SONATA ARCTICA — Ecliptica (review)

Album · 1999 · Power Metal

4.5/5 · 2011-10-29
Diogenes

Oh, how I wish to be a child again. Hours on end spent doing nothing but running around and enjoying myself, playing baseball and building Legos without a care in the world. No worries! No stress! No social expectations either, save for maybe not hitting girls. They were days without anxiety and conformity, when I could do whatever the hell my mommy would let me and not give a crap about what anyone said; that’s what made childhood so awesome. And as the child of Sonata Arctica’s discography, Ecliptica fits the frame of our younger days to a T: relentless enthusiasm, doing only what we know and what we enjoy without any concern over what would happen in the future. Wasn’t it grand?

Technically speaking, Ecliptica has quite a few flaws that might turn off fans of more advanced or aggressive metal subgenres; this, I cannot deny. The guitar work from Jani Liimatainen is mostly just background noise for the keyboard melodies flowering uncontrollably all over the place, without many real riffs. Tony Kakko sings cheesy lyrics at an insanely high level, nailing all sorts of high notes in a way that you can’t understand what the hell he’s saying. The Stratovarius double bass patterns are out in full force, except Tommy Portimo isn’t nearly as skilled as Jorg Michael, and as such the drumming will inevitably get repetitive.

But guess what?! None of that matters. None of it. None of it matters because a) this album is still amazing and b) some of those flaws actually contribute to what makes it so great. Allow me to explain: while it’s true that Ecliptica is neither technically proficient nor original by any stretch of the imagination, the music on it is played with so much FEEL, so much CHARACTER that it’s totally negligible. Every little detail, from the over-the-top nature and cheesiness to the immature yet seemingly endless energy, contributes to the album’s charm. Take the opener “Blank File”: the double bass, the sing-along chorus (if you can even go that high), the woah-oh-oh section, the keyboard-guitar duel…all mixed together and executed in a way that will make you coming back for more, no matter how much you may want to hate it. Those types of moments are everywhere in this album: the addicting harpsichord melodies in “UnOpened,” the anthemic chorus of “Kingdom for a Heart,” the chanting backing vocals in “FullMoon”. Ecliptica is chock full of hooks that make it akin to a book that you just can’t put down, no matter how late at night it is or what television show you might be missing. That’s the mark of a really good album, right there. It’s nearly impossible to listen to just one song; I’ll go through “8th Commandment” and end up wasting a half hour doing nothing but grinning to myself as the rest of the album plays out.

…Well, not EXACTLY that, but you get the idea! This album is fun, plain and simple.

A little side note (but important!): you might have heard, or gotten the impression, that Sonata Arctica do not write good ballads. This is mostly true, and must be accepted as a fact of life, just as the Chicago Cubs will never win a championship and there will always be some sort of dishonesty and corruption in governmental systems. “Letter to Dana” can best be described in two words: SKIP and LAME. If you listen to it, you are at serious risk of barfing because of how cheesy it is. You don’t want that, do you?

But other than that, we’re good. When I say that I love Ecliptica, I don’t say that because I like the playing, or the vocals, or anything specific like that. I love this album because it is among my favorites to listen to. That’s all that matters, isn’t it? It’s energetic, it’s infectious, and it’s timeless as far as I’m concerned: the everlasting memory of a young band believing every single sappy note that they’re playing, and thus creating and album that’s both lively and pure. Unfortunately, that’s not something that you see a lot of, which makes Ecliptica all the more treasured. Yes, Sonata Arctica have made great strides lately, showing maturity in both songwriting and musicianship…but I feel that they will never come close to this, their childhood, ever again.

Growing up sucks.

more than 2 years ago
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Navajasso wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I have to say that I enjoyed this review! I love this album too for the same reasons: growing up sucks!

Diogenes wrote:

more than 2 years ago

That sounds like a pretty good gig. The best era for all 3 of those bands, IMO.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I like this one too. I learned about Sonata when they supported Rhapsody and Stratovarius around 2000. This was their only album at the time and they put on quite a convincing show that made me purchase the album.