Group ni. Nightwish group

Nightwish is a Finnish metal band that performs songs mainly on English language. It was founded in 1996 in the city of Kitey. Nightwish's early work was distinguished by its combination of feminine academic vocals former vocalist Tarja Turunen and the peculiar atmosphere of power metal. This style is most often defined as power metal and symphonic metal. The voice of current vocalist Anette Olzon is significantly... Read all

Nightwish is a Finnish metal band that performs songs primarily in English. It was founded in 1996 in the city of Kitey. Nightwish's early work was distinguished by a combination of female academic vocals of former vocalist Tarja Turunen and a peculiar power metal atmosphere. This style is most often defined as power metal and symphonic metal. Current vocalist Anette Olzon's voice is significantly different from the band's previous voice. Despite the fact that in its home country they achieved success after the first single, global recognition came to them only after the albums “Oceanborn” (1998) and “Wishmaster” (2000), with videos that were successful on famous TV channels.

In 2007, the group released the album Dark Passion Play, which featured new vocalist Anette Olzon. She replaced former lead singer Tarja Turunen, who left the group in 2005.

History of the group

Angels Fall First (1996-1997)

The idea to start the band Nightwish came to Tuomas Holopainen after a night spent around a campfire with friends. The group formed shortly after this, in July 1996. Holopainen invited his friend Tarja Turunen, who graduated from the Jean Sibelius Academy in opera vocal class, as a vocalist. Guitarist Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen was the third to join the band.

Initially, their style was based on Tuomas' experiments with keyboards, acoustic guitar and Tarja's operatic vocals. From October to December 1996, three musicians recorded an acoustic demo album. The album included three compositions - “Nightwish”, “The Forever Moments” and “Etiäinen” (Finnish: Forest Spirit), the title of the first of which determined the name of the group.

At the beginning of 1997, drummer Jukka Nevalainen joined the band, and the acoustic guitar was replaced with an electric one. In April, the band went into the studio to record seven songs, including a polished demo of "Etiäinen". Three songs can be found on the album "Angels Fall First", the only album by the band with vocals by Tuomas Holopainen. The bass guitar parts for this album were recorded by Erno Vuorinen. Many sources, such as The Metal Observer, note that this album is very different from their subsequent work.

On December 31, 1997, the group performed a concert in their hometown. Over the next winter, Nightwish performed only seven times, as Emppu and Jukka served in the army and Tarja was busy with her studies.

Oceanborn/Wishmaster (1998-2000)

In April 1998, filming began on the first video clip for the song “The Carpenter”, which was ready in early May.

In 1998, bass player Sami Vänskä, an old friend of Tuomas, joined the band. Over the summer, the songs for the new album were completed, and the band went into the studio in early August. The recording was completed at the end of October. On November 13, Nightwish played a concert in Kitei, and at this concert a video clip for the song "Sacrament of Wilderness" was filmed. The single of the same name was released on November 26, followed by the release of the new album, Oceanborn, on December 7.

This album was very different from the first one in terms of performance technique and lyrics. Tapio Wilska from Finntroll took part in the recording of the album. His vocals appear on the tracks "Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean" and "The Pharaoh Sails to Orion". The song "Walking In The Air" is a cover of the soundtrack to the animated film "The Snowman", written by Howard Blake. Since this album, Nightwish's permanent cover artist has been Markus Mayer.

Critics were surprised by the success of "Oceanborn". It rose to number five on the Finnish Official Albums Chart, and the single "Sacrament of Wilderness" was number one on the singles chart for a week. In the winter of 1999, Nightwish played a lot of concerts and toured all over the country for three months. Oceanborn was released outside of Finland in the spring. In May the band began playing again, touring all over the country for two and a half months, performing at almost every major rock festival. At the same time, the single “Sleeping Sun” was recorded, which was dedicated to the eclipse in Germany. In August, the single was released in Germany, also featuring the songs "Walking in the Air", "Swanheart" and "Angels Fall First". At the same time, it became known that the album “Oceanborn” and the single “Sacrament of Wilderness” acquired Golden Disc status. At the same time, Nightwish toured Europe with German group Rage.

In 2000, Nightwish participated in the selection for the Eurovision Song Contest from Finland with the song "Sleepwalker". The group confidently won the audience vote, but in the second round, the jury vote, they were relegated to second place and were not allowed to participate in the competition.

The new album "Wishmaster" was released in May, and from Kitee began new tour in support of the new album. "Wishmaster" peaked at number one on the album chart and stayed at that position for three weeks. During this time, he received the status of “Golden Disc”. "Wishmaster" was recognized by fans and critics, and in the sixth issue of the magazine " Rock Hard"for 2000 was named album of the month.

"Wishmaster" also debuted on the German national charts at number 21 and at number 66 in France. The Wishmaster World Tour, which began in Kitee, continued first in big festivals in Finland and then in South America in July 2000. The three-week tour of Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Panama and Mexico turned out to be one of the band's greatest experiences. All this was accompanied by successful shows at Wacken Open Air and Biebop Metal Fest. The group also took part in the European tour together with Sinergy and Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Nightwish played two shows in Canada in November.

Over the Hills and Far Away / Century Child (2001-2003)

Nightwish recorded a video for DVD (full live album) and VHS with a trimmed live concert (Finland only), which took place in Tampere on December 29, 2000. The recording included Tony Kakko (en) from the band Sonata Arctica and Tapio Wilska. The material was released in April 2001 in Finland, and throughout the summer throughout the world. The DVD was released under the title "From Wishes to Eternity". At the end of the show, Nightwish received platinum discs for "Wishmaster" and gold discs for "Deep Silent Complete".

In March 2001, Nightwish returned to the studio to record their version of the Gary Moore classic "Over the Hills and Far Away" with two new songs and a remake of "Astral Romance" from the Angels Fall First album. It appeared in Finland in June 2001.

The German (Drakkar) version of "Over the Hills and Far Away" includes six live tracks in addition to four unreleased songs. Shortly after this, bass player Sami Vänskä left the band and was replaced by Marco Hietala, leaving the Sinergy team. Marco is also the vocalist and bass guitarist of the Finnish metal band Tarot. The new bass player not only plays his instrument, but also sings with strong, high-pitched male vocals. It should be noted that Marco Hietala's singing style in Nightwish songs is slightly different from his singing style in the Tarot group.

In 2002, the group released the album "Century Child" and the singles "Ever Dream" and "Bless the Child". The main difference from the previous album is that a Finnish orchestra took part in the recording of many songs, bringing it closer to classical music. After the first video, “Bless The Child,” the second, “End of All Hope,” was recorded. It used excerpts from the Finnish film “Kohtalon Kirja” (Finnish: “Book of Destiny”) (en).

In 2003, Nightwish released their second DVD, End of Innocence. Also in the summer of 2003, Tarja got married. After this, rumors arose that the group might break up, but despite this, the group continued to perform in next year released a new album.

At the end of August 2001, as part of the tour, the group came to Russia. Nightwish gave two concerts, one in St. Petersburg, in the concert hall of the Leningrad Youth Palace, the second in Moscow, in the Gorbunov Palace of Culture.

Once (2004-2005)

The new album, entitled "Once", was released on June 7, 2004, following the single "Nemo" (Latin: Nobody) from this album. An orchestra took part in the recording of 9 of the 11 songs on the album. Unlike "Century Child", the recording of "Once" did not involve a Finnish orchestra, but a London session orchestra, which also participated in the recording of the soundtrack to "The Lord of the Rings". This is also the second album to feature a song entirely in Finnish, "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" (Finnish: "Death Makes the Artist"). Lakota Indian John Two-Hawks took part in the recording of the song “Creek Mary’s Blood”. He sings on native language and plays the flute.

The following singles were released: "Wish I Had an Angel" (soundtrack from the film Alone in the Dark), "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" (released only in Finland) and "The Siren". The new album was well received by critics, who compared it to Oceanborn.

The success of the album allowed the group to go on the Once worldwide tour, including countries they had never performed in before (however, the group never visited Russia). They took part in the opening of the 2005 World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, performing the song "Nemo".

Released in September 2005, the collection "Highest Hopes" consists of songs collected from the entire discography of the group. It also includes a cover of the band's "High Hopes" Pink Floyd. In addition, the video for the song “Sleeping Sun” was re-shot, which in turn was re-recorded and released as a single.

End of an Era (2005-2006)

After recording the new concert DVD “End of an Era”, the band members decided that they no longer wanted to collaborate with Tarja Turunen, which they informed her in an open letter. In a letter, they wrote to Tarja that her husband Marcelo Kabuli and commercial interests turned her away from Nightwish, accused her of not wanting to participate in the life of the group and of having a contemptuous attitude towards fans. Tuomas Holopainen gave her a letter after the successful completion of the world tour with the final concert at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki on the night of October 21, 2005. Open letter was later published on the band's official website.

Tarja reacted to the unexpected dismissal, saying that it was a shock for her. She was not warned in advance about the letter and says it is unnecessarily cruel. Tarja wrote a response letter to her fans and published it on her own website. She also gave many interviews to various television channels, magazines and newspapers about her attitude to what happened.

Dark Passion Play (2007)

In 2006, the group began recording their sixth studio album. The recording process started with drums, then guitar, bass and a keyboard demo. The orchestra and choir were recorded at Abbey Road Studios, followed by final recording of synthesizers and vocals.

To replace Tarja as a vocalist, on March 17, 2006, the group invited candidates for the vacant position to send their demo recordings. During the group's selection of vocalists, speculation arose around who would eventually become the new member of the group. In response to these and other rumors, the group posted an announcement on its website asking them not to trust any information other than what was officially published.

For the same reason, the identity of the new vocalist was revealed earlier, and on May 24, 2007, 35-year-old Anette Olzon from Katrienholm, Sweden was introduced as Turunen's replacement. Holopainen said in an interview that he does not want to name the new vocalist, not yet finished material, so that fans do not judge her only by her photo and past work.

The voice and style of performance of the new vocalist are very different from the previous one. “Tarja had her own style, which no one in the world could replicate better,” said Tuomas, “That’s why we were looking for a completely different voice.”

"Eva", the first single from the new album, was announced in February. At the same time, a sample of the song became available on the band's website, along with other songs from the new album: "7 Days to the Wolves", "Master Passion Greed" and "Amaranth". The release was originally scheduled for May 30, but due to a leak from a British music website, the single was released on May 25.

On June 13, Nightwish revealed the title of their new album, "Dark Passion Play", and artwork on their website along with the title and artwork of their second single, "Amaranth". The single includes the song "While Your Lips Are Still Red", written by Tuomas as main topic for the Finnish film “Lieksa!” Formally, this composition is not Nightwish, as it is performed by Marco as a vocalist and bass guitarist, Tuomas as a keyboard player and Jukka as a drummer. The video for the song was presented on June 15.

The second single from the new album, "Amaranth", was released in Finland on August 22, approximately a month before the album, and was certified gold in less than two days of sales. This was the first CD single from the album, as "Eva" was distributed only via the Internet.

"Dark Passion Play" was released in Europe on last week September 2007, in the UK - October 1, in the USA - October 2. The album was released in two editions: single-disc and double-disc. The latter contains instrumental versions of all the tracks on the second disc. Roadrunner also released a limited three-disc edition. Subsequently, due to its enormous popularity, the disc was released in several more versions.

On this album, presumably because the former vocalist left the band, vocalist Marco Hietala was given more space for his vocals. He sings at least backing vocals on every song except "Amaranth", lead vocals (not counting Anette Olzon's backing vocals) on "The Islander", "Master Passion Greed" and sings the chorus on "Bye Bye Beautiful". and "7 Days to the Wolves".

Some magazines, including Kerrang! noticed that the departure of Tarja Turunen changed the image of the group and removed the border that separated them from other groups. The use of a 175-piece orchestra and the use of solo parts on the album led to the band's work now being described as symphonic metal, especially the album's first 14-minute track, "The Poet and The Pendulum". The album received a 5/5 rating from Kerrang!

The band performed a "secret" concert at the Rock Café in Tallinn on September 22, 2007. In order to remain anonymous, they introduced themselves as "Nachtwasser", a band performing Nightwish covers. Their first official concert with the new vocalist was in Tel Aviv in Israel on October 6, 2007.

The DVD "End of an Era" was certified platinum in Germany, having sold over 50,000 copies. The corresponding award was presented to the group during the Rock Am Ring festival, during which Nightwish performed on the main stage in front of an audience of more than 80,000. The album “Dark Passion Play” also received gold status in Germany, selling over 100,000 copies during the first week of sales from the moment of release.

The single "The Islander" topped the Finnish singles charts.

Musical style

There is no single definition of Nightwish's musical style. Supposedly, it lies on the border between symphonic metal, power metal and gothic metal.

A distinctive feature of Nightwish's early work is the combination of strong opera voice Tarja, more typical of the classical opera scene, and hard guitar riffs, aggressive atmosphere, characteristic of heavy metal. The compositions also use folklore elements characteristic of such groups as the Finnish Amorphis. All this is complemented by pompous keyboard passages.

Thanks to the combination of different styles, there are many opinions as to which of them the group’s work can be attributed to. Thus, the authoritative portal The Metal Crypt defines it as power metal or as a kind of derivative style of “symphonic power metal” created by the Italian group Rhapsody of Fire. While another - EOL Audio - classifies them as “operatic metal”, given the unusual style of performance of the first vocalist of the group.

I would say we play melodic heavy metal with female vocals. This is the simplest thing I can imagine. We are a metal band, we play melodic metal, we have female vocals, so that's enough.

Current lineup

Tuomas Holopainen (Finnish: Tuomas Holopainen) - composer, lyricist, keyboards, vocals (in the early years of the group)

Anette Olzon - vocals

Jukka "Julius" Nevalainen - drums

Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen - guitar

Marco Hietala - bass guitar, vocals

Former members

Tarja Turunen (Finnish Tarja Turunen) - vocals (1996-2005)

Sami Vänskä - bass guitar (1998-2001)

Marjaana Pellinen - vocals (1997) (performances only)

Samppa Hirvonen - bass (1996) (performances only)

Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band founded in 1996 by keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen and vocalist Tarja Turunen. Drummer Jukka Nevalainen joined the band and, after the release debut album"Angels Fall First" (1997), bassist Sami Vänskä. The latter was replaced in 2002 by Marco Hietala, who took over the role of male vocals: previously this part of the work went to Holopainen or guest singers.

The band's style uses female operatic vocals: Nightwish's music is described as heavy, cinematic, creating a gothic, dark atmosphere. Female vocals were, in some way, a trademark of the group until the mid-2000s, when there was a boom in bands with female front-vocalists like and.

Success did not fall into the hands of the musicians just like that: the next three albums Oceanborn, Wishmaster and Century Child continued to support the popularity of Nightwish exclusively in their homeland. Only in 2004, with the help of the album Once, the group reached the mark of one million copies sold and became famous in the USA thanks to the single "Wish I Had an Angel", which was included in the MTV rotation and the soundtrack of three films at once (one of them was the horror film "Alone in darkness").

2005 was the year scandalous departure from the group of vocalist Tarja Turenen. The band members notified the vocalist of her dismissal in an open letter; Holopainen stated the reasons for the decision as follows: Tarja has not participated in the life of the band in recent years, ignoring rehearsals and disrupting concerts. In May 2007, Nighwish announced Turunen's replacement: Anette Olzon, vocalist of the Swedish melodic rock band Alyson Avenue. Already in September, the group released its sixth album, “Dark Passion Play,” which sold 2 million copies: the single “Amaranth” became the most successful in the group’s history. Nightwish embarked on an extensive tour that lasted almost two years while continuing to release music.

On October 1, 2012, Nightwish and Anette Olzon part ways, the end of the tour in support of the seventh album "Imaginaerum" takes place with the vocalist of the metal band, who a year later will be accepted into regular participants team. In March 2015, the album "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" was released, the lyrics of which deal more with scientific texts and the theory of evolution, unlike the previous fantasy longplay.

Nightwish is in third place in music sales in Finland: the band is one of the most successful Finnish groups in the world with a collection of 60 gold and platinum awards, 5 albums and 13 singles that reached number one on the charts.

75 chord selections

Biography

Finnish metal band performing songs mainly in English. It was founded in 1996 in the city of Kitey. Nightwish's early work was distinguished by a combination of female academic vocals of former vocalist Tarja Turunen and a peculiar power metal atmosphere. This style is most often defined as power metal and symphonic metal. Current vocalist Anette Olzon's voice is significantly different from the band's previous voice. Despite the fact that in their home country they achieved success after the first single, world recognition came to them only after the albums “Oceanborn” (1998) and “Wishmaster” (2000), with videos that were successful on famous TV channels.

In 2007, the group released the album Dark Passion Play, which featured new vocalist Anette Olzon. She replaced former lead singer Tarja Turunen, who left the group in 2005.

History of the group

Angels Fall First (19961997)

Initially, their style was based on Tuomas' experiments with keyboards, acoustic guitar and Tarja's operatic vocals. From October to December 1996, three musicians recorded an acoustic demo album. The album included three compositions: “Nightwish”, “The Forever Moments” and “EtiГ¤inen” (Finnish: Forest Spirit), the title of the first of which determined the name of the group.

At the beginning of 1997, drummer Jukka Nevalainen joined the band, and the acoustic guitar was replaced with an electric one. In April, the band went into the studio to record seven songs, including a revised demo of "EtiГ¤inen". Three songs can be found on the album "Angels Fall First", the only album by the band with vocals by Tuomas Holopainen. The bass guitar parts for this album were recorded by Erno Vuorinen. Many sources, such as The Metal Observer, note that this album is very different from their subsequent work.

Oceanborn/Wishmaster (19982000)

In April 1998, filming began on the first video clip for the song “The Carpenter”, which was ready in early May.

The new album "Wishmaster" was released in May and a new tour began from Kitee in support of the new album. "Wishmaster" peaked at number one on the album chart and stayed at that position for three weeks. During this time, he received the status of “Golden Disc”. "Wishmaster" was recognized by fans and critics, and was named album of the month in the sixth issue of Rock Hard magazine in 2000.

"Wishmaster" also debuted on the German national charts at number 21 and at number 66 in France. The Wishmaster World Tour, which began in Kitee, continued first to major festivals in Finland and then to South America in July 2000. The three-week tour of Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Panama and Mexico turned out to be one of the band's greatest experiences. All this was accompanied by successful shows at Wacken Open Air and Biebop Metal Fest. The group also took part in the European tour together with Sinergy and Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Nightwish played two shows in Canada in November.

Over the Hills and Far Away / Century Child (20012003)

At the end of August 2001, as part of the tour, the group came to Russia. Nightwish gave two concerts, one in St. Petersburg, at the small arena of the Yubileiny Palace of Culture, the second in Moscow, at the Gorbunov House of Culture.

Once (20042005)

The new album, entitled "Once", was released on June 7, 2004, following the single "Nemo" (Latin: Nobody) from this album. An orchestra took part in the recording of 9 of the 11 songs on the album. Unlike "Century Child", the recording of "Once" did not involve a Finnish orchestra, but a London session orchestra, which also participated in the recording of the soundtrack to "The Lord of the Rings". This is also the second album to feature a song entirely in Finnish, "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" (Finnish: "Death Makes the Artist"). Lakota Indian John Two-Hawks took part in the recording of the song “Creek Marys Blood”. He sings in his native language and plays the flute.

Released in September 2005, the collection "Highest Hopes" consists of songs collected from the entire discography of the group. It also includes a cover of Pink Floyd's "High Hopes". In addition, the video for the song “Sleeping Sun” was re-shot, which in turn was re-recorded and released as a single.

End of an Era (20052006)

After recording the new concert DVD “End of an Era”, the band members decided that they no longer wanted to collaborate with Tarja Turunen, which they informed her in an open letter. In a letter, they wrote to Tarja that her husband Marcelo Kabuli and commercial interests turned her away from Nightwish, accused her of not wanting to participate in the life of the group and of having a contemptuous attitude towards fans. Tuomas Holopainen gave her a letter after the successful completion of the world tour with the final concert at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki on the night of October 21, 2005. The open letter was later published on the group's official website.

Dark Passion Play (2007)

For the same reason, the identity of the new vocalist was revealed earlier, and on May 24, 2007, 35-year-old Anette Olzon from Katrienholm, Sweden was introduced as Turunen's replacement. Holopainen said in an interview that he does not want to name the new vocalist until there is ready material, so that fans do not judge her only by photographs and past work.

On June 13, Nightwish revealed the title of their new album, "Dark Passion Play", and artwork on their website along with the title and artwork of their second single, "Amaranth". The single includes the song "While Your Lips Are Still Red", written by Tuomas as the main theme to the Finnish film "Lieksa!". Formally, this composition is not Nightwish, as it is performed by Marco as a vocalist and bass guitarist, Tuomas as a keyboard player and Jukka as a drummer. The video for the song was presented on June 15.

"Dark Passion Play" was released in Europe in the last week of September 2007, in the UK on October 1, in the US on October 2. The album was released in two editions: single-disc and double-disc. The latter contains instrumental versions of all the tracks on the second disc. Roadrunner also released a limited three-disc edition. Subsequently, due to its enormous popularity, the disc was released in several more versions.

The band performed a "secret" concert at the Rock Café in Tallinn on September 22, 2007. In order to remain incognito, they introduced themselves as "Nachtwasser", a band performing Nightwish covers. Their first official concert with the new vocalist was in Tel Aviv in Israel on October 6, 2007.

The single "The Islander" topped the Finnish singles charts.

Musical style

There is no single definition of Nightwish's musical style. Supposedly, it lies on the border between symphonic metal, power metal and gothic metal.

A distinctive feature of Nightwish's early work is the combination of Tarja's strong operatic voice, more typical of the classical opera stage, and hard guitar riffs, an aggressive atmosphere characteristic of heavy metal. The compositions also use folklore elements characteristic of such groups as the Finnish Amorphis. All this is complemented by pompous keyboard passages.

Thanks to the combination of different styles, there are many opinions as to which of them the group’s work can be attributed to. Thus, the authoritative portal The Metal Crypt defines it as power metal or as a kind of derivative style of “symphonic power metal” created by the Italian group Rhapsody of Fire. While another EOL Audio classifies them as “operatic metal”, given the unusual style of performance of the first vocalist of the group.

I would say we play melodic heavy metal with female vocals. This is the simplest thing I can imagine. We're a metal band, we play melodic metal, we have female vocals, so that's enough.

Current lineup

Tuomas Holopainen (Finnish: Tuomas Holopainen) composer, lyricist, keyboards, vocals (in the early years of the group)
Anette Olzon vocals
Jukka "Julius" Nevalainen drums
Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen guitar
Marco Hietala bass guitar, vocals

Former members

Tarja Turunen (Finnish: Tarja Turunen) vocals (19962005)
Sami Vänskä (Sami VГ¤nskГ¤) bass guitar (19982001)
Marjaana Pellinen vocals (1997) (performances only)
Samppa Hirvonen bass guitar (1996) (performances only)

Nightwish- Finnish metal band performing songs mainly in English. It was founded in 1996 in the city of Kitey. Early creativity Nightwish was distinguished by a combination of the female academic vocals of the former vocalist and the peculiar atmosphere of power metal. This style is most often defined as power metal and symphonic metal. Despite the fact that in their home country they achieved success after the first single, world recognition came to them only after the albums “Oceanborn” (1998) and “Wishmaster” (2000) with videos that were successful on famous TV channels.

Musical style

Unambiguous definition of musical style Nightwish does not exist. Supposedly, it lies on the border between symphonic metal, power metal and gothic metal.

A distinctive feature of early creativity Nightwish is a combination of Tarja's strong operatic voice, more typical of the classical opera scene, and hard guitar riffs, an aggressive atmosphere characteristic of heavy metal. The compositions also use folk elements typical of groups such as the Finnish Amorphis. All this is complemented by pompous keyboard passages.

Thanks to the combination of different styles, there are many opinions as to which of them the group’s work can be attributed to. Thus, the authoritative portal The Metal Crypt defines it as power metal or as a derivative style of “symphonic power metal” created by the Italian group Rhapsody Of Fire. While another - EOL Audio - classifies them as “operatic metal”, given the unusual style of performance of the first vocalist of the group.

History of the group

Angels Fall First (1996-1997)

The idea to start a group came to Tuomas Holopainen after a night spent around a campfire with friends. The group formed shortly after this, in July 1996. Holopainen invited his friend Tarja Turunen, who graduated from the Jean Sibelius Academy in opera vocal class, as a vocalist. Guitarist Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen was the third to join the band.

Initially, their style was based on Tuomas' experiments with keyboards, acoustic guitar and Tarja's operatic vocals. From October to December 1996, three musicians recorded an acoustic demo album. The album includes three compositions: " Nightwish", "The Forever Moments" and "Etiäinen" (Finnish: "Forest Spirit"), the name of the first of which determined the name of the group.

At the beginning of 1997, drummer Jukka Nevalainen joined the band, and the acoustic guitar was replaced with an electric one. In April, the band went into the studio to record seven songs, including a polished demo of "Etiäinen". Three songs can be found on the album "Angels Fall First", the only album by the band with vocals by Tuomas Holopainen. The bass guitar parts for this album were recorded by Erno Vuorinen. Many sources, such as "The Metal Observer", note that this album is very different from their subsequent work.

On December 31, 1997, the group performed a concert in their hometown. During next winter Nightwish performed only seven times, since Emppu and Jukka served in the army, and Tarja was busy with her studies.

Oceanborn/Wishmaster (1998-2000)

In April 1998, filming began on the first video clip for the song "The Carpenter", which was ready in early May.

In 1998, bass player Sami Vänskä, an old friend of Tuomas, joined the band. Over the summer, the songs for the new album were completed, and the band went into the studio in early August. The recording was completed at the end of October. the 13th of November Nightwish gave a concert in Kitei, and at this concert a video clip for the song "Sacrament Of Wilderness" was shot. The single of the same name was released on November 26, followed by the release of the new album, "Oceanborn", on December 7.

This album was very different from the first one in terms of performance technique and lyrics. Tapio Wilska from Finntroll took part in the recording of the album. His vocals can be heard in the compositions "Devil" And The Deep Dark Ocean" and "The Pharaoh Sails To Orion". The song "Walking In The Air" is a cover version of the soundtrack to the animated film "The Snowman" (en), written by Howard Blake (en). Since this album, regular cover artist Nightwish is Markus Mayer.

Critics were surprised by the success of "Oceanborn". It rose to number five on the Finnish Official Albums Chart and the single "Sacrament Of Wilderness" was number one on the singles chart for a week. Winter 1999 Nightwish gave many concerts, toured throughout the country for three months. "Oceanborn" was released outside of Finland in the spring. In May the band began playing again, touring all over the country for two and a half months, performing at almost every major rock festival. At the same time, the single "Sleeping Sun" was recorded, which was dedicated to the eclipse in Germany. In August, the single was released in Germany, also featuring the songs "Walking In The Air", "Swanheart" and "Angels Fall First". At the same time it became known that the album "Oceanborn" and the single "Sacrament Of Wilderness" acquired the status of "Golden Disc". At the same time Nightwish toured Europe with the German band Rage.

In 2000 Nightwish participated in the selection for the Eurovision Song Contest from Finland with the song "Sleepwalker". The group confidently won the audience vote, but in the second round, the jury vote, they were relegated to second place and were not allowed to participate in the competition.

The new album "Wishmaster" was released in May and a new tour began from Kitee in support of the new album. "Wishmaster" peaked at number one on the album chart and stayed at that position for three weeks. During this time, he received the status of "Golden Disc". "Wishmaster" was recognized by fans and critics, and was named album of the month in the sixth issue of Rock Hard magazine in 2000.

"Wishmaster" also debuted on the German national charts at number 21 and at number 66 in France. The Wishmaster World Tour, which began in Kitee, continued first to major festivals in Finland and then to South America in July 2000. The three-week tour of Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Panama and Mexico turned out to be one of the band's greatest experiences. All this was accompanied by successful shows at Wacken Open Air and Biebop Metal Fest. The band also took part in a European tour together with Sinergy and Eternal Tears Of Sorrow. In November Nightwish played two concerts in Canada.

Over The Hills And Far Away / Century Child (2001-2003)

Nightwish recorded a video for DVD (full concert) and VHS with a trimmed live concert (Finland only), which took place in Tampere on December 29, 2000. The recording featured Tony Kakko from the band Sonata Arctica and Tapio Wilska. The material was released in April 2001 in Finland, and throughout the summer throughout the world. The DVD was released under the title "From Wishes To Eternity". At the end of the show Nightwish received platinum discs for "Wishmaster" and gold discs for "Deep Silent Complete".

In March 2001 Nightwish re-entered the studio to record their version of the Gary Moore classic "Over The Hills And Far Away" with two new songs and a remake of "Astral Romance" from the Angels Fall First album. It appeared in Finland in June 2001.

The German (Drakkar) version of "Over The Hills And Far Away" includes six live tracks in addition to four unreleased songs. Shortly after this, bassist Sami Vänskä left the band and was replaced by Marco Hietala from Sinergy. Marco is also the vocalist and bass guitarist of the Finnish metal band Tarot. The new bass player not only plays his instrument, but also sings with strong, high-pitched male vocals. It should be noted that Marco Hietala’s singing style in songs Nightwish slightly different from his singing style in the Tarot group.

In 2002, the group released the album "Century Child" and the singles "Ever Dream" and "Bless The Child". The main difference from the previous album is that a Finnish orchestra took part in the recording of many songs, bringing it closer to classical music. After the first video "Bless The Child" the second "End Of All Hope" was recorded. It used excerpts from the Finnish film "Kohtalon Kirja" (Finnish: "Book of Destiny").

In 2003 Nightwish released their second DVD "End Of Innocence". Also in the summer of 2003, Tarja got married. After this, rumors arose that the group might break up, but despite this, the group continued to perform and released a new album the following year.

At the end of August 2001, as part of the tour, the group came to Russia. Nightwish gave two concerts, one in St. Petersburg, at the small arena of the Yubileiny Palace of Culture, the second in Moscow, at the Gorbunov House of Culture.

Once (2004-2005)

The new album, entitled "Once", was released on June 7, 2004, following the single "Nemo" (Latin for "Nobody") from this album. An orchestra took part in the recording of 9 of the 11 songs on the album. Unlike "Century Child", the recording of "Once" did not involve a Finnish orchestra, but a London session orchestra, which also participated in the recording of the soundtrack to "The Lord of the Rings". This is also the second album with a song entirely in Finnish, "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" (Finnish: "Death Makes the Artist"). The Lakota Indian John Two-Hawks took part in the recording of the song "Creek Mary"s Blood. He sings in his native language and plays the flute.

The following singles were released: "Wish I Had An Angel" (soundtrack to the film "Alone in the Dark"), "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" (released only in Finland) and "The Siren". The new album was well received by critics, who compared it to "Oceanborn".

The success of the album allowed the group to go on a worldwide Once tour, including countries they had never performed in before (however, the group never visited Russia). They took part in the opening of the 2005 World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, performing the song "Nemo".

Released in September 2005, the collection "Highest Hopes" consists of songs collected from the entire discography of the group. It also includes a cover of Pink Floyd's "High Hopes". In addition, the video clip for the song "Sleeping Sun" was re-shot, which in turn was re-recorded and released as a single.

End Of An Era (2005-2006)

After recording the new live DVD "End Of an Ara", the band members decided that they no longer wanted to collaborate with Tarja Turunen, as they informed her in an open letter. In a letter they wrote to Tarja that her husband Marcelo Kabuli and commercial interests had turned her away from Nightwish, were accused of unwillingness to participate in the life of the group and of a contemptuous attitude towards fans. Tuomas Holopainen gave her a letter after the successful completion of the world tour with the final concert at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki on the night of October 21, 2005. The open letter was later published on the group's official website.

Dark Passion Play (2007)

For the same reason, the identity of the new vocalist was revealed earlier, and on May 24, 2007, 35-year-old Anette Olzon from Katrienholm, Sweden was introduced as Turunen's replacement. Holopainen said in an interview that he does not want to name the new vocalist until there is ready material, so that fans do not judge her only by photographs and past work.

The voice and style of performance of the new vocalist are very different from the previous one. “Tarja had her own style, which no one in the world could have replicated better,” said Tuomas. “That’s why we were looking for a completely different voice.”

"Eva", the first single from the new album, was announced in February. At the same time, a sample of the song became available on the band's website, along with other songs from the new album: "7 Days To The Wolves", "Master Passion Greed" and "Amaranth". The release was originally scheduled for May 30, but due to a leak from a British music website, the single was released on May 25.

June 13 Nightwish unveiled the title of their new album "Dark Passion Play" and artwork on their website along with the title and artwork of their second single "Amaranth". The single includes the song "While Your Lips Are Still Red", written by Tuomas as the main theme to the Finnish film "Lieksa!". Formally, this composition is not Nightwish, as it is performed by Marco as vocalist and bass guitarist, Tuomas as keyboardist and Jukka as drummer. The video for the song was presented on June 15.

"Dark Passion Play" was released in Europe in the last week of September 2007, in the UK on October 1, and in the US on October 2. The album was released in two editions: single-disc and double-disc. The latter contains instrumental versions of all the tracks on the second disc. Roadrunner also released a limited three-disc edition. Subsequently, due to its enormous popularity, the disc was released in several more versions.

On this album, presumably because the former vocalist left the band, vocalist Marco Hietala was given more scope for his vocals. He sang at least backing vocals on every song except "Amaranth", lead vocals (not counting Anette Olzon's backing vocals) on "The Islander", "Master Passion Greed" and sang on the chorus on "Bye" Bye Beautiful" and "7 Days to the Wolves".

Some magazines, including "Kerrang!" noticed that the departure of Tarja Turunen changed the image of the group and removed the border that separated them from other groups. The use of a 175-piece orchestra and the use of solo parts on the album led to the band's work being described as symphonic metal, especially the album's opening 14-minute track "The Poet And The Pendulum". The album received a 5/5 rating from Kerrang!.

The band performed a "secret" concert at the Rock Café in Tallinn on September 22, 2007. In order to remain anonymous, they introduced themselves as the band Nachtwasser, performing cover versions Nightwish. Their first official concert with the new vocalist took place in Tel Aviv in Israel on October 6, 2007.

The DVD "End Of An Era" was certified platinum in Germany, selling over 50,000 copies. The corresponding award was presented to the group during the Rock Am Ring festival, during which Nightwish performed on the main stage in front of an audience of over 80,000. The album "Dark Passion Play" also received gold status in Germany, selling over 100,000 copies during the first week of sales from the moment of release. The single "The Islander" topped the Finnish singles charts.

Imaginaerum (2010-2011)

On October 15, 2010, information appeared in the press that Nightwish planning to record a new album. Just like four years ago, pre-production of the material began in a remote rural area in Finland, in the village of Savi. Rehearsals had to begin in the absence of Anette, who was expecting her second child at that time. July 30, 2010 vocalist Nightwish Anette Olzon gave birth to a son and in mid-October 2010, as planned, Nightwish We have officially started recording a new album. And a week later all the drum parts were recorded.

At the beginning of January 2011, according to reports from the band's camp, the recording of the rhythm guitar and bass parts was almost completed. February 10, 2011 Nightwish announced the title of their next studio album - "Imaginarium". In parallel with the recording of a new album Nightwish were preparing to shoot the film. "Imaginarium" is a musical fantasy film based on the upcoming album of the same name. The main character of the film is a composer with a wild imagination. He is already an old man, but still considers himself a boy. In his dreams, he travels to his distant past, where his old dreams return to him, intertwined with the youthful world of fantasy and music. In a dream, an old man strives to find the most important memories for him. Filming of "Imaginarium" took place in the spring of 2011 in Canada, and the film premiered in 2012. To avoid possible problems With copyright, the album was renamed "Imaginaerum". The album was released on November 30, 2011. The first single, called "Storytime", was released on November 9.

The group spent 2012 on a world tour. The first concert took place on January 21, 2012 at the Gibson Theater in Universal City (Los Angeles, USA). Special guest The band Amorphis was at the concert.

In the fall of 2012, the team decided to part ways with Anette Olzon. This was before Anette fell ill and was hospitalized, and was replaced at the Denver show by two other vocalists, Elise Reed of Amaranthe and Alyssa White-Gluz of The Agonist. The vocalist's departure did not affect the band's further performances in any way. From the first day of October in concerts Nightwish Floor Jansen, known for her participation in the groups After Forever and ReVamp, takes part as the voice of the group. She helped the band complete a world tour in support of their latest album, Imaginaerum.

In October 2013, the band announced that Floor Jansen and Troy Donockley, with whom the band had been touring since 2008, had become full members of the band. At the same time, the team is preparing a DVD release of "Showtime, Storytime". On August 7, 2014, it was announced that the band's drummer Jukka had taken a temporary break due to health reasons. The drummer of the bands Wintersun and Swallow took over his responsibilities for recording the new album. The Sun Kai Hahto.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)

The album "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" was released on March 27, 2015 via Nuclear Blast. The material for the disc was written under the influence of the works of the poet Walt Whitman and scientific works naturalist Charles Darwin. Science popularizer Richard Dawkins took part in the recording. On February 13, 2015, "Élan" was released, the first single from "Endless Forms Most Beautiful". Along with the single, a video clip of the same name was released.

Symphonic metal, that's what it's called musical style, in which they create musicians of the band Nightwish. They combine heavy metal with classical, symphonic music. The team is Finnish. In 2012, the artists were commissioned to sing the anthem for the national hockey team. It was first performed at the World Championships in 2012. Nightwish creates in English. But for the sake of the national team, the anthem is written in native Finnish. About the homeland of musicians, their biography and creativity, further.

Group biographyNightwish

The first group composition is 3 people. Mastermind, author of lyrics and music – Thomas Holopainen. He graduated from music college. According to Thomas, the idea to create a team came while sitting outdoors around a fire. They played the guitar next to the flames, sang songs, and it turned out well. Self-taught friend Erno Vuorinen and a friend Tarju Turunen Thomas called to continue the chants outside the fire. The guys founded an acoustic group. Besides, distinctive feature The band became Tarja's operatic vocals. She studied at the Jean Sibelius Academy. It is recognized as the main university musical direction in Finland.

In the first year, which was 1996, the team recorded a demo album. The work was carried out in the musicians’ hometown – Kitee. The album came out small, only three songs. The first of them was called “Nightwish”, which translated means “night desire”. Since the young group did not have a name, they gave it the name of their debut song.

Initially, there was no drummer in the team. Jukka Nevalainen appeared in the group a year after its founding. At this time, the musicians began experimenting and decided to add another 7 songs written by that time. So they invited a drummer. Next, they changed acoustic guitar to electric.

Acoustic sound Nightwish record companies refused. They allowed the musicians' friend Tera Kennunen to record the first compositions in his tiny studio. The new sound of the group satisfied large company SpineFarm. The contract was signed first for 2 albums, then extended for 3.

There were few concerts during the first couple of years. Tarja was still a student; her studies took up a lot of her time. And Erno and Jukka went into the army in 1997. However, in 1998 the team recorded the first video. They became the video for the song “ The Carpenter" The name translates as "carpenter". This is the hero of the song.

Work in the group no longer followed a relaxed rhythm; fame required full dedication. To relieve Erno, or as his name is also pronounced, Emppa, bassist Sami Vänskä is called into the group. Before him, Erno played both electric and bass guitar. Some songsNightwish enriched with male vocals. Performers from other groups began to be invited to join Tarja in a duet.

In 2000, the group appeared at Eurovision and gained worldwide fame. Fans' hearts sank in 2003. Tarja has found a family. Journalists began to write that for the sake of her husband, the girl would leave the group, and the team would break up. This did not happen. It was not Tarja who left, but she was kicked out. In 2005, they wrote her a letter. In it, the singer’s colleagues said that they no longer wanted to work with her. Because of her family, the girl does not participate in the life of the group, although formally she remains in it.

Tarja's place was taken by Anette Olzon from Sweden. She first appeared on stage as a member of Nightwish in 2007 during a concert in Israel. Many critics said that without Tarja Nightwish, the band’s songs lost their “zest” and merged with dozens of other symphonic metal ensembles. Number of requests " Nightwishwatch online" decreased sharply. However, the group is still active, has released several new albums, tours and has fans.

Concert activitiesNightwish

The last performance with Tarja took place in 2005 on the stage of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. After the first tour with the new vocalist there was a lull in concert activities. It was only possible Nightwish listen, but not to see. The musicians went to one of the remote villages of Finland, where they worked on new albums. They began touring actively in 2012, presenting the album “ Imaginaerum" Translation of the name – “ Imaginarium" A Finnish-Canadian film of the same name was shot. Director Stobi Harju I made a picture based on Nightwish songs released in 2011. Since then, the musicians have not carried out global or world tours, playing mainly in their homeland and on the stages of Europe.

Members of the groupNightwish

Nightwish is a quintet. The team consists of 5 artists:

No. 1 Thomas Holopainen, as in the early days of the group's existence, plays the synthesizer and is engaged in composing activities.

No. 2 Jukka Nevalainen has occupied the position behind the drum kit since 1997.

No. 3 Erno Vuorinen has been responsible for the electric guitar parts since the founding of the band.

№4 Marco Hietalla plays the bass guitar. In this post he replaced Sami Vänskä. In addition to mastering the instrument, Marco also has excellent command of the voice. He performs vocal parts in some songs.

№5 Annette Olzon performs female vocal parts. Her symphonic performance according to bandmates, it emphasizes the changed style of Nightwish. The compositions became heavier from a musical point of view, pompous and epic.

Discography of the groupNightwish

47 milestones of creativity. Of these, 7 albums recorded in the studio and one mini-album - the very first one, of three songs:

No. 1 The album “Demo” was recorded in 1996.

#2 "Angels Fall First". This album nightwishdownload possible on the Internet. The compositions were recorded in 1997.

No. 3 "Oceandorn". The album was recorded in 1998.

No. 4 "Wishmaster". Release date: 2000.

No. 5 “Century Child” was released in 2002.

No. 6 "Once". This last album, where the voice of Tarja Turunen is heard.

No. 7 “Dark Passion Play” was released in 2007 with a new vocalist.

No. 8 "Imaginaerum". The album was released in 2012.

The group also has four live album. Videos were also shot Nightwishclips– these are 14 works, the first of which was filmed in 1998, and the last in 2012. Singles have also been created, 21 of them.

As for the songs created for the world hockey championship, they were created by the association Nightwish with several musicians from other Finnish bands. The composition that gathered to create one single work was called “ Karelian Division", which means "Dream Team".