Floor Jansen

OVERKILL

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As most on here know I'm passionate about several things, one is obviously power generation (nuclear in particular) but another is music. I'm almost always listening to music. A couple of years ago now a fellow BITOG'er introduced me to Nightwish and I became a fast-fan of their current lead singer Floor Jansen, who is the 3rd singer for the band and a formidable talent.

Now, I'll preface this with the fact that my taste in music probably isn't shared by the majority here, but I do know that some folks like @DriveHard do have similar taste to my own and appreciate a similar spectrum of genres.

Personally, I love good lyrics (made a thread on that years ago now) and I love somebody who can SING. No autotune, no filters, just go on stage and blow everybody out of the water. There are few that can do this. Sarah Brightman is an obvious example as are Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Amy Lee, Brent Smith and Adele.

Anyways, I think the story of Floor is good enough to tell here in an abridged form.

Basically, Nightwish is a symphonic metal band. Think Metallica meets the Opera. The original diva for Nightwish, Tarja Turunen, parted ways with them and she was replaced by a pop singer, Anette Olzon in 2007. This was a big change in sound for the band. Anette couldn't do the operatic style that Tarja was famous for, but the music was still very good, albeit, different.

Well, in the middle of their South American tour, Anette leaves the band. They have no singer. Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy) and another singer help them complete their set, but they have a serious problem, they need a new singer NOW. They had previously approached Floor before hiring Anette, she had her own band After Forever and wasn't interested at the time.

They reached out to her and asked her if she wanted the job. She decided, what the hell, she'd give it the old college try. After her flight over, jet lagged, she had something like 24hrs to learn the setlist. Totally nuts.

Her first performance with the band was surprisingly good, though you could tell she was nervous, however she quickly caught her stride and started to make some of the most notable pieces her own. I've posted this in the "what are you listening to" thread a few times, but she just hits it out of the park on this one, which I believe was during her 2nd performance with the band (if you don't like the music, watch from 8:15, the power she shows at 9:35 is insane):


In comparison, here's Tarja singing the same song:


Of course Floor also has a commanding stage presence being north of 6' and typically wearing heels that make her even taller.

She was recently (2019) featured on the Danish TV show "Beste Zangers" (best singers) where she sang a myriad of different genres including doing a Phantom of the Opera collab with Henk Poort:


She also covered Lady Gaga's "Shallow", which, given this isn't the genre she normally sings, did an incredible job:


One of the aspects of this show is that you sing another contestant's song (you can figure out pretty quickly whose song it was). She covers this Spanish piece:
 
A few others from the show:



Figured, given the diversity of the userbase here, some might find this of interest. I think that's particularly relevant given how I was introduced to the band (this forum).

Worst case scenario, you might not like her or her style. However, I'm optimistic that she'll end up with a few new fans through this thread :)
 
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i had an half an hour chat with tarja turunen at place st foy hmv in september 2000. nightwish were promoting their wishmaster album. not many people knew who they were at that time in canada. floor is amazing and tarja is amazing too.

she did a cover of oblivion m83. this movie has incredible imagery.

 
Shea extremely talented but I've never been able to get into Nightwish.

Are you familiar with Jinjer? Tatiana Shmayluk is brutal.


Yep! Follow Tatiana (and the band) on social media. I think it was @DriveHard that posted the Live Session video for Pisces? That hooked me.


Definitely not for everyone, but really interesting band.
 
Wow, never heard of them, good timing, love music, been a little lost lately because all the synthetic stuff out there.
Looking forward to listening on my new Bose 45QC's
Got it playing on my Mac mini right now with Boston computer speakers.
Sounds great, real music, real instruments! Kind of reminds my wife and I of a hard TransSiberian Orchestra
Great post
 
Wow, never heard of them, good timing, love music, been a little lost lately because all the synthetic stuff out there.
Looking forward to listening on my new Bose 45QC's
Got it playing on my Mac mini right now with Boston computer speakers.
Sounds great, real music, real instruments! Kind of reminds my wife and I of a hard TransSiberian Orchestra
Great post
Glad you enjoyed it! This is exactly what I was hoping for :)
 
Yep! Follow Tatiana (and the band) on social media. I think it was @DriveHard that posted the Live Session video for Pisces? That hooked me.


Definitely not for everyone, but really interesting band.

I found her and then Jinjer when Suicide Silence posted this cover of Man in the Box.



Layne Staley still hasn't been matched IMO. That man had a set of pipes.
 
As most on here know I'm passionate about several things, one is obviously power generation (nuclear in particular) but another is music. I'm almost always listening to music. A couple of years ago now a fellow BITOG'er introduced me to Nightwish and I became a fast-fan of their current lead singer Floor Jansen, who is the 3rd singer for the band and a formidable talent.

Now, I'll preface this with the fact that my taste in music probably isn't shared by the majority here, but I do know that some folks like @DriveHard do have similar taste to my own and appreciate a similar spectrum of genres.

Personally, I love good lyrics (made a thread on that years ago now) and I love somebody who can SING. No autotune, no filters, just go on stage and blow everybody out of the water. There are few that can do this. Sarah Brightman is an obvious example as are Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Amy Lee, Brent Smith and Adele.

Anyways, I think the story of Floor is good enough to tell here in an abridged form.

Basically, Nightwish is a symphonic metal band. Think Metallica meets the Opera. The original diva for Nightwish, Tarja Turunen, parted ways with them and she was replaced by a pop singer, Anette Olzon in 2007. This was a big change in sound for the band. Anette couldn't do the operatic style that Tarja was famous for, but the music was still very good, albeit, different.

Well, in the middle of their South American tour, Anette leaves the band. They have no singer. Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy) and another singer help them complete their set, but they have a serious problem, they need a new singer NOW. They had previously approached Floor before hiring Anette, she had her own band After Forever and wasn't interested at the time.

They reached out to her and asked her if she wanted the job. She decided, what the hell, she'd give it the old college try. After her flight over, jet lagged, she had something like 24hrs to learn the setlist. Totally nuts.

Her first performance with the band was surprisingly good, though you could tell she was nervous, however she quickly caught her stride and started to make some of the most notable pieces her own. I've posted this in the "what are you listening to" thread a few times, but she just hits it out of the park on this one, which I believe was during her 2nd performance with the band (if you don't like the music, watch from 8:15, the power she shows at 9:35 is insane):


In comparison, here's Tarja singing the same song:


Of course Floor also has a commanding stage presence being north of 6' and typically wearing heels that make her even taller.

She was recently (2019) featured on the Danish TV show "Beste Zangers" (best singers) where she sang a myriad of different genres including doing a Phantom of the Opera collab with Henk Poort:


She also covered Lady Gaga's "Shallow", which, given this isn't the genre she normally sings, did an incredible job:


One of the aspects of this show is that you sing another contestant's song (you can figure out pretty quickly whose song it was). She covers this Spanish piece:

65072368-2593-4B89-8457-A5B12103400D.jpeg
 
It didn't blow me away but will say she has a voice, clear strong and rock steady. I had a hard time understanding the lyrics but that's not unusual for me. Do you get them first time hearing their songs?

I like when a band does a collaboration with an orchestra not sure what I think of it as a genre. The phantom of the opera was fun to watch.
 
It didn't blow me away but will say she has a voice, clear strong and rock steady. I had a hard time understanding the lyrics but that's not unusual for me. Do you get them first time hearing their songs?
I get most of them the first time, not all the words typically, but most.
I like when a band does a collaboration with an orchestra not sure what I think of it as a genre. The phantom of the opera was fun to watch.
Yeah, that's why I mentioned that it may not be everybody's cup of tea (symphonic metal) but the composer/songwriter (Tuomas Holopainen) is clearly extremely gifted.
 
How many permanent musicians does this band have?
They've had a bit of a "shuffle" recently. Their bassist (Marko), who was with them since the beginning (founding member) took a step back from music (2021) because he had become wholly disillusioned with the industry. He has recently put his toes back in, but is not with Nightwish and I'm not sure if he'll come back to them or not (or if the band will take him back).

Their original drummer (Jukka) was forced to leave music in 2014 due to an increasingly severe case of insomnia. As far as I know, he's still on good terms with the band.

All of the current members are "permanent", with two founding members (Tuomas and Emppu). Troy (pipes, guitar) made guest appearances up until 2013 when he was formally made part of the band. I used quotes there because Marko may come back, making the current bassist temporary. Their drummer (Kai) was made a permanent member in 2019.
 
I’m a big fan of Floors voice and was about 80/20 she’d do well vs ehh coming to NW but after both albums, she definitely fits right in. Anette had too thin of a voice and a decently okay range but she definitely left you wanting something more especially after coming in and taking over for someone like Tarja.
Floor is a perfect mix of voice and range between Tarja and Anette. I will say that Anette was an amazing front woman and rocked every show I’ve been to of Nightwishs. Floor is amazing as well. That’s one thing I absolutely love about European symphonic metal bands with a female lead singer/front woman.
 
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I would love to see Sharon den Abel from Within Temptation sing for an album of theirs but Floor is extremely close to her voice so it might be kind of a moot wish.
 
As most on here know I'm passionate about several things, one is obviously power generation (nuclear in particular) but another is music. I'm almost always listening to music. A couple of years ago now a fellow BITOG'er introduced me to Nightwish and I became a fast-fan of their current lead singer Floor Jansen, who is the 3rd singer for the band and a formidable talent.

Now, I'll preface this with the fact that my taste in music probably isn't shared by the majority here, but I do know that some folks like @DriveHard do have similar taste to my own and appreciate a similar spectrum of genres.

Personally, I love good lyrics (made a thread on that years ago now) and I love somebody who can SING. No autotune, no filters, just go on stage and blow everybody out of the water. There are few that can do this. Sarah Brightman is an obvious example as are Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Amy Lee, Brent Smith and Adele.

Anyways, I think the story of Floor is good enough to tell here in an abridged form.

Basically, Nightwish is a symphonic metal band. Think Metallica meets the Opera. The original diva for Nightwish, Tarja Turunen, parted ways with them and she was replaced by a pop singer, Anette Olzon in 2007. This was a big change in sound for the band. Anette couldn't do the operatic style that Tarja was famous for, but the music was still very good, albeit, different.

Well, in the middle of their South American tour, Anette leaves the band. They have no singer. Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy) and another singer help them complete their set, but they have a serious problem, they need a new singer NOW. They had previously approached Floor before hiring Anette, she had her own band After Forever and wasn't interested at the time.

They reached out to her and asked her if she wanted the job. She decided, what the hell, she'd give it the old college try. After her flight over, jet lagged, she had something like 24hrs to learn the setlist. Totally nuts.

Her first performance with the band was surprisingly good, though you could tell she was nervous, however she quickly caught her stride and started to make some of the most notable pieces her own. I've posted this in the "what are you listening to" thread a few times, but she just hits it out of the park on this one, which I believe was during her 2nd performance with the band (if you don't like the music, watch from 8:15, the power she shows at 9:35 is insane):


In comparison, here's Tarja singing the same song:


Of course Floor also has a commanding stage presence being north of 6' and typically wearing heels that make her even taller.

She was recently (2019) featured on the Danish TV show "Beste Zangers" (best singers) where she sang a myriad of different genres including doing a Phantom of the Opera collab with Henk Poort:


She also covered Lady Gaga's "Shallow", which, given this isn't the genre she normally sings, did an incredible job:


One of the aspects of this show is that you sing another contestant's song (you can figure out pretty quickly whose song it was). She covers this Spanish piece:

Very good. Yes , the singer is amazing. I would call them what we used to call Prog-Rock in the late 60s thru 80s. Except Prog-Rock on steroids. I listen to a lot , from Rock / Progressive-Rock to Classical and Country as well and 50s thru 70s Mowtown.
 
@OVERKILL thank you so much for the mention, I have really appreciated trading music back and forth, as not many enjoy the same tastes.

Wow, that was amazing! Apologies for not getting back to this sooner, been on Christmas break ;-) I'm only listening to this on my crummy laptop speakers, but I'm excited to get plugged back into my work desk, tube amp, and nice towers.

She has some power, and range. She reminds me of one of the lead vocalists from TSO, although that could be due to the time of year.
 
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