Label: Nuclear Blast
Review by Tony Cannella
On his debut solo album, Nightwish keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen has created a concept album based around the graphic novel “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck”! According to Mr. Holopainen this project was 14 years in the making and written during his downtime from Nightwish.
Granted Scrooge McDuck may not be a very metal topic to tackle, but “The Life and Times…” isn’t really a metal album… so there! “…Scrooge” features 10-songs and almost an hour worth of symphonic, classically influenced music with folk and cinematic influences as well – with the album artwork done by the book’s author Don Rosa. There are several guest musicians, including four singers: Alan Reid, Johanna Kurkela, Johanna Iivanainen & Tony Kakko. Among the other guests is Troy Donockley who is a current member of Nightwish among others. The whole thing was written and produced by Tuomas Holopainen and the lyrics and the music mirrors the journey of the main character as he travels from Scotland in the early 19th century in Scotland and has adventures all around the world until the 1950’s.
After 14 years Tuomas Holopainen’s passion project has finally come to fruition. While it may not be the new Nightwish album fans are clamoring for, “The Life and Times of Scrooge” still has some great symphonic elements and also shows off another side to Tuomas Holopainen’s immense talents. I have to admit, that I have never read the graphic novel, but the “Life and Times of Scrooge” has me interested.
Rating – 84/100
Tracklist
- Glasgow 1877
- Into the West
- Duel & Cloudscapes
- Dreamtime
- Cold Heart of the Klondike
- The Last Sled
- Goodbye, Papa
- To Be Rich
- A Lifetime of Adventure
- Go Slowly Now, Sands of Time