Nightwish

General

Endless Forms Most Beautiful is the eighth album by Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish. It was released on March 27, 2015 in Argentina and most of Europe, March 30 in the UK, and March 31 in the US. The album is the band’s first featuring singer Floor Jansen and the first with Troy Donockley as a full-time member. It was recorded without drummer Jukka Nevalainen, who took a break from the band due to severe insomnia. Drumming was by Kai Hahto of Wintersunand Swallow the Sun. The album includes only five Nightwish members, despite its being their first album release as a sextet.

Unlike its predecessor Imaginaerum, which has themes of imagination and fantasy, Endless Forms Most Beautiful addresses science and reason. Focusing on the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins, the latter part of the album cites passages from their books. Both authors influenced album tracks; The Ancestor’s Tale inspired “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”, and by The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution inspired “The Greatest Show on Earth”. Some songs, such as “Edema Ruh” (inspired by Patrick Rothfuss’ novel The Name of the Wind), still have fanciful themes.

The album’s first single, “Élan”, was introduced on February 9, 2015 (four days before its planned release date). “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”, announced as the second single on April 17, was released with a lyric video on May 8. The third and final single, “My Walden”, had a limited release on April 16, 2016 as an exclusive for Record Store Day.

Background

After releasing Imaginaerum in late 2011, the band began the Imaginaerum Tour in January 2012 with Anette Olzon as a vocalist and Troy Donockley as an unofficial member. On September 28, before a show in Denver, Olzon became ill and was replaced by Elize Ryd and Alissa White-Gluz (vocalists for Amaranthe and Arch Enemy, respectively). The next day, Olzon gave her final performance with Nightwish in Salt Lake City. A day later, she posted on her blog that she disliked being replaced by Ryd and White-Gluz without being consulted; the day after that, she was dismissed from the band. In the statement announcing Olzon’s departure, Nightwish introduced Floor Jansenas her replacement for the rest of the tour.

In October 2013, after the tour, the band announced that Jansen and Donockley were official members. The album was introduced in May 2014, when Holopainen posted on his website that it would probably be ready at the end of January 2015 and demos would be circulated beginning in July 2014

Concept

Endless Forms Most Beautiful was primarily inspired by the work of naturalist Charles Darwin. According to songwriter Tuomas Holopainen, the album’s title is part of a quote from Darwin’s 1859 book On the Origin of Species which included the words “endless forms most beautiful” to describe evolution from one common ancestor to all living organisms:

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

— Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species

Titles such as Élan and The Greatest Show on Earth were considered for the album, but Holopainen considered the latter too “pompous” and the band eventually opted for Endless Forms Most Beautiful.

Tuomas said that he would like fans to listen to the album from beginning to the end (like watching a movie), rather than listening to random songs. According to Tuomas, Endless Forms Most Beautiful has a “very loose” concept: “It’s all about beauty of life, the beauty of existence, nature, science”. He likened it to Imaginaerum: “The previous album was a tribute to the power of imagination. Endless Forms Most Beautiful would be an equal tribute to science and the power of reason”.

Songs

“Shudder Before the Beautiful” opens with a quote by Richard Dawkins, and its lyrics include the “beauty of the world and everything it has to offer”. Reminding Holopainen of Once and Oceanborn, it features the first duel between him and guitarist Emppu Vuorinen in about 15 years. “Weak Fantasy”, primarily written by Hietala, is considered the album’s heaviest song by Holopainen. Its lyrics, which criticize how some religions restrict lives, were also co-written by Hietala (who contributed to an originally-instrumental (and acoustic guitar-centered) part of the song which the band felt was too long). On a later interview in 2016, he commented further on the song, stating that it is “a combination of an interesting metal song with a few interesting parts that dabble in Celtic folk with the acoustic guitars.” During live performances, the message “wake up or die” is shown at the screen behind the band. Donockley said the words were taken from the film Religulous, which is a favorite of him and Holopainen.

“Élan” is about “the meaning of life, which can be something different for all of us. It’s important to surrender yourself to the occasional ‘free fall’ and not to fear the path less travelled by.” Not intended for the album’s track list, Holopainen liked the song more after the band began working on it. Following a suggestion by Donockley and Hietala, he replaced “Edema Ruh” with “Élan” as the album’s first single. Although he was initially uncertain about recording “Yours Is an Empty Hope” (co-written by Hietala and also called one of the album’s heaviest songs), Holopainen found its subject matter “inspirational”. He refrained from explicating its lyrics because he did not want to “ruin” listener interpretations.[12][23] According to Hietala, the song explores “living the ‘here and now’, not ‘then’.”

“Our Decades in the Sun” is a ballad for the band’s parents. Holopainen said that it was “maybe the most difficult song to put together” because of its delicacy and intimacy, and band members wept while rehearsing and recording it. “My Walden”, a Celtic song with a prominent contribution from Donockley, was considered by Holopainen a continuation of “I Want My Tears Back” from Imaginaerum. It’s inspired by the book “Walden” written by Henry David Thoreau. “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” is inspired by Dawkins’ book, The Ancestor’s Tale, and “Edema Ruh” refers to the group of traveling musicians and actors in Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind; it was one of the first songs written for the album.

“Alpenglow” has been called the “ultimate Nightwish song” by Holopainen, who said that it was “a nice little interlude” with “a catchy chorus and toxic guitar riff.” “The Eyes of Sharbat Gula”, an instrumental planned with lyrics, was written by Holopainen after he bought an issue of National Geographic with a reproduction of the iconic photo of Sharbat Gula. He said that the photograph “just made a huge impact on me. Those eyes, those wild, untamed and at the same time fearless and fearful eyes. I want to capture the essence of that photo in one of the songs”. The song was intended to be about children in war, but he struggled with its lyrics. After a suggestion by Donockley, Holopainen decided to add only distant voices and a children’s choir and said that it works as an intermission between the first part of the album and the final track.

“The Greatest Show on Earth”, the longest Nightwish song to date, refers to “life and evolution by natural selection”. Its title is from a book by Richard Dawkins. Holopainen said that the band is unlikely to play the full song live, but may perform a “band section” in the middle.[13] During live performances, photographs of people are shown in the screen behind the band; most are stock pictures, but some depict members’ relatives. Calling it “the most ambitious thing we ever did”, he said the song was originally over 30 minutes long. According to Holopainen, the album is “nine great support acts … one intermission and then the main act” (“The Greatest Show on Earth”). Hietala also said the “is probably the culmination of everything that we’ve done together”.

Release and reception

Endless Forms Most Beautiful was released in late March 2015. It was first released in Japan on the 25th, in continental Europe and Argentina on the 27th, in the UK on the 30th, and in the United States on the 31st. In addition to a regular edition with 11 tracks, released on CD and as a digital download, the album was released as a double LP in different colors, a digibook edition with an instrumental CD, and two earbook editions. One earbook version included a CDs with instrumental and orchestral versions of the tracks, and a deluxe earbook included a vinyl LP.

The album received positive reviews. According to Don Lawson of The Guardian, Nightwish’s use of a less-fanciful theme introduced elements which “result in their most ambitious and assured record yet” and he praised Holopainen’s songwriting. Lawson wrote that Jansen “strikes a fine balance between operatic acrobatics and straightforward, soulful restraint, most notably on twinkling earworm Élan.”Metal Storm called Endless Forms Most Beautiful “a sweet album of awesome songs” which “doesn’t try to be some over the top attempt to grandly announce a new era for the band” and “a smart move.” The online magazine praised Jansen’s vocals and how they challenged her voice compared to her previous work with ReVamp; she uses “the soft and sweet side, the lows, the hushed serenade, as well as an even harsher side.”

Solomon Encina called the album the band’s most accomplished effort in Metal Injection, although he found “Élan”, “Alpenglow” and “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” repetitive and stale. Craig Hartranft, founder of Dangerdog Music Reviews, called Endless Forms Most Beautiful “pretty darn terrific.” He described it as “the Nightwish you know and love: breathtaking arrangements paired with massive orchestration and beautiful vocals.” MusicReviewRadar wrote “in Endless Forms Most Beautiful [Nightwish] evolved to their own personal and original style” leaving him “craving for their next album.” According to the review team at Ultimate Guitar, the album needs several hearings to be fully understood but is “probably the most complete, well-written album in Nightwish’s catalog.” They considered “The Greatest Show on Earth” a pretentious title, but “closer to the truth than Nightwish has ever been before.”

General

Imaginaerum is the seventh studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. According to Nightwish songwriter Tuomas Holopainen, the album is a concept album that tells the story of an old composer who is reminiscing of his youth on his deathbed. The album was produced alongside the movie of the same name, directed by Stobe Harju, who previously directed Nightwish’s “The Islander” music video, and the album and the film share the same themes and general story. It is their second and last album with vocalist Anette Olzon.

The first single off the album, “Storytime” was released on November 9, 2011 and quickly topped the Finnish single charts. According to Iltasanomat, Imaginaerum sold more than 50,000 copies in Finland during the first day after release. It has been described as Nightwish’s best album by Sonic Seducer and was chosen as the album of the month by Dutch metal magazine Aardschok Magazine.

Background

While rumours of the next Nightwish album had been circulating for a while, the album was confirmed in the June 2009 edition of the Finnish magazine Soundi, when lead composer and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen stated that he had started work on a new album. In October 2009, rumours about the new album were circulated, suggesting that the title would be Wind Embraced. Lead vocalist Anette Olzon dismissed the rumours as false and stated that the songs for the new album had not yet been completed, with the exception of three songs written before May 2009. Holopainen said in a 2009 interview that ” I can’t reveal to you anymore but there is going to be a big twist so to say, on the next album.” In an interview with pipist Troy Donockley (who recorded with the band on Dark Passion Play), when asked about his involvement in the new album, he stated “Oh, yes, I will be playing on the next album and, from what Tuomas has told me, it is going to be something extraordinary…”

In early 2010, Olzon reported that the album was half-written, and that fans should not expect anything earlier than fall of 2011. In April 2010, Holopainen revealed that he has now finished writing songs for the album, and in June, he had finished recording the pre-production demo. Throughout the summer of 2010, the band gathered to rehearse songs in the Finnish village of Sävi, and recording of the album started in October 2010 and ended in May 2011, while the finished album stood ready on June 4

The band announced in late 2010 that more information about the album’s content would be released in late January 2011, but on February 1, the official website bore a statement written by Holopainen that there would be a delay in the information being released due to schedule changes. He added, however, that “it still is the Burton-Gaiman-Dalí amusement park we are about to enter.” In the same statement, it was also revealed that the album would be themed, and that “mood changes seem to be more present than ever before”. The orchestration demos he had received from Pip Williams were described as “beautiful, twisted, tribal and cinematic stuff”. In the Finnish version of the statement, it was also revealed that a few songs would not be getting any orchestration at all, differing from their latest album, on which all songs had a major orchestral presence.

On February 10, 2011, Nightwish announced on their website that the new album title would be Imaginarium. They also revealed that the band had been preparing a movie based on the album, which would be released in 2012 and directed by Stobe Harju, who previously directed the music video for “The Islander”. According to Tuomas, the name was meant to be related to “the power of imagination and the roller coaster of life”. At first he thought of Imagine, but that would be too obvious and similar to John Lennon’s song, so he changed it to Imaginarium.

On February 23, three interviews were released on the website – one each with composer Tuomas Holopainen, director Stobe Harju, and producer Markus Selin. Holopainen revealed the origin of the project, and that Nightwish will appear as themselves in the film, with minor roles. On August 31, the band announced that the album and movie had changed name from Imaginarium to Imaginaerum, to avoid mix-ups with other things entitled “Imaginarium”. This also led to changing the title of the track with the same name, but the song “Storytime” still includes the word “imaginarium” in the lyrics.

In early September, it was announced that the first single from the album would be “Storytime”. A week later, the band released the Imaginaerum cover, track list and commentary on each song written by Holopainen. “Storytime” was released as a CD, download and as a video through YouTube on November 9, and after a mere week the band announced that the single was topping the Finnish single chart, as well as having high positions in Hungary and Great Britain. On November 18, Amazon released 30-second samples from every song off the album, and the band shortly announced on their website that Amazon had done so without their knowledge, and that they recommended that one shouldn’t listen to them, if one “want to experience the true impact of the album”.

Concept and Storyline

The album is produced alongside the film with the same name, directed by Stobe Harju and described as an “emotional fantasy-adventure”, and feature the same basic themes and ideas, though told in more detail and with more extensive characters in the film than in the album. According to Holopainen, the film has evolved radically from the original plan, while still retaining the main spirit of the foundation. To Holopainen, it “was important from the very beginning that the album would work as its own individual piece of art” that would “work on its own without the film”. According to drummer Jukka Nevalainen, “this is not a concept album per se”, but it’s “a coherent package from the beginning to the end”.

The foundations to the music were developed before the pre-production of the film, during which Holopainen and Harju collaborated in developing the characters and the script.

Imaginaerum World Tour

The release of Imaginaerum was followed by a world tour, named the “Imaginaerum World Tour.” The tour started in Los Angeles on January 21, 2012. Finnish metal band Amorphis supported Nightwish on this portion of the tour. The European leg of the tour began on March 2, 2012 in Joensuu, Finland. When the tour returned to North America following the European leg of the tour, Nightwish was supported by Kamelot.

During the US tour, singer Anette Olzon fell ill at the show in Denver on September 28, 2012. Elize Ryd(Amaranthe) and Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), the back-up singers for Kamelot, stepped in to help perform the show. After the Denver show, Nightwish posted the following message on its Facebook page: “We were in hell [yesterday]. Vocalist in a hospital. Show about to be canceled… But nobody gave up an inch. With the help from the ladies Elize and Alissa from KAMELOT, we actually managed to pull of a relaxed and great show! The crowd doing the mass karaoke with the band playing was absolutely amazing. We were humbled and grateful at the same time. This is unity and help from friends and fans.” Two days later, Olzon was let go from the band with Floor Jansen being called to finish the tour in her place. Jansen was announced as the new lead singer of Nightwish in October 2013.

Dark Passion Play is the sixth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on 26 September 2007 in Finland, 28 September in Europe and 2 October 2007 in the United States. It is the first album without original vocalist Tarja Turunen, who was dismissed in 2005, as well as the first album involving future member Troy Donockley on uilleann pipes and tin whistle. It is the first of only two albums with vocalist Anette Olzon, who was eventually dismissed in 2012 after the release of the band’s subsequent album, Imaginaerum. Tuomas Holopainen has referred to it as the “album that saved his life”.

The first single, “Eva”, was leaked on the Internet six days before its official release, prompting the band to release the single earlier to boost downloads. Several other versions of the song were posted on YouTube and torrentsites a month later; the entire album with record label voiceovers had been leaked on the Internet by 2 August. The full album (without voiceovers) was leaked on 21 September 2007, as a result of several stores in Mexicoselling the retail album much prior to the worldwide release date.

Pre-orders for Dark Passion Play had it certified gold in Finland before it had even been released. The album debuted at number one in 6 European countries, selling over 100,000 copies in Finland (triple platinum). In February 2008, the album was certified quadruple-platinum in Finland, after having sold over 120,000 copies, which makes it one of the 40 best-selling albums of all time in the country. Worldwide, Dark Passion Play has sold almost 2 million copies since its release.

Music

Before the album’s release, band leader Tuomas Holopainen said in an interview that the album would have a lot in common with the previous album Once. For example, the band have kept the new kind of heavier songs, such as “Master Passion Greed”, “Whoever Brings the Night”, “7 Days to the Wolves”, and “Bye Bye Beautiful”, but additionally there are softer ballads, such as “Meadows of Heaven”, “Eva”, and “The Islander”. This album includes lots of guest musicians and orchestral parts, just like Once, but with a bigger level.

Just like the album Once, Nightwish included many new influences and experimentations in several tracks. On Once, much inspiration came from Native American music, especially “Creek Mary’s Blood”, which featured Lakota Indian musician John Two-Hawks. However, on Dark Passion Play, much inspiration comes from Finnish and Irish culture and music, which can be clearly heard on “Last of the Wilds”. Songs like “Master Passion Greed” and “Cadence of Her Last Breath” included thrash metal and alternative metal elements as well, displaying the newer, more modern sound of the band. In a later interview, Hietela said the band “didn’t get as far with it [the song] as we wanted to when we recorded the song in the studio – we wanted it to be a little bit more impressive”.

Holopainen also said that there are darker pieces reminiscent of the album Century Child, such as “The Poet and the Pendulum”, and some others. It will be a dark album, both musically and lyrically. Even though the album is much more upbeat than Century Child. Songs that reflect this mood are for example the second single “Amaranth” and “Bye Bye Beautiful”‘s B-side “Escapist.”

Reception

The album has sold more than 130,000 copies in Finland to date, placing 26th on the list of best-selling Finnish albums ever released, which has granted it a platinum certification four times. Worldwide, it has sold over 700,000 copies by the end of 2007 and about 2 million copies to date. It has been certified as Platinum in Germany and Hungary, and Gold in Austria, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland; Dark Passion Play is also the most successful Nightwish album in UK and USA with sales in the United States of over 134,000 copies.

As of January 2008, the album has topped the album charts in six countries; the singles, “Amaranth” and “Erämaan Viimeinen” have both reached the first position on Finnish charts. According to Last.fm, “Dark Passion Play” is their most played album, and its successful single “Amaranth” has as of February 2009 been holding the position of most played song since its release.

The album was also critically acclaimed in most reviews. Allmusic called the album a “sort of opera aria” and praised “Bye Bye Beautiful”, on a track pic and “Eva”, that they say it focus on the new vocalist vocal abilities.

The album was also given a positive review by Blabbermouth’s Keith Bergman, who gave the album a 7.5 out of 10 and stated that it “may not be a masterpiece throughout, but it’s got enough moments of symphonic metal bliss to warrant a high recommendation. About.com writer, Chad Bowar, gave the album a score of 4 out of 5 stars, calling Dark Passion Play “an excellent album that’s right up there with the best the band has done.”

Once is the fifth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on 7 June 2004 by Spinefarm Records and Nuclear Blast. It is the last album to feature Tarja Turunen on lead vocals. The album cost nearly €250,000 to make, (1,000,000 including the videos) which made it Finland’s most expensive recording ever until the release of Nightwish’s next album, Dark Passion Play, which cost over €500,000 to produce. As of 2013, Once has sold 2.3 million copies worldwide, being Nightwish’s most successful album to date.

Background

In 2008 Kerrang! interview Tuomas Holopainen remembered: “Doing this kind of really orchestral, symphonic stuff for four albums, you have to be prepared to take the next step and go 10 steps beyond, and that’s how we ended up with the London Session Orchestra. At that time we also had the financial resources to do it. This was like our second breakthrough in a way; Oceanborn (1998) broke us, took us to the big league. Musically it was pretty laid-back from our side because everyone involved in the orchestra really knew their stuff, so we basically spent two days lying on the couch hearing all these people playing our songs, enjoying every moment. It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. The first song they started to play was “Ghost Love Score”, we had no idea what to expect, and I just thought: This can’t be happening!”

Musical style

The album continues the more streamlined musical approach first heard on Century Child, moving further away from the power metal-influenced sound of their previous albums into a slightly more mainstream, approachable feel. Once utilizes a full orchestra in nine of the eleven songs on the album; unlike Century Child, Nightwish chose an orchestra outside of Finland, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which has been featured on every album released since.

Once is their second album to feature a full-length song in Finnish, “Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan”. The band added new elements to their music for this album, such as the chorus riff and synthesized drum-beat of “Wish I Had an Angel”, and a long prayer chant on “Creek Mary’s Blood”. The song “Ghost Love Score” was described by Hietala as follows: “I’m a big fan of old prog rock and this is a song that has a lot of different parts going on, and different atmospheres in different places in order to support the story. […] My biggest influence from the prog world would be Jethro Tull, but I also love listening to Yes and Genesis and all those bands, and there’s a correlation between the structures and the length of a lot of their songs and this one.”

Artwork

The angel on the album cover is a view of the Angel of Grief, a sculpture by William Wetmore Story. The original is in the Protestant Cemetery of Rome, Italy.

Century Child is the fourth studio album by the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released in 2002 through Spinefarm Records. It is the first album which features current bassist and male vocalist Marco Hietala.

Spinefarm Records released a 2-CD special edition version of the album in 2002. It includes the CD, liner art with the band members’ signatures, and a Video CD containing the music video for their cover of Gary Moore’s “Over the Hills and Far Away”. In addition, the booklet contains an ID code that allows the owner to download the entire album and three extra tracks from the Internet for a limited time. The bonus tracks are “Nightwish”, “The Forever Moments” and “Etiäinen”, all from the band’s first demo of 1996.

Success 

Nightwish quickly gained momentum when they started recording Century Child. The single, “Ever Dream” came out in early May 2002 and earned them a Finnish Gold Record in two days. After three weeks, Century Child does even better, selling Gold in just two hours. In Germany, the album rises to number five on the official charts.

The album was certified double platinum in Finland with more than 60,000 sold copies, the second best selling Finnish album in Finland in year 2002. Century Child has sold more than 80,000 copies in Finland alone. It sold more than 350,000 copies worldwide between 2002 and 2003.

Wishmaster is the third studio album by the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on 8 May 2000 through Spinefarm Records in Finland. The album was released in Europe by Drakkar Entertainment on 29 May 2000 and in the US by Century Media on 6 February 2001.

Wishmaster peaked at No. 1 in the official Finnish charts; the album also debuted in the European charts at No. 21 in Germany and No. 66 in France. Wishmaster has sold more than 79,000 copies in Finland alone.

Most re-issues of the album contain the song “Sleepwalker”, which was released in July 2000 to compete in the Finnish Eurovision Song Contest tryouts.

Background and release 

The writing and recording of Wishmaster was very fast and devoid of complications, in contrast with what had happened for Oceanborn.  The main composer Tuomas Holopainen considers the album “the most distant and least personal (…) in the Nightwish catalogue”, despite containing the “mother of all Nightwish songs – Dead Boys’ Poem.” The image of the dead boy would reappear in several songs of the following albums. Wishmaster was issued on 8 May 2000, a few days earlier than its scheduled release. The reason for early release is that the music had leaked onto the Internet.

Music style

Wishmaster’s sound continues the bombastic symphonic power metal approach originally featured on Oceanborn, albeit with more emphasis on atmosphere and melody versus speed and heaviness. Perhaps even more so than its predecessor, Wishmaster has a very clear fantasy theme. While commonly considered to be closer to conventional power metal, there is still a great variety with slower songs like “Two for Tragedy” and “Dead Boy’s Poem”, and more epic pieces like “FantasMic”. “The Kinslayer” is written about the victims of the Columbine High School massacre. “Wishmaster” was inspired by the fantasy novel series The Lord of the Rings and Dragonlance, mentioning Elbereth, Lórien, and the Grey Havens from the former; and Dalamar, Raistlin Majere (Dalamar’s shalafi, or “master”), Gilthanas, the Sla-Mori, Silvara and the Inn of the Last Home from the latter. “FantasMic” is a song about the Disney animated movies, particularly their fantasy and fable elements, taking its title from the Disneyland show Fantasmic!

Live performances

The song “Wishmaster” has remained one of Nightwish’s greatest hits, appearing on several best of compilations. Since its release, it has been a recurring track during live performances, and was featured on the live DVD End of an Era, recorded in 2005. As of 2013, it is still often performed live despite the band’s change of vocalists. A new orchestral intro for the track was recorded during the orchestral recording of Dark Passion Play. Other recurring live songs from the album are “She Is My Sin”, “Dead Boy’s Poem” and “Come Cover Me”.

Oceanborn is the second studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released in December 1998 in Finland and in the Spring of 1999 worldwide. Oceanborn has sold more than 68,000 copies in Finland. The single “Sleeping Sun” was released in August 1999. This song has been included in every re-issue of the album since then. The album was released in the US by Century Media in March 2001.

Style

This album marked a definitive change in musical scope for Nightwish from their folk-laden roots in Angels Fall First, showcasing a more bombastic, power metal-oriented sound with faster tempos, harmonic guitar/keyboard leads, and plenty of double-bass-heavy drumwork. During that time, Stratovarius was Holopainen’s biggest inspiration, hence the power metal sound of the album. Oceanborn’s sound hearkens a more dramatic approach in the overall musical scope, mostly relegated to the symphonic keyboard work and lead singer Tarja Turunen‘s vocals. Most of the album is fantasy-themed, with tracks like “Swanheart” and “Walking in the Air”, a cover from the animated TV special The Snowman, as typical examples; however, the song “Gethsemane”, has a more religious feel to it. In addition, there are also some theatrical tracks like “Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean”. Oceanborn is among their darkest albums, making use of the harsh vocals of Tapio Wilska in the songs “The Pharaoh Sails to Orion” and “Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean”.

Live performances

Since the album’s release, “Sacrament of Wilderness” has remained a fan-favorite at concerts, and it’s still performed often. Both “Sleeping Sun” and “Walking in the Air” have also been performed often on shows. “Walking in the Air” returned to the live set list of the band at 19 September 2009 at Hartwall Areena, this time as an acoustic song sung by then-vocalist Anette Olzon. Having been dropped from their live shows, since Turunen’s dismissal in 2005, “Stargazers” returned to the live set list on the Endless Forms Most Beautiful tour, with Floor Jansen as their newest singer in 2015.

Angels Fall First is the debut studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. The original 500-copies limited edition features seven tracks, two of which are not on the regular edition. This edition is highly sought after by collectors and in 2012 a copy was sold for $1137.23 on eBay. The album was released in the US by Century Media in March 2001.

As of December 2009, Angels Fall First has sold more than 36,000 copies in Finland alone.

History

Tuomas Holopainen wrote the music for the album during his time in the Finnish Army. In an 2008 interview with the British magazine Kerrang!, Tuomas Holopainen remembered:

It came about in August 1996, around a campfire. We were at my summer cabin, a bunch of friends camping out, barbecuing, singing songs. Then it just hit me that I wanted to start a band. But we were too far ambitious at that time for it to remain simply acoustic and making music with just acoustic guitar, keyboards and female voice, was just a bit boring, and we naturally started heading in a heavier direction. The funny thing about Angels Fall First is that it was only supposed to be a demo to send out to record labels. But then Spinefarm heard it and thought it was perfect, so they put it out as it was with no remixing or anything. I used to be a bit embarrassed but now I can feel proud and nostalgic about those songs.
The original pressing featured Holopainen’s home contact address, an accident from reprinting the demo sleeve for the album.

Live performances 

The songs of the album were played more and more seldom live leading up to the departure of vocalist Tarja Turunen in October 2005. No songs from the album have been performed with vocalists Anette Olzon or Floor Jansen.

Vocals

The male vocals heard on “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Carpenter”, “Astral Romance” and “Once Upon a Troubadour” are sung by keyboardist–band leader Tuomas Holopainen, as well as the whispers in the beginning of the demo version of “Etiäinen”. Following this release, Holopainen never sang credited on an album again, because he thought that he was not good enough.

These days

The band, and especially band leader and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen has frowned upon the album, considering it essentially an extended demo. In a 2011 interview, when asked what album other than Imaginaerum Holopainen wanted to make into a movie, he replied that it would be Angels Fall First, and that it would be “a black-and-white comedy”.