The lyrics are awe-inspiring in their terribleness (“I would any day die for you / *whispers* I write on paper. And yet… Sure, Tony sounds like a fucking creeper (“Working late at diner City Light / I make sure you get home at night / Making sure you don’t see me / Hoping you will see me…”), but the chorus is gold and the heartfelt guitar solo? Oh man. #(ish): ”Shy” – Successor EP : This falls in at number (ish) because it’s probably the song on here that I’m the least likely to call a success per se. And “Unintentional?” Well, that’s because almost any other band would not have pulled it off. What other band could ever be described as “ majestically cheesy” and asked to never change? 1 Just keep in mind that this list has a lot of overlap with my Top 5(ish) Sonata Arctica Songs of All Time before you flame the comment section. Sure, there are some things on here that are awkward, but they’re awkwardly successful. So this is a list about embracing the awkward and loving it. Early on the lyrics were quite ESL (that’s English as a Second Language, for all you ESL people out there), but later on they demonstrated a heavy dose of “Maybe that was a funny idea when you were drunk, but…” (see, for example, the song called “Victoria’s Secret”).īut like Jim Steinman-though, inking fewer songs for Air Supply-Kakko and crew always make it work. Usually the awkward is carried in the lyrics (though once a banjo ran rampant on a recording session and I’ve never quite recovered). This means that the band’s sound is epic, quirky, but ultimately it can get a little… awkward. See, Sonata Arctica started out as a better version of Stratovarius that was founded with a songwriter at the helm-Tony Kakko-who’s like a weird, Finnish version of Jim Steinman. Now I know you’re probably thinking to yourself: “self, why would AMG write an article about a band’s ‘Awkward and Unintentional Successes’ if he likes that band?” Indulge me a second. I am stoked for Sonata Arctica’s forthcoming Ninth Hour which will be here on the 14th of October from Nuclear Blast.

Sonata arctica silence full