Colours in the Dark (album)

Colours in the Dark
Studio album by Tarja
Released	28 August 2013[1]
Recorded	2012–13
Genre	Symphonic metal, classical-crossover
Length	61:11
Label	Edel, Universal
Producer	Tarja, Mic
Tarja chronology
Act I: Live in Rosario (2012) Colours in the Dark (2013) The Shadow Self (2016)
Tarja album chronology
Act I: Live in Rosario (2012) Colours in the Dark (2013) Ave Maria – En Plein Air (2015)
Singles from Colours in the Dark
"Victim of Ritual" Released: 12 July 2013 "500 Letters" Released: 1 November 2013

Colours in the Dark is the fourth studio album released by Finnish vocalist Tarja Turunen. The record was released on 30 August 2013, in Austria, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland; 2 September in Norway, Poland, and the Czech Republic; 3 September in the United States and Canada; and 4 September in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK. Mixing was done by Tim Palmer in Austin, Texas in the United States.^[2] Tarja will start the Colours in the Dark World Tour on 17 October 2013, to promote the album. The name of the album, as the cover image, came as a metaphor from the idea that life has a large range of colors and the dark absorbs all of them, containing every color.^[3]

An official lyric video of the song "Never Enough" was released 31 May.^[4] The video was shot in Zlin, Czech Republic.^[5] The song was also released as a single on iTunes.^[4]

The first music video for "Victim of Ritual" was shot in Berlin, Germany.^[6] and was released on 10 July. A promo teaser was released on 26 June.

On 12 September 2013, Earmusic, Tarja's label, announced that the second single taken from the album is going to be "500 Letters". It would be released as a strictly limited CD single and download at the end of October.^[7] A promo teaser of the videoclip was released on 25 October and they announced that the premiere was going to be on 31 October. "500 Letters" was released on 1 November 2013 as a digital download only.

On 20 February it was revealed on the blog^[8] that a new version of the album called Left in the Dark would be released later this year and will feature different versions of the songs on the original Colours in the Dark including acoustic versions of 500 Letters & Until Silence. A competition was held, with special prizes to the 5 best artworks.

Background

The vocal recordings of the album started late 2012 and continued throughout the beginning of 2013. Titles of the album's songs were revealed from times to times through Tarja's blog, like she did with My Winter Storm (2007). The album's name came out of the song "Until Silence". This is the third time the album's name came out of one of the songs.^[9] The artwork and some promotional pictures for this album were taken mainly in India during the What Lies Beneath World Tour in 2011.^[10] During the end of that tour Tarja already performed "Into the Sun" and a different version of "Never Enough". Both songs ended up on the Colours in the Dark album and were also featured on the Act I video album

During the process of composition, Tarja alleged that she "had to learn a lot as a soloist, for good and or evil, and often in the past years [she] thought that [she] would never reach a day coming to the point where [she is] today", also adding that she had a lot of "positive and negative" experiences that would finish on this record, that is "very rich in colors, shadows, deep aspects and that it does not capture at the first listen".^[11]

During the middle of 2013, Turunen began via Earmusic uploading two videos per week until the album itself was released.^[12] The official pre-listening started one week prior to the album's release.^[13]

The album cover was created by artist Dirk Rudolph.^[14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[15]
Metal Hammer	[16]

Todd Lyons at About.com gave the album a somewhat favourable review, but not without criticism; he described it as "riskier than Tarja's previous three solo albums", and that it was "a huge panorama of operatic metal, where some artistic experimentation is attempted, but repeatedly crushed under the album's bombast", whilst also referring to "Lucid Dreamer" as "maddeningly flawed". Anette Olzon, Tarja's replacement in Nightwish, expressed appreciation for the album, commenting that "it's really her best album so far" and also thought that Tarja's "definitely found her own style".^[17]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Victim of Ritual"	Mattias Lindblom, Anders Wollbeck, Tarja Turunen	5:54
2.	"500 Letters"	Johnny Lee Andrews, Tarja Turunen	4:22
3.	"Lucid Dreamer"	Mattias Lindblom, Anders Wollbeck, Tarja Turunen	7:28
4.	"Never Enough"	Johnny Lee Andrews, Tarja Turunen	5:20
5.	"Mystique Voyage"	Tarja Turunen	7:14
6.	"Darkness"	Peter Gabriel	5:38
7.	"Deliverance"	James Michael Dooley, Mattias Lindblom, Anders Wollbeck, Tarja Turunen	7:27
8.	"Neverlight"	Jesper Strömblad, Mattias Lindblom, Anders Wollbeck, Tarja Turunen	4:33
9.	"Until Silence"	Marko Saaresto, Olli Tukiainen, Markus Kaarlonen, Tarja Turunen	5:03
10.	"Medusa" (featuring Justin Furstenfeld)	Bart Hendrickson, Angela Heldmann, Tarja Turunen	8:12

iTunes Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Neverlight" (Full Orchestral Version)	Jesper Strömblad, Mattias Lindblom, Anders Wollbeck, Tarja Turunen	4:29
12.	"Until Silence" (Orchestral Version)	Marko Saaresto, Olli Tukiainen, Markus Kaarlonen, Tarja Turunen	4:32

Special Edition Bonus Download
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Into The Sun" (Studio Version)	Steve Van Velvet, Mattias Lindbolm, Anders Wollbeck, Tarja Turunen	6:10

Limited Box Set Edition Bonus Download
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Into The Sun" (Studio Version)	Steve Van Velvet, Mattias Lindbolm, Anders Wollbeck, Tarja Turunen	6:10
12.	"Medusa" (Tarja Solo Version)	Bart Hendrickson, Angela Heldmann, Tarja Turunen	8:12
13.	"Deliverance" (Instrumental Version)	James Michael Dooley, Mattias Lindblom, Anders Wollbeck, Tarja Turunen	7:41

Notes

• The special edition includes a 40-page picture booklet and download code for a bonus track.
• The limited box set edition includes the special edition of the album, an exclusive "Colours in the Dark" t-shirt, a 60-pages photo book (150g paper), a double sided poster (A2 size), a photo collage poster (A2 size) and a download code for 3 bonus tracks.

Personnel

Adapted from the album's booklet.^[18]

Musicians

• Tarja Turunen - Lead vocals and piano
• Alex Scholpp, Julian Barrett - Guitar
• Kevin Chown, Doug Wimbish - Bass
• Christian Kretschmar - Keyboards
• Mike Terrana - Drums
• Max Lilja - Cello

Additional musicians

• Thomas Bloch - Glass harmonica, Cristal Baschet ^[19]
• Saro Danielian - Duduk, Oboe
• Doug Wimbish - Cinemasonics
• Mamu - Seagull
• Justin Furstenfeld - Vocals ("Medusa")^[20]
• Caroline Lavelle - Cello
• Naomi Cabuli Turunen (Tarja's daughter)^[3] ("Lucid Dreamer")^[21]
• Mel Wesson

Production

• James Dooley - Orchestral & Choir Arrangements, tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9
• Bart Hendrickson - Orchestral & Choir Arrangements, track 10
• Max Lilja - Orchestral Arrangement for multiple cello
• Mel Wesson - Ambient music design, track 3, 4, 7
• Tim Palmer - Programming, track 3, 4, 5
• Mel Wesson - Programming, track 7
• Bart Hendrickson - Programming, track 10
• Mic - Shells recorded with iPhone in Antigua, track 5
• Jetro Vainio, Mario Altamirano, Torsten Stenzel, Daniel Willy - Recording engineers
• Martin Musctello, José Maradei - Assistant engineers
• Tim Palmer - Additional production & mixes
• Alex Scholpp, Julian Barrett, Jim Dooley - Executive producers

Charts

Album Chart (2013) Peak position Austrian Albums Chart[22] 14 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[23] 34 Belgian Albums Charts (Wallonia)[24] 33 Czech Albums Chart[25] 7 Dutch Albums Chart[26] 29 Finnish Albums Chart[27] 5 French Albums Chart[28] 54 German Albums Chart[29] 6 Norwegian Albums Chart[30] 29 Polish Albums Chart[31] 8 Russian Albums Chart[32] 5 Swedish Albums Chart[33] 53 Swiss Albums Chart[34] 20 UK Albums Chart[35] 109 UK Rock Chart[36] 10 US Billboard Top Heatseekers[37] 13 US Billboard Hard Rock Albums[38] 25

Certifications Region Certification Czech Republic Gold[39]

References

1. "Colors In The Dark TARJA [CD]". Cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
2. "TARJA TURUNEN: 'Colours In The Dark' Cover Artwork Unveiled". Blabbermouth.Net. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
3. Categoria: Entrevistas. "2013 - entrevista exclusiva com Tarja Turunen Jim Cueva". Tarjabrasil.com. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
4. "Never Enough | Tarja". Tarja-coloursinthedark.com. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
5. "April | 2013 | Tarja". Tarja-coloursinthedark.com. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
6. "Hola from Mexico City! | Tarja". Tarja-coloursinthedark.com. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
7. ""COLOURS IN THE DARK" REACHES FIRST TOP 10 CHART POSITIONS!". ear-music.net. Retrieved 2013-09-14.
8. http://www.tarja-coloursinthedark.com/?page_id=1014
9. "About the album title". Tarja-coloursinthedark.com. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
10. "Travelling around the world. Or so it seems". Tarja-whatliesbeneath.com. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
11. "Other Artists" (in Portuguese). 24 September 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
12. "tarjaofficial - something to watch :)...". Facebook. 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
13. "tarjaofficial - Just 2 days for the album release! You can...". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
14. "blabbermouth.net : TARJA TURUNEN Talks To France's TV ROCK LIVE About 'Colours In The Dark'".
15. "Tarja - Colours in the Dark About.com review". About.com. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
16. "Tarja - Colours in the Dark Metal-Hummer review". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
17. "AnetteOlzon´s blog: I am sitting listening to a great album". Anetteolzon2.blogspot.com.br. 2013-08-24. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
18. all references from the original deluxe edition of the album
19. "News, Interviews, Concert Reviews » TARJA TURUNEN Interview". Metal-rules.com. 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
20. "Twitter / Justin_5591: @JessieJessup I did a duet". Twitter.com. 2013-05-21. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
21. "Metal Integral". 2013-07-13. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
22. Steffen Hung. "Tarja - Colours In The Dark". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
23. "Tarja- Colours in the Dark on Belgian Flanders charts" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2013-09-06.
24. "Tarja- Colours in the Dark on Belgian Wallonia charts" (in French). Retrieved 2013-09-06.
25. "Czech Official Chat- Week 35, 2013" (in Czech). Retrieved 2013-09-09.
26. "Tarja- Colours in the Dark on Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2013-09-06.
27. "Tarja- Colours in the Dark on Finnish Charts" (in Finnish). Retrieved 2013-08-30.
28. Steffen Hung. "Tarja - Colours In The Dark". lescharts.com. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
29. "Germany – Colours in the Dark" (in German). Retrieved 2013-09-10.
30. "Tarja- Colours in the Dark on Norwegian Charts". Retrieved 2013-09-08.
31. "Polish albums chart". Retrieved 2013-09-21.
32. "Russian albums chart". Retrieved 2013-09-21.
33. "Tarja- Colours in the Dark on Swedish Charts" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
34. Steffen Hung. "Tarja - Colours In The Dark". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
35. "CHART LOG UK: NEW ENTRIES UPDATE". Zobbel. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
36. "Rock and Metal Albums Archive". The Official UK Charts Company. 2013-09-08. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
37. "Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
38. http://www.billboard.com/artist/281608/tarja/chart?f=795. Retrieved 2013-10-05. Missing or empty |title= (help)
39. "Masters of Rock".

External links

• Tarja-coloursinthedark.com
• Facebook.com
• Tarjaturunen.com