{"id":49710,"date":"2015-06-20T10:33:31","date_gmt":"2015-06-20T15:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=49710"},"modified":"2015-06-20T10:33:31","modified_gmt":"2015-06-20T15:33:31","slug":"tarja-luna-park-ride-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/tarja-luna-park-ride-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarja | Luna Park Ride<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Tarja_LunaPioneering Finnish soprano Tarja Turunen has just put the finishing touches on a superb live album entitled Luna Park Ride<\/em>. For those not familiar with the name, Tarja is one of the most influential female singers in the Symphonic\/Operatic Metal genres. She rose to fame as the front person for the groundbreaking Gothic, Symphonic Metal band Nightwish. Now a solo performer, Tarja remains at the forefront of the operatic metal scene.<\/p>\n

Luna Park Ride<\/em> was recorded live during the What Lies Beneath tour at Stadium Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 27-March-2011. For a live recording the sound quality is very good. Tarja’s vocals (and those of the backup singers) are crisp and understandable, never drowned out by the instruments or the crowd. The bass and keyboards come across strongly, but at times the guitars seem a little thin and the mid-range drums a bit washed out. Considering the age of the original recordings one cannot complain!<\/p>\n

Tarja’s set list includes cuts from her first two solo albums (2007’s My Winter Storm<\/em> and 2010’s What Lies Beneath<\/em>), a few from her Nightwish days, and a cover tune medley. This is not new material \u2013 Luna Park Ride<\/em> was previously released as part of the limited edition live concert DVD entitled \u201cAct I \u2013 Live In Rosario.\u201d Now released as an individual album Luna Park Ride<\/em> also includes a good deal of bonus material, all mixed by veteran Tim Palmer (U2, Pearl Jam, Robert Plant).<\/p>\n

Musical highlights include the theatrical performances of Tarja and the band on \u201cMy Little Phoneix\u201d and the totally over-the-top \u201cCiaran’s Well,\u201d the wonderfully fluid lines of \u201cThe Crying Moon,\u201d the enthusiastic participation and reaction of the crowd to the epic \u201cI Walk Alone,\u201d Tarja’s massive vocal performance on \u201cUnderneath\u201d and her native language \u201cSignos,\u201d and the wonderfully dark and creepy tone of \u201cLittle Lies.\u201d One of the true highlights is the cover tune medley consisting of Swedish singer Ankie Bagger’s 1989 pop tune \u201cWhere Were You Last Night\u201d, Belinda Carlisle\u2019s \u201cHeaven Is A Place On Earth,\u201d and the Bon Jovi classic \u201cLivin\u2019 On A Prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

While not containing recent material, Luna Park Ride<\/em> is a must have for Tarja fans. The concert is well-recorded and lively, giving listeners an in-depth peek at Tarja’s early catalog through dynamic live performances. The nicely done mix brings the talents of the performers to the fore without letting the listener forget that it is a live recording, yet at the same time the crowd is mixed in effectively so their participation never overshadows the music or vocals. <\/p>\n

If you’ve never been able to catch her in concert, Luna Park Ride<\/em> will give you a good taste of the Tarja experience. Turunen’s voice seems to be just as powerful live as in the studio, so if you enjoy operatic metal Tarja’s Luna Park Ride will not disappoint!<\/p>\n

Genre: Operatic, Gothic Metal<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tDark Star
\n2.\tMy Little Phoenix
\n3.\tThe Crying Moon
\n4.\tI Walk Alone
\n5.\tFalling Awake
\n6.\tSignos
\n7.\tLittle Lies
\n8.\tUnderneath
\n9.\tStargazers
\n10.\tCiaran’s Well
\n11.\tIn for a Kill
\n12.\tWhere Were You Last Night \/ Heaven Is a Place on Earth \/ Livin’ on a Prayer (Medley)
\n13.\tDie Alive
\n14.\tUntil My Last Breath
\n15.\tWishmaster<\/p>\n

Label: earMusic<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.tarjaturunen.com\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8 \/ 10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis – Senior Columnist — Pioneering Finnish soprano Tarja Turunen has just put the finishing touches on a superb live album entitled Luna Park Ride. For those not familiar with the name, Tarja […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":49711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[2317,4903,1095,11333,4084,11334,11332,8924],"class_list":{"0":"post-49710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-earmusic","10":"tag-gothic-metal","11":"tag-luna-park-ride","12":"tag-nightwish","13":"tag-operatic","14":"tag-tarja","15":"tag-tarja-turunen"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}