Dark Passion Play - Nightwish's turning point cd?

[slipstrike0159]

I hope i am the first one to start a thread about this because i ran a search and didnt find a thread about it.

In any case, as some may know, the band Nightwish recently kicked out their singer and hired a new one. There is a massive debate over whether or not this new singer (Anette Olzon) holds a candle to her predecessor (Tarja Turunen). Some like the new style she brings to the band while others believe that she is a mediocre singer of sorts who bring down the band. Mostly it is just a matter of singing preference.

At the end of their tour, the members of Nightwish gave Tarja a letter officially announcing her career end with Nightwish. The letter was later released by the band to the public and can be viewed here http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Open_L..._Tarja_Turunen . To sum it up for those who dont want to take the time to read it, it basically states that she has become a media craving deva fueled by her husband while the band writes all her lyrics. It also says that on many occasions she has said how she doesnt need the band and how she can leave whenever, which greatly displeased the other members. In response to this open letter Tarja released her own letter to the public and the members of the band, http://www.metalyou.com/band/nightwi...ans_and_media/ . In this she talks about her extreme dislike in how the band treated her with this letter and the cheap shots at her husband, basically, she tries to play the victim saying she never expected it.

The band held a tape-audition to find a new singer and came up with Anette. They then released the cd Dark Passion Play which has a song "Bye Bye Beautiful" that most fans believe is aimed towards Tarja.

Altogether, i really like the new cd regardless of its somewhat of a style change. In my opinion, it was a good new direction for the band if Tarja was acting the way they said she was in the letter. Regardless of being kicked out, i think Tarja could do really well doing a solo type of thing or join a more professional classical musical organization.

I will leave an open question, What do you think of the new cd and is Anette suited for the new position?