Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic power metal band, formed in 1996 in Kitee, Finland. The band has sold more than 5 million CDs, DVDs and online material internationally.
Although Nightwish has been prominent in their home country since the release of their first single, “The Carpenter” (1997) & 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 sold more than 1 million copies, led to Nightwish video clips being shown 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 Turunen’s replacement, & in the autumn, the band released a new album - Dark Passion Play, which has sold nearly 800,000 copies. A tour supporting the album is currently in progress. It started on October 6, 2007 and will end 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.
Language
On their debut album Angels Fall First, several songs were written in Finnish language, but since then the band has only written songs in English, with the only exceptions being "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" from the Once album and the single "Erämaan Viimeinen" (2007), which is a version of the instrumental "Last of the Wilds" that features vocals. Holopainen thought that he was very uncertain about the lyrics of that song, because he is of the opinion that writing in Finnish is rather hard, and stated "Finnish [could] quickly sound really cheesy." The 2004 song Creek Mary's Blood also featured a poem read in Lakota, originally written in English and then translated. Olzon has stated in an interview that there's a possibility they will write one or two songs in Swedish in the future.
Live performances
Having their first concert in hometown Kitee on December 31st, 1997, Nightwish has throughout the years grown as a live act, always with the attitude "the more gigs managed in a year, the better". Early in their career, Nightwish gained a bad reputation for not being "metal" enough. "As anyone can see from early photos, our image was pretty far from Rock'n'Roll", drummer Jukka Nevalainen explains their early days. "We all looked like ol' goody-goody nerds!". As the band budget grew after the fame of Oceanborn and Wishmaster, the live performances had more space and along with better arenas and a wilder crowd, they could also start the using more professional lighting and pyrotechnics, which are now standard for most shows. The band also developed on stage, with wilder metal-like appearances.
Band members
Nightwish's line-up has been a matter of discussion, more notably with the dismissal of vocalist Tarja Turunen in 2005, and vocalist/bassist Marco Hietala's joining in 2002. Two members - Holopainen and Vuorinen have stayed since the first line-up in 1996 and Nevalainen joined in 1997.
Current members
* Anette Olzon
o Lead Vocals (2007-Present)
* Tuomas Holopainen
o Backing Vocals (1996-1998, 2001)
o Keyboards (1996-Present)
* Erno “Emppu” Vuorinen
o Acoustic guitars (1996-Present)
o Bass guitar (1996-1998)
o Electric guitar (1997 -Present)
* Marco Hietala
o Bass guitar (2002 -Present)
o Acoustic guitars (2004 -Present)
o Lead Vocals (2002-Present)
* Julius “Jukka” Nevalainen
o Drums, Percussion (1997-Present)
Former Members
* Tarja Turunen - Lead Vocals (1996-2005)
* Sami Vänskä - Bass guitars (1998-2001)
* Samppa Hirvonen - Bass (Live Member, 1997-1998)
* Marianna Pellinen - Backing vocals, additional keyboards (Live Member, 1997-1998)
Discography
* Angels Fall First (1997)
* Oceanborn (1998)
* Wishmaster (2000)
* Over the Hills and Far Away (2001)
* Century Child (2002)
* Once (2004)
* Dark Passion Play (2007)
* Seventh Studio Album (2010)
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