My Winter Storm

My Winter Storm
Studio album by Tarja
Released	19 November 2007
Recorded	Grouse Lodge Studios, Westmeath, Ireland, Can del Sol, Ibiza, Spain, The Village, Los Angeles, USA, Petrax Studio, Hollola, Finland, Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic, Finnvox Studios, Helsinki, Finland, Remote Control Productions, Santa Monica, USA, Fusão Estúdios, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sound Development AG, Zurich, Switzerland, Jojo Music Studios, Stuttgart, Germany
Genre	Symphonic metal, classical crossover
Length	60:58 (Standard edition)
Label	Vertigo / Universal
Producer	Daniel Presley
Tarja chronology
Henkäys Ikuisuudesta (2006) My Winter Storm (2007) What Lies Beneath (2010) Singles from My Winter Storm "I Walk Alone" Released: 26 October 2007 "Die Alive" Released: 7 March 2008 "Enough" Released: 9 March 2009
Alternative cover
Special Extended Edition

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
About.com	[2]
IGN	(5.9/10)[3]
Popmatters	[4]
Spike Magazine	(mixed)[5]

My Winter Storm is the second solo album by Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, and the first to consist mainly of new and original songs specifically written by or for Turunen. The album was released by Universal Music on 19 November 2007 in Finland, on 2 January 2008 in South America and on February 26 in North America and in the United Kingdom was also released a special version limited in 300 copies.

The album was recorded with the collaboration of various artists, including cellist Martin Tillman, guitarist Kiko Loureiro and composer James Dooley, with Turunen also playing additional keyboards. The album contains several music styles including alternative rock and classical music, and it was recorded in different studios in Finland, Brazil, Ireland, USA, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic.^[6]

My Winter Storm has sold Platinum in Finland and Double Platinum in Russia, and also reached Tarja's first gold disc in her entire career in the Czech Republic; the album spent two and a half months on the Official Finnish Albums Chart, reaching the highest position right during the first week,^[7] also spending four months on German Top 100, two months on Swiss Top 100 and also a full month on the Austrian Top 40,^[7] ending 2007 at 11th position on Billboard's Top 100 European albums with more than 500,000 copies sold.^[8]

To promote the album, Tarja played the Storm World Tour, that took place from Berlin on November 25, 2007, to London on October 19, 2009.^[9]

Track listings

Standard Edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Ite, Missa Est"	Anders Wollbeck, Mattias Lindblom, Harry Sommerdahl	0:27
2.	"I Walk Alone"	Wollbeck, Lindblom, Sommerdahl	3:53
3.	"Lost Northern Star"	Kiko Masbaum, Michelle Leonard, Tarja Turunen	4:22
4.	"Seeking for the Reign"	Adrian Zagoritis, Torsten Stenzel, Angela Heldmann, Turunen	0:58
5.	"The Reign"	Zagoritis, Stenzel, Heldmann, Turunen	4:07
6.	"The Escape of the Doll"	Ruud Houweling, Michiel Van Zundert	0:32
7.	"My Little Phoenix"	Houweling, Van Zundert	4:02
8.	"Boy and the Ghost"	Jessika Lundstrom, Anine Stang, Alexander Jonsson, Lindblom, Wollbeck, Turunen	4:36
9.	"Sing for Me"	Kid Crazy, Christel Sundberg, Tracy Lipp	4:16
10.	"Oasis"	Turunen	5:10
11.	"Poison"	Alice Cooper, Desmond Child, John McCurry	4:01
12.	"Our Great Divide"	Wollbeck, Hanne Sørvaag, Lindblom, Turunen	5:05
13.	"Sunset"	Zagoritis, Stenzel, Heldmann, Turunen	0:36
14.	"Damned and Divine"	Zagoritis, Stenzel, Heldmann, Turunen	4:29
15.	"Die Alive"	Wollbeck, Sørvaag, Lindblom, Turunen	4:04
16.	"Minor Heaven"	Wollbeck, Lindblom	3:53
17.	"Ciarán's Well"	Alex Scholpp, Leonard, Doug Wimbish, Turunen	3:39
18.	"Calling Grace"	Masbaum, Leonard, Turunen	3:06

CD/DVD edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
19.	"Damned Vampire & Gothic Divine" (heavy version of 'Damned and Divine')		5:01
20.	"I Walk Alone" (Artist Version)		4:23
21.	"I Walk Alone" (In Extremo Remix)		4:31

UK bonus track
No.	Title	Length
16.	"The Seer"	4:16

US CD/DVD edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
19.	"I Walk Alone" (In Extremo Remix)		4:41
20.	"You Would Have Loved This" (live, Cori Connors cover)	Helen Roy Connors	4:08
21.	"Damned and Divine" (live)		5:45

Japanese bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
19.	"Ciarán's Well" (live)	3:48
20.	"Our Great Divide" (live)	5:16

Deluxe Edition bonus DVD

• Photo Gallery
• I Walk Alone (Single Version Video)
• I Walk Alone (Artist Version Video)
• I Walk Alone (Making of the Video)
• My Winter Storm (Making of the Album)

Special Extended Edition

My Winter Storm - Special Extended Edition was released on January 2, 2009, as a double CD, bringing a new cover art, some live tracks and mixes and also the new songs "Enough", "Wisdom of Wind" and "The Seer" (featuring Doro Pesch) released as the The Seer EP.^[10]

Disc one "Ite Missa Est" "I Walk Alone" "Lost Northern Star" "Seeking for the Reign" "The Reign" "The Escape of the Doll" "My Little Phoenix" "Boy and the Ghost" "Sing for me" "Oasis" "Poison" "Our Great Divide" "Sunset" "Damned and Divine" "Die Alive" "The Seer" "Minor Heaven" "Ciarán's Well" "Calling Grace"

Disc two "Enough" "The Seer" (featuring Doro Pesch) "Lost Northern Star" (Tägtgren Remix) "Wisdom of Wind" "The Reign" (Score Mix) "Die Alive" (Alternative Version) "Boy and the Ghost" (Izumix) "Calling Grace" (Full version) "Lost Northern Star" (Ambience Sublow Mix) "Damned and Divine" (live in Kuusankoski) "You Would Have Loved This" (live in Kuusankoski) "Our Great Divide" (live in Kuusankoski) "Ciarán's Well" (live in Kuusankoski)

Personnel

Credits for My Winter Storm adapted from liner notes.^[11]

Musicians

Band members

• Tarja Turunen - lead and backing vocals
• Alex Scholpp - electric guitars
• Doug Wimbish - bass
• Earl Harvin - drums
• Torsten Stenzel - keyboards and programming

Additional musicians

• Martin Tillman - cello and electric cello
• Izumi Kawakatsu - piano
• Lili Haydin - violin
• Kiko Loureiro - acoustic guitars
• Czech Film Orchestra and Choir conducted by Jiří Kubík and Jan Brych
• Dana Niu - lead orchestrator
• Tea Tähtinen, Toni Turunen, Daniel Presley - backing vocals on "Poison"
• Kid Crazy - additional keyboards on "Sing for Me"
• Peter Tägtgren - lead guitar on "Lost Northern Star" (Tägtgren Remix)

Production

• Daniel Presley - producer
• James Dooley - orchestral and choir arrangements, co-producer on "Our Great Divide"
• Mel Wesson - ambient music design and electronic arrangements
• Doug Cook - recording engineer
• Dani Castelar, Noel Zancanella, Thiago Bianchi, Helge Van Dyk, Felix Gauder - additional engineers
• Milan Jilek, Cenda Kottzmann - orchestra and choir recording engineers
• Slamm Andrews - mixing
• Louie Teran - mastering
• Dirk Rudolph - cover art
• Jens Bold - photos

Charts performance

Peak positions Chart (2007) Peak position Austrian Top 40 Albums[12] 11 Belgian Ultratop (Flanders)[13] 78 Belgian Ultratop (Wallonia)[14] 94 Czech Albums Chart[15] 33 European Top 100 Albums[8] 11 Finnish Albums Chart[16] 1 French Albums Chart[17] 88 German Albums Chart[18] 3 Hungarian Albums Chart[19] 18 Norwegian Albums Chart[20] 37 Spanish Albums Chart[21] 77 Swedish Albums Chart[22] 41 Swiss Top 100 Albums[23] 15 US Top Heatseekers[8] 46

Sales certifications Region Certification Czech Republic Gold[24] Finland Platinum[25] Germany Gold[26] Russia 2x Platinum[27]

References

1. Donnelly, Dave. "Tarja My Winter Storm review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
2. Bowar, Chad. "Tarja - My Winter Storm". Heavy Metal. About.com. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
3. Kaz, Jim (29 February 2008). "Tarja - My Winter Storm review". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
4. Blackie, Andrew (6 December 2007). "Tarja: My Winter Storm". PopMatters. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
5. Saeger, Eric (29 March 2008). "Tarja: My Winter Storm". Spike Magazine. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
6. "Interview part 3". Winter Storm Official Website. 2008-01-06. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
7. "Tarja- My Winter Storm". αCharts.us. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
8. "My Winter Storm on Billboard Charts". Billboard & Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
9. "Tarja Turunen: Past events". Turunen's Official Website. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
10. "TARJA TURUNEN To Release 'My Winter Storm - Special Extended Edition' In January". Roadrunner Records. 2007-10-03. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
11. My Winter Storm (CD Booklet). Tarja Turunen. Berlin, Germany: Universal Music Group 0602517466876. 2007.
12. "Tarja- My Winter Storm on Austrian charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
13. "Tarja- My Winter Storm on Belgian Flanders charts". Hung Medien & hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
14. "Tarja- My Winter Storm on Belgian Wallonia charts". Hung Medien & hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
15. "Czech Official Charts- Week 2, 2008". IFPI Czech Republic. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
16. "Tarja- My Winter Storm on Finnish charts". Hung Medien & eMedia Jungen. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
17. "Tarja- My Winter Storm on French charts". Hung Medien & eMedia Jungen. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
18. "Chartverfolgung/TARJA/Longplay". PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
19. "Mahasz- International Albums Chart Archive". Lightmedia. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
20. "Tarja- My Winter Storm on Norwegian charts". Hung Medien & eMedia Jungen. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
21. "Tarja- My Winter Storm on Spanish charts". Hung Medien & eMedia Jungen. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
22. "Tarja- My Winter Storm on Swedish charts". Hung Medien & eMedia Jungen. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
23. "Tarja- My Winter Storm on Swiss charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
24. "Tarja News Archive" (in Russian). Russian Winter Storm. 2009-10-17. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
25. "Statistics: Tarja Turunen" (in Finnish). IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
26. "Gold and Platinum Date Bank" (in German). GmbH & BVMI. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
27. "Gold and Platinum: International 2007" (in Russian). NFPF. Retrieved 2011-06-17.

External links

• Tarja's official website