1018. Sonata Arctica / Reckoning Night. 2004. 4.5/5

My goodness I have tried hard to love Sonata Arctica unconditionally. From the first time I discovered them, I really wanted this to be a love affairs. Their obvious talents were too great for them to be considered an average band with average albums. With their three previous albums, I had always found great songs and wonderful pieces to take away from each, without ever being completely sold on the album as a whole. Much of that comes with the territory of the power ballad that tend to find their way on such bands’ albums. So I was always searching for more, for that perfect mix of power metal with just a bit of a heavier edge, while being able to combine each members instrument to the highest quality. And then along came Reckoning Night.

From the outset, the band is on fire, and the writing is strong and purposeful. New keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg comes up trumps, and absolutely gives a different flavour on the keys than had been prevalent on the earlier albums. Drummer Tommy Portimo has another cracking album, perfectly synchronised and smack bang on in every way, speed and proficiency. So too Marko Paasikoski on bass guitar, dialling right in to Portimo’s drums and locking in perfectly. Guitarist Jani Liimatainen again showcases the best he has to offer, and his duels throughout with Klingernberg’s keyboard is fantastic. Out the front Tony Kakko again inspires with his vocals, and given he again wrote almost the entire album (Jani wrote “My Selene”) shows he has some major ticker in regards to his music.

“Misplaced” is without a doubt my favourite Sonata Arctica song ever. It has the perfect balance between energy, fast tempo, guitar and keyboard riffs, double kick drum and superb vocals. It is the song that should be this band’s template, simply because it contains everything that is magnificent about this band at the top of their form. This is the killer song of their genre, and it rarely fails to send shivers down my spine whenever I listen to it. “Blinded No More” has those great Tony Kakko vocals and a chugging guitar riff throughout, and while the tempo may have dropped from the opening song once it settles into its groove you can’t help but like what has been produced, and singing along in some semblance of tune (not easy in the slightest). “Ain’t Your Fairytale” kicks straight back in to that up tempo theme with flailing guitar and keys and double kick. What comes through best in this song is that while the power metal theme holds its course, the guitar comes in with a heavier sound, dragging this into a more formidable music ground. The hard core rhythm still keeps the song in motion while all of the parts meld together brilliantly. THIS is what I’ve been waiting for from this band. Power by name but also strength and bottom end in the music.
The gentleness of the instrumental “Reckoning Day, Reckoning Night…” only serves as an interlude to “Don’t Say a Word” which begins in a similar way to “Blinded No More” where the tempo doesn’t start quite so fast but is offset by the strength and power of Tony’ vocals which drive the song to the heights it deserves. Before long the pace of the music itself builds back into that pleasing middle ground. The heavier edge to the guitar and drums through the second half of the song again echoes “Ain’t Your Fairytale”, and it ends on a superior note . Top shelf stuff.
“The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Real Puppet” settles back into the mid-tempo range and is much of a power metal song, slower and softer than what has come before it, with the keyboards dominating more thoroughly than had been the case earlier in the album. There are touches of Symphony X along the way, before finishing with a hard guitar riff. Pleasing. “My Selene” returns to the upmarket uptempo highs of the best on the album, mixing the keys and guitars superbly into the jaws of Tony’s vocals and his supports on backups, combining into the best aspects of the power metal genre, with the fast paced drums being drawn along by the dominant keyboards in a merry music melody.
“Wildfire” cracks out of the starting gates like its name, and rages along in fine style. There is some real extreme vocals that come through on this track as well, giving it a real intensity that, frankly, is so out of character for this band that it is tremendously exhilarating. “White Pearl, Black Oceans...” could best be summed up here as the epic power metal song of the album, combining chorus and choirs along with the quieter periods of keyboards and acoustically driven guitar, building to a that epic that bands look for. At almost nine minutes it is the longest song on the album. Finally, to close out the album we have “Shamandalie”, which, somewhat regrettably, is probably the least enjoyable song on the album. After everything that has come before it, the album deserved a real killer of a finishing track, and to be honest this isn’t it. It’s okay, it’s fine, but it isn’t up to the standard of everything else on this album, and that is a shame.

This is the album I had been waiting for from Sonata Arctica. It is a power metal album with that added grunt that gives it that heavier sound that not only helps to bring out the best in all of the band members’ chosen instrument, but drives each song to those heights that their talent deserved. The one small problem that followed it was that the band then had to write and record a follow up album that could get somewhere near as good as this is. So far, many years on, they haven’t been able to do that.

Rating:  “Taken for granted again, too weak a man to say it is over”.  4.5/5

916. Sonata Arctica / Pariah's Child. 2014. 2.5/5

If you have followed my reviews of albums over the past ten to fifteen years, you will be fully aware of my fascination and frustration with Sonata Arctica, as a band and of the music they play. When I first discovered them all those years ago, I was amazed at their talent, their ability on their instruments, and the excellence of their vocal ability. More than anything else, all of this is perfectly portrayed in the cover versions of songs such as Scorpions "Still Loving You" and Iron Maiden's "Die With Your Boots On", which are the reason I started following this band. The fact that they have never lived up to those expectations of mine is eternally annoying to me.

Here on Pariah's Child, I am met with the same old problems and prejudices that I have met on most of the previous albums Sonata Arctica has released. About half of the album works on a level that is good enough for me. And I don't pretend that isn't an unfair comment, just for the fact that I would like them to be a bit more traditionally heavy, and have less reliance on the keyboards. But that is the way I have felt about their music for some time. Songs such as "The Wolves Die Young" and "Running Lights" are very good songs, and both of these are an excellent way to open the album. But what I wouldn't give to hear just a bit more grunt in them. I guess the best way I can describe them is that they are 'harmless', good songs with great musicianship that are easy to listen to, without creating great spasms of brilliance within you.
The middle of the album employs some different musical techniques that will either stun you or lose your interest entirely. I'm not sure what the middle of "Take One Breath" was looking to achieve with it's lullaby keyboard sound, but it just messes up the song for mine. "Cloud Factory" and "Blood" are on a par with the opening two songs, creating the solid core of the Sonata Artica sound. "What Did You Do in the War, Dad" is a very melancholic style, and while not a unique sounding song is a mix of ranges and emotions within the song itself, and is the most difficult song on the album to categorise, and to determine whether I like it or dislike it. While it settles in the ballad like style, it has enough force and momentum behind it to bring it up a notch in its estimation.
"Half a Marathon Man" is my favourite song on the album, because it does all of the things I like most about the band in the best possible way - it's a fast paced song, the vocals have some grunt behind them, the guitar and keys flow together perfectly and showcase the best of their abilities, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and you can drum along with it and sing along with it without any bad convictions. More of this please!!
"X Marks the Spot" isn't a bad follow up, combining a lightened lyrical base ala Helloween and Gamma Ray but without the dominance in music that those two bands inject. "Love" is sterile. Not necessarily the emotion, but this song is. Truly, as I say in any review of this type, the power ballad is a blight on music, and this song is no exception. The closing song "Larger Than Life" extends to almost ten minutes, which probably outstays its welcome by some margin.

I've said it all before when it comes to Sonata Arctica. I keep coming back to them every new album because I still harbour hope that they can harness their obvious talent and produce that album that really takes my breath away, grabs me around the throat and knocks some sense into me. Once again, that hasn't happened here. Pariah's Child is another solid release from a very good power metal band, with some good material and some average material. The fans of this genre of music should find more than enough to satisfy them on this album, but there will be the others who, like me, will again leave this somewhat disappointed.

Rating:  "You look like a really nice guy, but can you keep up with me?"  2.5/5

780. Sonata Arctica / Winterheart's Guild. 2003. 2.5/5

Sonata Arctica are a band I struggle with constantly. I love the band, yet have trouble loving their albums. This is no exception to that rule. What I certainly do love about this album is that it starts by smashing you in the face with power metal's heart, keyboards and guitars blazing against that double kick drums. There's no knocking on the door and waiting for it to be answered, they just bash the door down and blast you from second one. If only that lasted for more than the first sixty seconds I would be a happier man.

As it turns out, "Abandoned, Pleased, Brainwashed, Exploited" doesn't quite live up to its introduction. The same could be said for "Gravenimage" which like the opening song has moments where you think 'yeah, this is terrific!' blended with moments when you think 'wow, this is very average' - something you might expect to find over the course of an entire album, but finding it within the context of one song really is something, and not a positive either. Better is "The Cage", which starts off with one of those blinding keyboard extrapolations, and double kick which doesn't dissipate for the whole four and a half minutes of the song, combined with great vocals and a couple of melodies. "Silver Tongue" isn't as fast or blinding, but still combines the excellent guitar to keyboard solo in the middle.
You know what to expect with Sonata Arctica, and that includes the power ballad, the bane of my existence. These ones are heavy hitters, so maudlin and slow and... well... awful!... that it gives me a headache just thinking about them. "The Misery"  holds up to its title well, it makes me completely miserable to even have to listen to it again. Once again, as I must have said a hundred times in reviews, I know there are people out there who love these kind of songs, and no I am not one of them, and yes I should know what to expect from these albums, and yes I should either not listen to them or skip those songs or stop listening to this band. I agree with all those things. As I have no doubt already said with this band, I feel there is so much potential in Sonata Arctica, its just that they choose to make their music in a different direction from what I would like to hear. Which is where my conflict arises.
"Victoria's Secret" and "Broken" were both singles from the album, and both are the better songs to be found here. Faster, great double kick, good solos from both guitars and keyboards, and wonderful vocals from Tony Kakko highlight why these are where my love of Sonata Arctica lies. I love the melding from "Victoria's Secret" straight into "Champagne Bath" as well, another of the good songs found here with all of the right elements. The solo duel between keyboards and guitars here is something that should happen a lot more. The unusual high tinkling keyboards in the middle of the song though are something that should not happen more. This then jumps into "Broken", and thus completes the triumvirate that is the best part of the album for me.
"The Ruins of My Life" falls into a similar category as the first half of the album. Parts of the song are tremendous, but start and end are confusing, completely the opposite to the heart of the song that feels so much more like it should be. The album closes with "Draw Me", which is, to be honest, terrible. Why finish an album with a soppy, weak song like this? It simply destroys the good work done earlier.

This album could easily have ranked much higher with me if only a couple of things had been changed or just left out completely. The awful songs - "The Misery" and "Draw Me" - completely overshadow the good songs - "The Cage" and "Silver Tongue". It is such a shame to have this come down to rating an album. If those two songs are not hear, I think this rates a full star, or perhaps even a start and a half, higher than what I have given it. That is how much I think those two songs affect this album. On the other side of the coin, this rating is probably very harsh because of this, and the fact that there is some very strong material here, stuff that is well worth listening to.

Rating:  You will remember the day you crossed my path.  2.5/5

Listen to full album here

727. Sonata Arctica / Last Drop Falls [Single]. 2001. 3/5

I can't (but can) understand why this was released as a single. I mean, it's a slow, mourning ballad. The kind of song Sonata Arctica do so well, and the kind of song I really don't enjoy. So from a personal point of view, I wish they had released another song from the album as a single. However, when you are looking for single sales and hopeful radio play, then this is the kind of song that may attract that kind of attention. For a start, the lyrical content may not be a persuasive argument to a radio executive that it should be played!

In buying singles, you generally buy them for the other songs attached to them. This is the case here, with an excellent cover version of Iron Maiden's "Die With Your Boots On". This again showcases the amazing talent in this band. Following this is an acoustic version of "Mary-Lou" to round it off.
Worth getting your hands on for the maiden cover alone.

Rating: I have found the whore in you. 3/5

697. Sonata Arctica / Silence. 2001. 2.5/5

Sonata Arctica's follow up to their acclaimed debut Ecliptica will no doubt keep hardcore fans of the band animated and happy. For me, I was hoping for more than that album was able to provide me, and unfortunately I didn't really find that.

The fast paced, high intensity, at your jugular songs on Silence are some of the best this band has produced. "Weballergy" opens the album at a cracking pace, and from the outset it feels as though this could be the direct extension the band needed to take. "False News Travel Fast" continues in this direction, punchy and driven by the double kick drums and flying keyboard. "Black Sheep" is a good song that doesn't really showcase anything particularly metal, but moves along at a good tempo with a flailing guitar solo. "San Sebastian (Revisited)" again has that speed driven by the drums to give it some real momentum and wonderful vocals. Along with "Wolf & Raven" later in the piece, these are the stand out songs for me on the album, and if there had been more of them this could have been a real classic.

The major downfall of the power metal album is the constant power ballad. Dear oh dear, these kinds of songs just rip the heart out of an album and consign them to mediocre status. It is such a contradiction in terms, power and ballad. Because for all intents and purposes, there is very little if any power in these ballads.
"The End of This Chapter" is the first to arrive on this album, piano and keyboard dominated, while the vocals reach for their emotive state to tug at the heartstrings. "Last Drop Falls" and "Sing in Silence" also fall into this category to a certain degree, if only for a majority if not all of the song. "Tallulah" is the worst, it being in the Bryan Adams or Michael Bolton class of dreadful sappy unresponsive rubbish.
If bands want to make songs like this, then fine. Do it. But how about you put ALL of them on ONE album, put a big sticker on it to inform everyone exactly what the album contains, and allow those of us who just don't want to know to completely ignore it, and buy your albums that have the best songs on them. I mean, for goodness sakes, "Tallulah" is followed by the brilliant "Wolf & Raven" that careers along at breakneck speed throughout, barely stopping to take a breath. Everything about it screams speed metal, and yet the previous song was a sop-driven bore-fest. I just can't understand it. "Tallulah" is an automatic skip song. In the old days of transferring vinyl to cassettes to play in the car it would never have made my taped copy, and in this day of electronic media and so forth, you can even erase it from existence.
But somehow it isn't over. The lengthy and overblown finale of "The Power of One" just seems needlessly long. It starts, it stops, it goes fast, it goes slow, it wants to be a metal song, it wants to be a ballad. Does it want to be "Bohemian Rhapsody"? I don't know, but given that it doesn't know what it wants to be it's a little hard to take. Parts of the song are terrific, but others just are mystifying. Time and mood changes at odd parts of the song make it hard to stay in synch with. It feels like they wanted to pull every trick in the 'power metal song writing' handbook in one song.

I want to love this band so much more than I am able to. Their musicianship is flawless, the vocals are pitch perfect. The trappings of the genre mean however that I am unable to enjoy a lot of their music because it just isn't in me to like it, and that is a real shame. Those that love this style of metal will probably embrace this album with vigour. I can only admire what it is, enjoy the parts of it that I do, and move on from the rest.

395. Sonata Arctica / For The Sake Of Revenge. 2006. 3.5/5

When you aren’t overly familiar with a band, the Live Album can be a real test. The songs on the album could entrance you, which then will leave you a little hollow when you discover the studio versions of the same songs are not as spectacular. The songs may leave you unimpressed, if the vocalist doesn’t seem to be able to hit the correct notes, or the guitars sound a little off if they improvise a little in the live environment. In other words, the Live Album of a band you aren’t overly familiar with can Make It or Break It for you.

Here then is Sonata Arctica, a band I am still relatively new at listening to, and here is their live album, For The Sake Of Revenge.
So what’s the verdict?
The verdict is, I think this has a lot to offer. The vocals of singer Tony Kakko are very much at the front of the mix, and this isn’t really a bad thing, because he really can sing, and does it great live as well. As with the power metal genre, the keyboards are also heavily prevalent, while the guitars and drums are just great.

More to the point, most of the songs are terrific. Some are a bit slow and ‘almost’ of the ballad persuasion for my liking, but overall this is a great collection. Songs such as "Misplaced", "8th Commandment" and "Blinded No More" are perfect examples of what makes Sonata Arctica the band they are. They have an anthemic quality that really attracts me. "Broken" is also a song that I have always enjoyed.

I have given this a solid workout over the past few days, and I still find it easy to return for more. That can only be a good thing, can’t it?

Rating: An excellent live album from this band, who are one of the quiet achievers in European Metal. 3.5/5.

263. Sonata Arctica / Ecliptica. 1999. 3.5/5.

The band that came to be known as Sonata Arctica was established by drummer Tommy Portimo and guitarists Jani Liimatainen and Marko Paasikoski in 1995, who were soon followed by the addition of lead vocalist Tony Kakko and bassist Pentti Peura to the lineup in early 1996. Initially named Tricky Beans, their musical style was hard rock rather than the power metal for which they later gained fame. Kakko explained that upon his invitation to join the band, Paasikoski mentioned that the group's sound would be "a mixture of Megadeth and Spin Doctors". An interesting combination. In those early days the band recorded three demos’, titled “Friend 'til the End”, “Agre Pamppers”, and “PeaceMaker”. None of these were sent to a record company, whether that was from the fact the band were unhappy with their output or the sound.
In 1997, the band rebranded, and changed their name to Tricky Means, and began to change their sound. This occurred over a period of two years, as they took that ‘Megadeth-slash-Spin Doctors’ sound and moved in a different direction. Tony Kakko in interviews since has cited the influence of fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius on their evolving sound. By the late 1990’s Stratovarius had already released seven studio albums, and their success in their metal genre obviously framed the way the band began to look at their own output. As a result, they began developing a distinct style that emphasized keyboard melodies and a recognizable rhythm line maintained by both the bass and guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko cultivated a clean singing style incorporating both falsetto and tenor ranges.
In 1997, they recorded a demo titled “FullMoon” at Kemi's Tico Tico Studios, marking their first authentic metal recording. During this period, bassist Pentti Peura was dismissed, and Marko Paasikoski departed due to limited gig opportunities. This demo was submitted to Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band. On the back of this, two months later, the band secured a three-album contract, much to Paasikoski's displeasure. Following Spinefarm's recommendation to change their previous name for better marketability, the band ultimately adopted the name Sonata Arctica at the suggestion of a friend, combining "sonata" for their music and "arctica" for their northern Finnish home in Kemi. And from this, the band entered the studio to write and record what would become their debut album titled “Ecliptica”.

"Blank File” opens the album perfectly, straight into the fast paced tempo that creates the best tracks on the album. As an Album 1 Side 1 Track 1 for a band, this is pretty spectacular, and straight away showcases all of the great aspects of the band from the outset, especially the terrific lead vocals of Tony Kakko and the playoff soloing between guitar and keyboards. This is followed by “My Land”, not quite at the same tempo but follows the more defined characteristics of the power metal genre. The double kick drums and bass rhythm sets the platform again, raised in spirit by the choral keyboards and wonderful blend in vocals. The melodies throughout the openig two tracks set the platform for the rest of the album to come. “8th Commandment” cranks up the speed again, with the amazing finger speed of both Jani Liimatainen on guitars and Tony Kakko on keys hard to process at times. Anyone who enjoys this genre of music will get a kick out of the opening of the album.
As with all albums of this genre, you will have to accept that the power ballad will come into the mix. There are two on this album, the first bring “Replica” which breaks the usual mould in many respects. Tony’s vocals don’t whine, they soar powerfully and don't try to create false emotion, and the faster paced guitar and keyboard solo through the middle of the song aren’t trying to be heart-wrenchingly soppy. More than anything, it harks back to the hard rock roots of the band with a touch of emotional foreplay added into the mix.
Back into the swing of things, and “Kingdom for a Heart” tracks back into the keyboard driven pace of the album and provides further singalong lyrics that add enjoyment to the track. It is true that the lyrical content throughout might be classified as a little cheesy which isn’t unusual for albums of this genre, but the music itself helps you overlook anything that may on first inspection may sound a little out there. The initial single recorded by the band “FullMoon” follows, and the difference in style compared to the rest of the album is somewhat noticeable, lacking the overall speed and power that comes from the songs that were written during the sessions for this album. It has that more hard rock structure of the band's earlier days as well, and less of the style they performed for the most part on this album. The second power ballad in “Letter to Dana” comes next, opening with flute before Tony’s slowly rising vocals take over. The lovers of power ballads will find what they are looking for here. For me, it resides in that category which is difficult for me to enjoy. I’ll take a track like “Replica” over this any day of the week. “UnOpened” returns to a more pleasant sounding song in the track list, while an increase in tempo and energy comes with “Picturing the Past”.
The album is then closed out by "Destruction Preventer”, a perfect example of an epic album concluding song. Clocking in at 7 mins 40 secs, the atmospheric keyboard opening explodes into the song proper, and we are treated to the several changes in song structure and pace throughout, right up to the conclusion where Tony unleashes his final vocal assault on us, and we finish where we started, concluding an album that, as a band’s debut release, ticks a lot of boxes.

In 2001 I had reached a point where I was beginning to look for new music, to expand my musical horizons that had probably laid stagnant for a few years through the 1990’s decade. The only new bands I had really discovered at that time had been the alt-rock and metal bands that had ridden the wave over that time, such as The Offspring and Foo Fighters and Therapy? Beyond that, most of my music listening had stuck true to the bands I already knew. And the place I began searching was the European power metal scene, mainly on the back of my love of Helloween’s recent release “The Dark Ride” and Blind Guardian’s “Nightfall in Middle Earth”. And so over a period of 12 months, I began to find and immerse myself in the music of such bands as Stratovarius, Hammerfall, Edguy, Rhapsody and Sonata Arctica.
The first song I heard by Sonata Arctica was their amazingly brilliant cover version of Scorpions “Still Loving You”, taking a perfect power ballad, and turning it into an amazing speed metal song. If you haven’t heard it, you can check it out of the episode dedicated to that song on my “Which Version?” episode on this podcast. They also did a terrific version of Iron Maiden’s “Die with Your Boots On” on another tribute album. These two songs were enough to convince me that I needed to listen to this band and see what they could do with their own music. And so, I did, getting both this album and its follow up “Silence”, and playing the hell out of them. And of course, as you would expect, I found this album absolutely... average. I mean, it was okay, but I had overhyped it on the basis of those two cover songs. I was expecting something truly amazing, and what I got was an album of a genre that I was still coming to grips with, and as a result I was underwhelmed.
That did change over time. As I listened to more bands of the genre and more of this band, I began to understand their music, and instead grew to love it rather than looking for something that was going to blow me away. And it is funny how with all of those bands I mentioned – Stratovarius, Hammerfall, Edguy, and Sonata Arctica, it took me awhile to appreciate the music, and as I did, then all of those bands fell into my radar, and I found several albums from each of them that I truly love. And “Ecliptica” is one that I do enjoy every time I put it on.
For the past three weeks, I have given this a lot of listens. It helps that it comes after two solid months of albums that required reviewing on a daily basis, so I have actually been able to give this more of my attention. And from the outset I was reminded once again of what I love about this band. Tony’s vocals, the great drumming from Tommy, the running bass lines of Janne, and the trade-off guitar and keyboard solo pieces from Jani and Tony. It still reminds me of that time almost 25 years ago when I began to discover this genre and this band, and I am still thankful that I finally decided to spread my wings and give it a go.

155. Sonata Arctica / Broken [EP]. 2003. 3.5/5

OK, it's just the single, but the songs are great! It contains Broken in full and edit mode, along with Dream Thieves and The Gun. A good little buy.

Rating : Good single release. 3.5/5.