Our highest-scoring metal track ever?
[Video][Website]
[7.83]
Anthony Easton: What we describe as operatic in pop is not operatic in classical singing — pop is never quite able to be both ironic and earnest enough, and how it performs selfhood is radically different. Having a three-octave lyric soprano sing through such excessive production does find a way to cross-graft the (best?) talents of both.
[9]
Alfred Soto: The string and power chord hybrid doesn’t sound canned, thanks to the poise of this Dutch metal band’s vocals; it evokes Bonnie Tyler singing a Paramore tune written by Jim Steinman. Only the operatic bits chomp heartily on corn.
[6]
Iain Mew: I keep picturing Sharon del Adel and Tarja as the wife and mistress from “Two Black Cadillacs.” Beyond the melodic similarity of the songs, the determined conviction fits, as does the balance between thrill and well, not guilt exactly, but… “no innocence, we play our role.” Plus “Paradise” ratchets up the musical drama in increments in a similar way. Except in this case, it starts of a combo of hacking at strings and MASSIVE METAL CHUG so going up from there is some bloody feat.
[9]
Brad Shoup: You could probably convince me to part with a Jackson for a bootleg of choral outtakes from symphonic metal sessions. The issue I tend to have with the genre is that it’s rarely big enough: the pieces are there, but the mix can feature only so many frequencies, so the strings become a gauzy mush and the vocals are chained to the floor. By bringing Tarja into the fold, Within Temptation tip their intent: a split between pop renown and architectural credibility. Sharon’s melody on the verses is sticky and just a big surprise, the chorus reeks of the Euro-pop all-smiles-to-all-people sensibility, but Tarja uncorks a harrowing solo that renders the guitar showcase a little moot. It’s all a bit like watching a fantasy epic at home: the experience isn’t rendered as crisply, but it’s certainly a cozy experience.
[8]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: This is a cut-and-paste job of every uptempo female-lead pop-metal classical ostentatiousness cliché ever AND it still rocks. And this comes from someone who spent Metal Hammer-subscription teen years sneering at the existence of Nightwish and their acolytes; somewhere, Cristina Scabbia feels some type of way that she wasn’t invited.
[7]
Edward Okulicz: Knowing of this music only what I gleaned from a few years watching the charts in northern Europe, Tarja Turunen’s old band Nightwish seemed both kin and competition to Within Temptation; here Tarja is not so much either, more a gothic background presence that adds some shade to the straightforward wallop of the chorus. Pop metal is at its best for me when it is sumptuous and anthemic — you wouldn’t have to try very hard to turn this into a Euro-banger — and “Paradise” is lighters-waving, brooding and poppy all at the same time. The bass grumbles, the drums pump like an engine and the string touches bring a level of drama that is pure decadence.
[8]