakens the earth, bringing it back to life.
Overall, Taikatalvi is a song that speaks of otherworldly experiences and emotions, portraying what appears to be a fairytale-like journey. The lyrics are full of mystical imagery that creates an air of mystery and magic. Through this song, the band brings the listener into a winter wonderland where dreams come true, but also where the past is ever-present.
Line by Line Meaning
Lapsistain rakkain tää näyttämö on
This stage is the dearest to me from my childhood
Mis kuutamo kujillaan kulkee
Where the moonlight wanders through streets
Taipunut havu, kesä hoivassa sen
Bent pine, nurtured by summer
Valkomeren niin aavan
Of the white ocean so vast
Joka aavekuun siivin
On wings of the phantom moon
Saapuu mut kotiin noutamaan
It comes to take me home
Päällä talvisen maan hetki kuin ikuisuus
The moment on the winter land feels eternal
Mi pienen kissan jaloin luokseni hiipii
Where a little cat sneaks up to me
Tääl tarinain lähteellä asua saan mis
Here, where I reside by the wellspring of stories
Viulu valtavan kaihon
With the violin of immense sorrow
Ikisäveltään maalaa
I paint my eternal melody
Laulullaan herättää maan
With my song, I awaken the land
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ERNO VUORINEN, JUKKA NEVALAINEN, MARKO HIETALA, TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind