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Post by RIP on Mar 12, 2004 10:00:41 GMT -5
NightwishLine-upTarja Turunen: vocals Tuomas Holopainen: keyboards Emppu Vuorinen: guitars Jukka Nevalainen: drum Marco Hietala: bass, vocals Band infoCountry: Finland Style: Power Symphonic Label: Nuclear Blast Similar bands: Edenbridge, After Forever Official website: www.nightwish.comDiscography1997 - Angels Fall First 1998 - Oceanborn 2000 - Wishmaster 2000 - Wishmastour 2000 2001 - From Wishes To Eternity 2001 - Over The Hills And Far Away 2002 - Century Child 2004 - Nemo 2004 - Once
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Post by RIP on Mar 12, 2004 10:01:23 GMT -5
Biography
NIGHTWISH started as an acoustic project by Tuomas Holopainen of NATTVINDENS GRAT, who wanted to do something different from what he had been playing before. So he came up with three songs just for keyboards, acoustic guitar and female vocals. Acoustic guitars were performed by his friend Emppu, who came up with the idea of using their friend Tarja, a student from Sibelius Academy, on vocals. The result was something they all had hoped for: Tarja's voice fit the music perfectly.
The self-titled demo was recorded during Dec.96 and Jan.97 at Kitee Huvikeskus Studio by their friend Tero Kinnunen. The tape, however, did not end up being disributed; it was only sent to some labels and magazines, which all gave the tape relatively good credit but the labels thought music was too narrow, and did not have enough variety. However, this first tape never reached the ears of Spinefarm.
In Apr.97 the band entered the same studio again to record seven new songs they had written, now including also electric guitars and drums. The line-up was still the same: Tarja handling the vocals, Emppu acoustic and electric guitars and bass, Tuomas the synths and some vocals. Drums and percussions were performed by their friend Jukka, the latest addition to their line-up.
After the recording they received offers from two labels and Spinefarm's proposal was accepted. NIGHTWISH debut album ANGELS FALL FIRST (SPI 47 CD) was released in Finland in October 1997 and for the rest of Europe in March 1998.
ANGELS FALL FIRST featured 12 songs of atmospheric metalrock with incredible female vocals, a good load of gothic influences and with a great sound, with total running time of nearly 52 minutes.
The second album Oceanborn was released in December 7th. It went up to fifth place on the Finnish official album chart (and stayed on charts over 30 weeks!). Singles from Oceanborn, Sacrament of Wilderness and Walking in the air also ruled the charts. Actually Nightwish had three (3) singles at the top 10 at the time - also their first single The Carpenter returned to the single chart. Beat that!
After Oceanborn Nightwish started to do some serious touring around Finland. Even though they had done just couple of gigs before it was clear from the very beginning of tour that Night wish would take their audience just like that. Almost every venue and festival was packed with opera metal maniacs. Now it was time to go abroad. Autumn 1999 Nightwish toured European venues with German progressive metal gods Rage. Again, the feedback just excellent. No wonder since the German release Sleeping Sun EP had sold over 15000 copies in one month.
In early 2000 the band entered studio again for the recordings of our third album. A welcome interruption to the repetitive studio work became when we took part in the Finnish qualification of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Sleepwalker. Nightwish cleared the first round of the qualification but the final position was second despite an overwhelming win in the public televoting.
The newest album, Wishmaster, was released in May and it immediately was number one on the Finnish charts, kept the position for three weeks, and finally went gold just like its predecessor Oceanborn and all the singles released so far!
The idea of making a live Nightwish-recording took shape during the autumn of 2000, and that idea was made into reality on New Years Eve 2000-2001, when Nightwish played a gig at club Pakkahuone in Tampere, Finland. The gig was filmed and recorded, and that material was then made into a DVD and VHS. The Finnish fans also got an extra treat: a limited edition full-length Live CD for Finland only. All of these formats were released under the name "From Wishes to Eternity - Live", and every format proved to be a huge seller.
To relieve the pain the fans were feeling while waiting for Nightwish's next full-length CD, the band decided to release a Mini-CD called "Over the Hills And Far Away". The CD included a cover version of the title song, originally performed by Gary Moore, a re-make of "Angels Fall First"'s "Astral Romance" and two new songs. On the other hand to relieve the misery of the European fans who didn't get a live CD, Drakkar's version of "Over the Hills And Far Away" included a few of the Finnish Live CD's songs as a bonus.
A lot has happened to the band and more is yet to come, the Nightwish saga continues...
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