As frontwoman of Nightwish, Floor Jansen has propelled symphonic metal and helped make the band one of the biggest in the world. Despite being viewed as metal's geeky sibling, symphonic metal has become more mainstream thanks to the likes of Evanescence and the aforementioned Nightwish.
Floor Jansen's vocals take on stratospheric levels with her band, and on this solo work nothing has changed. There are sweeping vocal lines, bold orchestrations and anthemic choruses, but the album has a pop-rock slant, quite opposite to her output with Nightwish. It's a change in direction, but if her solo record was going to follow a similar line, she may as well have just recorded it with the band in the first place.
Whilst still showcasing her impressive vocals and songwriting abilities. Reflected in the upbeat music are the lyrics, that centre around Floor’s emphatically positive outlook on life, tackling everything from empowerment and hope, to a sensitive look at searching for inner strength when suffering from PTSD. Behind all this is a personal message about trauma, and overcoming adversity, which probably the geeky kid sibling can relate to.
'Invincible' with its driving melody reminds us that we are all "broken but beautiful". This is an album that champions difference in whatever guise it takes. 'Come Full Circle' dips back into a flavour of the symphonic mixed with power rock: imagine Nightwish x Journey. While 'Storm' has the lilting melancholy of Gaga and Cooper's 'Shallow.'
Overall the album is perhaps closer in sound to the time she has lent her vocals to Ayreon's work, and dare I say it, even Euro pop. (Floor for Eurovision?) Who knows if die-hard symphonic metal fans will go for it, but they should. As the genre outsider at 100/1, this album is a pretty safe for fans bet in terms of theme, tone, if not in musical style and to top it off, the vocals are worthy of a champion.