Talk:Unia

Summer?

Who's summer? --Dayn 16:09, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

When I read that I thought you meant 'who is summer?'. It was Henrik who said it would be before the summer so I assume that would be the Finnish summer. Couldnae tell you for sure though. Offski 18:00, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Oh awesome, a confirmed release date already. Can't wait. --Dayn 12:51, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Picture

Couldn't someone find a higher resolution picture for the album cover? It looks kind of cheap right now... Zouavman Le Zouave _{(Talk to me! • O))))} 09:46, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

That's my bad. I resized it poorly and never got around to fixing it. I'll do it right now, though. GammaShade 05:54, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

And there we go. GammaShade 06:01, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks that's great! ^^ Zouavman Le Zouave _{(Talk to me! • O))))} 10:11, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Genre

This album has a lot of arena rock and rock opera influences. It's a very ungeneric power metal album (most of Sonata Arcticas songs break the mold of power metal, they don't sound at all like Edguy or HammerFall which are pretty generic) What would be the best way of describing this on the page? 76.102.117.133 03:06, 25 May 2007 (UTC) robberbaron

Hey there! Just as a tip, please sign your posts on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~). As for your question, I personally think this album is a lot more geared towards progressive metal than power, but until there are more contributions, I think the genre should stay listed as power metal, since that's what Sonata's genre is listed as on their page. GammaShade 23:45, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the tip! Progressive would be a good description in the literal meaning that they are pushing power metal into boundaries that it hasn't seen too much of, though I'm not sure that it features instrumentals outside of the standard 4/4 time signature and there's lots of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-keytar solo-chorus. It would just seem to be incorrect to say that this is totally the same genre as DragonForce or Edguy. Just looking at tracks like "The Vice" and "Under Your Tree" and you'll see what I mean. However, Stratovarius often goes on tangents like this, and they are referred to as simply "Power Metal." 76.102.117.133 03:06, 25 May 2007 (UTC) robberbaron

No problem! It's good to see some more Sonata fans contributing here. I've noticed that songs like "Caleb" and especially "My Dream's..." toy with different time signatures; the last two and a half minutes of "Caleb", for example, are in 6/8, and I'm still having problems placing all the signature changes in "My Dream's...", though 4/4 and 6/8 are pretty distinct. I'll agree with you there; Sonata are very much not the same as typical power metal bands, and in fact there's been a pretty lengthy discussion of just what they should be classified as on their talk page -- that's not taking into account the new tracks, though. I can try starting up the conversation again over on the main article's talk page to try to get some more opinions, and feel free to chime in there, too. GammaShade 03:36, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

And here is the conversation. GammaShade 03:44, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

I'd just like to point out that the 6/8 time signature is technically the same thing as 3/4 which is the most common time signature outside of 4/4. This doesn't really indicate the progressive to me. Offski 11:56, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

This is definitely a progressive album, almost to the point where you could call it "pop metal". Personally of course, I think this album is a disaster and a turn for the worst for Sonata Arctica. Sonata Arctica really seem to want to make their pockets fuller by going progressive and selling a couple extra albums. I'd consider the "peak" of their success to be Silence, and some of Reckoning Night, but Unia as the majority of Sonata Arctica fans currently agree, is a catastrophe. Mehicdino 06:19, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry but I find that ridiculous. First of all, Unia is heavier and darker and the least "pop metal"-like of their albums. Also, how in any way does going progressive mean it's pop metal or selling out? Power metal is far closer to pop than progressive metal and if a band wants to be commercially successful, prog is a baaad word. To add a personal opinion, I think Unia is a great move and very possibly their best album so far. ;) Offski 11:50, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Get your ears checked. Even my 40-year old mother who is slightly interested in what I listen to wanted to so I showed her Sonata Arctica. She even said how Unia sounds a lot more "radioish" then their past albums. Oh and your question how progressive metal sells more, well it sells more because it’s "progressive". The more intense toward a particular genre a music is the fewer listeners it will have and sell less. However if you make your album broader and "easy listening", it will sell more and be played more. Thus, towards a person who does not listen to power metal regularly will think the album is very heavy, while rather it is not if they haven't heard songs like Wolf & Raven in Silence. Mehicdino 00:51, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

The songs on Unia are much darker, heavier, less catchy, less melodic and more complex than pretty much any songs from the rest of their discography. Last time I checked, the perfect radio song was light, soft, catchy, melodic and simple. Unia is most definitely not "easy listening". Offski 17:27, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Offski your chances of being a Fin in your next life ----> -0.5% Mehicdino 20:20, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Sorry but did that actually mean anything? Also, I feel you have the term progressive confused with something else. Try reading the progressive metal article, it even states "progressive metal is rarely heard on mainstream radio and video programs". Offski 17:16, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Also it would be better if you didn't judge Metal songs by what slightly interested 40-year-olds say about them.

This is definitely the first time I've heard someone say progressive was closer to pop. By changing time signatures and using odd song structures, that makes it MORE like pop? Ridiculous. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.181.195.10 (talk) 15:03, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm changing the genre on the page to power metal/progressive metal. I personally would leave it as power with some mention to progressive aspects in the article but that's just me. Offski 12:21, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

It's seriously not progressive metal. Progressive metal makes use of uncommon time signatures, keys and tempos. The majority of this album all has the same time signature/tempo. Also, it's much more vocal-orientated, with most of the guitars being simple power chords. The solos are short and are often done on the keyboard. Progressive metal's solos are long and/or fast and technical, and on guitars. Progressive metal is a lot more guitar orientated, and rarely uses power chords. Even during chorus's and verses, most progressive metal uses melodies. The only slightly progressive metal aspect on Unia is the lack of common verse-chorus structure, but that's not exactly unheard of in power metal either. Sky God94 (talk) 17:13, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Progressive rock, especially metal, tends to use unorthodox composition, such as time signatures, but that's hardly the defining quality of the genre, despite what many fans seem to think. Also, almost all metal uses power chords in one way or another. That said, this album is still not really progressive metal. It definitely has progressive metal influences (especially on My Dream's But a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare and the such), but it would be a huge stretch to apply the genre to the entire album. Time signatures and keys don't need to be unconventional to be progressive, but song structures are typically unorthodox, and this album has a lot of chorus-verse going on in many of the songs. Solos don't need to be bombastic and fast to be progressive, but extended instrumental sections are still common, and this album mostly just has short and somewhat formulaic guitar/keyboard solos. I also don't know where you got the idea that progressive metal can't have significant keyboard solo use. Ever heard Jordan Rudess solo? In short, while I find your definition of "progressive metal" faulty, I agree that the "progressive metal" label should be removed as a primary genre, as progressive influences aren't significant and common enough to define the entire album. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.134.187.77 (talk) 04:09, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as stub, and the rating on other projects was brought up to Stub class. BetacommandBot 19:59, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

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BetacommandBot 22:16, 23 October 2007 (UTC)