Dark Passion Play
Untitled | |
---|---|
Dark Passion Play is the sixth studio album by Finnish symphonic power metal quintet Nightwish.[3] It was released on September 26, 2007 in Finland, September 28 in Europe and October 2, 2007 in the United States. It is the first Nightwish album with the band's new lead singer, Anette Olzon, and the first album not featuring former vocalist Tarja Turunen, who was dismissed in October 2005.
Lead songwriter Tuomas Holopainen has referred to it as the 'album that saved his life'.[4]
Running at 75:43 minutes, it is their longest album to date, 15 minutes longer than the previously longest record (Once).
The album has spawned six singles: "Eva", the album's lead single, was released on May 25 2007[5] as a download-only single for charity; "Amaranth", released on August 22; Erämaan Viimeinen, which was released on December 5 in Finland only; "Bye Bye Beautiful", released on February 15, 2008; "The Islander" was released on May 21.
So far, three music videos have been filmed to accompany the album's singles. The first two, "Amaranth" and "Bye Bye Beautiful" were both shot in Los Angeles, USA in spring 2007 and cost 270,000€.[6] The "Amaranth" video was released together with the single on August 22, 2007, and "Bye Bye Beautiful" on February 15. The third music video, "The Islander", was finished in October, 2007, in Rovaniemi, Finland,[7] and released in April, 2008. Holopainen has stated that at first they were planning not to shoot another video for Dark Passion Play, but when they were offered to make the video in a town with traditional Finnish nature, they couldn't refuse.
Title Origin
According to Holopainen, the band's keyboardist and main composer, the album's title was originally intended to be "The Poet and the Pendulum", named after the album's first track. However, it was changed to "Dark Passion Play" for several reasons, taking into account that "The Poet and the Pendulum" was too long for an album title, and that he didn't want to name an entire album after himself (as he is the Poet in the song). The new name, though, has to do with the album's opening track:
The morning dawned, upon his altar
Remains of the dark passion play
Performed by his friends without shame
Spitting on his grave as they came
Faster Harder Nightwish was announced as the title of the upcoming record on April 1, 2007 on the official website. The title is possibly a pun on the Scooter single, Faster Harder Scooter. They also released a photo of the new cover's artwork, which led viewers to believe the band were completely changing their style from symphonic power metal to something more like thrash metal. Just hours later, a "promo sample" of the album could be found on several peer-to-peer networks. It was later stated on their official website that this was an April Fools' joke.[8][9]
Recording
Nightwish began recording the instrumental parts of Dark Passion Play in the autumn of 2006, and were finished by spring 2007. A total of 15 songs were recorded.[10] Following this, the orchestral recordings took place in Abbey Road Studios, London in two sessions: one in mid-December 2006 and the other in February 2007. As with their previous studio album, Once, the band collaborated with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Metro Voices Choir.[11] Vocal recordings began in February 2007, after Anette Olzon had been chosen as the band's new lead singer. The album was mixed and mastered at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki in April - May 2007.
The album's production cost 500,000€, making it the most expensive album ever recorded in Finland. An extra 270,000€ was spent on filming the two music videos of the album[12].
Success
As of February 22 the album has sold 120,000 copies in Finland alone, granting it a four times platinum certification.It was certified platinum in switezland, and gold in Germany, Austria, and Poland[13]. As of January 2008, the album has topped the album charts in six countries. The singles, "Amaranth" and "Erämaan Viimeinen" have both reached number one on Finnish charts. According to Last.fm, it is their most played album, and its successful single "Amaranth" is their most played song for the last six months, as of June 2008.
New vocalist
In October 2005, after a world tour in support of Once, the band's lead singer Tarja Turunen was dismissed via an open letter. In search of a replacement, the band conducted auditions from March 17, 2006 to January 15, 2007, receiving over 2000 demo tapes in the process.[14]
Amidst much speculation it was officially announced on May 24, 2007 that Anette Olzon, who previously was the singer for the Swedish AOR band Alyson Avenue, is the new vocalist of Nightwish. In an interview, Holopainen said they had made the decision in January 2007 based on the impression she made while performing the song "Ever Dream" from the album Century Child.[15]
Of course it's gonna be a huge task for the singer - she will be always compared to Tarja but I'm pretty confident that she'll do well.
-Tuomas Holopainen regarding Anette Olzon's ability[16]
Leaks
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 August 2, . The full album (without voiceovers) was leaked on September 21, 2007, as a result of several stores in Mexico selling the retail album much prior to the worldwide release date.
The video for the album's fourth single "Bye Bye Beautiful" was leaked early on YouTube and similar sites.
Live performances
A world tour in support of Dark Passion Play kicked off in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 6, 2007 followed by a North American tour throughout October and November, with support from Paradise Lost.[17] The tour includes a Scandinavian and a European leg, at least three American tours (the third one being in May, 2008) and visits in Australia and Asia.
According to Holopainen, this will be the longest tour the band has ever attempted, and will probably last for about two and a half years.[18]
For their Once album, Nightwish had planned to have a grand concert in London with live orchestra, as progressive metal band Dream Theater had on what later would be their "Score" album, and this is still in the works. In an interview in December, 2007, Holopainen said that they're planning the concert and that this is something he really wants, but that the locale they want is booked for two years in advance.[19] The concert is expected to be filmed for a DVD release.
Dispelling the rumours that Olzon will never be capable of performing old Nightwish hit songs, Holopainen said that the tours' setlists will be divided equally to songs of the new album and older material.[20] He is not afraid that Olzon won't be able to perform the songs that Turunen usually sang, as she even on her demo showed of her ability performing for example "Ever Dream" and "Higher Than Hope".[21] He has also stated that they will play the band's biggest hits, such as "Nemo", "Sleeping Sun" and "Wishmaster", as earlier in their live performances. However he has confirmed that they will not play songs "The Phantom of the Opera", "Passion and the Opera", "Stargazers" and "Walking in The Air" again, as these go beyond Olzon's non-operatic mezzo-soprano vocal range. At first they didn't play the song "The Siren" either, but it was introduced in February, 2008 as an edited version.
Music style
Before the album's release, band leader Tuomas Holopainen said in an interview that the album will have a lot in common with the last album "Once". For example, the band have kept the new kind of heavier songs (such as "Master Passion Greed", "7 Days to the Wolves" and "Bye Bye Beautiful"), but that additionally there will be softer ballads (such as "Meadows of Heaven, "Eva" and "The Islander"). Also that there will be a very long symphonic track ("Ghost Love Score" on "Once"), ("The Poet and the Pendulum" on "Dark Passion Play). The new album includes lots of guest musicians and orchestral parts - in the same interview, Holopainen said that as they recorded Once they had 18 people in the choir, and still this wasn't enough.
He also claimed there was going to be "shockers" that he didn't want to reveal. The longest track, "The Poet and the Pendulum", is a song that according to him is a very personal, epic piece that is a lot like film music, and lasts for almost 14 minutes. Music engineer Mikko Karmila has also stated that the style is much more progressive than earlier.
The extremes are there more than ever before. So it's not going to be like Century Child 2. There is more hope in some of the new songs.
-Tuomas Holopainen, band leader, keyboardist and main composer[22]
Holopainen also said that there are darker pieces reminiscent of Century Child, such as "The Poet and the Pendulum", and some others. It will be a dark album, both musically and lyrically. Even though the album is much more upbeat than "Century Child".[23] Songs that reflect this mood are for example the second single "Amaranth" and "Bye Bye Beautiful"'s B-side "Escapist".
Just like the album Once, Nightwish included many new influences and experimentations in several tracks. On "Once", much inspiration came from Native American music, especially "Creek Mary's Blood", that featured Native American musician John Two-Hawks. However, on Dark Passion Play, much inspiration comes from Finnish and Irish culture and music as this can be clearly heard on "Last of the Wilds".
For the second time, growling has being featured on the track Master Passion Greed by keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and an unknown Metal Hammer reporter.[24] First time was by Marco Hietala on Once, Planet Hell.
"While Your Lips Are Still Red", a bonus track on the Amaranth single, is the first song featuring Marco Hietala's softer vocals. Hietala is generally known for his screamings and sometimes growlings in the songs. "While Your Lips Are Still Red" is written by Tuomas as the theme song for the upcoming Finnish feature film "Lieksa!", technically it's not a Nightwish track as it only features Marco on vocals, Tuomas on keyboards and Jukka on drums.
The album's average track length (Spinefarm Records' version with 13 songs) is 5.8 minutes, with most of the songs lasting for about four minutes. Three tracks are over seven minutes long, which is long for a Nightwish record, a band that mostly had songs about 4-5 minutes and one or two longer per album. The track "The Poet and the Pendulum" is the longest song in the band's history, 13:55, 3:33 minutes longer than the song that used to occupy that position, "Beauty of the Beast".
Track listing
All songs written by Tuomas Holopainen, unless otherwise stated. All lyrics by Holopainen. Arrangements by Hietala, Holopainen, Nevalainen, Vuorinen and Kinnunen.
Disc 1:
Title | Writers | Notes | Length | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Poet and the Pendulum" | Holopainen | Feat. Tom Williams on treble vocals | 13:54 |
2. | "Bye Bye Beautiful" | Holopainen | The fourth single | 04:14 |
3. | "Amaranth" | Holopainen | The second single | 03:51 |
4. | "Cadence of Her Last Breath" | Holopainen | 04:14 | |
5. | "Master Passion Greed" | Holopainen | 06:02 | |
6. | "Eva" | Holopainen | The first single | 04:24 |
7. | "Sahara" | Holopainen | 05:47 | |
8. | "Whoever Brings the Night" | Vuorinen | 04:17 | |
9. | "For the Heart I Once Had" | Holopainen | 03:55 | |
10. | "The Islander" | Hietala | The fifth single | 05:05 |
11. | "Last of the Wilds" | Holopainen | Instrumental. Its vocal version, "Erämaan Viimeinen", is the third single | 05:40 |
12. | "7 Days to the Wolves" | Holopainen, Hietala | 07:03 | |
13. | "Meadows of Heaven" | Holopainen | 07:10 | |
14. | "Escapist" | Holopainen | Bonus track on Japanese version | 04:57 |
Disc 2 (Instrumental Version of the above):
Title | Writers | Notes | Length | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Poet and the Pendulum" | Holopainen | 13:54 | |
2. | "Bye Bye Beautiful" | Holopainen | 04:14 | |
3. | "Amaranth" | Holopainen | 03:51 | |
4. | "Cadence of Her Last Breath" | Holopainen | 04:14 | |
5. | "Master Passion Greed" | Holopainen | 06:02 | |
6. | "Eva" | Holopainen | 04:24 | |
7. | "Sahara" | Holopainen | 05:47 | |
8. | "Whoever Brings the Night" | Vuorinen | 04:17 | |
9. | "For the Heart I Once Had" | Holopainen | 03:55 | |
10. | "The Islander" | Hietala | 05:05 | |
11. | "Last of the Wilds" | Holopainen | 05:40 | |
12. | "7 Days to the Wolves" | Holopainen, Hietala | 07:03 | |
13. | "Meadows of Heaven" | Holopainen | 07:10 |
Nuclear Blast, Spinefarm Records and Roadrunner Records each released special editions that included an instrumental version of the album, which contain instruments that are hard to hear, or are omitted, from the original version of the album.
Bonus Tracks
Amaranth single
- "Reach (Amaranth Demo Version)" – 3:57
- "Eva (Demo Version)" - 4:18
- "Amaranth (Orchestral Version)" - 3:51
- "Eva (Orchestral Version)" - 4:28
- "While Your Lips Are Still Red" - 4:22
Erämaan Viimeinen single
- "Erämaan Viimeinen" - 5:10
Bye Bye Beautiful single
- "The Poet and the Pendulum (Demo Version)" - 13:41
- "Bye Bye Beautiful (DJ Orkidea Remix)" - 12:14
- "Escapist"- 4:57
The Islander single
- "The Islander (Radio Edit)" - 3:57
- "Meadows of Heaven (Orchestral Version)" - 7:14
- "Escapist (Instrumental Version)" - 4:57
Charts
Album
Chart | Peak Position | Certification | Sales |
---|---|---|---|
Australia | 42 | ||
Austria[25] | 5 | Gold | +10,000 |
Belgium[26] | 36 | ||
Canada[27] | 24 | ||
Croatia[28] | 1 | ||
Czech Republic[29] | 1 | ||
Denmark[30] | 18 | ||
European Albums Chart | 85 | ||
Finland[31] | 1 | Platinum (x4) | +120,000 |
France[32] | 6 | ||
Germany[33] | 1 | Gold | +100,000 |
Greece[34] | 3 | ||
Hungary | 1 | Gold | |
Ireland[35] | 62 | ||
Italy[36] | 14 | ||
Japan[37] | 54 | ||
Japan[38] Foreign albums chart |
12 | ||
Netherlands[39] | 5 | ||
Norway[40] | 7 | ||
Poland[41] | 6 | Gold | +10,000 |
Spain | 33 | ||
Sweden[42] | 4 | Gold | +30,000 |
Switzerland[43] | 1 | Platinum | +30,000 |
UK Album Charts[44] | 19 | ||
UK Top 40 Rock Album Charts[45] | 3 | ||
United States[46] The Billboard 200 |
84 | +65,000 | |
United States[38] Top Hard Rock Albums |
7 | ||
United World Chart[47] | 9 | +710,000 |
Singles
Release date | Title | Notes | Chart positions | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AUS | AUT[48] | DEN[49] | FIN[50] | FRA[51] | GER[52] | HUN | ITA[53] | NET[54] | SPA | SWE[55] | SWI[56] | ||||||
2007-05-25 | "Eva" | Radio/Internet only | - | - | - | 14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
2007-08-22 | "Amaranth" | 38 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 62 | 16 | 1 | 10 | 47 | 1 | 13 | 14 | ||||
2007-12-04 | "Erämaan Viimeinen" | Finland only | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
2008-02-15 | "Bye Bye Beautiful" | - | - | - | 5 | 54 | 35 | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | ||||
2008-05-30 | "The Islander" | - | - | - | 1 | 91 | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | ||||
AUS | AUT | DEN | FIN | FRA | GER | HUN | ITA | NET | SPA | SWE | SWI | ||||||
Number one hits | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | - | |||||
Top ten hits | - | - | 1 | 4 | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 3 | - | - |
Credits
Band members
- Anette Olzon - Vocals
- Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen - Electric guitar, Acoustic guitar (on track 10, 11)
- Marco Hietala - Bass guitar, Acoustic guitar (on track 10), Vocals (on track 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 12)
- Tuomas Holopainen - Keyboards, Piano
- Jukka Nevalainen - Drums, Percussions
Guest musicians
- London Philharmonic Orchestra - Orchestra
- Guy Elliott - Lead Boy Soprano
- Tom Williams - Second Boy Soprano and Voice on The Poet and the Pendulum
- Metro Voices - Choir
- Troy Donockley - Bodhran, Uilleann Pipes, Low and Tin Whistle on " The Islander, "Last of the Wilds" and "Meadows of Heaven"
- Nollaig Casey - Fiddle on "Last of the Wilds"
- Senni Eskelinen - Electric Kantele on "Last of the Wilds"
- Greg Knowles - Cymbalom
- Johanna "Jonsu" Salomaa - Vocals on "Erämaan Viimeinen" ("Last Of The Wilds")
Notes
I. ^ The first single of the album, to be released on May 30 2007, as a preview of the album. This was the first known track of the album, revealed in February 2007.[57]
II. ^ An epic piece that is dear to Tuomas, including orchestral parts. It is much like for example Ghost Love Score (Once).[58]
III. ^ The second single of the album, to be released in August 2007.
IV. ^ More info.
References
- ^ Nuclearblast
- ^ "TuomasHolopainen.net: Interview"
- ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Nightwish at Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
- ^ Template:Fi icon NIGHTWISH Founder TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN - "Dark Passion Play Is The Album That Saved My Life" - Metal from Finland
- ^ "Nightwish "EVA" aikaistuu" in Finnish
- ^ Nightwish.com – Nightmail
- ^ MetalFromFinland on third music video
- ^ "Nightwish.com - April fools!"
- ^ "Nightwish.com - New album's title and cover revealed"
- ^ TuomasHolopainen.net - Interview
- ^ "TuomasHolopainen.net: Interview"
- ^ TuomasHolopainen.net - News
- ^ http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.Net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=89498
- ^ "The auditions for the new vocalist have ended"
- ^ Roadrunner Records Official website
- ^ TuomasHolopainen.net - Interview
- ^ "Nightwish.com - PARADISE LOST to support NW on the 2007 US tour"
- ^ "TuomasHolopainen.net: Interview"
- ^ Metal From Finland - Video Interview With TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN
- ^ Roadrunner Records - Interview with Anette and Tuomas
- ^ Roadrunner Records - Interview with Anette and Tuomas
- ^ TuomasHolopainen.net - Interview
- ^ "TuomasHolopainen.net: Interview"
- ^ Nightwish.com - Studio Diary
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ BLABBERMOUTH.NET - NIGHTWISH: More 'Dark Passion Play' First-Week Chart Positions Revealed
- ^ BLABBERMOUTH.NET - NIGHTWISH: More 'Dark Passion Play' First-Week Chart Positions Revealed
- ^ BLABBERMOUTH.NET - NIGHTWISH: More 'Dark Passion Play' First-Week Chart Positions Revealed
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ BLABBERMOUTH.NET - NIGHTWISH: More 'Dark Passion Play' First-Week Chart Positions Revealed
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ Template:Ja icon ナイトウィッシュ-リリース-ORICON STYLE ミュージック
- ^ a b Nightwish.jp - News: “Dark Passion Play”第一週の売上・チャート状況
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ Polska - Muzyka w INTERIA.PL - teledyski, koncerty, nowości płytowe, dobra muzyka, listy przebojów
- ^ BLABBERMOUTH.NET - NIGHTWISH: More 'Dark Passion Play' First-Week Chart Positions Revealed
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ Nightwish - The Official Website
- ^ BBC - Radio 1 - Chart Show - Rock Albums
- ^ Billboard.com - Discography - Nightwish - Dark Passion Play
- ^ Global Track Chart
- ^ Discographie Nightwish - austriancharts.at
- ^ danishcharts.com - Discography Nightwish
- ^ finnishcharts.com - Discography Nightwish
- ^ lescharts.com - Discographie Nightwish
- ^ Musicline.de
- ^ italiancharts.com - Discography Nightwish
- ^ dutchcharts.nl - Discografie Nightwish
- ^ swedishcharts.com - Discography Nightwish
- ^ Discographie Nightwish - hitparade.ch
- ^ "Nightwish.com - The auditions for the new vocalist have ended"
- ^ "TuomasHolopainen.net: Interview"