Although they have been prominent in their home country since the release of their first single, “The Carpenter” (1997) and debut album Angels Fall First, they did not achieve worldwide fame until the release of the albums Oceanborn and Wishmaster, which were released in 1998 and 2000 respectively. Their 2004 album, Once, led to Nightwish video clips being shown on MTV in the United States and inclusion of their music in U.S. movie soundtracks. Their biggest U.S. hit single, “Wish I Had an Angel” (2004), made it onto three U.S. film soundtracks as a means to promote their North American tour. The band produced three more singles and two music videos for the album, as well as “Sleeping Sun”, from the 2005 “best of” compilation album, Highest Hopes, prior to vocalist Tarja Turunen’s dismissal.
In May, 2007, former AOR act Alyson Avenue frontwoman Anette Olzon was revealed as Turunen’s replacement, and in the autumn, the band released a new album Dark Passion Play, for which the band is currently touring.
History
Nightwish demo (1996)
Based on the musical experimentations of Holopainen, the original band concept was to create acoustic music. The band featured only keyboards, acoustic guitars, and the classical vocals of Turunen. The three musicians recorded their self-titled acoustic demo in the winter of 1996. The name “Nightwish” was derived from the first song the band recorded together, and the first demo also included early versions of “The Forever Moments” and “Etiäinen”.
After recording the Nightwish Demo, Holopainen decided that Turunen’s operatic voice was too powerful for an acoustic band, and decided to add in heavy metal elements, including electric guitars and drums.
Angels Fall First (1997)
Main article: Angels Fall First
In early 1997, following the release of the Nightwish Demo, Jukka “Julius” Nevalainen joined the band, and acoustic guitar was replaced with electric guitar. The addition of heavy metal elements to the band's existing experimental style gave the band a unique sound, forming the core of the Nightwish sound.
The band entered the studio in April 1997 to record seven songs for their second demo, entitled Angels Fall First. As a precursor to their debut full length album of the same name, the demo made its way to the Finnish record label Spinefarm Records in May 1997. The label signed Nightwish to a two album deal, and the band returned to the studio to re-record songs from their second demo. The full length album Angels Fall First was released internationally in November 1997 and reached number 31 on the Finnish album charts, with the single “The Carpenter” reaching number 3 on the Finnish singles chart. “The Carpenter” single was released as a split with label mates Children of Bodom and Thy Serpent.
“Angels Fall First” is one of the two albums which features keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen's vocals (other one is “Dark Passion Play”), appearing on four of the album's eleven tracks, alongside vocalist Tarja Turunen.
Critical reception of Angels Fall First was mixed, with All Music Guide rating the album 2 out of 5 stars, and The Metal Observer stating that Nightwish’s debut album “paled drastically in comparison to their later work," although it remains a fan favorite.
In December 1997, after over a year of existence, Nightwish made their live debut in their hometown Kitee, Finland. During the winter of 1997 and 1998, the band performed only seven times, due to Nevalainen and Vuorinen’s obligatory Finnish military service, and Turunen finishing her schooling.
Oceanborn (1998–1999)
Main article: Oceanborn
Music sample:
"Sacrament of Wilderness"
Sacrament of Wilderness, Nightwish’s breakout single garnered the band its first success outside of Finland.Problems listening to the file? See media help.
Following a string of live shows in Finland, the band filmed their first video clip for “The Carpenter” in April 1998. Nightwish completed their touring line up in the summer of 1998 when bassist Sami Vänskä, an old friend of Holopainen, joined the band. Nightwish then returned to the studio in August 1998 as a five-piece, to record their follow up album for Spinefarm records.
On October 7, 1998, Nightwish released their second full length album, Oceanborn, in Finland only. Adopting a more technical and progressive sound than Angels Fall First, Oceanborn saw the band abandon much of the ambient and folk elements present on their debut release. In contrast to the female vocals of Tururen, the album also featured guest growling vocals by Tapio Wilska (ex-Finntroll).
Oceanborn was well received, with All Music Guide writing that the album “as a whole works great”, with songs that are “very strong”. Oceanborn was an instant success in Finland, reaching number 5 on the Finnish album charts. The album’s first single, “Sacrament of Wilderness”, hit number 1 on the Finnish singles charts, where it stayed for several weeks. The album’s release was initially limited to Finland, but due to the success of “Sacrement of Wilderness”, Spinefarm released Oceanborn internationally in the spring of 1999.
In May 1999, Nightwish recorded the single “Sleeping Sun (Four Ballads of the Eclipse)”. In one month the single sold 15,000 copies in Germany alone. Following the band’s first international success, Nightwish was added as the opening band for Rage’s 1999 European tour. Both the album Oceanborn and the single “Sacrament of Wilderness” were certified gold in Finland in August 1999.
Wishmaster (2000)
Main article: Wishmaster (album)
While in the studio in early 2000 working on their third album, Nightwish was accepted in the Finnish Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Sleepwalker”. (sample (help·info)) Despite winning the public vote, Nightwish eventually finished in second place, with the jury choosing local gospel singer Nina Åström to represent Finland.
In May 2000 Nightwish released their third studio album Wishmaster which debuted at #1 on the Finnish album charts, and following three weeks at number one, was certified gold in Finland. The album also saw high chart debuts in Germany at #21, and #66 in France.
Critical response to the album was mixed, with All Music Guide citing the album as repetitive, and saying “as a whole album, it can be a little annoying, even frustrating”. However, German magazine Rock Hard declared Wishmaster “Album of the Month”, despite competing against long-awaited May releases from Iron Maiden and Bon Jovi.
Following the release of Wishmaster, Nightwish embarked on their first world tour, playing dates in South America, Mexico, Canada, and the first headlining European tour with Sinergy and Eternal Tears Of Sorrow. In the summer the band returned to Europe, appearing at the Wacken Open Air festival and the Biebop Metal Fest.
Over the Hills and Far Away EP (2001)
Main article: Over the Hills and Far Away (album)
In 2001 Nightwish recorded a cover of Gary Moore’s “Over the Hills and Far Away” together with two new songs (“10th Man Down” and “Away”) and a remake of “Astral Romance” (from the Angels Fall First album). This was released as their first, and so far only, EP “Over the Hills and Far Away”.
The record included guest performances by Tony Kakko (from the power metal band Sonata Arctica) and Tapio Wilska (ex-Finntroll). They also released a VHS, DVD and CD with live material recorded in a show in Tampere, on December 29, 2000. All of these were entitled From Wishes to Eternity.
Nightwish’s version of “Over the Hills and Far Away” was well received by fans, being a repeating part of the band’s live performances and featuring on several compilation albums as well as the “End of an Era” DVD (in 2006). However, the other new songs never had a great break-through nor has been re-released in any way, as of January, 2008.
Shortly after the release, bassist Sami Vänskä was asked to leave the band, and Marco Hietala (Tarot, Sinergy) joined the band, effectively leaving Sinergy. Hietala would, apart from playing his instrument, also perform male vocals. Earlier, when needed, either Holopainen (on the Angels Fall First album) or a guest musician performed the male vocals. Holopainen has afterwards said that he and Vänskä still keep in touch, contrary to rumours saying that they haven't met since. However, they are not interested in making another project together. The reason of Vänskä’s dismissal was that he and Holopainen were too different as musicians, and this was seen as a threat to the band.
Century Child (2002–2003)
Main article: Century Child
In 2002 Nightwish released “Century Child”, along with the singles “Ever Dream” and “Bless the Child”. The main difference from previous albums is the use of a live orchestra from Finland on “Bless the Child”, “Ever Dream”, “Feel For You” and “The Beauty of the Beast”, to get a more present feeling of classical music. An enduring favorite of fans, though, is the band’s version of “The Phantom of the Opera”, from the famous musical of the same name by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. The song was repeatedly played on concerts until vocalist Tarja Turunen was replaced with Anette Olzon, whereupon the band announced that they would never play the song live again.
"Century Child” was certified gold two hours after its release, and platinum two weeks afterwards. It set a record on the Finnish album charts as well; never before had the second been so distant from the first place. After the “Bless the Child” video, a second one was recorded, without any single support. The chosen track was “End of All Hope”. The clip contains pieces from the Finnish movie, Kohtalon kirja (English: The Book of Fate).[10]
In 2003, Nightwish released their second DVD, entitled “End of Innocence”. The DVD tells the story of the band in Holopainen and Nevalainen’s words for two hours. The documentary also features bits of live concerts, exclusive footage, etc.
Vocalist Tarja Turunen also got married during the summer of 2003, and there were rumours that the band was about to be dissolved. These rumours were, at the time, proven to be false, as the band continued on to play concerts for another year and released another album. The marriage later meant a great part in Tarja’s dismissal from the band in the autumn of 2005.
Once (2004–2005)
Main article: Once (Nightwish album)
A new album entitled “Once” was released on June 7, 2004, along with their first single, “Nemo” (Latin for “nobody”), from that album. The single topped the charts in Finland and Hungary, and reached the top ten in five additional countries. “Nemo” therefore remains their most successful single release to date.
With Once, Nightwish started to produce so called orchestral versions of the most famous songs – versions where the music is more calmed down, excepting almost all drums and guitars (even though for example the orchestral version of “Nemo” includes an electric guitar solo). Famous songs that so far have been produced as orchestral versions are for example “Nemo”, “Ghost Love Score”, “Eva” and “Amaranth”.
Nightwish live in 2004, during their “Once World Tour”. Left to right: Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards), Jukka Nevalainen (drums), Tarja Turunen (vocals), Marco Hietala (bass & vocals), Emppu Vuorinen (guitars).
Once utilizes a full orchestra in nine of the eleven songs on the album. Unlike Century Child, Nightwish decided to look for an orchestra outside of Finland this time, choosing the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It is also their second album to feature a full-length song in Finnish, “Kuolema tekee taiteilijan” (English: “Death Makes an Artist”). Once has sold triple platinum in Finland, platinum in Germany, gold in Sweden and reached #1 in the Greek, Norwegian and Hungarian album charts. The following singles were: “Wish I Had an Angel” (featured on the soundtrack of the Alone in the Dark film), “Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan” (released only in Finland and Japan) and “The Siren”. Besides the commercial success, Once was also accepted by critics, with many positive reviewers drawing comparisons with Oceanborn. The success of the album allowed them to perform the Once World Tour, which enabled them to play in many countries the band had never visited before. Nightwish performed at the opening ceremony of the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, held in Helsinki, highlighting acclaim the band has recently gained.
A “best of” album was released in September 2005, containing songs from their whole discography. The compilation is entitled Highest Hopes, also featuring a live cover of Pink Floyd’s song “High Hopes” (from the The Division Bell album). This song was the first in which Hietala performs the vocals by himself (sample). Besides High Hopes, a remake of “Sleeping Sun” (from Oceanborn) was put on the album, which was also released as a single. A new video for “Sleeping Sun” was shot, featuring a medieval battle, and can be found on the German release of the single and as a separate DVD released by Spinefarm.
End of an Era (2005–2006)
After the recording in the Hartwall Areena (Helsinki) on 21 October 2005, of the new live DVD End of an Era (released June 2006), the four other members of Nightwish decided that it was best to continue Nightwish without Tarja Turunen, a feeling they expressed through an open letter which was given to Turunen by Tuomas Holopainen after the concert, and afterwards posted on the band’s website. It was written by Holopainen but signed by the other band members. The main justification of Turunen’s dismissal given in the letter was that the band felt that both her husband Marcelo Cabuli (an Argentine businessman) and commercial interests had changed her attitude towards the band.
Turunen responded to the incident twice, during a press conference in Finland and in Germany, saying that her dismissal came entirely as a shock to her, given that she had not been notified before the letter was given to her. She felt that the personal attacks on her husband were unwarranted, and that playing the issue out to the public was “senselessly cruel”. She expressed these feelings through her own open letter, which was published on her personal website, and through various TV, magazine, and newspaper interviews.
Dark Passion Play (2006–2007)
Main article: Dark Passion Play
In 2006–2007, the band recorded their sixth full-length studio album, Dark Passion Play. The process began with drum recordings, then guitar, bass and demo keyboards. Orchestral and choir recordings took place in Abbey Road Studios. After those, the final synthesizers and vocals were recorded.
To find a replacement for Turunen as the female vocalist of the band, on March 17, 2006 the band allowed vocalists interested for the position to send in demo tapes as an audition for the spot. During this time, speculation began to emerge as to who would eventually succeed Turunen as the female vocalist for the band. In April 2007, the heavy metal magazine Terrorizer as an April fools joke reported that Sarah Brightman would be the new vocalist. In response to this and other rumors, the band stated on their website that fans should not believe any source other than the band itself for information regarding the new vocalist.
For the same reason, the identity of the new singer was to be published earlier, and on Thursday 24 May, the 35-year-old Anette Olzon from Katrineholm, Sweden was announced to replace Turunen. Holopainen has said in interviews he did not wish to reveal her identity until new material was available because he did not want fans judging her by nothing more than a picture, or past work.
Nightwish release 'Dark Passion Play', most expensive album in Finnish history
The day after this revealing, charity single “Eva” was released as the first off the album, as download only. It was originally scheduled for release on May 30, but due to a leak on a British music download site the single was released on May 25. This was the first published song (excluding short audio samples on the website) to feature Olzon.
On 13 June Nightwish released the title, Dark Passion Play, and artwork to the new album on their official website, as well as the name and the cover of the second single (this time CD), “Amaranth”. The single, that first was released in Finland on August 22, included a bonus track entitled “While Your Lips Are Still Red” written by Tuomas as the main theme track for the upcoming Finnish feature film “Lieksa!”. Technically, it is not a Nightwish-track as it only features Marco Hietala on vocals and acoustic bass, Tuomas Holopainen on keys and Jukka Nevalainen on drums. The song’s video was officially released on June 15. “Amaranth” achieved gold status in Finland after less than two days in stores.
Dark Passion Play was released around Europe in the last week of September, 2007, in the UK on October 1st, and the United States on October 2nd. There were three separate releases: 1) a single-disc standard version and 2) a 2-CD Special Edition which will contain 1 bonus track on the 1st disc and a 2nd CD comprised of orchestral versions of every song on the album and 3) a limited edition 3CD version with the two CDs from version two and a third one with some demo versions (of for example “The Poet and the Pendulum”) as well as some bonus tracks (for example “Bye Bye Beautiful” CD-single’s b-side “The Escapist” and the third single “Erämaan Viimeinen”, a vocal version of “Last of the Wilds"
In this album, perhaps because of former female vocalist Tarja's dismissal, male vocalist Marco Hietala achieves more freedom in his vocals, singing at least back up in every single song of the album with the exceptions of "Eva" and “Amaranth” , singing lead vocals in several songs, such as “The Islander”, “While Your Lips Are Still Red” and “Reach”, (both latter bonus tracks), singing exclusively in Master Passion Greed, and singing chorus in songs such as “Bye Bye Beautiful” and “7 Days to the Wolves”.
Several magazines, including Kerrang! have noted how the departure of Tarja Turunen seems to have released the band from their shell and how restraint has been left to other bands. The use of some 175 additional musicians for the orchestral and solo parts of the album has resulted in the band now being described as “Epic Metal” by many people – especially in 14 minute album opener “The Poet and The Pendulum”. The album was awarded 5/5 (classic) by Kerrang! magazine.
New lead singer Anette Olzon performing live on the Dark Passion Play tour in Seattle (USA) 2007.
The New Era (2007– ?)
On September 22, 2007, the band hosted a secret concert at Rock Café in Tallinn, Estonia, disguising itself as a Nightwish cover band called “Nachtwasser”. Their first official concert with the new singer was in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 6, 2007. The Dark Passion Play tour has now visited the United States, Canada, most of Europe, and have (as of December 18, 2007) a planned tour in parts of Asia and Australia, a second tour in North America, Europe and more.
The third single of the album was first reported to be “Bye Bye Beautiful”, and a music video to this song was recorded together with “Amaranth”’s, and released in September, 2007. However, changed minds resulted in the third single being “Erämaan Viimeinen”, a previously unreleased vocal version of the instrumental song “Last of the Wilds”. It was released in Finland only on December 5, 2007. On this song, Jonsu of the Finnish pop/rock band Indica performs the Finnish vocals.
On December 13, 2007, Nightwish opened an official account on YouTube, linked to from their official website. On this, they've uploaded live filmings from their concerts.
"Bye Bye Beautiful", the fourth single, was released on February 15, 2008 in two versions; DVD and CD. Within a week after the release, the fifth single was announced to be "The Islander", to be released on May 21.
According to Holopainen, this will be the longest tour the band has yet attempted, and will probably last about two and a half years. As of February, 2008, tour dates are booked until May, 2008, with several summer/fall dates in Europe added. Nightwish has confirmed that they will do a third US tour in 2008’s second semester. They will also be performing at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in June 2008 and at EXIT festival on July 10.
On March 3, 2008, Nightwish lost by a single vote to the American Metal band Kamelot, in the Metal Storm Awards 2007. Both Nightwish and Kamelot were among the nominees for Best Power Metal Album of 2007 (Dark Passion Play, and Ghost Opera respectively). They suffered another loss to Kamelot in the category for Best Music Video, their nominated video being for the song Amaranth. They, however won both Biggest Surprise of 2007 and Biggest Letdown of 2007.
Music
Influence
Main article: Tuomas Holopainen
Tuomas Holopainen, writer of most of the band’s lyrics and musical scores, says that he gets most of the inspiration for Nightwish’s songs from film music. Songs like “Beauty of the Beast” (from Century Child) and “Ghost Love Score” (from Once) are examples of this influence. Other songs, such as “Romanticide” and “Wish I Had an Angel” (both from Once) have elements of industrial metal, and some others, like The Islander and Last of the Wilds (from Dark Passion Play), Creek Mary's Blood (from Once), and the Angels Fall First album have elements of folk metal. Holopainen has also said that film music is the music he listens to for leisure. He likes, for example, the musical scores to Van Helsing and Crimson Tide, and practically everything written by Hans Zimmer.
Fantasy novels are also a big influence on Nightwish’s music. Many of the lyrics make fairly clear references to fantasy novels, especially the Dragonlance series and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Songs such as “Wishmaster” and “Wanderlust” seem to be heavily influenced by the novels. References to The Kharolis Mountains, 'Shalafi' and Krynn, as well as 'Elbereth' and 'Gray Havens', can be found in these songs. The music of “7 Days to the Wolves” is inspired by Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series.
On the other hand, Nightwish has also been noted as a source of inspiration for other bands. Simone Simons, lead singer of Epica, stated that she began singing due to Nightwish. Ex-singer of Visions of Atlantis, Nicole Bogner, also acknowledged that Nightwish had greatly inspired them for their first album. Sander Gommans of After Forever said that Nightwish “will certainly influence us in creating new songs”. Power metal band Sonata Arctica’s lead singer Tony Kakko has explained how much of an influence Nightwish is to him.
Musical style
A precise definition for Nightwish’s musical style is disputed. The band has been suggested as being part of the genres Gothic metal, symphonic metal, and power metal. Tuomas Holopainen once described their music as “melodic heavy metal with a female vocalist”.
In the beginning of Nightwish’s career, in 1996, Holopainen’s idea of the band was to create a new but still old genre; the kind of acoustic music played by the open fire on hiking events, to confront radio and CD scene. As he in 1997 realized that Turunen’s voice would be much too strong for such a project, though, he abandoned it to instead focus on heavy metal. Since, Nightwish’s music has been very experimental, focusing on mixing genres and using material that is old, but new to the scene.
The definition symphonic metal is based on Nightwish’s inclusion of instruments and vocal styles of classical music and film scores, as well as the massive use of keyboard effects (Holopainen). Bassist / vocalist Marco Hietala has also called their music “film score metal” similar to the music of Rhapsody of Fire. The uplifting fantasy themes, epic atmospheres, high vocals, guitar and keyboard solos and fast melodic musical style of Nightwish’s music, place them in the power metal genre similar to other Finnish bands such as Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius. The gothic metal tag is usually used by magazines such as Kerrang as many Nightwish songs have Gothic elements, such as the lyrics, the simple guitar riffs and piano, and Beauty and the Beast lyrics. However, the Gothic metal elements are not used frequently enough to mark the entire band’s genre, but only a few songs / albums; for example “Phantom of the Opera and “Beauty and the Beast”.
A new era for Nightwish’s musical style began with “Century Child” and was developed further with the next albums, “Once” and “Dark Passion Play”. The guitars were downtuned and simplified to a lower rhythmical sound closer to modern power metal than the old melodic power metal style leads and Tarja Turunen’s vocals lost some of their operatic edge, becoming closer to standard rock female singing. As Turunen was replaced with Anette Olzon in 2007, practically everything of the operatic vocals were lost, for the Dark Passion Play album. Male vocals from second bassist Marco Hietala added a new, rougher dimension to songs like “Planet Hell”, “Wish I Had An Angel” and “7 Days to the Wolves”. This era was a lot more orchestra-dominated than albums previous to Century Child, with an emphasis on longer, more dramatic songs such as “Beauty of the Beast”, “Ghost Love Score” and “The Poet and the Pendulum”.
Line-up
Nightwish members
Current members
Anette Olzon – Vocals
Tuomas Holopainen – Keyboards, vocals
Erno “Emppu” Vuorinen – Electric guitar (acoustic guitar at times)
Marko ”Marco” Hietala – Bass, vocals (acoustic guitar at times)
Jukka “Julius” Nevalainen – Drums, percussion
Former Members
Tarja Turunen - Vocals
Sami Vänskä - Bass
Sessional Members
Samppa Hirvonen - Bass (Sessional Live Member 1997-8)
Marjaana Pellinen - Backing vocals, Second Keyboard (Sessional Live Member 1997-8)
Tapio Wilska - Vocals on "Oceanborn" album and "Over the Hills and Far Away" EP
Tony Kakko - Vocals on "Over the Hills and Far Away" EP
Ike Vil - Vocals on "Wishmaster" album
Marc Brueland - Vocals on "Once" album
John Two-Hawks - Vocals on "Once" album
Jouni Hynynen - Roar on "Once" album
Johanna "Jonsu" Salomaa - Vocals on "Erämaan Viimeinen"
Troy Donockley - Uilleann Pipes, Low/Tin Whistle and Bodhran on Dark Passion Play
Discography
Nightwish discography
Demos
“Nightwish Demo” (1996)
“Angels Fall First Demo” (1997)
Studio albums and EPs
“Angels Fall First” (1997)
“Oceanborn” (1998)
“Wishmaster” (2000)
“Over the Hills And Far Away EP” (2001)
“Century Child” (2002)
“Once” (2004)
“Dark Passion Play” (2007)
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