Nightwish (eBook)

Every Album, Every Song

Simon Mcmurdo (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
128 Seiten
Sonicbond Publishing (Verlag)
978-1-78952-455-0 (ISBN)

Infos

Traversing power metal, acoustic introspect and finally settling on their breakthrough cinematic sound, Finnish heavyweights Nightwish are the leading name in the sumptuous world of symphonic metal. Having tackled numerous high-profile line-up changes, each threatening to derail the grand vehicle of spirit curated by founder Tuomas Holopainen, their every turn has been documented across nine studio records.
Whilst the surface presents the Nightwish discography as a feast of metaphor and imagination, it's in the undercurrent that the vulnerability of the compositions is revealed; the fury of 'Master Passion Greed' detailing the acrimonious split with vocalist Tarja Turunen, the melancholia permeating Century Child and the awe-inspiring ode to evolution of Endless Forms Most Beautiful.
This book analyses every song released by the group, from their Angels Fall First debut to 2020's Human. :||: Nature., discussing inimitable singles 'Nemo' and the begrudgingly composed 'Sleeping Sun', as well as patriotic sport soundtracks, impromptu live outings and curious cover versions. Nightwish On Track also discusses the abundant live releases and compilations from their career to date and gathers together an exhaustive list of the band's B-sides and rarities. The book's comprehensive approach will enlighten fans both old and new.

The author
Simon McMurdo is a writer, podcaster and symphonic metal enthusiast from Nottingham, UK. After graduating with an English and Creative Writing degree in 2012, his subsequent free time was dedicated to blogging and reviewing music as diverse as black metal and bubblegum pop. Teenage years devoted to absorbing as much information about European metal as possible culminated in the launch of The Podcast and the Pendulum, the first dedicated Nightwish podcast hosting guests from renowned bands such as Xandria, Leaves' Eyes and Tristania and reaching listeners in over 60 countries.

Textauszug

Chapter 1

Angels Fall First (1997)

Personnel:

Tero Kinnunen: engineer, mixing

Mika Jussila: mastering

Esa Lehtinen: flutes

Emppu Vuorinen: guitars, bass, acoustic

Tarja Turunen: vocals

Jukka Nevalainen: drums, percussions

Tuomas Holopainen: synths and vocals

Recorded by Tero Kinnunen at Kitee Huvikeskus studio

Recorded between April and May 1997 (‘The Carpenter’, ‘Astral Romance’, ‘Angels Fall First’, ‘Nymphomaniac Fantasia’, ‘Lappi’) and September 1997 (‘Elvenpath’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Tutankhamen’, ‘Know Why The Nightingale Sings’)

Produced by Tuomas Holopainen and Nightwish

Arranged by Tuomas Holopainen and Tero Kinnunen

Tero Kinnunen: engineer, mixing

Mika Jussila: mastering

Toni Härkönen: band photography

Garry Black: cover photo

For a band known for their maximalism, it may come as a surprise that Nightwish began as an acoustic venture back in 1996. The man behind it all was Tuomas Holopainen, then playing keyboards in a number of bands, including session work with the black metal outfit Darkwoods My Betrothed. Wearing his inspirations proudly on his sleeve, the Norwegian atmospheric group The 3rd and the Mortal were a clear influence as Tuomas insisted that a female vocalist was a must. With Erno ‘Emppu’ Vuorinen on guitars and a vocalist Tarja Turunen sourced via their shared music teacher Plamen Dimov, the trio set to work on their first three-track demo. It was then that an opportunity, or indeed a potential spanner in the works, was highlighted: Tarja’s unexpected voice. Tuomas commented in the biography Once Upon a Nightwish:

It was such a shock for us when she started singing. I thought we were going to hear a clear, young, beautiful, girly voice … instead, Tarja had a high-pitched, bombastic voice that was already very dramatic and classical … People often think the whole concept was carefully planned. Like – take some heavy metal, add some atmospheric sounds, and throw in some opera vocals – but I can honestly say it was just pure luck

The band’s name was shared with a track on the demo and served as a fitting moniker for their atmospheric aspirations. The Nightwish demo is the true taste of that acoustic campfire sound the band aimed for initially. It may seem confusing for many listeners who hear them hark back to their early intentions, though, only to listen to Angels Fall First which, whilst certainly not as complex or bombastic as their later material, isn’t fully committed to that acoustic world either.

If Tarja’s inclusion was a happy accident, Nightwish’s metal steer might also have never surfaced had it not been for the band’s eventual manager, Ewo Pohjola. Working in A&R for Finnish label Spinefarm, when Tuomas approached him with the band’s second demo, Ewo insisted on some heavier inclusions if the group were to be picked up by the metal record label. It was this that Tuomas delivered, and a contract was signed with Spinefarm soon after.

With drummer Jukka Nevalainen already onboard, the band’s debut album Angels Fall First was released the following year. It turned over just what Spinefarm had requested; from the excitable power metal of the opener ‘Elvenpath’ to the celebratory ‘Know Why the Nightingale Sings’, much more fitting for a dance around the campfire than any sedate singalong.

Whilst the album set firm foundations for the band’s future career, Angels Fall First does suffer when it comes to its identity. The debut was peppered with the band’s acoustic origins, such as on the title track and the bookends of the four-part closer ‘Lappi’, yet the metal guitars and haunting synths were certainly pushed to the fore elsewhere, perhaps a better compliment to Tarja’s striking operatic delivery. Lyrically, the songs flit between Tolkien tributes, religious nods, Disney musings and a brief venture to Egypt – a little jumbled perhaps, but the record was anything but predictable.

The final element of ‘Lappi’ was a reworked version of ‘Etiäinen’, the only demo track that made the cut into the band’s first full length and a fitting pause at the end of the record to reflect back to their humble beginnings. Already the Finns were transforming their sound as opportunities gave rise to their broadening ambitions.

‘Elvenpath’ 4:38 (Music: Nightwish, lyrics: Tuomas Holopainen)

A campy spoken-word introduction and lyrics unashamedly pulling from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings – who would have guessed upon listening to ‘Elvenpath’ that it was the first step in an astonishing career for one of Finland’s biggest musical exports? There is a naivety to the lyrics of the album’s opener, warmly enveloped by the power metal genre that was already closely tied to the world of fantasy. Though Tuomas later confessed that this particular set of lyrics never fails to bring a knowing smile to his face, it is a strong opening to Angels Fall First. One of the most instant tracks on offer and one of the few that stands up alongside the band’s more bombastic later output, the latter evident when it was lifted from the archives over twenty years after its release for the Decades tour.

The lyrics lean heavily on Lord of the Rings, Tuomas proudly admitting to MetalElite that ‘Tolkien is my God!’, but elsewhere ‘Elvenpath’ also references Nightwish’s home-country with nods to the Finnish forest spirit Tapio and goddess of the hunt, Mielikki. Perhaps the most obvious and innately Finnish reference of the entire track, however, is home gnome’s request for Tarja to ‘keep the sauna warm for him’.

Endearing as the song may be, it also should be recognised how many of the themes explored here would go on to become staples in Nightwish’s future releases. The magic of imagination explored in-depth on Imaginaerum, the reverence of nature that Human. :||: Nature. drew upon and a further venture into fantasy on Wishmaster. Perhaps, despite its unassuming youthful innocence, ‘Elvenpath’ was a fitting first chapter in the Nightwish story after all.

‘Beauty and the Beast’ 6:22 (Music: Nightwish, lyrics: Tuomas Holopainen)

Tuomas Holopainen may well be the lifeforce of Nightwish, the constant beating heart behind the band’s ethos and songwriting, but a vocalist he is not – by his own admission too, we should recognise. Still, needs must in the early days of the band, and he stepped up to the microphone for the duet ‘Beauty and the Beast’. It isn’t that Tuomas sounds terrible, but his relatively nasal delivery lacks dynamism, and his shortcomings are thoroughly amplified when going toe-to-toe with Tarja, a vocalist already demonstrating her immense vocal prowess.

One of the most impactful tracks on the debut, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ stood proud on the live circuit and was given the prized spot of closing out the setlist during the band’s first Finnish tour. Standing the test of time, it also made a reappearance during the Century Child tour, with fans regularly pining for a further live resurrection, if only to hear future vocalist Floor Jansen’s take.

The title may refer most directly to the famous Disney film, but it was also coined in the gothic metal scene to describe an angelic female voice juxtaposed with grunts, growls, or screams. Very apt for Nightwish, who, at the beginning of their career, were often categorised amongst peers such as Norway’s Theatre of Tragedy, the dictionary definition of the beauty and the beast style. Tuomas likely wasn’t too put-out by the comparison, though, reflecting in early interviews with BraveWords: ‘Theatre of Tragedy was a big influence to me at the time when I was starting with Nightwish, together with other female-fronted metal acts like The 3rd and the Mortal and The Gathering’.

‘The Carpenter’ 5:56 (Music: Nightwish, lyrics: Tuomas Holopainen)

As the first single from Nightwish, ‘The Carpenter’ was part of a split release with fellow Finnish metallers Children of Bodom and the black metal project Thy Serpent. The midtempo will no doubt have stood out against these heavier inclusions, particularly Tarja’s pure vocal – a striking counterpart to the death growls elsewhere on the release.

The title refers to arguably the most well-known carpenter in history, Jesus Christ. Rather than an evangelical hymn or a blasphemous attack, the perspective of the lyrics observes the story of sacrifice from the sidelines. Subsequent interviews, however saw Tuomas a little more critical of religious ideology as he described the track to Eternity magazine as: ‘a very dismal and bitter song as far as the lyrics are concerned. It deals with my aspects over religious issues and the hypocrisy, which is a spreading disease in today’s world’.

The music video distances itself from any obvious Christian symbolism, steering towards Greek mythology, and the story of Icarus as a man is shown constructing his own wings before leaping to an uncertain fate before the sunset. The...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 7.10.2025
• Reihe/Serie: On Track
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Musik ► Musikgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Musik ► Pop / Rock
• Schlagworte: Tarja • Troy Donockley
• ISBN-10: 1-78952-455-5 / 1789524555
• ISBN-13: 978-1-78952-455-0 / 9781789524550