Tuesday 7 February 2012

Nightwish


NIGHTWISH


   Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. Formed in 1996 by songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen, Nightwish's current line-up has five members, although Tarja has been replaced by Anette Olzon and the original bassist, Sami Vänskä, has been replaced by Marco Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist part; previously male vocal-parts were done by Tuomas or guest singers.

   Although Nightwish has 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, Wishmaster and Century Child, which were released in 1998, 2000 and 2002 respectively. Their 2004 album, Once, which has sold more than 1 million copies, led to the broadcast of Nightwish video clips on MTV in the United States and inclusion of their music in US movie soundtracks. Their biggest US hit single, “Wish I Had an Angel” (2004), made it onto three US 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 Alyson Avenue frontwoman, Anette Olzon, was revealed as Tarja Turunen’s replacement, and in the autumn, the band released a new album, Dark Passion Play, which has sold almost 2 million copies, with their big single, "Amaranth", being released one month before.The supporting tour started on October 6, 2007 and ended on September 19, 2009.A new E.P./live album, Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places), was released in March 2009 as a MCD/DVD, and a seventh studio album, titled Imaginaerum, was released on November 30, 2011 in Finland, and December 2, 2011 in the rest of Europe.

   Nightwish is the third-best-selling band and the third-best-selling musical entity in Finland with sales of over 890,000 certified copies.The group is also the most successful Finnish band abroad with more than 7 million records sold worldwide, and having collected over 60 gold and platinum awards.


Formation:

   After playing keyboards in several heavy metal bands in the 1990s, including Nattvindens Gråt and Darkwoods My Betrothed, Tuomas Holopainen decided to create his own project while sitting around a campfire with friends in 1996.He immediately had a clear idea of the music: experimental acoustic music he wrote himself, similar to the music usually played around campfires, but with a distinct sound and atmosphere, played on his keyboards.

   He soon invited friend and schoolmate Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen to play acoustic guitars, and the classical vocalist Tarja Turunen, who shared the same music teacher, Plamen Dimov. The three musicians recorded their self-titled acoustic demo in the winter of 1996. The name “Nightwish” was derived from their first song together, and the demo also included the song “The Forever Moments”, and an early version of “Etiäinen”.

   After recording the Nightwish demo, Holopainen realized that Turunen’s operatic voice was too powerful for an acoustic band, and decided to incorporate heavy metal elements, including electric guitars and drums.



Tarja's dismissal:

   After the recording in the Hartwall Areena (Helsinki) on October 21, 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 three band members. The main justification given in the letter for Turunen’s dismissal 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 in 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.



Members:

Current members:

  • Tuomas Holopainen - keyboards, synthesizer (1996–present)
  • Emppu Vuorinen - guitars (1996–present)
  • Jukka Nevalainen - drums, percussion (1997–present)
  • Marco Hietala - bass guitar, vocals (2002–present)
  • Anette Olzon - vocals (2007–present)
Session musicians:
  • Troy Donockley - uillean pipes, tin whistle, vocals (2007-present)

Former members:

  • Tarja Turunen - vocals (1996–2005)
  • Sami Vänskä - bass (1998–2001)
Discography:

ANGELS FALL FIRST
(1997)

   Angels Fall First is the debut album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. The original limited edition of which only 500 copies were released features seven tracks, two of which are not on the regular edition.

   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.He has however provided the background shouts on "Moondance" on the 1998 album Oceanborn, as well as some background growling on "Master Passion Greed" on the 2007 album Dark Passion Play.

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

   The songs of the album were played more and more seldom live leading up to the departure of vocalist Tarja Turunen in October 2005, and no songs from the album has been performed with the new vocalist Anette Olzon since. The band, and especially band leader and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen has since frowned upon the album. 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".

OCEANBORN
(1998)

   Oceanborn is the second album of 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 alone.

   This album marked a definitive change in musical scope from its 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. Oceanborn's sound hearkens a more dramatic approach in the overall musical scope, mostly relegated to the symphonic keyboard work and lead singer's Tarja Turunen vocals. Most of the album is fantasy-themed with tracks like "Swanheart" and "Walking in the Air", a cover from the animated motion picture The Snowman; however, other songs, such as "Gethsemane", have a more religious feel to them. 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".

WISHMASTER
(2000)

   Wishmaster is the third album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on May 19, 2000 by Spinefarm Records.

   Wishmaster's sound continues the bombastic symphonic power metal approach originally featured on Oceanborn, albeit with more emphasis on atmosphere and melody versus powerful 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 "Come Cover Me" and "Two for Tragedy", and more epic pieces like "Dead Boy's Poem" and "FantasMic". "The Kinslayer" is written about the victims of the Columbine High School massacre.[4] Wishmaster was inspired by the fantasy novels 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, and the Inn of the Last Home from the latter.[4] "FantasMic" is a song about the Disney animated movies, particularly their fantasy and fable elements, taking its title from the Disneyland show Fantasmic!.

   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 2010, 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.[5] The song was brought back to the metal community's mind by a cover version and video of metal a-cappella band van Canto in 2008. Other recurring live songs from the album are "She Is My Sin", "Dead Boy's Poem" and "Come Cover Me".

   Wishmaster was #1 in the official Finnish charts; the album also debuted in the European charts at #21 in Germany and #66 in France.Today, Wishmaster has sold more than 77,000 copies in Finland alone.


CENTURY CHILD
(2002)

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

   The album is a notable departure from previous Nightwish releases, lyrically and musically. The overall musical scheme is slower and darker than the more light-hearted likes of Oceanborn and Wishmaster, with more emphasis on ambience and melodic leanings. It contains orchestral backing, an ethereal production, a much more streamlined vocal work from Tarja Turunen and vocals by Marco in songs like "Ever Dream", "Slaying the Dreamer", "Dead to the World", "Feel for You" and "The Phantom of the Opera"; furthermore, the lyrics depict the strongest concept album undercurrents yet. This could also be considered one of Nightwish's darkest albums. The album received strong positive reviews. Century Child is also the first album on which guitarist Emppu Vuorinen tunes his guitar to D tuning in order to match Hietala's D-tuned bass.

   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 (1996).

   The album was certified 2x platinum in Finland with more than 60,000 sold copies, the second most sold Finnish album in Finland in year 2002, Today, Century Child has sold more than 90,000 copies in Finland alone.Worldwide, it sold more than 350,000 copies between 2002 and 2003.

ONCE
(2004)

   Once is the fifth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on June 7, 2004 by Nuclear Blast and on November 24 by Spinefarm, with the US release on October 5 by Roadrunner Records. In an interview, Tuomas Holopainen (main song writer of the band) said that it is up to the listener to find out the meaning of the title Once. Every name has a meaning — though, he doesn't feel comfortable talking about it.This is the last of the Nightwish studio albums to feature vocals by Tarja Turunen.

   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 the long Native American prayer chant on "Creek Mary's Blood". The song "Ghost Love Score" is an apt example of the combined work done by the orchestra and Nightwish, which the name hints at.

   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. The statue shows an angel crying on the tomb of Story's wife; after his death, Story was buried under the same statue, close to his wife.The making of the album cost nearly €250.000, being, at the time, Finland's most expensive recording of all time, but it was replaced by Dark Passion Play, also by Nightwish, which cost over €500.000 to produce.

DARK PASSION PLAY
(2007)

   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 was the first Nightwish album with the band's current lead singer, Anette Olzon, and the first album not featuring former vocalist Tarja Turunen, who was fired in 2005. Lead songwriter 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 torrent sites 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 Mexico selling 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.During the first week of its release, the album entered the European charts as number one in 6 different countries, selling over 100,000 copies in Finland alone, where was certified with 3 Platinum Discs. In February 2008, the album received its 4th Platinum Disc in Finland, after having sold over 130,000 copies.Worldwide, Dark Passion Play has sold over 2 million copies since its release, being Nightwish's most successful album to date. It has also sold 134,000 copies in the United States.

IMAGINAERUM
(2011)

   Imaginaerum is the seventh studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish.The album is a concept album as said by Tuomas in an interview telling the story of an old composer on his deathbed, reminiscing of his youth. 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.

   The first single off the album, "Storytime" was released on November 9, 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 has been album of the month by Dutch metal magazine Aardschok Magazine.

   The release of Imaginaerum is scheduled to be followed by a world tour, named the "Imaginaerum World Tour" starting in Los Angeles on January 21, 2012.They are scheduled to be supported for this show by Finnish metal band Amorphis. The European tour will begin on March 2, in Joensuu, Finland.

And now lovers of Nightwish enjoy their epic music:


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