Tuomas Holopainen - The Life And Times Of Scrooge (2014)

The film score fever have spread all the way through the Nightwish camp. Last year we saw the band launch a full soundtrack-like album with full length movie Imaginaerum, exactly based on the album with the same title. This year Tuomas Holopainen, Nightwish composer in residence, get his solo album with similar concept. The Life And Times Of Scrooge, is not metal, instead a symphonic album which serves as musical interpretation to one of Walt Disney character, Scrooge. You bet, this is the same Uncle Scrooge where Huey, Dewey and Louie rely on when they need a cash! The theme chosen may be unusual but there is a lot of new musical aspect ready to bring alive. I feel excited when Tuomas revealed this theme, the picture of Tuomas transforming a childhood character into musical journey just easily gone wild.

TLATOS is pretty much a slow pace OST-like through out the album. Nearly New Age and atmospheric nuance in the first two track, Glasgow 1877 and Into The West. The middle chapters included Duel & Cloudscapes, Dreamtime and Cold Heart Of The Kondike are tracks that building up the tension. For Cold Heart ..... they are the full vocalized track. These also included The Last Sled,  A Lifetime Of Adventure and Go Slowly Now, Sands Of Time. Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica is the major guest involved. Scotland folk artist Alan Reid is the one playing the role Uncle Scrooge.

As with album with this concept, the absent of lyrics may be confusing and make listener did not connect with the music. These slightly in case to some of instrumental tracks in this album. I hope this album get attention to the Disney corp and can proceed to become real film project. That will be interesting at least. If resort on music alone, this album sounds similar to other OST type album. For sure, do not expect a bombastic symphonic works here, there is nothing that can be associated with symphonic metal neither. On other hand, this works also did not really touch the works on level of  big name such as of John Williams and alike. Tuomas has managed to produced an easy listening film score album, but yet without the visual, I kind of find this album just too random.

Metal Harem class: ******* seven stars out of ten

Tuomas Holopainen - The Life And Times Of Scrooge (2014)
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01. Glasgow 1877
02. Into The West
03. Duel & Cloudscapes
04. Dreamtime
05. Cold Heart Of The Klondike
06. The Last Sled
07. Goodbye, Papa
08. To Be Rich
09. A Lifetime Of Adventure
10. Go Slowly Now, Sands Of Time
11. A Lifetime Of Adventure (Alternative Version)

CD2: Instumentals

Tuomas Holopainen - Keyboards, Piano

Guest instrumentalists
Troy Donockley - Uilleann pipes, Low whistles, Bodhran
Mikko Iivanainen - Guitars, Banjo
Dermot Crehan - Violin
Teho Majamäki - Didgeridoo
Jon Burr - Harmonica

Guest vocalists
Johanna Kurkela as "Glittering" Goldie o'Gilt (on track 1,2,4,6,8,9,10)
Johanna Iivanainen as The Narrator and Downy O'Drake (on track 1,6,8,9)
Alan Reid as Scrooge McDuck (on track 1,6,10)
Tony Kakko as Storyteller (on track 5)

Orchestra and choir
The orchestra and choir was arranged, orchestrated and directed by Pip Williams
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Metro Voices