#: locale=en
## Action
### URL
LinkBehaviour_85B9075C_CEFB_3946_41E6_07B602C1BA34.source = https://360channel.com/e/nightwish-story
LinkBehaviour_D2B37A19_CEC6_C5D1_41E7_C536D3DEF6E9.source = https://360channel.com/e/nightwish-story
LinkBehaviour_E82D9D2E_CEDA_DFF3_41D5_A32B279F88EC.source = https://360channel.com/e/nightwish-story
LinkBehaviour_E823DD33_CEDA_DFD1_41D1_7554C75675FC.source = https://360channel.com/e/nightwish-story
LinkBehaviour_E822BD2D_CEDA_DFF1_41D5_F80CEBB9EC20.source = https://360channel.com/e/nightwish-story
LinkBehaviour_D0CA5732_CEC7_4BD3_41E2_16C73D962E8E.source = https://360channel.com/e/nightwish-story
LinkBehaviour_E8264D35_CEDA_DFD1_41D0_5A3229E38EA0.source = https://360channel.com/e/nightwish-story
LinkBehaviour_D0807D36_CECB_5FD3_41E1_E4BE9371AF56.source = https://360channel.com/e/nightwish-story
LinkBehaviour_E839DD4C_CEDA_DFB7_41D0_BDF78F809BFC.source = https://geo.music.apple.com/us/artist/nightwish/2898807?mt=1&app=music
LinkBehaviour_E52A0C39_F9E2_BAE1_41EC_A0CA26C9164C.source = https://geo.music.apple.com/us/artist/nightwish/2898807?mt=1&app=music
LinkBehaviour_E83A2D46_CEDA_DFB3_41A8_A9B1690759BF.source = https://geo.music.apple.com/us/artist/nightwish/2898807?mt=1&app=music
LinkBehaviour_E71E5397_86F0_DA74_41AB_7621BAC58609.source = https://geo.music.apple.com/us/artist/nightwish/2898807?mt=1&app=music
PopupWebFrameBehaviour_C7FCD793_8617_BA4C_41A8_89B67A4D17A5.url = https://nightwish.com/#news
PopupWebFrameBehaviour_E8232D2F_CEDA_DFF1_41E7_C459E472A462.url = https://nightwish.com/#news
PopupWebFrameBehaviour_E838ED47_CEDA_DFB1_41D1_6C19C88DBEB3.url = https://nightwishstory.com/
PopupWebFrameBehaviour_D8E9679F_F9E5_75A1_41E3_27775FEC50E7.url = https://nightwishstory.com/
PopupWebFrameBehaviour_E8224D2B_CEDA_DFF1_41E7_B94350BED5E7.url = https://nightwishstory.com/en
PopupWebFrameBehaviour_E5682E0A_F926_96A3_41C1_B8FAAC9FB02A.url = https://nightwishstory.com/en
PopupWebFrameBehaviour_91B740D7_80F8_DD19_41CF_C858E2C54E23.url = https://nightwishstory.com/en/shop
LinkBehaviour_E83B8D4B_CEDA_DFB1_41D8_520EF8644350.source = https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NPduAUeLVsfIauhRwuft1?si=P_b0Qe5SQEavH4JsqCeIgA
LinkBehaviour_E52BBC38_F9E2_BAEF_4197_E9972B155667.source = https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NPduAUeLVsfIauhRwuft1?si=P_b0Qe5SQEavH4JsqCeIgA
LinkBehaviour_E825ED46_CEDA_DFB3_41C1_60A2A3CE8D61.source = https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NPduAUeLVsfIauhRwuft1?si=P_b0Qe5SQEavH4JsqCeIgA
LinkBehaviour_E59A138E_86F0_DA54_41CF_8435D99E11AC.source = https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NPduAUeLVsfIauhRwuft1?si=P_b0Qe5SQEavH4JsqCeIgA
LinkBehaviour_E71E3397_86F0_DA73_41B9_24E3EA59343B.source = https://twitter.com/NightwishBand
LinkBehaviour_E838DD4A_CEDA_DFB3_41E1_BBC3E058AEB8.source = https://twitter.com/NightwishBand
LinkBehaviour_E528CC34_F9E2_BAE7_41D1_465BCD8B49A9.source = https://twitter.com/NightwishBand
LinkBehaviour_E827FD44_CEDA_DFB7_41E6_186383EA9D56.source = https://twitter.com/NightwishBand
LinkBehaviour_E52D3C3A_F9E2_BAE3_419F_213C7BE28162.source = https://www.backstagerockshop.com/collections/nightwish?ls=fi
LinkBehaviour_E59A238D_86F0_DA54_41CA_A314A3EA0A7C.source = https://www.backstagerockshop.com/collections/nightwish?ls=fi
LinkBehaviour_E838BD47_CEDA_DFB1_41D2_F50C820FD98C.source = https://www.backstagerockshop.com/collections/nightwish?ls=fi
LinkBehaviour_E8383D4D_CEDA_DFB1_41AB_541125020204.source = https://www.backstagerockshop.com/collections/nightwish?ls=fi
LinkBehaviour_E59A338E_86F0_DA54_41D5_EA8E554669F5.source = https://www.contrapromotion.com/en/artists/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E83A5D46_CEDA_DFB3_41D0_A52274056E4F.source = https://www.contrapromotion.com/en/artists/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E83BFD4D_CEDA_DFB1_41E3_D5005274BE98.source = https://www.contrapromotion.com/en/artists/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E52A8C39_F9E2_BAE1_41E4_8B626960A78F.source = https://www.contrapromotion.com/en/artists/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E827CD44_CEDA_DFB7_41E7_8E04C2902215.source = https://www.facebook.com/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E71E2397_86F0_DA74_41B9_35C65E6D7C27.source = https://www.facebook.com/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E83A7D49_CEDA_DFB1_41E2_C2B8F3348F7E.source = https://www.facebook.com/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E5299C33_F9E2_BAE1_41EF_193DE3AC764C.source = https://www.facebook.com/nightwish/
WebFrame_22F9EEFF_0C1A_2293_4165_411D4444EFEA.url = https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d14377.55330038866!2d-73.99492968084243!3d40.75084469078082!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x89c259a9f775f259%3A0x999668d0d7c3fd7d!2s400+5th+Ave%2C+New+York%2C+NY+10018!5e0!3m2!1ses!2sus!4v1467271743182" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" style="border:0" allowfullscreen>
WebFrame_22F9EEFF_0C1A_2293_4165_411D4444EFEA_mobile.url = https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d14377.55330038866!2d-73.99492968084243!3d40.75084469078082!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x89c259a9f775f259%3A0x999668d0d7c3fd7d!2s400+5th+Ave%2C+New+York%2C+NY+10018!5e0!3m2!1ses!2sus!4v1467271743182" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" style="border:0" allowfullscreen>
LinkBehaviour_E8249D44_CEDA_DFB7_41E3_71A3551FB1F7.source = https://www.instagram.com/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E83A4D49_CEDA_DFB1_41D5_4173EF358997.source = https://www.instagram.com/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E59A038E_86F0_DA54_41A7_D52234FD41F2.source = https://www.instagram.com/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E5291C33_F9E2_BAE1_41EA_A444E3889F46.source = https://www.instagram.com/nightwish/
LinkBehaviour_E71E7397_86F0_DA74_41C1_F1EF6572B0FB.source = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQplaZZ2mv8fo8Zd-1hQPzg
LinkBehaviour_E83F4D4A_CEDA_DFB3_41D7_B42B54CBDFAC.source = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQplaZZ2mv8fo8Zd-1hQPzg
LinkBehaviour_E8243D45_CEDA_DFB1_41DB_695E2136CD87.source = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQplaZZ2mv8fo8Zd-1hQPzg
LinkBehaviour_E52B4C34_F9E2_BAE7_41EE_1D66E729A150.source = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQplaZZ2mv8fo8Zd-1hQPzg
LinkBehaviour_4C03286E_6FB0_6F6D_41AC_6FFC0EE3ADC4.source = mailto: info@360finland.fi
LinkBehaviour_E83EFD57_CEDA_DE51_41E4_89AEA25A101E.source = mailto: info@360finland.fi
## E-Learning
### Question Screen
quizQuestion_6093A009_7AB7_2B41_41DA_0EE386CA3B0C.ok = OK
### Report Screen
quizScore_6091E009_7AB7_2B41_4192_9100F2993FB3.title = - SCORE -
quizScore_6091E009_7AB7_2B41_4192_9100F2993FB3.completion = Completed
quizScore_6091E009_7AB7_2B41_4192_9100F2993FB3.questionsCorrect = Correct
quizScore_6091E009_7AB7_2B41_4192_9100F2993FB3.downloadCSV = Download .csv
quizScore_6091E009_7AB7_2B41_4192_9100F2993FB3.questionsIncorrect = Incorrect
quizScore_6091E009_7AB7_2B41_4192_9100F2993FB3.items = Items Found
quizScore_6091E009_7AB7_2B41_4192_9100F2993FB3.questions = Questions
quizScore_6091E009_7AB7_2B41_4192_9100F2993FB3.repeat = Repeat
quizScore_6091E009_7AB7_2B41_4192_9100F2993FB3.submitToLMS = Submit
quizScore_6091E009_7AB7_2B41_4192_9100F2993FB3.elapsedTime = Time
### Score Name
score1.label = Score 1
score2.label = Score 2
### Timeout Screen
quizTimeout_60945008_7AB7_2B4F_41BE_A64975D21064.title = - TIMEOUT -
quizTimeout_60945008_7AB7_2B4F_41BE_A64975D21064.repeat = Repeat
quizTimeout_60945008_7AB7_2B4F_41BE_A64975D21064.score = View Score
## Hotspot
### Tooltip
HotspotMapOverlayArea_EAE7D8DA_FEC3_5474_41E5_87AC8BAF0A84.toolTip = BUY, BUY, BEAUTIFUL
HotspotMapOverlayArea_ED6B3853_FEC1_7475_41C0_D86F25DFAAE1.toolTip = ELVENPATH (This works only in the full version.)
HotspotMapOverlayArea_EDB88476_FEC7_7C3F_41DC_6B2F2F154F57.toolTip = HIGHER THAN HOPE
HotspotMapOverlayArea_EAF7A14A_FEC0_D457_41E1_568A38904F75.toolTip = LIFETIME OF ADVENTURE (This works only in the full version.)
HotspotMapOverlayArea_ECC4B947_FEC0_D45C_41B5_7CB88C88E45D.toolTip = LOBBY
HotspotMapOverlayArea_ED5CCF16_FEC1_EDFF_41D3_3D3903D62AEC.toolTip = MEADOWS OF HEAVEN
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_3569225B_04B9_B9D9_4178_2408AA8C7393.toolTip = Meadows of Heaven
HotspotMapOverlayArea_ED655B54_FEC1_7473_41E6_C128C70FAD76.toolTip = NOISE (This works only in the full version.)
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C51F5F77_5C71_B0A2_41A1_49E41C5CD2DC.toolTip = Shop
HotspotMapOverlayArea_EAD38EE6_FEC1_2C5F_41E0_3CE0840134FF.toolTip = THE BLUE (This works only in the full version.)
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_D96E2536_FF43_7C3F_41E3_07AEFC3F7143.toolTip = The dark chest
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C51F5F91_5C71_B07E_415C_F8F9DAF76F8B.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C51F3F9D_5C71_B066_41C0_27A664F27288.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C51CBFA7_5C71_4FA1_41B6_923ACD42D703.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_9460981B_8630_F67C_41C0_8F395B6A75B7.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_946C4837_8630_F6B4_41CB_DBC5632CB139.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_956E2FF4_8611_A466_41E0_790B8A3FD1B8.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_947FFC66_8631_6ED4_41B9_7F071BEBE97E.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_9515536C_8630_BAD4_4187_367EC1B2A4ED.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_38C63261_0558_99E8_418E_E8103C5325B5.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_3E3A939B_0559_BF59_418F_9BB1CA614BB5.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_945D18B3_8630_F64C_41E0_9451F2167F38.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_94A848D4_8630_F7F5_41B2_55D807DD45FC.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_915DFF91_8610_AA4C_41D6_2C176B8B6001.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C513D02A_5C71_50A3_41BA_C8C944083FB4.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C5105036_5C71_50A3_41D5_5B848A4D21E0.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C5134043_5C71_50E1_41C7_9074E238E925.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C315B3E0_5C93_D7DF_41D2_8D045D9F0B82.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C370F582_5C90_B063_41D1_4977F7C75EA1.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_CA2E8308_5C71_B06F_41CB_C4DA1C0B3D46.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_8961F1A4_8611_BCE7_41BC_726076DB0887.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_95AE3C62_8610_E463_41D8_55E02E542C50.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6BB5BFDE_657C_62B5_41D3_93C74D512743.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6B771C25_657D_A594_41CF_147DFB029C9B.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6B913AD6_657C_E2B4_41D4_FE15D0B49607.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C518FE8D_5C71_7061_41D0_64FE39B5F711.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6B6F68E3_657C_6E8C_41D6_947C242F18B8.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6BA3035B_6573_E3BC_41D2_BD41DFDF65FD.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6890BAA9_6573_A29C_41D8_650AE3DAD378.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6B1A4AB7_6574_A2F4_41D5_159B83F59E5F.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6BB9771C_6574_E3B4_41BB_7B8FC7E19BB7.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_68CB9EEF_6574_A293_41D4_196C765392CD.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6B3E216D_6575_DF94_41CA_82B3D60A47D7.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_68E4C5C6_6575_A694_41C0_C374F2FB55FA.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6B5D510B_6574_5F93_41D7_0F1F1482D73A.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6A74DB82_6574_E28D_41CD_1A76EF9CAC2F.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_9BA3B678_8BD7_DD56_41D7_D637E0B3160C.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_9B460477_8BD4_DD5A_41DE_2D0255B6A163.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_999CA99F_8BD3_D7CB_41D1_79CF60A5742C.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_92607449_8610_DBA1_41D8_D2C18BBA92F8.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_C505FF64_5C71_B0A6_41B9_FCE588F18CA4.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_DBE8E97D_FF40_D42C_41EA_2343F8B21A46.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_68A72346_657C_A394_41B8_33B667A3B4CB.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotPanoramaOverlayArea_3562A254_04B9_B92F_4151_71B69445E486.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_75C87E98_671E_3CF9_41C4_5DED667E1B30.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_752842D8_671E_647A_41D5_3089C99EC0E0.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6B554AAA_6574_629D_41C1_127B5D092699.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6B0DF0C9_6574_BE9C_41B7_796AAD4EF541.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_7465BF8D_671E_3CDB_41C1_68C85344ECC1.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_68B7756B_6574_A79C_41C9_7CCACF043785.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6B40595C_657C_EFB4_41B9_0DE6F73BF6C7.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_6BFBFD57_657C_A7B4_41D5_FBCD6F988D95.toolTip = This works only in the full version.
HotspotMapOverlayArea_ED42FFE5_FECF_6C5C_41E7_54AECD0C52C1.toolTip = WITCHDRUMS (This works only in the full version.)
## Media
### Audio
AudioResource_785E5071_6950_C965_41D3_4321D0B256E1.mp3Url = media/audio_002EDB8D_579D_7743_41B3_0D7AED78733E_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E7071_6950_C965_41BC_F3F01C3C6BFA.mp3Url = media/audio_006D8464_578E_91C2_41A6_3A8D7CEF2E08_en.mp3
AudioResource_785F8072_6950_C967_4185_5FE465BD7B8B.mp3Url = media/audio_00F7F26B_57F6_91C7_41D3_759326D2F599_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E5072_6950_C967_41D9_628445601CB6.mp3Url = media/audio_01367D0F_57F7_935F_41D5_253D3788FB02_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E2072_6950_C967_41CE_1C778DFF0032.mp3Url = media/audio_01D618D7_5795_92CF_4177_F3E6930413E7_en.mp3
AudioResource_785FE072_6950_C967_41C8_477AD53026F5.mp3Url = media/audio_0293B182_579A_B341_41CB_A75B1A7CD7C6_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E0072_6950_C967_41D6_C3EAD9066D42.mp3Url = media/audio_02A951C3_578D_B2C7_41CE_6DABCE2EDFA2_en.mp3
AudioResource_785FA072_6950_C967_41C4_8E23964184BB.mp3Url = media/audio_036FAEE5_5795_8EC3_41CB_9BCBB7471066_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E9071_6950_C965_417D_CA06543608B6.mp3Url = media/audio_03B1C8D3_579D_F2C7_41A1_019E3F50F37F_en.mp3
AudioResource_785EC071_6950_C965_41BD_DD06A387372B.mp3Url = media/audio_03E6A022_578D_9146_41C2_9115AA172FF5_en.mp3
AudioResource_785FC072_6950_C967_41D0_773163E088B1.mp3Url = media/audio_05977112_579D_7341_41D5_626E83273665_en.mp3
AudioResource_785FD072_6950_C967_41D3_3AF3D351318D.mp3Url = media/audio_0F70222C_57F7_B141_41D1_4BDC5ADF8ED6_en.mp3
AudioResource_785FF072_6950_C967_416C_270524BD5E25.mp3Url = media/audio_300468A5_57FA_9143_41C1_8CBEC98B6EE8_en.mp3
AudioResource_785D1071_6950_C965_41D4_1819E456ED59.mp3Url = media/audio_323E52E3_57FD_96C7_41D5_B181E0646649_en.mp3
AudioResource_785EA071_6950_C965_41BC_20BC10D8F7E5.mp3Url = media/audio_3473CFF1_57FE_8EC2_41BF_773870EB3EED_en.mp3
AudioResource_785EB071_6950_C965_41B9_A012D8D6E4FF.mp3Url = media/audio_37EEEE83_57FA_9147_41D5_07C6C97F40B8_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E1072_6950_C967_41CE_947511EE2135.mp3Url = media/audio_6221D4E8_569A_92C1_41CC_EB46BBB233EA_en.mp3
AudioResource_785F5072_6950_C967_41B1_D6C74AAD0545.mp3Url = media/audio_62362624_569B_B141_41AE_6DEC237A8442_en.mp3
AudioResource_785FB072_6950_C967_41D4_F07654660AFD.mp3Url = media/audio_62ECE2F4_569D_B6C1_41CF_DC57C762B963_en.mp3
AudioResource_785FF072_6950_C967_41C9_8F4653D09F92.mp3Url = media/audio_6B601AD7_579A_96CF_41A9_FA4EA469E603_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E3071_6950_C965_41C6_74648D27F684.mp3Url = media/audio_6E6479C6_579B_72C1_41CC_8F346AA7D5D9_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E3072_6950_C967_41D3_B35E0D0C843C.mp3Url = media/audio_6E6BFA1B_578A_9147_41D1_A9D0016755A5_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E8071_6950_C965_41A8_80B250D1FAAE.mp3Url = media/audio_6E8438F0_579A_B2C1_41C8_D3D134757979_en.mp3
AudioResource_785F7072_6950_C967_41C8_0D9A2BB1C457.mp3Url = media/audio_6EC50BFB_5795_96C7_41C2_E53496A5D1AF_en.mp3
AudioResource_785FE072_6950_C967_41C4_DC313017903A.mp3Url = media/audio_6F4F6430_5796_9141_41CE_316BB9F01EA6_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E6072_6950_C967_4193_12608697DE6C.mp3Url = media/audio_D3F8CA92_5595_8B59_41B2_784794614B45_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E0072_6950_C967_4190_633C0ACB1AEE.mp3Url = media/audio_D40CC5AB_558E_994F_41BC_F33FF290D655_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E6071_6950_C965_41D4_4336C017DE63.mp3Url = media/audio_D45B3EB8_558D_8B49_41AA_F3F9D4E247DC_en.mp3
AudioResource_785FC072_6950_C967_41D5_A34AAA2055EA.mp3Url = media/audio_D464299F_558A_8947_41B4_CFEA7899DA1F_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E2072_6950_C967_41D2_41438D114C7D.mp3Url = media/audio_D4BB0622_558A_BB78_41CE_F0349DD0CE12_en.mp3
AudioResource_785ED071_6950_C965_41D0_E5195F52177F.mp3Url = media/audio_D5E65DB9_5596_894B_4169_B8DA87E5379E_en.mp3
AudioResource_785E1072_6950_C967_41C0_C7B57A25A788.mp3Url = media/audio_D64F7947_5595_89C7_41C4_EFB9A5B62DC7_en.mp3
audioresource_ECCEB653_8A07_ADEE_41D3_92314A8E8EFD.mp3Url = media/audio_E3D69F88_8A00_9B7A_41D0_82712A218B55_en.mp3
audioresource_ECCEB653_8A07_ADEE_41D3_92314A8E8EFD.mp3Url = media/audio_E3D69F88_8A00_9B7A_41D0_82712A218B55_en.mp3
audioresource_ECDD41DC_8A03_669A_41D2_5D930D2A88D6.mp3Url = media/audio_EC8286FD_8A00_AA9A_4197_E5733507F299_en.mp3
audioresource_ECDD41DC_8A03_669A_41D2_5D930D2A88D6.mp3Url = media/audio_EC8286FD_8A00_AA9A_4197_E5733507F299_en.mp3
### Floorplan
### Image
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imlevel_C6AC1D85_D8BF_28F3_41DB_94A1D003941E.url = media/popup_D5F5D808_FF43_D3D4_41E6_191BABB03741_en_0_2.jpg
imlevel_C6AC5D85_D8BF_28F3_41E6_6DFEE9C4EA2B.url = media/popup_D5F5D808_FF43_D3D4_41E6_191BABB03741_en_0_3.jpg
imlevel_C6AC5D85_D8BF_28F3_41E6_6DFEE9C4EA2B.url = media/popup_D5F5D808_FF43_D3D4_41E6_191BABB03741_en_0_3.jpg
imlevel_E878F1AD_D9B7_1833_41E4_9F80607CA16A.url = media/zoomImage_09D5E08A_1E03_40DB_419D_13BC862B6DDF_en_0_0.jpg
imlevel_E87801AD_D9B7_1833_41E6_56F320033541.url = media/zoomImage_09D5E08A_1E03_40DB_419D_13BC862B6DDF_en_0_1.jpg
imlevel_E87831AD_D9B7_1833_41E4_3B11A9CDF272.url = media/zoomImage_09D5E08A_1E03_40DB_419D_13BC862B6DDF_en_0_2.jpg
imlevel_E87851AD_D9B7_1833_41E6_10ED1D1B44F7.url = media/zoomImage_09D5E08A_1E03_40DB_419D_13BC862B6DDF_en_0_3.jpg
imlevel_E879B1BF_D9B7_180F_41E8_AA3A215967DD.url = media/zoomImage_2F69CF88_1F48_E85B_4197_DC4250DAAF82_en_0_0.jpg
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imlevel_E879F1BF_D9B7_180F_41E5_CA9A6AC56F7B.url = media/zoomImage_2F69CF88_1F48_E85B_4197_DC4250DAAF82_en_0_2.jpg
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imlevel_E87E51D1_D9B7_1813_41CA_FED932EFE052.url = media/zoomImage_6074688B_272B_9B0E_4183_0A367D153B5C_en_0_0.jpg
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imlevel_E87F91D1_D9B7_1813_4198_541366158CF9.url = media/zoomImage_6074688B_272B_9B0E_4183_0A367D153B5C_en_0_3.jpg
imlevel_E87EB1E2_D9B7_1831_41A1_C7CF34B0B762.url = media/zoomImage_6075F88C_272B_9B0A_4190_E1B6F243B6AE_en_0_0.jpg
imlevel_E87ED1E3_D9B7_1837_41B4_59C5905B4F02.url = media/zoomImage_6075F88C_272B_9B0A_4190_E1B6F243B6AE_en_0_1.jpg
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imlevel_E87CA214_D9B7_1811_41E5_4ECF53EBF5D8.url = media/zoomImage_E8338D64_CEDA_DE77_41DA_06D61645685A_en_0_3.jpg
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imlevel_E87E51EE_D9B7_1831_41D4_8C87B2038492.url = media/zoomImage_E83DCD60_CEDA_DE6F_41E0_D0F67055F074_en_0_3.jpg
### Popup Image
### Subtitle
panorama_717FB3DA_6950_CFA6_41B3_14EBFEE40246.subtitle = In here you can find Nightwish Fan product store and Kitee tourist information.
panorama_6CC65116_7B77_E934_41D3_9D3CA47E56D8.subtitle = The first room, Meadows of Heaven, tells you about Tuomas Holopainen’s childhood and the first decade of Nightwish.
panorama_AA52E2AA_80AE_529D_41DA_873FDBE8AB1A.subtitle = The main trophy room is filled with accolades bestowed on Nightwish along the years – Gold discs and awards.
panorama_6E7B677E_6577_A274_41BB_4AA3C32B660E.subtitle = The main trophy room is filled with accolades bestowed on Nightwish along the years – Gold discs and awards.
### Title
map_69E2AE2A_657C_A59D_41AD_78910DEC2CD4.label = Exhibition space
panorama_AA52E2AA_80AE_529D_41DA_873FDBE8AB1A.label = Higher than hope
panorama_6E7B677E_6577_A274_41BB_4AA3C32B660E.label = Higher than hope
panorama_717FB3DA_6950_CFA6_41B3_14EBFEE40246.label = LOBBY
panorama_6CC65116_7B77_E934_41D3_9D3CA47E56D8.label = Meadows of Heaven
map_696C4CF4_657C_6674_41B7_DABA4A2446CB.label = Musical instruments
album_3C77A03D_1B5A_406E_4197_99E2BB218655_0.label = Notes (0 of 3)
album_3C77A03D_1B5A_406E_4197_99E2BB218655_1.label = Notes (1 of 3)
album_3C77A03D_1B5A_406E_4197_99E2BB218655_2.label = Notes (2 of 3)
album_3C77A03D_1B5A_406E_4197_99E2BB218655_3.label = Notes (3 of 3)
album_3C77A03D_1B5A_406E_4197_99E2BB218655.label = Photo Album Notes (0 of 3)
## Right Click Menu
### Text
TDVAuthor.label = 360 Finland Oy
## Skin
### Button
Button_062AF830_1140_E215_418D_D2FC11B12C47_mobile.label = CONTACT
Button_062AF830_1140_E215_418D_D2FC11B12C47.label = CONTACT
Button_1D0C50DE_2D07_C6AD_41C1_CF4547A6CFAB.label = FLOOR PLANS
Button_1D0C50DE_2D07_C6AD_41C1_CF4547A6CFAB_mobile.label = FLOOR PLANS
Button_D0FD8D34_CECB_5FD7_41DD_DA66E6E3CAA6_mobile.label = FULL VERSION
Button_747D2210_56E6_8938_41CF_D9B936048512_mobile.label = FULL VERSION
Button_747D2210_56E6_8938_41CF_D9B936048512.label = FULL VERSION
Button_D0FD8D34_CECB_5FD7_41DD_DA66E6E3CAA6.label = FULL VERSION
Button_0A054365_2D09_CB9F_4145_8C365B373D19.label = FULL VERSION >
Button_0AEB5577_2D08_CE7B_41B6_192923248F4E_mobile.label = FULL VERSION >
Button_0AEB5577_2D08_CE7B_41B6_192923248F4E.label = FULL VERSION >
Button_0A054365_2D09_CB9F_4145_8C365B373D19_mobile.label = FULL VERSION >
Button_0B73474A_2D18_CB95_41B5_180037BA80BC.pressedLabel = Inserdt Text
Button_0B73474A_2D18_CB95_41B5_180037BA80BC_mobile.pressedLabel = Inserdt Text
Button_0399826A_2D79_4594_41BA_934A50D0E6B4.label = MANUSCRIPT
Button_0399826A_2D79_4594_41BA_934A50D0E6B4_mobile.label = MANUSCRIPT
Button_0B73474A_2D18_CB95_41B5_180037BA80BC_mobile.label = NEWS
Button_0B73474A_2D18_CB95_41B5_180037BA80BC.label = NEWS
Button_1D2C4FDF_2D7F_BAAB_4198_FBD1E9E469FF.label = Story moving mode
Button_1D2C4FDF_2D7F_BAAB_4198_FBD1E9E469FF_mobile.label = Story moving mode
### Dropdown
DropDown_76693574_6706_6C49_41B6_556A88510824.prompt = Floor plans
DropDown_76693574_6706_6C49_41B6_556A88510824_mobile.prompt = Floor plans
### Image
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FOUND
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The innocence,
the dreams of every man
THE YOUNGEST OF PENTTI HOLOPAINEN’S AND KIRSTI NORTIA-HOLOPAINEN’S THREE CHILDREN WAS BORN IN KITEE ON DECEMBER 25TH, 1976. AS A TODDLER, TUOMAS LOVED SPENDING TIME IN NATURE AND LIKED TO PLAY WITH HIS PLASTIC LETTERS AND LEAF THROUGH THIS DONALD DUCK MAGAZINES. FORM THEM, HE LEARNT TO READ ALREADY AGED UNDER THREE YEARS AND HIS LOVE FOR THE WORLD OF WALT DISNEY HAS NEVED CEASED SINCE. AS A SEVEN-YEAR OLD HE HAD ADVANCED TO READ CLASSIC FANTASY LITERATURE, SUCH AS J.R.R.
TOLKIEN’S THE LORD OF THE RINGS, WHICH HE LENT FROM LOCAL LIBRARY. ACCORDING TO TUOMAS HIMSELF, THE CHARACTERS IN THESE
BOOKS BECAME ALMOST AS REAL TO HIM AS HIS SCHOOLMATES.
TUOMAS WAS AN APT PUPIL, AND BIOLOGY WAS HIS SPECIAL INTEREST. ACCORDING TO HIS MOTHER TUOMAS HAD ALREADY DECIDED
HIS FUTURE VOCATION AS AN NINE-YEAR OLD, THE BOY WANTED TO BECOME A MARINE BIOLOGIST. HE WAS A SLIGHTLY INTROVERTED
BOOKWORM AND A MEMBER OF SEVERAL SCHOOL ORCHESTRAS PLAYING POP AND JAZZ MUSIC, FIRMLY TUTORED BY MUSIC LECTOR PLAMEN DIMOV. IN THESE BANDS TUOMAS PLAYED E.G. CLARINET, SAXOPHONE, AND KEYS.
AT THE MONTTU CLUB WHERE THE SCHOOL BANDS REHEARSED, TUOMAS FIRST MET THE SCHOOL’S BUDDING STAR SINGER,
TARJA TURUNEN. SOME OF THE SAME SCHOOL BANDS FEATURED ALSO THE FLEDGLING DRUMMER JUKKA NEVALAINEN,
A NIMBLE-FINGERED GUITAR PLAYER NAMED ERNO “EMPPU” VUORINEN AND A BASS PLAYER CALLED SAMPPA HIRVONEN.
SOME OF THESE BANDS’ EFFORTS WERE EVEN RECORDED.
AGED 15 TUOMAS SPENT A YEAR AS AN EXCHANGE STUDENT IN BELLE PLAINE, KANSAS, A HAMLET OF 2000 INHABITANTS A FEW MILES
SOUTH OF WICHITA. ON ARROWHEAD STADIUM IN KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI ON SEPTEMBER 17TH, 1992 TUOMAS WITNESSED A DOUBLE
HEADLINE CONCERT OF GUNS N’ ROSES AND METALLICA THAT ROCKED HIS WORLD AND MADE A TECTONIC SHIFT IN HIS MUSICAL TASTES.
IN THE BRINK OF ADULTHOOD TUOMAS TOOK HIS KEYS AND JOINED SOME LOCAL METAL BANDS, THE EDGIEST OF WHICH DIDN’T EXACTLY
PLEASE THE MOST CONSERVATIVE OF THE KITEE PEOPLE. JUKKA AND EMPPU HAD THEIR FLEDGLING BANDS AT THE TIME AS WELL, JUST NOT
AS SERIOUS – THEY MERELY PLAYED FOR THEIR AMUSEMENT, THEIR REPERTOIRE CONSISTING OF THEN-HIP POWER METAL AND ALL SORTS OF
FINNISH ROCK MUSIC. ONE OF THESE BANDS – AMBROSIA – ALSO FEATURED BASSIST SAMPPA HIRVONEN FOR A WHILE.
IN THE ARMY TUOMAS WAS A PART OF A MILITARY BAND, PLAYING CLARINET AND MARCHING DRUMS.
Then one day, a writer by a fire…
JUST BEFORE JOINING THE ARMY IN THE SUMMER OF 1996, TUOMAS AND HIS BANDMATES SPENT A CABIN WEEKEND ON THE ISLAND
OWNED BY TUOMAS’S FAMILY. THERE, BY THE CAMPFIRE TUOMAS GOT THE IDEA OF FORMING A BAND OF HIS OWN. IT WASN’T TO BE SIMILAR EDGY AND HARSH METAL THAT HE ALREADY PLAYED IN SO MANY BANDS BUT SIMPLE, ACOUSTIC MOOD MUSIC.
RIGHT FROM THE GET-GO, IT WAS CRYSTAL CLEAR TO HIM: THE BAND MUST HAVE A FEMALE LEAD VOCALIST.
…took a journey into a child-man’s heart
THE PERSONNEL NEEDED FOR TUOMAS’S PROJECT WERE EASY TO FIND FROM THE SCHOOL BANDS. 1ST JOINED EMPPU THE GUITAR PLAYER
AND THEN TUOMAS HAD TO OVERCOME HIS SHYNESS TO COAX TARJA IN AS WELL. ON HIS HOLIDAY LEAVE FROM THE ARMY, TUOMAS AND
HIS POSSE RECORDED THE 1ST NIGHTWISH DEMO. IT WAS CANNED AT THE KITEE COMMUNITY HOUSE WITH THE AID OF LOCAL SOUND
ENGINEER TERO KINNUNEN WHO TO THIS DAY STILL RECORDS ALL THEIR MUSIC. BY THE END OF HIS MILITARY SERVICE
IN THE SPRING OF 1997, TUOMAS HAD PENNED SEVEN MORE SONGS.
COME NEXT SUMMER, NATTVINDENS GRÅT – ONE OF THE BANDS TUOMAS PLAYED IN – HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TOUR IN SUPPORT OF
HELSINKI-BASED BABYLON WHORES’ EUROPEAN TOUR. AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, WHORES’ GUITAR PLAYER EWO “MEICHEM”
POHJOLA WORKED FOR THE HELSINKI-BASED RECORD LABEL SPINEFARM RECORDS AS AN A&R MANAGER.
AFTER MUCH OF HIS BANDMATES’ PEP TALK, TUOMAS MUSTERED THE COURAGE TO HAND 3 SONGS FROM NIGHTWISH’S DEMO TO EWO.
THE A&R MANAGER SMELLED THE STENCH OF POTENTIAL AND FORWARDED THE TAPE TO HIS BOSS RIKU PÄÄKKÖNEN,
WHO AFTER A LISTEN, WANTED MORE.
THE BAND EXPANDED TO A FOURSOME WITH EMPPU’S CLASSMATE JUKKA NEVALAINEN JOINING THE FOLD AS THE DRUMMER. TUOMAS’S
NEXT BATCH OF SONGS SCORED A RECORDING DEAL WITH SPINEFARM. NIGHTWISH SAW THEIR WORK COME INTO FRUITION WITH THE
RELEASE OF THE LIMITED 1ST EDITION OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM ANGELS FALL FIRST. PROBING THE MARKET FOR SUCH WISTFUL ACOUSTIC
BALLADRY, SPINEFARM PRINTED JUST 500 COPIES OF THE CD. THESE CDS, CONTAINING ALL NIGHTWISH SONGS UP TO THEN ARE NOW
SOUGHT-AFTER RARITIES WITH HEFTY PRICE TAGS. THE BAND THEMSELVES DIDN’T REGARD THE CD MUCH MORE THAN A DEMO BUT IT DID SELL WELL ENOUGH TO CONVINCE SPINEFARM TO RE-RELEASE AN EXPANDED VERSION OF IT TO WIDER AUDIENCES.
FOR THIS MORE SONGS WERE NEEDED.
A canvas of awe
HOWEVER, TUOMAS’S MUSIC HAD ALREADY CHANGED: TARJA’S DRAMATIC LYRIC SOPRANO PROVED A SHOCKING REVELATION TO
THE BAND AND FOR TUOMAS’S SONGWRITING IT OPENED A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES. NOW HEAVILY INSPIRED BY STRATOVARIUS,
AN INTERNATIONALLY LAUDED FINNISH POWER METAL BAND THAT JUKKA AND EMPPU HAD INTRODUCED TO HIM, TUOMAS PENNED
NEW SONGS THAT WERE WORLDS APART FROM THE MOOD MUSIC HE ENVISIONED PRIOR. THE NEW SONGS WERE POWER METAL,
LUSH WITH SWEEPING MELODIES, SOARING VOCALS, AND RAPID-FIRE DRUMMING.
THE NEW SONGS RENDERED THE “REAL” VERSION OF ANGELS… BIT OF A STYLISTICAL HODGEPODGE, BUT IT DIDN’T MATTER. IT WAS THE
LATE ‘90S, THE DAWN OF FINNISH HEAVY METAL’S WORLD DOMINATION WAS JUST AROUND THE CORNER,
AND UPON ITS RELEASE ANGELS… PROMPTLY SOLD SOME 8500 COPIES DOMESTICALLY.
SPEARHEADED BY ELVENPATH, THE NEW TRACKS, COMBINED WITH TARJA’S OPERA-TINGED SINGING AND TUOMAS’S MOVIE MUSIC
INFLUENCES BECAME THE CORNERSTONES OF THE NIGHTWISH TRADEMARK SOUND. THEY SKETCHED THE ROAD MAP TO
WHAT WOULD LATER BE CALLED SYMPHONIC METAL. THE ALBUM WAS LED BY THE ATMOSPHERIC CARPENTER
SINGLE AND ITS SOMEWHAT PERPLEXING PROMO VIDEO.
IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG BEFORE THE LOCAL PAPERS NOTICED THE KARELIAN METAL UPSTARTS. SOON AFTER, NATIONWIDE MEDIA FOLLOWED SUIT. THE RELEASE OF THE “REAL” VERSION OF THE CD WAS CELEBRATED WITH A HOME TURF SHOW IN FRONT OF 400 PEOPLE AT THE KITEE COMMUNITY HOUSE. SIX MORE SHOWS AROUND FINLAND FOLLOWED. ON THOSE SHOWS, SAMPPA HIRVONEN PLAYED BASS AND TARJA WAS HELPED BY BACKUP SINGER MARIANNA PELLINEN. A NICE SIDE NOTE WOULD BE TO MENTION THAT ON THE LAST OF THOSE SHOWS,
NIGHTWISH SUPPORTED FINNISH METAL PIONEERS TAROT, LED BY ONE MARKO HIETALA...
The story that will read you real
BY THE TIME OF RECORDING THEIR 2ND ALBUM ALL THE GUYS HAD COMPLETED THEIR COMPULSORY MILITARY SERVICE AND NOW
THE BAND HAD ENLISTED A PERMANENT BASS PLAYER TOO. THE NEW MAN, SAMI VÄNSKÄ, WAS TUOMAS’S BUDDY FROM NATTVINDENS GRÅT. THE BAND WAS NOW READY, RAVENOUS, AND RARING TO GO.
THE NEW ALBUM, OCEANBORN, TOOK THE BAND’S MUSICAL CHOPS TO THEIR LIMITS. THE STRATOVARIUS INFLUENCE WAS
NOW DOMINANTLY AUDIBLE AND EVERYONE PLAYED AS IF THEIR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT. TARJA, WHO STUDIED AT
THE SIBELIUS ACADEMY AT THE TIME, GATHERED MORE ATTENTION TO THE BAND EACH DAY WITH HER UNIQUE VOICE.
NIGHTWISH WAS ENTERING THE BRINK OF SOMETHING NEW ENTIRELY.
WITH OCEANBORN THE BAND STARTED THEIR ON-GOING COOPERATION WITH PRODUCER AND MIXING ENGINEER MIKKO KARMILA.
HIS COHORT AT FINNVOX STUDIOS, MIKA JUSSILA WAS ABOARD THE NIGHTWISH SHIP ALREADY ON ANGELS FALL FIRST
AND HAS MASTERED ALL THEIR ALBUMS SINCE.
THE FIRST SINGLE CUT FROM OCEANBORN WAS SACRAMENT OF WILDERNESS. FOR IT, THE BAND SHOT A VIDEO AT THEIR HOME TURF AT
KITEE COMMUNITY HOUSE. THIS ONE SONG “GIG” WAS THE COMING OUT PARTY FOR THE BAND’S NEW BASS PLAYER.
MUCH TO THE BAND’S SURPRISE, THEIR CAREER PROSPECTS SKYROCKETED. THE SALES OF ANGELS... HAD ALREADY BEEN PROMISING BUT NOTHING HAD INDICATED THAT THE 1ST SINGLE OF THE 2ND ALBUM WOULD ALREADY HIT GOLD RECORD SALES MARK BUT SO IT DID,
AND SO DID THE ALBUM AS WELL. THE DOMESTIC BREAKTHROUGH WAS BECOMING A REALITY.
SACRAMENT… SINGLE HIT #1 ON THE CHARTS AND SCORED THE BAND THEIR 1ST TV APPEARANCE, WHERE THE MORTIFIED BAND
PERFORMED 2 SONGS LIVE IN A WEEKLY MUSIC CHARTS SHOW. THE TV SPOT WAS JUST THE 9TH GIG OF THE BAND’S YOUNG CAREER.
OCEANBORN SPAWNED ANOTHER SINGLE TOO, WALKING IN THE AIR, A RE-IMAGINING OF A SONG FROM THE CLASSIC HOLIDAY SEASON
ANIMATED FILM SNOWMAN. LIKE THE ONE BEFORE, THE SINGLE EXCEEDED THE GOLD SALES MARK.
I am the journey
A PART OF OCEANBORN’S LOOT WAS THE BAND’S 1ST GERMAN RECORDING DEAL. THEIR LABEL THERE, DRAKKAR RECORDS, HAD A STROKE
OF MARKETING GENIUS AND REQUESTED TUOMAS TO PEN A SONG – SLEEPING SUN – TO CELEBRATE THE SOLSTICE OVER EUROPE. THE SONG
BECAME A SURPRISE HIT IN GERMANY. DRAKKAR’S CEO STATES THAT BETWEEN THE SONG’S PLACEMENTS ON VARIOUS POPULAR METAL
COMPILATIONS AND ITS SINGLE SALES, SLEEPING SUN HAS REACHED SOME 500 000 GERMAN HOUSEHOLDS.
TO NO ONE’S SURPRISE, IN FINLAND THE SINGLE SOLD GOLD.
HOWEVER, THE GOLD STREAK OF 3 SINGLES AND AN ALBUM DIDN’T EXACTLY MATCH THE SIZES OF CONCERT VENUES AND THE BAND’S GIG
SALARIES. THEY ROAMED THE RAINY ROADS IN A JALOPY OF A BUS TO PLAY GIGS FOR PITTANCE AT THE OPENING CEREMONIES OF AN
ENVELOPE AND OTHER EVENTS OF EQUAL PROMINENCE. THEIR BOOKING AGENCY APPEARED CLUELESS, BUT THE HARDSHIPS
OF THE FINNISH SUMMER OF WILDERNESS TOUR FORGED THE BAND AND THEIR CREW INTO A TIGHT-KNIT UNIT.
THE WORLD OUTSIDE FINLAND WAS STARTING TO TAKE NOTE TOO. THE BUDDING SUCCESSES OF OCEANBORN AND SLEEPING SUN
CONVINCED DRAKKAR RECORDS TO INVEST ON THE BAND’S 1ST EUROPEAN TOUR IN TOW OF GERMAN METAL VETERANS, RAGE.
NIGHTWISH’S 1ST SHOW OUTSIDE FINLAND TOOK PLACE IN SCHÜTZENHAUS CLUB IN MARKNEUKIRCHEN,
GERMANY ON NOVEMBER 12TH, 1999. AS THE TOUR WENT ON, MUCH TO THEIR CHAGRIN RAGE HAD TO WITNESS
THE SUPPORT BAND RAPIDLY GROW THEIR POPULARITY AND OUTPLAY THE HEADLINERS NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.
NIGHTWISH PLAYED A TOTAL OF 58 SHOWS IN SUPPORT FOR OCEANBORN.
Our songs will echo
over the mountains and seas
NIGHTWISH’S 3RD ALBUM, WISHMASTER, RELIED EVERY BIT AS MUCH UPON FANTASY AND POWER METAL AS OCEANBORN
BUT SAW SOME IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCTION VALUES AND DIVERSITY, FEATURING ALSO SOME SOFTER TOUCHES.
THE HEROES OF THE ALBUM THOUGH, WERE ITS SYMPHONIC RING AND POP SENSIBILITIES.
THE RECORD’S RELEASE WAS CELEBRATED WITH A SPECTACULAR GIG IN THE BAND’S HOMETOWN OF KITEE ON MAY 22ND, 2000 IN FRONT
OF 5000 SPECTATORS. FOLLOWING THE ALREADY FAMILIAR PATTERN, THE ALBUM SOLD GOLD IN 3 WEEKS. THE TITLE TRACK WITH ITS HUGE
SING-ALONG CHORUS AND SINGLE HIT BALLAD DEEP SILENT COMPLETE PAVED WAY FOR WISHMASTER TO ALREADY TOUCH THE OUTSKIRTS
OF TOP 20 ON THE GERMAN ALBUM CHART. WISMASTER WAS LICENCED TO SOUTH AMERICA TOO,
WHERE IT WAS DISTRIBUTED BY A COMPANY CALLED NEMS ENTERPRISES.
IN JUNE 2000 NIGHTWISH PARTICIPATED IN THE FINNISH EUROVISION SONG CONTEST QUALIFICATION WITH THE SONG SLEEPWALKER.
THE BAND WON THE AUDIENCE VOTES BY A LANDSLIDE BUT WITH AWE-INSPIRING MUSICAL EXPERTISE, THE JURY DECIDED TO OUST IT FROM
THE FINAL. THIS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE BECAME A PERFECT PUBLIC RELATIONS TRIUMPH – AT LEAST NOW EVERY FINNISH GRANDMA
AND HER TABBY KNEW WHO NIGHTWISH WERE. A SMALL BATCH OF PROMOTIONAL SINGLES WAS ISSUED FOR RADIO STATIONS
AND 16 SOME YEARS LATER, THIS RADIO-ONLY PROMO BECAME THE MOST EXPENSIVE ONE SONG CD EVER,
ACCORDING TO ALL-KNOWING DISCOGS WEBSITE.
IN THE SUMMER OF 2000, THE WISHMASTER TOUR SAW NIGHTWISH FLY TO A DREAM FAR ACROSS THE SEA TO FACE THEIR EXTREMELY
PASSIONATE SOUTH AMERICAN FANS FOR THE 1ST TIME. POPULARITY CAME AS A SHOCK TO THE BAND. IT WAS ON THIS SOUTH AMERICAN
TOUR WHERE TARJA, ALREADY WIDELY KNOWN FOR HER VOICE, MET HER FUTURE HUSBAND AND PERSONAL MANAGER. LATER,
WISHMASTER TOUR SAW THE BAND MAKE THEIR LIVE DEBUTS ALSO IN SOUTH KOREA AND RUSSIA.
Pull the plug, end the pain
THE BAND CARRIED ON TOURING AS MUCH AS TARJA’S CLASSICAL STUDIES IN GERMANY ALLOWED, AND FOR POSTERITY, THE TAMPERE
SHOW OF THE TOUR WAS RECORDED AND RELEASED AS THE FROM WISHES TO ETERNITY LIVE ALBUM. THE LIVE DVD SOLD PLATINUM AND
STILL HOLDS POSITION 10 ON THE LIST OF BEST-SELLING FINNISH MUSIC DVDS.
ANOTHER EUROPEAN LEG OF THE TOUR FOLLOWED IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER OF 2000. THE SUPPORTING BAND ON IT WAS SINERGY,
FEATURING A YOUNG AXE ACE CALLED ALEXI LAIHO AND A CERTAIN MARKO HIETALA ON THE BASS.
THE WISHMASTER TOUR WENT ON FOR 97 SHOWS ANF LEFT NIGHTWISH FACING ANOTHER LINEUP CHANGE. SAMI VÄNSKÄ’S LAST RELEASE
IN THE BAND WAS TO BE OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY EP, RELEASED IN THE SUMMER OF 2001 AND PROMOTED BY A MIGHTY FINE VIDEO
OF THE TITLE TRACK. NIGHTWISH’S BASS PLAYER’S SLOT WASN’T VACANT FOR LONG. CLUTCHING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A LARGER ROLE
INCLUDING SINGING, HIETALA PROMPTLY LEFT SINERGY AND JOINED NIGHTWISH.
SPINEFARM RECORDS’ A&R MANAGER EWO POHJOLA QUIT HIS DAY JOB TO WORK AS THE FULL-TIME MANAGER OF NIGHTWISH, AND TOGETHER WITH THE BAND’S FINANCIAL MANAGER TONI PEIJU HE FOUNDED KING FOO ENTERTAINMENT. NOT JUST MANAGERS, THE DYNAMIC
DUO TOOK OVER AS THE BAND’S BOOKING AGENCY AS WELL.
BY 2003 NIGHTWISH’S RECORD SALES HAD EXCEEDED HALF A MILLION COPIES GLOBALLY.
Sanest Choice in the Insane World
NIGHTWISH’S 4TH ALBUM CENTURY CHILD SAW CHANGES AND GROWTH IN THE BAND’S MUSIC. MARKO’S WORLD-CLASS HEAVY METAL
TENOR COMPLIMENTED TARJA’S DRAMATIC LYRIC SOPRANO IN WAYS NEVER HEARD IN HARDER MUSIC BEFORE. TARJA TOO EXPANDED HER
LYRICAL TOOLBOX WITH A POPPIER TINGE, MAKING HER SOUND A BIT MORE APPROACHABLE. MARKO’S INFLUENCE, BOTH VOCALLY AND
WITH HIS MORE PERCUSSIVE, ALMOST VIOLENT HEAVY METAL BASS PLAYING, BLANKETED THE SONGS THAT WERE DARKER, HEAVIER AND
MORE PERSONAL THAN BEFORE. ANOTHER NEW DIMENSION WAS THE ORCHESTRA – CENTURY CHILD WAS THE 1ST NIGHTWISH ALBUM
WITH A REAL ORCHESTRA – JOENSUU CITY ORCHESTRA – ON IT.
NO MORE EUROPEAN POWER METAL IN THE VEIN OF WISHMASTER AND OCEANBORN, CENTURY CHILD SOUNDED BIGGER AND EDGIER, MORE
CINEMATIC. FINLAND WAS RIDING THE SURF OF THE BIG HEAVY METAL BOOM AND THE MASSES WERE READY. MARKO HIETALA, WHO WAS
A LEGEND ON HIS OWN RIGHT ALREADY BEFORE, HAD SEEN IT ALL AND DONE IT ALL YET NEVER MANAGED TO HAVE A HIT, GOT HIS FIRST FIX
OF FAME WHEN THE EVER DREAM SINGLE REACHED THE GOLD PLATEAU IN 3 DAYS AND CENTURY CHILD REACHED THAT SAME MILESTONE
IN MERE 2 HOURS. 10 DAYS LATER, CENTURY CHILD WAS ALREADY HITTING PLATINUM NUMBERS AND HAS LATER GONE ON TO SELL MORE
THAN 86 THOUSAND COPIES – A DOUBLE PLATINUM – IN FINLAND. IN GERMANY THE ALBUM HIT #5 ON THE CHARTS AFTER THE SALES
NORTH OF 90 000 COPIES. CENTURY CHILD BROKE THE TOP 50 IN HALF A DOZEN OTHER COUNTRIES AS WELL. NIGHTWISH WAS BECOMING
AN INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON. ANOTHER PLATINUM-SELLING SINGLE IN FINLAND, BLESS THE CHILD, DROPPED IN JULY.
Little boy, such precious joy,
Is dead to the world
CENTURY CHILD DEALT WITH THEMES OF FADING INNOCENCE, AND SWALLOWING THE BITTER PILLS OF LIFE, LAUNCHED TOURS AROUND
EUROPE, RUSSIA, AND SOUTH AMERICA, ALL STILL PACED BY TARJA’S STUDIES. THE EUROPEAN LEG OF THE TOUR IN THE FALL OF 2002 SAW
THE BAND SUPPORTED BY DUTCH METALLERS AFTER FOREVER, FRONTED BY A PROMISING SOPRANO NAMED FLOOR JANSEN.
IN THE SPRING OF 2003 THE BAND HAD A 3 MONTH BREAK. TARJA FOCUSED ON HER STUDIES AND THE OTHERS DABBLED WITH THEIR SIDE
PROJECTS. TUOMAS RECORDED AN ALBUM WITH FOR MY PAIN..., MARKO WORKED WITH HIS LEGENDARY BAND TAROT, JUKKA RECORDED
SETHIAN’S SOLE ALBUM AND EMPPU EXPLORED HIS MELODIC SIDE IN HIS NEW HARD ROCK BAND, BROTHER FIRETRIBE.
THE FALL OF 2003 SAW NIGHTWISH PLAY THEIR 1ST SHOW STATESIDE AND ALSO IN THE UK. WORLD TOUR OF THE CENTURY
AND SUMMER OF INNOCENCE TOUR CONSISTED OF 59 CONCERTS AND REACHED 600 000 PEOPLE.
THE BAND’S HISTORY AND TOMFOOLERIES WERE DOCUMENTED ON A DVD CALLED END OF INNOCENCE WHICH WAS LARGELY
SHOT IN THE HOLOPAINEN FAMILY’S CABIN ISLAND. NIGHTWISH’S DOMESTIC POPULARITY WAS REACHING SATURATION POINT,
AS TESTIFIED BY THE FACT THAT EVEN IF END OF INNOCENCE HAS VERY LITTLE MUSIC IN IT, IT STILL TO THIS DAY POSSESSES
POSITION #16 IN THE LIST OF BEST-SELLING FINNISH MUSIC DVDS.
NIGHTWISH FOUNDED THEIR COMPANY SCENE NATION IN NOVEMBER 2003. TARJA CHOSE NOT TO BECOME A SHAREHOLDER.
CENTURY CHILD FULFILLED THE BAND’S RECORDING DEALS IN FINLAND, GERMANY, AND THE UNITED STATES. IN GERMANY, DRAKKAR MILKED
THE OLD CONTRACT DRY BY RELEASING A COMPILATION ALBUM, BUT NIGHTWISH’S FOCUS AND MASSIVE FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS WERE
ALREADY IN NEW DEALS AND ALBUM THAT WOULD SHAPE THEIR FUTURE FOREVER…
Following the trail of tears,
once we were here.
WHAT FOLLOWED WAS ONCE, A PRODUCTION WITH A STEEP PRICE TAG OF 250 000 EUROS, THE MOST EXPENSIVE FINNISH MUSIC ALBUM
EVER UP TO THAT DATE. IT WAS AN ORCHESTRAL SYMPHONIC METAL MONOLITH THAT REDEFINED THE ENTIRE
GENRE AND CROWNED NIGHTWISH ITS SOVEREIGN RULER.
THE COMBINATION OF A METAL BAND AND THE VIRTUOSIC LONDON SESSION ORCHESTRA WAS A BET THAT COST A LOT BUT PAID OFF
HANDSOMELY. THE BAND HAD FOUND A VISION COMPLETELY THEIR OWN, A GRAND CINEMATIC SOUND, AND A BALANCE BETWEEN INSTANT
HITTERS AND HEAVIER, MORE EXPERIMENTAL SONGS. FROM THE 1ST SINGLE NEMO ASCENDING TO CATHEDRAL-LIKE MELODIC HEIGHTS,
TO EPIC GHOST LOVE SCORE WHICH WAS BUILT LIKE A RONDO SONATA TO THE THRASH METAL BREAKDOWNS OF ROMANTICIDE
AND THE DOOMY DIRGE OF HIGHER THAN HOPE, ALL THE WAY TO CREEK MARY’S BLOOD – COMPLETE WITH A LAKOTA SIOUX
WITH NATIVE AMERICAN WOODWINDS, AND TO CAP IT, A SONG SUNG COMPLETELY IN FINNISH, THE BAND’S SONGWRITING WAS BRAVE AND STAGGERINGLY WIDE IN SCOPE.
THE BAND INVESTED HEAVILY TO THE ALBUM’S LEADING VIDEO, NEMO. REALIZED WITH THE CRÉME DE LA CRÈME OF FINNISH MOVIE
BUSINESS IT COST ANOTHER 200 000 EUROS. AS YOU ALREADY KNOW, THE STORY OF NIGHTWISH IS A STORY OF SUPERLATIVES, SO
NATURALLY, NEMO WAS THE MOST EXPENSIVE MUSIC VIDEO EVER DONE IN OUR LITTLE NORTHERN HOMELAND. THE VIDEO AND THE SINGLE
BECAME THE BIGGEST EVER HIT SONG OF NIGHTWISH, SELLING PLATINUM IN FINLAND AND NABBING 1# CHART POSITIONS IN E.G.
IN HUNGARY AND BRAZIL’S MTV CHANNEL. FURTHERMORE, IT BROKE TOP 10S IN GERMANY, NORWAY, GREECE AND ON THE
EVER-IMPORTANT UK ROCK CHARTS. EVENTUALLY, NEMO ALSO FOUND ITS WAY TO THE ENDING CREDITS OF AN AMERICAN
HORROR MOVIE THE CAVE, AND JUST LIKE THAT, THE BAND HAD MANAGED TO SNEAK THEIR WAY TO THE
NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT AMERICAN MUSIC MARKET.
THE STAKES WERE HIGH BUT PAID OFF. ONCE EXCEEDED PLATINUM SALES ON THE DAY OF ITS RELEASE. THIS WAS CELEBRATED WITH
A SOLD-OUT SHOW IN THEIR HOMETOWN, FOLLOWED BY A 130 SHOW WORLD TOUR, THEIR LONGEST UP TO THEN. IT SENT THE BAND FOR
THE FIRST TIME TO JAPAN, AND AUSTRALIA, AND TO SEVERAL MAJOR EUROPEAN FESTIVAL STAGES. IT ALSO SAW THEM SUPPORT
SOME OF THE MOST LEGENDARY METAL BANDS OF OUR TIME SUCH AS IRON MAIDEN AND MÖTLEY CRÜE.
FOR A WHILE, ONCE POSSESSED THE #1 POSITION ON THE EUROPEAN TOP 100 ALBUM CHART AS THE BEST-SELLING ALBUM IN ALL OF
EUROPE. LATER, IT HAS GONE ON TO SELL MORE THAN 2.3 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE. IN FINLAND’S IT’S SCORED TRIPLE PLATINUM
AND IT HAS EXCEEDED GOLD SALES IN SIX OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. ON THE PIVOTAL UK ROCK CHART, IT DWELLED FOR OVER A YEAR.
IT ALSO BROUGHT NIGHTWISH TWO OF THEIR RECORD-HOLDING FIFTEEN EMMA AWARDS,
WHICH ARE EQUIVALENT OF FINNISH GRAMMY AWARDS.
NIGHTWISH’S 1ST AMERICAN TOUR FOLLOWED IN THE FALL OF 2004. IN NATIVE FINLAND, THEIR POPULARITY WAS REACHING FEVER PITCH,
SO MUCH SO THAT THEY WERE INVITED TO PERFORM IN THE OPENING CEREMONIES OF THE TRACK AND FIELD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN
HELSINKI OLYMPIC STADIUM IN 2005. THE FINAL SHOW OF THE TOUR IN FRONT OF 11500 SPECTATORS AT HARTWALL ARENA IN HELSINKI
WAS IMMORTALIZED ON THE END OF AN ERA LIVE RELEASE, ENDING TARJA TURUNEN’S PERIOD AS THE NIGHTWISH FRONTWOMAN.
END OF AN ERA STILL HOLDS POSITION #4 ON THE BEST-SELLING MUSIC DVDS EVER CHART IN FINLAND.
BY THE END OF ONCE ALBUM AND TOUR CYCLE NIGHTWISH HAS PERFORMED IN 40 COUNTRIES AND SOLD OVER FOUR MILLION ALBUMS.
IT WAS TIME FOR A WELL-DESERVED BREAK, THAT SAW THE RELEASE OF ONCE UPON A NIGHTWISH,
A BOOK TELLING THE STORY OF THEIR FIRST TEN YEARS.
Take the road less traveled by
FOLLOWING THE END OF THE TARJA ERA THE BAND SOUGHT HIGH AND LOW FOR A NEW SINGER.
HAVING LISTENED TO 2000 DEMOS IN EIGHT MONTHS, THE BAND SELECTED THEIR NEW FRONTWOMAN,
A SWEDISH LADY NAMED ANETTE OLZON.
ANETTE HAD A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT VOICE THAN HER ALREADY INTERNATIONALLY APPLAUDED PREDECESSOR.
OLZON SUNG WITH A WARMER, POP-TINGED TONE THAT APPEALED TO A GROWING NUMBER OF NEW NIGHTWISH LISTENERS.
ANETTE WAS 1ST HEARD IN NIGHTWISH ON THE EVA SINGLE ON MAY 25TH, 2007. THE NEW ALBUM IT WAS CUT FROM, DARK PASSION PLAY,
TOOK TEN MONTHS TO RECORD AND COST RECORD-BREAKING HALF A MILLION EUROS. AGAIN, THE BAND WAS ALL-IN, AND AGAIN THEY
REAPED BEAUTIFUL REWARDS. RECORDED AT LONDON’S FAMED ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS WITH THE HELP OF LONDON SESSION ORCHESTRA
AND ORCHESTRATED BY PIP WILLIAMS, DARK PASSION PLAY FEATURED ALMOST 130 MUSICIANS.
DARK PASSION PLAY GREW NIGHTWISH INTO A NEW LEVEL. THE SONGWRITING WAS AGAIN MORE VERSATILE, SPANNING FROM THE
MAINSTREAM ROCK HIT AMARANTH TO HEAVILY FOLK-TINGED SONGS AND ANGRY METAL, COLOURED VERY DARK BY THE HARD TIMES IN
THE BAND’S RECENT HISTORY. ANETTE SHONE IN THE LIGHTER PIECES, BRINGING TO THE SONGS A WARM, FRESH TOUCH THAT FOUND A
MASSIVE FOLLOWING FROM PEOPLE WHO HADN’T FOUND THE SAME APPEAL IN THE FORMER SINGER’S CLASSICAL VOICE.
CHANGING SINGERS DID LITTLE TO SLOW THE BAND DOWN. DOMESTICALLY, DARK PASSION PLAY SOLD GOLD IN ADVANCE SALES ALONE,
WHICH WAS OF COURSE, YET ANOTHER RECORD. THE ALBUM DEBUTED AT #1 IN SIX EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND HAS SINCE
REACHED THE GOLD PLATEAU IN AUSTRIA, SWEDEN, POLAND, AND SWITZERLAND. GERMANY, TRADITIONALLY A STRONG MARKET
FOR NIGHTWISH, AWARDED THE BAND WITH A PLATINUM RECORD AND GERMAN RECORDING INDUSTRY’S
ECHO AWARD AS THE BEST INTERNATIONAL ROCK BAND OF 2008.
WITH ITS DOMESTIC SALES EXCEEDING 126 000 COPIES – A QUADRUPLE PLATINUM – DARK PASSION PLAY REMAINS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL
NIGHTWISH ALBUM IN FINLAND TO DATE. IT IS THE 29TH MOST SOLD ALBUM IN FINNISH MUSIC HISTORY
AND GLOBALLY IT HAS SOLD NORTH OF TWO MILLION COPIES.
It was us, roaming the rainy roads.
DARK PASSION PLAY WORLD TOUR STARTED IN MAY 2007. THE TWO-YEAR TOUR CONSISTED OF STAGGERING 199 SHOWS AND TOOK
A SEVERE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TOLL ON THE EVERYONE IN THE BAND. THE ROAD LED THE BAND FOR THE FIRST TIME TO ISRAEL, CHINA,
HONG KONG, LITHUANIA, LUXEMBOURG, IRELAND, SERBIA, AND CROATIA. THE EUROPEAN LEG OF THE TOUR SAW THE BAND JOIDED BY
AN ADDITIONAL LIVE MEMBER, THE MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST AND A GENERAL RAY OF SUNSHINE, TROY DONOCKLEY, WHO’D PLAYED HIS
UILLEAN PIPES AND TIN WHISTLES ALREADY ON THE ALBUM. WHILE THE TOUR WENT ON, MARCH OF 2009 SAW THE RELEASE OF THE LIVE EP MADE IN HONG KONG (AND IN VARIOUS OTHER PLACES).
THE LONGEST TOUR OF THE BAND’S CAREER ENDED WITH A SOLD-OUT SHOW AT HELSINKI’S HARTWALL ARENA IN SEPTEMBER OF 2009.
IT WOULD TAKE A BREAK OF TWO AND A HALF YEARS BEFORE THE BAND RETURNED ON THE ROAD.
Riding the day, every day into sunset
FIRST CATCHY TUNES OF THE FOLLOWING ALBUM WERE HEARD ON ITS LEADING SINGLE STORYTIME. THE ALBUM AFTER, IMAGINAERUM,
WITH ITS CREEPY AMUSEMENT-PARK-AT-NIGHT VIBE WAS A MULTI-FACETED CINEMATIC AFFAIR. TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN TOLD IN INTERVIEWS
THAT THE MUSIC WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY AN ARMY OF FILM SCORE COMPOSERS, THE MOVIE DIRECTOR TIM BURTON, THE FANTASY
AUTHOR NEIL GAIMAN, AND THE MASTER OF SURREAL ART, SALVADOR DALÍ.
SLIGHTLY OFF THE HINGES OR NOT, IMAGINAERUM TOOK OFF WHERE DARK PASSION PLAY LEFT. IN FINLAND,
IT SOLD 50000 COPIES – DOUBLE PLATINUM – ON THE DAY OF ITS RELEASE, NOVEMBER 30TH, 2011.
EVENTUALLY, IT WOULD REACH TRIPLE PLATINUM AND COLLECT GOLD DISCS IN FIVE OTHER EUROPEAN TERRITORIES.
A YEAR LATER THE ALBUM’S ACCOMPANIMENT, IMAGINAERUM THE MOVIE WAS COMPLETE. THE BAND’S INITIAL IDEA WAS TO FILM MUSIC
VIDEO FOR ALL 13 SONGS OF THE ALBUM, BUT IN TRUE NIGHTWISH FASHION IT BECAME ANOTHER ALL-IN OR NOTHING DEAL. THE DARK
FANTASY MOVIE COST A WHOPPING 3,7 MILLION EURO TO COMPLETE. FILMED FOR OVER A YEAR AND DIRECTED BY STOBE HARJU, TELLING
A TALE OF A TERMINALLY ILL COMPOSER ON HIS DEATHBED STRUGGLING TO GATHER THE REMAINS OF HIS MEMORIES, THE MOVIE WAS A
TREAT FOR THE NIGHTWISH FAITHFUL BUT PERHAPS A BIT MORE CONFUSING FOR GENERAL AUDIENCES.
THE MOVIE, IN TURN, WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A SOUNDTRACK CALLED IMAGINAERUM (THE SCORE) BY NIGHTWISH,
LARGELY COMPOSED AT TUOMAS’ BEHEST AND FOLLOWING HIS IDEAS BY PETRI ALANKO, WHO IS BETTER
KNOWN FOR HIS ENDEAVORS IN VIDEO GAME MUSIC AND POP.
WISER AFTER THE EXCRUCIATING PREVIOUS TOUR, NIGHTWISH WOVED NEVER TO PUSH THEMSELVES TO THE LIMIT WITH TRAVELING AGAIN.
THE IMAGINAERUM WORLD TOUR LAUNCHED WITH A SECRET GIG IN LOS ANGELESISSA IN JANUARY OF 2012. AFTER THE EUROPEAN LEG AND SUMMER FESTIVALS, THE CARAVAN EMBARKED FOR AN AMERICAN TOUR THAT WOULD SEE ANOTHER ERA OF NIGHTWISH COME TO ITS CONCLUSION.
ANETTE OLZON’S ERA IN NIGHTWISH ENDED AFTER TWO ALBUMS, A MOVIE, AND ONE LIVE EP. THOSE FIVE YEARS INCLUDED TWO OF THE
THREE COMMERCIALLY MOST SUCCESSFUL NIGHTWISH ALBUMS TO DATE. TO THIS DAY TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN STRESSES
THAT NO ONE ON THIS PLANET COULD’VE SUNG THOSE TWO ALBUMS BETTER THAN ANETTE OLZON.
A verse of me, a verse in need,
of a pure heart singing me to peace
FAMOUSLY, IT ONLY TOOK 48 HOURS TO FIND A STAND-IN SINGER TO DO THE REST OF THE TOUR. THE SAVING ANGEL CAME IN THE FORM OF
DUTCH VALKYRIE GODDESS FLOOR JANSEN, AN OLD BUDDY OF NIGHTWISH FROM THEIR EUROPEAN TOUR OF 2002.
FLOOR’S NIGHTWISH DEBUT WAS SEEN IN SEATTLE ON OCTOBER 1ST, 2012.
TEN MONTHS LATER THE REBORN SYMPHONIC METAL JUGGERNAUT RECORDED THEIR SEMINAL PERFORMANCE AS THE HEADLINERS OF THE
LEGENDARY WACKEN OPEN AIR METAL FESTIVAL, BEFORE A SCREAMING SEA OF PEOPLE 82 000 STRONG. THE EVENT WAS RELEASED AS THE
SHOWTIME, STORYTIME DVD. THE IMAGINAERUM TOUR ENDED TWO WEEKS LATER, HAVING LASTED FOR 104 CONCERTS AND 18 MONTHS.
FLOOR’S TRY-OUT IN NIGHTWISH ENDED IN OCTOBER 2013 WHEN SHE WAS WELCOMED AS AN OFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE BAND.
A YEAR OF COOPERATION HAD PROVED THAT SHE WAS EVERYTHING NIGHTWISH NEEDED AND VICE VERSA.
EVERY BIT AS CRUCIAL WAS THE OTHER ”NEW“ MEMBER, THE INFINITELY TALENTED TROY DONOCKLEY AS WELL.
Into White Agony Creek
DURING THE END OF 2013 AND 2014 TUOMAS CONCENTRATED IN REALIZING HIS 15-YEAR LONG DREAM – A SOLO ALBUM CALLED MUSIC
INSPIRED BY THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SCROOGE. THE CONCEPT ALBUM WAS A SOUNDTRACK WITHOUT A MOVIE, TUOMAS’ TRIBUTE TO AN
ICONIC COMIC NOVEL ILLUSTRATED BY DON ROSA. WHO ELSE BETTER TO ILLUSTRATE TE COVER ART THAN ROSA HIMSELF,
WHO ALSO PERFORMED ON THE ALBUM’S SINGLE VIDEO, A LIFETIME OF ADVENTURE.
DURING THIS PROLIFIC SONGWRITING PHASE TUOMAS ALSO SKETCHED SONGS FOR THE NEXT NIGHTWISH ALBUM
AND COMPLETED A CHARITY SONG CALLED LOHTU FOR HELSINKI’S NEW CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL.
Finding the way back home
IN APRIL AND MAY OF 2014 IT WAS AGAIN THE TIME FOR THE BAND TO RETREAT FROM THE WORLD AND PREPARE DEMOS FOR THE NEW
ALBUM. THE RECORDINGS TOOK PLACE FIRST IN HATTULA AND LATER IN THE BAND’S DEAR RÖSKÖ CAMP IN KITEE. DURING THE
RECORDINGS IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT JUKKA’S HEALTH WOULDN’T ALLOW HIM TO CONTINUE IN THE BAND. THE DRUMMED HAD SUFFERED
FROM SEVERE INSOMNIA MOST OF HIS ADULT LIFE AND NOW THE TIME HAD COME TO STEP DOWN FROM THE DRUM THRONE.
JUKKA STILL WORKS WITH NIGHTWISH IN THE BUSINESS SIDE OF THINGS, WHILE HIS DEAR FRIEND AND LONG-TIME DRUM TECH,
THE ATOMIC CLOCK OF VAASA, KAI HAHTO HAS TAKEN OVER THE DRUM THRONE. FROM TUOMAS’S CEREBRAL NURSERY INTO A MUSICAL FEAST ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL TOOK ITS SHAPE. NAMED AFTER A
SENTENCE IN CHARLES DARWIN’S BOOK THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES, THE ALBUM SAW NIGHTWISH SAY A FOND FAREWELL TO FANTASY
WORLDS AND FIND EVEN GRANDER DRAMA IN THE WONDERS OF REAL WORLD AND SCIENCE. THE NEW SONGS DEALT WITH THE PLENITUDE
OF NATURE AND SCIENCE, A HUMAN BEING’S LIFE AND ITS BREVITY AND FRAGILITY. LADEN WITH SOFTER MOMENTS AS WELL AS BANGERS,
THE ALBUM’S CROWN JEWEL WAS A 24 MINUTE EPIC, THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, A SONG THAT WENT WHERE NO SONG HAD GONE
BEFORE, TELLING A STORY SPANNING 4,6 BILLION YEARS OF THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF PLANET EARTH, LIFE, MANKIND, AND MUSIC.
NOT ONLY HAD TUOMAS FACED A GIGANTIC COMPOSITIONAL CHALLENGE HEAD ON, BUT HE’D ALSO COME OUT THE OTHER SIDE A WINNER. THE ALBUM WAS GRACED BY EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST RICHARD DAWKINS’ SPOKEN PARTS,
WHILE HIS TEXTS ARE STAMPED ALL OVER THE ALBUM’S KEY PIECES.
MUSICALLY, ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL WAS A STEP TOWARDS A MORE ORGANIC SOUND FOR THE BAND. EVEN THE NEW FRONT-LADY GOT TO SHOWCASE MOST FACETS OF HER PHENOMENALLY EMOTIVE SOPRANO.
THE LEAD SINGLE OF THE ALBUM WAS ÉLAN, AN EXUBERANT HUMAN PAEAN FOR THE JOIE DE VIVRE, COMPLEMENTED BY A TOUCHING
VIDEO DIRECTED BY VILLE LIPIÄINEN, FEATURING A VERITABLE PANTHEON OF FINNISH ACTING VETERANS. RELEASED IN MARCH OF 2015,
ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL CLOSED THE YEAR AS THE BEST-SELLING ALBUM IN FINLAND AND BY THEN IT HAD SOLD A DOMESTIC
DOUBLE PLATINUM PLUS EXCEEDED GOLD RECORD SALES IN GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, AND CZECH REPUBLIC.
A 151 CONCERT TOUR COMMENCED, TAKING THE BAND FROM THE UNITED STATES TO JAPAN AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN.
THE TOUR INCLUDED E.G. A NIGHTWISH CRUISE ON THE BALTIC SEA, A SHOW AT THE PRESTIGIOUS UK FESTIVAL DOWNLOAD IN DONINGTON,
THE BAND’S FIRST EVER GIG AT ROCK IN RIO IN BRAZIL AND THE ICING ON THE CAKE, A SOLD OUT SHOW –
AS THE 1ST FINNISH BAND EVER – AT THE WEMBLEY ARENA. IT, TOGETHER WITH ANOTHER BIG PRODUCTION IN TAMPERE, FINLAND,
WAS IMMORTALIZED ON THE VEHICLE OF SPIRIT LIVE RELEASE FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON OF 2016.
A BREAK WAS NEEDED. EVEN TUOMAS ADMITTED HE’S ”EMPTY OF NIGHTWISH SONGS”.
Deep into the past
THE BEGINNING OF 2018 SAW THE RELEASE OF A COMPILATION ALBUM. CELEBRATING THEIR TWO DECADES IN THE SUN, DECADES: AN ARCHIVE OF SONGS – 1996–2015 WAS THE 1ST COMPILATION FULLY SANCTIONED BY NIGHTWISH AND IT WAS ALSO CURATED BY TUOMAS. THE DOUBLE ALBUM SHOWCASES THE BAND’S MUSICAL EVOLUTION IN REVERSE ORDER FROM 2015 BACK TO THE 1ST DEMO, RESEMBLING THE WAY RICHARD DAWKINS’ BOOK ANCESTOR’S TALE CLARIFIES THE QUIRKS OF EVOLUTION FROM NOW TO THE BEGINNING OF LIFE.
Back in time – cleansed and bare
THE DEBUT ALBUM OF AURI, A PROJECT OF TUOMAS, TROY, AND JOHANNA KURKELA, SAW THE DAYLIGHT IN MARCH OF 2018.
RECORDED IN ENGLAND DURING NIGHTWISH’S BREAK, AURI WAS A MINIMAL AFFAIR COMPARED TO NIGHTWISH, PERHAPS HARKING BACK
TO THE CAMPFIRES, MELANCHOLIC MOOD MUSIC AND FANTASY DOMAINS TUOMAS ORIGINALLY HAD IN HIS DESIGNS.
THE WRITING PROCESS OF AURI OPENED TUOMAS’ FLOODGATES AND SOON HIS CUP OVERFLOWETH WITH NIGHTWISH SONGS AS WELL.
THE SUMMER OF 2018 SAW THE START OF AN AVALANCHE OF NIGHTWISH REACTION VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE. ENTICED FIRST BY GHOST LOVE
SCORE’S SEMINAL WACKEN PERFORMANCE, THE REACTOR TRAIN KEEPS POURING NEW PEOPLE INTO THE MACHINE EVERY DAY STILL AND MOULDS THEM INTO FANS. TWO YEARS ON, WITH ITS 5500+ REACTION VIDEOS, NIGHTWISH HAS BECOME – WHAT ELSE – THE MOST EVER REACTED-TO ARTIST ON YOUTUBE.
Decades, make them matter
DECADES WAS FOLLOWED BY A NINE-MONTH TOUR OF 82 SHOWS, A ROARING SUCCESS. THE BAND PERFORMED REFRESHING RE-IMAGININGS OF THEIR OLD SONGS; NOW ARRANGED FOR THEIR CURRENT SIX-HEADED LINEUP.
FAN FAVORITES ORIGINALLY SUNG BY TARJA AND ANETTE GOT A NEW SHEEN WITH TROY’S ETHNO INSTRUMENTS AND LUSCIOUS THREE
VOCALIST HARMONIES THAT WERE BECOMING A STAPLE OF THE NEW NIGHTWISH SOUND. THIS SINGER TRIFECTA WOULD
BECOME TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE ON THE NEXT STUDIO ALBUM.
DECADES WORLD TOUR ENDED AND RESULTED TO A LIVE ALBUM AND BLURAY, THIS TIME RECORDED IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA.
THE GLORIOUS LIVE ALBUM SHOWED A TIGHT BAND WITH MAGICAL CHEMISTRY AT THE PEAK OF THEIR POWERS. IT DEBUTED ON FINNISH CHARTS AT #1 AND SCORED TOP20 POSITIONS IN 11 MORE COUNTRIES.
CLOSE TO THE END OF 2019 MARKO HIETALA, IN TURN, RELEASED HIS SOLO WORK PYRE OF THE BLACK HEART, FIRST DOMESTICALLY IN FINNISH AND LATER IN ENGLISH.
IN HOLLAND, FLOOR JANSEN TOOK PART IN A HUGELY POPULAR TV SHOW BESTE ZANGERS AND DID SOME WONDERFUL PROMOTION FOR
NIGHTWISH AND METAL MUSIC IN GENERAL, AN OVERLOOKED GENRE IN THE NETHERLANDS. DESPITE BEING AN INTERNATIONAL STAR,
FLOOR WAS A VERITABLE UNKNOWN IN HER HOMELAND BEFORE THE TV, BUT TURNED THE TABLES AND STORMED THE CHARTS,
LED NIGHTWISH TO HOLLAND’S RADIO WAVES AND WHILE AT IT, MADE HERSELF SORT OF A CELEBRITY THERE.
Music To Endlessness
SONGS FOR THE NEW ALBUM, HUMAN. :||: NATURE. WERE COMPLETED IN OCTOBER OF 2019. THE MASSIVE DOUBLE ALBUM WOULD
BE ANOTHER FORWARD STEP FOR THE BAND: THE FIRST BID GOODBYES TO NIGHTWISH’S GIGANTIC TRADEMARK ORCHESTRATIONS AND
SOUNDED MORE LIKE AN ORGANIC HEAVY METAL BAND ACCOMPANIED WITH CHOIRS AND STRINGS. ON THE SECOND DISC THE ORCHESTRA
WAS FRONT AND CENTER, WHEREAS THE BAND WAS MISSING, SAVE FOR SOME WORDLESS SINGING. SCRUTINIZING HUMANITY FROM A
PLETHORA OF ANGLES, THE MOST STRIKING NEW FEATURE ON THE ĐBAND DISC” WAS THE THREE-SINGER HARMONIES THAT GRACED ALL
THE SONGS. THE 2ND DISC WAS AN INSTRUMENTAL WORK, TUOMAS’ LOVE LETTER TO NATURE IN EIGHT PARTS.
THE ALBUM DROPPED IN APRIL OF 2020. IT MAY WELL BE THE MOST AMBITIOUS THING NIGHTWISH HAS DONE UP TO DATE.
IT IS A MUSICAL TOUR DE FORCE THAT SPANS TO EVERY VAST DIRECTION AND REFERS TO SO MANY LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOURCES ANDWINKS AT NIGHTWISH’S OWN HISTORY THAT SOME LISTENERS MAY HAVE TROUBLE TAKING IT ALL IN.
THE HUMAN. :||: NATURE. WORLD TOUR WAS SUPPOSED TO COMMENCE IN OULU, FINLAND WITH A SECRET GIG UNDER THE GUISE
OF NEVSKI & THE PROSPECTS, BUT COME LATE 2019, NATURE DECIDED OTHERWISE AND HIT HUMAN WITH
THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, HALTING THE WORLD ON ITS TRACKS AND CLOSING BORDERS EVERWHERE.
The core of all life is a limitless chest of tales.
BUT IT’S NOT LIKE THE NIGHTWISH MUSICIANS ARE RESTING ON THEIR LAURELS. DURING THE INVOLUNTARY COVID-19 SABBATICAL,
FLOOR HAS RELEASED A CHARITY SINGLE, AND TUOMAS, JOHANNA KURKELA, AND TROY HAVE COMPLETED THE SECOND AURI ALBUM.
BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD, NIGHTWISH’S FUTURE TOUR ENDEAVORS ARE YET
TO BE DETERMINED BUT BE IT HALF A YEAR, A YEAR OR MORE, ONE DAY THE WORLD OPENS AGAIN AND EVENTUALLY THE
FANS’ WILL BE REWARDED FOR THEIR EAGER ANTICIPATION.
NIGHTWISH’S DARK CHEST OF WONDERS ISN’T EMPTY YET. THE CURRENT REIGNING GIANTS OF METAL MUSIC ARE GROWING OLD
AND THEY WON’T TOUR FOREVER. AND RIGHT THERE, LURKING IN THE SHADOWS BIDING THEIR TIME ARE NIGHTWISH – LYING IN WAIT... AND DREAMING EVER MORE TALES TRUE.
See us dream every tale true
The verse we leave with you
will take you home.
OWLS
FOUND
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The innocence,
the dreams of every man
THE YOUNGEST OF PENTTI HOLOPAINEN’S AND KIRSTI NORTIA-HOLOPAINEN’S THREE CHILDREN WAS BORN IN KITEE ON DECEMBER 25TH, 1976. AS A TODDLER, TUOMAS LOVED SPENDING TIME IN NATURE AND LIKED TO PLAY WITH HIS PLASTIC LETTERS AND LEAF THROUGH THIS DONALD DUCK MAGAZINES. FORM THEM, HE LEARNT TO READ ALREADY AGED UNDER THREE YEARS AND HIS LOVE FOR THE WORLD OF WALT DISNEY HAS NEVED CEASED SINCE. AS A SEVEN-YEAR OLD HE HAD ADVANCED TO READ CLASSIC FANTASY LITERATURE, SUCH AS J.R.R.
TOLKIEN’S THE LORD OF THE RINGS, WHICH HE LENT FROM LOCAL LIBRARY. ACCORDING TO TUOMAS HIMSELF, THE CHARACTERS IN THESE
BOOKS BECAME ALMOST AS REAL TO HIM AS HIS SCHOOLMATES.
TUOMAS WAS AN APT PUPIL, AND BIOLOGY WAS HIS SPECIAL INTEREST. ACCORDING TO HIS MOTHER TUOMAS HAD ALREADY DECIDED
HIS FUTURE VOCATION AS AN NINE-YEAR OLD, THE BOY WANTED TO BECOME A MARINE BIOLOGIST. HE WAS A SLIGHTLY INTROVERTED
BOOKWORM AND A MEMBER OF SEVERAL SCHOOL ORCHESTRAS PLAYING POP AND JAZZ MUSIC, FIRMLY TUTORED BY MUSIC LECTOR PLAMEN DIMOV. IN THESE BANDS TUOMAS PLAYED E.G. CLARINET, SAXOPHONE, AND KEYS.
AT THE MONTTU CLUB WHERE THE SCHOOL BANDS REHEARSED, TUOMAS FIRST MET THE SCHOOL’S BUDDING STAR SINGER,
TARJA TURUNEN. SOME OF THE SAME SCHOOL BANDS FEATURED ALSO THE FLEDGLING DRUMMER JUKKA NEVALAINEN,
A NIMBLE-FINGERED GUITAR PLAYER NAMED ERNO “EMPPU” VUORINEN AND A BASS PLAYER CALLED SAMPPA HIRVONEN.
SOME OF THESE BANDS’ EFFORTS WERE EVEN RECORDED.
AGED 15 TUOMAS SPENT A YEAR AS AN EXCHANGE STUDENT IN BELLE PLAINE, KANSAS, A HAMLET OF 2000 INHABITANTS A FEW MILES
SOUTH OF WICHITA. ON ARROWHEAD STADIUM IN KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI ON SEPTEMBER 17TH, 1992 TUOMAS WITNESSED A DOUBLE
HEADLINE CONCERT OF GUNS N’ ROSES AND METALLICA THAT ROCKED HIS WORLD AND MADE A TECTONIC SHIFT IN HIS MUSICAL TASTES.
IN THE BRINK OF ADULTHOOD TUOMAS TOOK HIS KEYS AND JOINED SOME LOCAL METAL BANDS, THE EDGIEST OF WHICH DIDN’T EXACTLY
PLEASE THE MOST CONSERVATIVE OF THE KITEE PEOPLE. JUKKA AND EMPPU HAD THEIR FLEDGLING BANDS AT THE TIME AS WELL, JUST NOT
AS SERIOUS – THEY MERELY PLAYED FOR THEIR AMUSEMENT, THEIR REPERTOIRE CONSISTING OF THEN-HIP POWER METAL AND ALL SORTS OF
FINNISH ROCK MUSIC. ONE OF THESE BANDS – AMBROSIA – ALSO FEATURED BASSIST SAMPPA HIRVONEN FOR A WHILE.
IN THE ARMY TUOMAS WAS A PART OF A MILITARY BAND, PLAYING CLARINET AND MARCHING DRUMS.
Then one day, a writer by a fire…
JUST BEFORE JOINING THE ARMY IN THE SUMMER OF 1996, TUOMAS AND HIS BANDMATES SPENT A CABIN WEEKEND ON THE ISLAND
OWNED BY TUOMAS’S FAMILY. THERE, BY THE CAMPFIRE TUOMAS GOT THE IDEA OF FORMING A BAND OF HIS OWN. IT WASN’T TO BE SIMILAR EDGY AND HARSH METAL THAT HE ALREADY PLAYED IN SO MANY BANDS BUT SIMPLE, ACOUSTIC MOOD MUSIC.
RIGHT FROM THE GET-GO, IT WAS CRYSTAL CLEAR TO HIM: THE BAND MUST HAVE A FEMALE LEAD VOCALIST.
…took a journey into a child-man’s heart
THE PERSONNEL NEEDED FOR TUOMAS’S PROJECT WERE EASY TO FIND FROM THE SCHOOL BANDS. 1ST JOINED EMPPU THE GUITAR PLAYER
AND THEN TUOMAS HAD TO OVERCOME HIS SHYNESS TO COAX TARJA IN AS WELL. ON HIS HOLIDAY LEAVE FROM THE ARMY, TUOMAS AND
HIS POSSE RECORDED THE 1ST NIGHTWISH DEMO. IT WAS CANNED AT THE KITEE COMMUNITY HOUSE WITH THE AID OF LOCAL SOUND
ENGINEER TERO KINNUNEN WHO TO THIS DAY STILL RECORDS ALL THEIR MUSIC. BY THE END OF HIS MILITARY SERVICE
IN THE SPRING OF 1997, TUOMAS HAD PENNED SEVEN MORE SONGS.
COME NEXT SUMMER, NATTVINDENS GRÅT – ONE OF THE BANDS TUOMAS PLAYED IN – HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TOUR IN SUPPORT OF
HELSINKI-BASED BABYLON WHORES’ EUROPEAN TOUR. AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, WHORES’ GUITAR PLAYER EWO “MEICHEM”
POHJOLA WORKED FOR THE HELSINKI-BASED RECORD LABEL SPINEFARM RECORDS AS AN A&R MANAGER.
AFTER MUCH OF HIS BANDMATES’ PEP TALK, TUOMAS MUSTERED THE COURAGE TO HAND 3 SONGS FROM NIGHTWISH’S DEMO TO EWO.
THE A&R MANAGER SMELLED THE STENCH OF POTENTIAL AND FORWARDED THE TAPE TO HIS BOSS RIKU PÄÄKKÖNEN,
WHO AFTER A LISTEN, WANTED MORE.
THE BAND EXPANDED TO A FOURSOME WITH EMPPU’S CLASSMATE JUKKA NEVALAINEN JOINING THE FOLD AS THE DRUMMER. TUOMAS’S
NEXT BATCH OF SONGS SCORED A RECORDING DEAL WITH SPINEFARM. NIGHTWISH SAW THEIR WORK COME INTO FRUITION WITH THE
RELEASE OF THE LIMITED 1ST EDITION OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM ANGELS FALL FIRST. PROBING THE MARKET FOR SUCH WISTFUL ACOUSTIC
BALLADRY, SPINEFARM PRINTED JUST 500 COPIES OF THE CD. THESE CDS, CONTAINING ALL NIGHTWISH SONGS UP TO THEN ARE NOW
SOUGHT-AFTER RARITIES WITH HEFTY PRICE TAGS. THE BAND THEMSELVES DIDN’T REGARD THE CD MUCH MORE THAN A DEMO BUT IT DID SELL WELL ENOUGH TO CONVINCE SPINEFARM TO RE-RELEASE AN EXPANDED VERSION OF IT TO WIDER AUDIENCES.
FOR THIS MORE SONGS WERE NEEDED.
A canvas of awe
HOWEVER, TUOMAS’S MUSIC HAD ALREADY CHANGED: TARJA’S DRAMATIC LYRIC SOPRANO PROVED A SHOCKING REVELATION TO
THE BAND AND FOR TUOMAS’S SONGWRITING IT OPENED A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES. NOW HEAVILY INSPIRED BY STRATOVARIUS,
AN INTERNATIONALLY LAUDED FINNISH POWER METAL BAND THAT JUKKA AND EMPPU HAD INTRODUCED TO HIM, TUOMAS PENNED
NEW SONGS THAT WERE WORLDS APART FROM THE MOOD MUSIC HE ENVISIONED PRIOR. THE NEW SONGS WERE POWER METAL,
LUSH WITH SWEEPING MELODIES, SOARING VOCALS, AND RAPID-FIRE DRUMMING.
THE NEW SONGS RENDERED THE “REAL” VERSION OF ANGELS… BIT OF A STYLISTICAL HODGEPODGE, BUT IT DIDN’T MATTER. IT WAS THE
LATE ‘90S, THE DAWN OF FINNISH HEAVY METAL’S WORLD DOMINATION WAS JUST AROUND THE CORNER,
AND UPON ITS RELEASE ANGELS… PROMPTLY SOLD SOME 8500 COPIES DOMESTICALLY.
SPEARHEADED BY ELVENPATH, THE NEW TRACKS, COMBINED WITH TARJA’S OPERA-TINGED SINGING AND TUOMAS’S MOVIE MUSIC
INFLUENCES BECAME THE CORNERSTONES OF THE NIGHTWISH TRADEMARK SOUND. THEY SKETCHED THE ROAD MAP TO
WHAT WOULD LATER BE CALLED SYMPHONIC METAL. THE ALBUM WAS LED BY THE ATMOSPHERIC CARPENTER
SINGLE AND ITS SOMEWHAT PERPLEXING PROMO VIDEO.
IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG BEFORE THE LOCAL PAPERS NOTICED THE KARELIAN METAL UPSTARTS. SOON AFTER, NATIONWIDE MEDIA FOLLOWED SUIT. THE RELEASE OF THE “REAL” VERSION OF THE CD WAS CELEBRATED WITH A HOME TURF SHOW IN FRONT OF 400 PEOPLE AT THE KITEE COMMUNITY HOUSE. SIX MORE SHOWS AROUND FINLAND FOLLOWED. ON THOSE SHOWS, SAMPPA HIRVONEN PLAYED BASS AND TARJA WAS HELPED BY BACKUP SINGER MARIANNA PELLINEN. A NICE SIDE NOTE WOULD BE TO MENTION THAT ON THE LAST OF THOSE SHOWS,
NIGHTWISH SUPPORTED FINNISH METAL PIONEERS TAROT, LED BY ONE MARKO HIETALA...
The story that will read you real
BY THE TIME OF RECORDING THEIR 2ND ALBUM ALL THE GUYS HAD COMPLETED THEIR COMPULSORY MILITARY SERVICE AND NOW
THE BAND HAD ENLISTED A PERMANENT BASS PLAYER TOO. THE NEW MAN, SAMI VÄNSKÄ, WAS TUOMAS’S BUDDY FROM NATTVINDENS GRÅT. THE BAND WAS NOW READY, RAVENOUS, AND RARING TO GO.
THE NEW ALBUM, OCEANBORN, TOOK THE BAND’S MUSICAL CHOPS TO THEIR LIMITS. THE STRATOVARIUS INFLUENCE WAS
NOW DOMINANTLY AUDIBLE AND EVERYONE PLAYED AS IF THEIR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT. TARJA, WHO STUDIED AT
THE SIBELIUS ACADEMY AT THE TIME, GATHERED MORE ATTENTION TO THE BAND EACH DAY WITH HER UNIQUE VOICE.
NIGHTWISH WAS ENTERING THE BRINK OF SOMETHING NEW ENTIRELY.
WITH OCEANBORN THE BAND STARTED THEIR ON-GOING COOPERATION WITH PRODUCER AND MIXING ENGINEER MIKKO KARMILA.
HIS COHORT AT FINNVOX STUDIOS, MIKA JUSSILA WAS ABOARD THE NIGHTWISH SHIP ALREADY ON ANGELS FALL FIRST
AND HAS MASTERED ALL THEIR ALBUMS SINCE.
THE FIRST SINGLE CUT FROM OCEANBORN WAS SACRAMENT OF WILDERNESS. FOR IT, THE BAND SHOT A VIDEO AT THEIR HOME TURF AT
KITEE COMMUNITY HOUSE. THIS ONE SONG “GIG” WAS THE COMING OUT PARTY FOR THE BAND’S NEW BASS PLAYER.
MUCH TO THE BAND’S SURPRISE, THEIR CAREER PROSPECTS SKYROCKETED. THE SALES OF ANGELS... HAD ALREADY BEEN PROMISING BUT NOTHING HAD INDICATED THAT THE 1ST SINGLE OF THE 2ND ALBUM WOULD ALREADY HIT GOLD RECORD SALES MARK BUT SO IT DID,
AND SO DID THE ALBUM AS WELL. THE DOMESTIC BREAKTHROUGH WAS BECOMING A REALITY.
SACRAMENT… SINGLE HIT #1 ON THE CHARTS AND SCORED THE BAND THEIR 1ST TV APPEARANCE, WHERE THE MORTIFIED BAND
PERFORMED 2 SONGS LIVE IN A WEEKLY MUSIC CHARTS SHOW. THE TV SPOT WAS JUST THE 9TH GIG OF THE BAND’S YOUNG CAREER.
OCEANBORN SPAWNED ANOTHER SINGLE TOO, WALKING IN THE AIR, A RE-IMAGINING OF A SONG FROM THE CLASSIC HOLIDAY SEASON
ANIMATED FILM SNOWMAN. LIKE THE ONE BEFORE, THE SINGLE EXCEEDED THE GOLD SALES MARK.
I am the journey
A PART OF OCEANBORN’S LOOT WAS THE BAND’S 1ST GERMAN RECORDING DEAL. THEIR LABEL THERE, DRAKKAR RECORDS, HAD A STROKE
OF MARKETING GENIUS AND REQUESTED TUOMAS TO PEN A SONG – SLEEPING SUN – TO CELEBRATE THE SOLSTICE OVER EUROPE. THE SONG
BECAME A SURPRISE HIT IN GERMANY. DRAKKAR’S CEO STATES THAT BETWEEN THE SONG’S PLACEMENTS ON VARIOUS POPULAR METAL
COMPILATIONS AND ITS SINGLE SALES, SLEEPING SUN HAS REACHED SOME 500 000 GERMAN HOUSEHOLDS.
TO NO ONE’S SURPRISE, IN FINLAND THE SINGLE SOLD GOLD.
HOWEVER, THE GOLD STREAK OF 3 SINGLES AND AN ALBUM DIDN’T EXACTLY MATCH THE SIZES OF CONCERT VENUES AND THE BAND’S GIG
SALARIES. THEY ROAMED THE RAINY ROADS IN A JALOPY OF A BUS TO PLAY GIGS FOR PITTANCE AT THE OPENING CEREMONIES OF AN
ENVELOPE AND OTHER EVENTS OF EQUAL PROMINENCE. THEIR BOOKING AGENCY APPEARED CLUELESS, BUT THE HARDSHIPS
OF THE FINNISH SUMMER OF WILDERNESS TOUR FORGED THE BAND AND THEIR CREW INTO A TIGHT-KNIT UNIT.
THE WORLD OUTSIDE FINLAND WAS STARTING TO TAKE NOTE TOO. THE BUDDING SUCCESSES OF OCEANBORN AND SLEEPING SUN
CONVINCED DRAKKAR RECORDS TO INVEST ON THE BAND’S 1ST EUROPEAN TOUR IN TOW OF GERMAN METAL VETERANS, RAGE.
NIGHTWISH’S 1ST SHOW OUTSIDE FINLAND TOOK PLACE IN SCHÜTZENHAUS CLUB IN MARKNEUKIRCHEN,
GERMANY ON NOVEMBER 12TH, 1999. AS THE TOUR WENT ON, MUCH TO THEIR CHAGRIN RAGE HAD TO WITNESS
THE SUPPORT BAND RAPIDLY GROW THEIR POPULARITY AND OUTPLAY THE HEADLINERS NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.
NIGHTWISH PLAYED A TOTAL OF 58 SHOWS IN SUPPORT FOR OCEANBORN.
Our songs will echo
over the mountains and seas
NIGHTWISH’S 3RD ALBUM, WISHMASTER, RELIED EVERY BIT AS MUCH UPON FANTASY AND POWER METAL AS OCEANBORN
BUT SAW SOME IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCTION VALUES AND DIVERSITY, FEATURING ALSO SOME SOFTER TOUCHES.
THE HEROES OF THE ALBUM THOUGH, WERE ITS SYMPHONIC RING AND POP SENSIBILITIES.
THE RECORD’S RELEASE WAS CELEBRATED WITH A SPECTACULAR GIG IN THE BAND’S HOMETOWN OF KITEE ON MAY 22ND, 2000 IN FRONT
OF 5000 SPECTATORS. FOLLOWING THE ALREADY FAMILIAR PATTERN, THE ALBUM SOLD GOLD IN 3 WEEKS. THE TITLE TRACK WITH ITS HUGE
SING-ALONG CHORUS AND SINGLE HIT BALLAD DEEP SILENT COMPLETE PAVED WAY FOR WISHMASTER TO ALREADY TOUCH THE OUTSKIRTS
OF TOP 20 ON THE GERMAN ALBUM CHART. WISMASTER WAS LICENCED TO SOUTH AMERICA TOO,
WHERE IT WAS DISTRIBUTED BY A COMPANY CALLED NEMS ENTERPRISES.
IN JUNE 2000 NIGHTWISH PARTICIPATED IN THE FINNISH EUROVISION SONG CONTEST QUALIFICATION WITH THE SONG SLEEPWALKER.
THE BAND WON THE AUDIENCE VOTES BY A LANDSLIDE BUT WITH AWE-INSPIRING MUSICAL EXPERTISE, THE JURY DECIDED TO OUST IT FROM
THE FINAL. THIS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE BECAME A PERFECT PUBLIC RELATIONS TRIUMPH – AT LEAST NOW EVERY FINNISH GRANDMA
AND HER TABBY KNEW WHO NIGHTWISH WERE. A SMALL BATCH OF PROMOTIONAL SINGLES WAS ISSUED FOR RADIO STATIONS
AND 16 SOME YEARS LATER, THIS RADIO-ONLY PROMO BECAME THE MOST EXPENSIVE ONE SONG CD EVER,
ACCORDING TO ALL-KNOWING DISCOGS WEBSITE.
IN THE SUMMER OF 2000, THE WISHMASTER TOUR SAW NIGHTWISH FLY TO A DREAM FAR ACROSS THE SEA TO FACE THEIR EXTREMELY
PASSIONATE SOUTH AMERICAN FANS FOR THE 1ST TIME. POPULARITY CAME AS A SHOCK TO THE BAND. IT WAS ON THIS SOUTH AMERICAN
TOUR WHERE TARJA, ALREADY WIDELY KNOWN FOR HER VOICE, MET HER FUTURE HUSBAND AND PERSONAL MANAGER. LATER,
WISHMASTER TOUR SAW THE BAND MAKE THEIR LIVE DEBUTS ALSO IN SOUTH KOREA AND RUSSIA.
Pull the plug, end the pain
THE BAND CARRIED ON TOURING AS MUCH AS TARJA’S CLASSICAL STUDIES IN GERMANY ALLOWED, AND FOR POSTERITY, THE TAMPERE
SHOW OF THE TOUR WAS RECORDED AND RELEASED AS THE FROM WISHES TO ETERNITY LIVE ALBUM. THE LIVE DVD SOLD PLATINUM AND
STILL HOLDS POSITION 10 ON THE LIST OF BEST-SELLING FINNISH MUSIC DVDS.
ANOTHER EUROPEAN LEG OF THE TOUR FOLLOWED IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER OF 2000. THE SUPPORTING BAND ON IT WAS SINERGY,
FEATURING A YOUNG AXE ACE CALLED ALEXI LAIHO AND A CERTAIN MARKO HIETALA ON THE BASS.
THE WISHMASTER TOUR WENT ON FOR 97 SHOWS ANF LEFT NIGHTWISH FACING ANOTHER LINEUP CHANGE. SAMI VÄNSKÄ’S LAST RELEASE
IN THE BAND WAS TO BE OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY EP, RELEASED IN THE SUMMER OF 2001 AND PROMOTED BY A MIGHTY FINE VIDEO
OF THE TITLE TRACK. NIGHTWISH’S BASS PLAYER’S SLOT WASN’T VACANT FOR LONG. CLUTCHING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A LARGER ROLE
INCLUDING SINGING, HIETALA PROMPTLY LEFT SINERGY AND JOINED NIGHTWISH.
SPINEFARM RECORDS’ A&R MANAGER EWO POHJOLA QUIT HIS DAY JOB TO WORK AS THE FULL-TIME MANAGER OF NIGHTWISH, AND TOGETHER WITH THE BAND’S FINANCIAL MANAGER TONI PEIJU HE FOUNDED KING FOO ENTERTAINMENT. NOT JUST MANAGERS, THE DYNAMIC
DUO TOOK OVER AS THE BAND’S BOOKING AGENCY AS WELL.
BY 2003 NIGHTWISH’S RECORD SALES HAD EXCEEDED HALF A MILLION COPIES GLOBALLY.
Sanest Choice in the Insane World
NIGHTWISH’S 4TH ALBUM CENTURY CHILD SAW CHANGES AND GROWTH IN THE BAND’S MUSIC. MARKO’S WORLD-CLASS HEAVY METAL
TENOR COMPLIMENTED TARJA’S DRAMATIC LYRIC SOPRANO IN WAYS NEVER HEARD IN HARDER MUSIC BEFORE. TARJA TOO EXPANDED HER
LYRICAL TOOLBOX WITH A POPPIER TINGE, MAKING HER SOUND A BIT MORE APPROACHABLE. MARKO’S INFLUENCE, BOTH VOCALLY AND
WITH HIS MORE PERCUSSIVE, ALMOST VIOLENT HEAVY METAL BASS PLAYING, BLANKETED THE SONGS THAT WERE DARKER, HEAVIER AND
MORE PERSONAL THAN BEFORE. ANOTHER NEW DIMENSION WAS THE ORCHESTRA – CENTURY CHILD WAS THE 1ST NIGHTWISH ALBUM
WITH A REAL ORCHESTRA – JOENSUU CITY ORCHESTRA – ON IT.
NO MORE EUROPEAN POWER METAL IN THE VEIN OF WISHMASTER AND OCEANBORN, CENTURY CHILD SOUNDED BIGGER AND EDGIER, MORE
CINEMATIC. FINLAND WAS RIDING THE SURF OF THE BIG HEAVY METAL BOOM AND THE MASSES WERE READY. MARKO HIETALA, WHO WAS
A LEGEND ON HIS OWN RIGHT ALREADY BEFORE, HAD SEEN IT ALL AND DONE IT ALL YET NEVER MANAGED TO HAVE A HIT, GOT HIS FIRST FIX
OF FAME WHEN THE EVER DREAM SINGLE REACHED THE GOLD PLATEAU IN 3 DAYS AND CENTURY CHILD REACHED THAT SAME MILESTONE
IN MERE 2 HOURS. 10 DAYS LATER, CENTURY CHILD WAS ALREADY HITTING PLATINUM NUMBERS AND HAS LATER GONE ON TO SELL MORE
THAN 86 THOUSAND COPIES – A DOUBLE PLATINUM – IN FINLAND. IN GERMANY THE ALBUM HIT #5 ON THE CHARTS AFTER THE SALES
NORTH OF 90 000 COPIES. CENTURY CHILD BROKE THE TOP 50 IN HALF A DOZEN OTHER COUNTRIES AS WELL. NIGHTWISH WAS BECOMING
AN INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON. ANOTHER PLATINUM-SELLING SINGLE IN FINLAND, BLESS THE CHILD, DROPPED IN JULY.
Little boy, such precious joy,
Is dead to the world
CENTURY CHILD DEALT WITH THEMES OF FADING INNOCENCE, AND SWALLOWING THE BITTER PILLS OF LIFE, LAUNCHED TOURS AROUND
EUROPE, RUSSIA, AND SOUTH AMERICA, ALL STILL PACED BY TARJA’S STUDIES. THE EUROPEAN LEG OF THE TOUR IN THE FALL OF 2002 SAW
THE BAND SUPPORTED BY DUTCH METALLERS AFTER FOREVER, FRONTED BY A PROMISING SOPRANO NAMED FLOOR JANSEN.
IN THE SPRING OF 2003 THE BAND HAD A 3 MONTH BREAK. TARJA FOCUSED ON HER STUDIES AND THE OTHERS DABBLED WITH THEIR SIDE
PROJECTS. TUOMAS RECORDED AN ALBUM WITH FOR MY PAIN..., MARKO WORKED WITH HIS LEGENDARY BAND TAROT, JUKKA RECORDED
SETHIAN’S SOLE ALBUM AND EMPPU EXPLORED HIS MELODIC SIDE IN HIS NEW HARD ROCK BAND, BROTHER FIRETRIBE.
THE FALL OF 2003 SAW NIGHTWISH PLAY THEIR 1ST SHOW STATESIDE AND ALSO IN THE UK. WORLD TOUR OF THE CENTURY
AND SUMMER OF INNOCENCE TOUR CONSISTED OF 59 CONCERTS AND REACHED 600 000 PEOPLE.
THE BAND’S HISTORY AND TOMFOOLERIES WERE DOCUMENTED ON A DVD CALLED END OF INNOCENCE WHICH WAS LARGELY
SHOT IN THE HOLOPAINEN FAMILY’S CABIN ISLAND. NIGHTWISH’S DOMESTIC POPULARITY WAS REACHING SATURATION POINT,
AS TESTIFIED BY THE FACT THAT EVEN IF END OF INNOCENCE HAS VERY LITTLE MUSIC IN IT, IT STILL TO THIS DAY POSSESSES
POSITION #16 IN THE LIST OF BEST-SELLING FINNISH MUSIC DVDS.
NIGHTWISH FOUNDED THEIR COMPANY SCENE NATION IN NOVEMBER 2003. TARJA CHOSE NOT TO BECOME A SHAREHOLDER.
CENTURY CHILD FULFILLED THE BAND’S RECORDING DEALS IN FINLAND, GERMANY, AND THE UNITED STATES. IN GERMANY, DRAKKAR MILKED
THE OLD CONTRACT DRY BY RELEASING A COMPILATION ALBUM, BUT NIGHTWISH’S FOCUS AND MASSIVE FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS WERE
ALREADY IN NEW DEALS AND ALBUM THAT WOULD SHAPE THEIR FUTURE FOREVER…
Following the trail of tears,
once we were here.
WHAT FOLLOWED WAS ONCE, A PRODUCTION WITH A STEEP PRICE TAG OF 250 000 EUROS, THE MOST EXPENSIVE FINNISH MUSIC ALBUM
EVER UP TO THAT DATE. IT WAS AN ORCHESTRAL SYMPHONIC METAL MONOLITH THAT REDEFINED THE ENTIRE
GENRE AND CROWNED NIGHTWISH ITS SOVEREIGN RULER.
THE COMBINATION OF A METAL BAND AND THE VIRTUOSIC LONDON SESSION ORCHESTRA WAS A BET THAT COST A LOT BUT PAID OFF
HANDSOMELY. THE BAND HAD FOUND A VISION COMPLETELY THEIR OWN, A GRAND CINEMATIC SOUND, AND A BALANCE BETWEEN INSTANT
HITTERS AND HEAVIER, MORE EXPERIMENTAL SONGS. FROM THE 1ST SINGLE NEMO ASCENDING TO CATHEDRAL-LIKE MELODIC HEIGHTS,
TO EPIC GHOST LOVE SCORE WHICH WAS BUILT LIKE A RONDO SONATA TO THE THRASH METAL BREAKDOWNS OF ROMANTICIDE
AND THE DOOMY DIRGE OF HIGHER THAN HOPE, ALL THE WAY TO CREEK MARY’S BLOOD – COMPLETE WITH A LAKOTA SIOUX
WITH NATIVE AMERICAN WOODWINDS, AND TO CAP IT, A SONG SUNG COMPLETELY IN FINNISH, THE BAND’S SONGWRITING WAS BRAVE AND STAGGERINGLY WIDE IN SCOPE.
THE BAND INVESTED HEAVILY TO THE ALBUM’S LEADING VIDEO, NEMO. REALIZED WITH THE CRÉME DE LA CRÈME OF FINNISH MOVIE
BUSINESS IT COST ANOTHER 200 000 EUROS. AS YOU ALREADY KNOW, THE STORY OF NIGHTWISH IS A STORY OF SUPERLATIVES, SO
NATURALLY, NEMO WAS THE MOST EXPENSIVE MUSIC VIDEO EVER DONE IN OUR LITTLE NORTHERN HOMELAND. THE VIDEO AND THE SINGLE
BECAME THE BIGGEST EVER HIT SONG OF NIGHTWISH, SELLING PLATINUM IN FINLAND AND NABBING 1# CHART POSITIONS IN E.G.
IN HUNGARY AND BRAZIL’S MTV CHANNEL. FURTHERMORE, IT BROKE TOP 10S IN GERMANY, NORWAY, GREECE AND ON THE
EVER-IMPORTANT UK ROCK CHARTS. EVENTUALLY, NEMO ALSO FOUND ITS WAY TO THE ENDING CREDITS OF AN AMERICAN
HORROR MOVIE THE CAVE, AND JUST LIKE THAT, THE BAND HAD MANAGED TO SNEAK THEIR WAY TO THE
NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT AMERICAN MUSIC MARKET.
THE STAKES WERE HIGH BUT PAID OFF. ONCE EXCEEDED PLATINUM SALES ON THE DAY OF ITS RELEASE. THIS WAS CELEBRATED WITH
A SOLD-OUT SHOW IN THEIR HOMETOWN, FOLLOWED BY A 130 SHOW WORLD TOUR, THEIR LONGEST UP TO THEN. IT SENT THE BAND FOR
THE FIRST TIME TO JAPAN, AND AUSTRALIA, AND TO SEVERAL MAJOR EUROPEAN FESTIVAL STAGES. IT ALSO SAW THEM SUPPORT
SOME OF THE MOST LEGENDARY METAL BANDS OF OUR TIME SUCH AS IRON MAIDEN AND MÖTLEY CRÜE.
FOR A WHILE, ONCE POSSESSED THE #1 POSITION ON THE EUROPEAN TOP 100 ALBUM CHART AS THE BEST-SELLING ALBUM IN ALL OF
EUROPE. LATER, IT HAS GONE ON TO SELL MORE THAN 2.3 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE. IN FINLAND’S IT’S SCORED TRIPLE PLATINUM
AND IT HAS EXCEEDED GOLD SALES IN SIX OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. ON THE PIVOTAL UK ROCK CHART, IT DWELLED FOR OVER A YEAR.
IT ALSO BROUGHT NIGHTWISH TWO OF THEIR RECORD-HOLDING FIFTEEN EMMA AWARDS,
WHICH ARE EQUIVALENT OF FINNISH GRAMMY AWARDS.
NIGHTWISH’S 1ST AMERICAN TOUR FOLLOWED IN THE FALL OF 2004. IN NATIVE FINLAND, THEIR POPULARITY WAS REACHING FEVER PITCH,
SO MUCH SO THAT THEY WERE INVITED TO PERFORM IN THE OPENING CEREMONIES OF THE TRACK AND FIELD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN
HELSINKI OLYMPIC STADIUM IN 2005. THE FINAL SHOW OF THE TOUR IN FRONT OF 11500 SPECTATORS AT HARTWALL ARENA IN HELSINKI
WAS IMMORTALIZED ON THE END OF AN ERA LIVE RELEASE, ENDING TARJA TURUNEN’S PERIOD AS THE NIGHTWISH FRONTWOMAN.
END OF AN ERA STILL HOLDS POSITION #4 ON THE BEST-SELLING MUSIC DVDS EVER CHART IN FINLAND.
BY THE END OF ONCE ALBUM AND TOUR CYCLE NIGHTWISH HAS PERFORMED IN 40 COUNTRIES AND SOLD OVER FOUR MILLION ALBUMS.
IT WAS TIME FOR A WELL-DESERVED BREAK, THAT SAW THE RELEASE OF ONCE UPON A NIGHTWISH,
A BOOK TELLING THE STORY OF THEIR FIRST TEN YEARS.
Take the road less traveled by
FOLLOWING THE END OF THE TARJA ERA THE BAND SOUGHT HIGH AND LOW FOR A NEW SINGER.
HAVING LISTENED TO 2000 DEMOS IN EIGHT MONTHS, THE BAND SELECTED THEIR NEW FRONTWOMAN,
A SWEDISH LADY NAMED ANETTE OLZON.
ANETTE HAD A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT VOICE THAN HER ALREADY INTERNATIONALLY APPLAUDED PREDECESSOR.
OLZON SUNG WITH A WARMER, POP-TINGED TONE THAT APPEALED TO A GROWING NUMBER OF NEW NIGHTWISH LISTENERS.
ANETTE WAS 1ST HEARD IN NIGHTWISH ON THE EVA SINGLE ON MAY 25TH, 2007. THE NEW ALBUM IT WAS CUT FROM, DARK PASSION PLAY,
TOOK TEN MONTHS TO RECORD AND COST RECORD-BREAKING HALF A MILLION EUROS. AGAIN, THE BAND WAS ALL-IN, AND AGAIN THEY
REAPED BEAUTIFUL REWARDS. RECORDED AT LONDON’S FAMED ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS WITH THE HELP OF LONDON SESSION ORCHESTRA
AND ORCHESTRATED BY PIP WILLIAMS, DARK PASSION PLAY FEATURED ALMOST 130 MUSICIANS.
DARK PASSION PLAY GREW NIGHTWISH INTO A NEW LEVEL. THE SONGWRITING WAS AGAIN MORE VERSATILE, SPANNING FROM THE
MAINSTREAM ROCK HIT AMARANTH TO HEAVILY FOLK-TINGED SONGS AND ANGRY METAL, COLOURED VERY DARK BY THE HARD TIMES IN
THE BAND’S RECENT HISTORY. ANETTE SHONE IN THE LIGHTER PIECES, BRINGING TO THE SONGS A WARM, FRESH TOUCH THAT FOUND A
MASSIVE FOLLOWING FROM PEOPLE WHO HADN’T FOUND THE SAME APPEAL IN THE FORMER SINGER’S CLASSICAL VOICE.
CHANGING SINGERS DID LITTLE TO SLOW THE BAND DOWN. DOMESTICALLY, DARK PASSION PLAY SOLD GOLD IN ADVANCE SALES ALONE,
WHICH WAS OF COURSE, YET ANOTHER RECORD. THE ALBUM DEBUTED AT #1 IN SIX EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND HAS SINCE
REACHED THE GOLD PLATEAU IN AUSTRIA, SWEDEN, POLAND, AND SWITZERLAND. GERMANY, TRADITIONALLY A STRONG MARKET
FOR NIGHTWISH, AWARDED THE BAND WITH A PLATINUM RECORD AND GERMAN RECORDING INDUSTRY’S
ECHO AWARD AS THE BEST INTERNATIONAL ROCK BAND OF 2008.
WITH ITS DOMESTIC SALES EXCEEDING 126 000 COPIES – A QUADRUPLE PLATINUM – DARK PASSION PLAY REMAINS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL
NIGHTWISH ALBUM IN FINLAND TO DATE. IT IS THE 29TH MOST SOLD ALBUM IN FINNISH MUSIC HISTORY
AND GLOBALLY IT HAS SOLD NORTH OF TWO MILLION COPIES.
It was us, roaming the rainy roads.
DARK PASSION PLAY WORLD TOUR STARTED IN MAY 2007. THE TWO-YEAR TOUR CONSISTED OF STAGGERING 199 SHOWS AND TOOK
A SEVERE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TOLL ON THE EVERYONE IN THE BAND. THE ROAD LED THE BAND FOR THE FIRST TIME TO ISRAEL, CHINA,
HONG KONG, LITHUANIA, LUXEMBOURG, IRELAND, SERBIA, AND CROATIA. THE EUROPEAN LEG OF THE TOUR SAW THE BAND JOIDED BY
AN ADDITIONAL LIVE MEMBER, THE MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST AND A GENERAL RAY OF SUNSHINE, TROY DONOCKLEY, WHO’D PLAYED HIS
UILLEAN PIPES AND TIN WHISTLES ALREADY ON THE ALBUM. WHILE THE TOUR WENT ON, MARCH OF 2009 SAW THE RELEASE OF THE LIVE EP MADE IN HONG KONG (AND IN VARIOUS OTHER PLACES).
THE LONGEST TOUR OF THE BAND’S CAREER ENDED WITH A SOLD-OUT SHOW AT HELSINKI’S HARTWALL ARENA IN SEPTEMBER OF 2009.
IT WOULD TAKE A BREAK OF TWO AND A HALF YEARS BEFORE THE BAND RETURNED ON THE ROAD.
Riding the day, every day into sunset
FIRST CATCHY TUNES OF THE FOLLOWING ALBUM WERE HEARD ON ITS LEADING SINGLE STORYTIME. THE ALBUM AFTER, IMAGINAERUM,
WITH ITS CREEPY AMUSEMENT-PARK-AT-NIGHT VIBE WAS A MULTI-FACETED CINEMATIC AFFAIR. TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN TOLD IN INTERVIEWS
THAT THE MUSIC WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY AN ARMY OF FILM SCORE COMPOSERS, THE MOVIE DIRECTOR TIM BURTON, THE FANTASY
AUTHOR NEIL GAIMAN, AND THE MASTER OF SURREAL ART, SALVADOR DALÍ.
SLIGHTLY OFF THE HINGES OR NOT, IMAGINAERUM TOOK OFF WHERE DARK PASSION PLAY LEFT. IN FINLAND,
IT SOLD 50000 COPIES – DOUBLE PLATINUM – ON THE DAY OF ITS RELEASE, NOVEMBER 30TH, 2011.
EVENTUALLY, IT WOULD REACH TRIPLE PLATINUM AND COLLECT GOLD DISCS IN FIVE OTHER EUROPEAN TERRITORIES.
A YEAR LATER THE ALBUM’S ACCOMPANIMENT, IMAGINAERUM THE MOVIE WAS COMPLETE. THE BAND’S INITIAL IDEA WAS TO FILM MUSIC
VIDEO FOR ALL 13 SONGS OF THE ALBUM, BUT IN TRUE NIGHTWISH FASHION IT BECAME ANOTHER ALL-IN OR NOTHING DEAL. THE DARK
FANTASY MOVIE COST A WHOPPING 3,7 MILLION EURO TO COMPLETE. FILMED FOR OVER A YEAR AND DIRECTED BY STOBE HARJU, TELLING
A TALE OF A TERMINALLY ILL COMPOSER ON HIS DEATHBED STRUGGLING TO GATHER THE REMAINS OF HIS MEMORIES, THE MOVIE WAS A
TREAT FOR THE NIGHTWISH FAITHFUL BUT PERHAPS A BIT MORE CONFUSING FOR GENERAL AUDIENCES.
THE MOVIE, IN TURN, WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A SOUNDTRACK CALLED IMAGINAERUM (THE SCORE) BY NIGHTWISH,
LARGELY COMPOSED AT TUOMAS’ BEHEST AND FOLLOWING HIS IDEAS BY PETRI ALANKO, WHO IS BETTER
KNOWN FOR HIS ENDEAVORS IN VIDEO GAME MUSIC AND POP.
WISER AFTER THE EXCRUCIATING PREVIOUS TOUR, NIGHTWISH WOVED NEVER TO PUSH THEMSELVES TO THE LIMIT WITH TRAVELING AGAIN.
THE IMAGINAERUM WORLD TOUR LAUNCHED WITH A SECRET GIG IN LOS ANGELESISSA IN JANUARY OF 2012. AFTER THE EUROPEAN LEG AND SUMMER FESTIVALS, THE CARAVAN EMBARKED FOR AN AMERICAN TOUR THAT WOULD SEE ANOTHER ERA OF NIGHTWISH COME TO ITS CONCLUSION.
ANETTE OLZON’S ERA IN NIGHTWISH ENDED AFTER TWO ALBUMS, A MOVIE, AND ONE LIVE EP. THOSE FIVE YEARS INCLUDED TWO OF THE
THREE COMMERCIALLY MOST SUCCESSFUL NIGHTWISH ALBUMS TO DATE. TO THIS DAY TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN STRESSES
THAT NO ONE ON THIS PLANET COULD’VE SUNG THOSE TWO ALBUMS BETTER THAN ANETTE OLZON.
A verse of me, a verse in need,
of a pure heart singing me to peace
FAMOUSLY, IT ONLY TOOK 48 HOURS TO FIND A STAND-IN SINGER TO DO THE REST OF THE TOUR. THE SAVING ANGEL CAME IN THE FORM OF
DUTCH VALKYRIE GODDESS FLOOR JANSEN, AN OLD BUDDY OF NIGHTWISH FROM THEIR EUROPEAN TOUR OF 2002.
FLOOR’S NIGHTWISH DEBUT WAS SEEN IN SEATTLE ON OCTOBER 1ST, 2012.
TEN MONTHS LATER THE REBORN SYMPHONIC METAL JUGGERNAUT RECORDED THEIR SEMINAL PERFORMANCE AS THE HEADLINERS OF THE
LEGENDARY WACKEN OPEN AIR METAL FESTIVAL, BEFORE A SCREAMING SEA OF PEOPLE 82 000 STRONG. THE EVENT WAS RELEASED AS THE
SHOWTIME, STORYTIME DVD. THE IMAGINAERUM TOUR ENDED TWO WEEKS LATER, HAVING LASTED FOR 104 CONCERTS AND 18 MONTHS.
FLOOR’S TRY-OUT IN NIGHTWISH ENDED IN OCTOBER 2013 WHEN SHE WAS WELCOMED AS AN OFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE BAND.
A YEAR OF COOPERATION HAD PROVED THAT SHE WAS EVERYTHING NIGHTWISH NEEDED AND VICE VERSA.
EVERY BIT AS CRUCIAL WAS THE OTHER ”NEW“ MEMBER, THE INFINITELY TALENTED TROY DONOCKLEY AS WELL.
Into White Agony Creek
DURING THE END OF 2013 AND 2014 TUOMAS CONCENTRATED IN REALIZING HIS 15-YEAR LONG DREAM – A SOLO ALBUM CALLED MUSIC
INSPIRED BY THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SCROOGE. THE CONCEPT ALBUM WAS A SOUNDTRACK WITHOUT A MOVIE, TUOMAS’ TRIBUTE TO AN
ICONIC COMIC NOVEL ILLUSTRATED BY DON ROSA. WHO ELSE BETTER TO ILLUSTRATE TE COVER ART THAN ROSA HIMSELF,
WHO ALSO PERFORMED ON THE ALBUM’S SINGLE VIDEO, A LIFETIME OF ADVENTURE.
DURING THIS PROLIFIC SONGWRITING PHASE TUOMAS ALSO SKETCHED SONGS FOR THE NEXT NIGHTWISH ALBUM
AND COMPLETED A CHARITY SONG CALLED LOHTU FOR HELSINKI’S NEW CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL.
Finding the way back home
IN APRIL AND MAY OF 2014 IT WAS AGAIN THE TIME FOR THE BAND TO RETREAT FROM THE WORLD AND PREPARE DEMOS FOR THE NEW
ALBUM. THE RECORDINGS TOOK PLACE FIRST IN HATTULA AND LATER IN THE BAND’S DEAR RÖSKÖ CAMP IN KITEE. DURING THE
RECORDINGS IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT JUKKA’S HEALTH WOULDN’T ALLOW HIM TO CONTINUE IN THE BAND. THE DRUMMED HAD SUFFERED
FROM SEVERE INSOMNIA MOST OF HIS ADULT LIFE AND NOW THE TIME HAD COME TO STEP DOWN FROM THE DRUM THRONE.
JUKKA STILL WORKS WITH NIGHTWISH IN THE BUSINESS SIDE OF THINGS, WHILE HIS DEAR FRIEND AND LONG-TIME DRUM TECH,
THE ATOMIC CLOCK OF VAASA, KAI HAHTO HAS TAKEN OVER THE DRUM THRONE. FROM TUOMAS’S CEREBRAL NURSERY INTO A MUSICAL FEAST ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL TOOK ITS SHAPE. NAMED AFTER A
SENTENCE IN CHARLES DARWIN’S BOOK THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES, THE ALBUM SAW NIGHTWISH SAY A FOND FAREWELL TO FANTASY
WORLDS AND FIND EVEN GRANDER DRAMA IN THE WONDERS OF REAL WORLD AND SCIENCE. THE NEW SONGS DEALT WITH THE PLENITUDE
OF NATURE AND SCIENCE, A HUMAN BEING’S LIFE AND ITS BREVITY AND FRAGILITY. LADEN WITH SOFTER MOMENTS AS WELL AS BANGERS,
THE ALBUM’S CROWN JEWEL WAS A 24 MINUTE EPIC, THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, A SONG THAT WENT WHERE NO SONG HAD GONE
BEFORE, TELLING A STORY SPANNING 4,6 BILLION YEARS OF THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF PLANET EARTH, LIFE, MANKIND, AND MUSIC.
NOT ONLY HAD TUOMAS FACED A GIGANTIC COMPOSITIONAL CHALLENGE HEAD ON, BUT HE’D ALSO COME OUT THE OTHER SIDE A WINNER. THE ALBUM WAS GRACED BY EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST RICHARD DAWKINS’ SPOKEN PARTS,
WHILE HIS TEXTS ARE STAMPED ALL OVER THE ALBUM’S KEY PIECES.
MUSICALLY, ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL WAS A STEP TOWARDS A MORE ORGANIC SOUND FOR THE BAND. EVEN THE NEW FRONT-LADY GOT TO SHOWCASE MOST FACETS OF HER PHENOMENALLY EMOTIVE SOPRANO.
THE LEAD SINGLE OF THE ALBUM WAS ÉLAN, AN EXUBERANT HUMAN PAEAN FOR THE JOIE DE VIVRE, COMPLEMENTED BY A TOUCHING
VIDEO DIRECTED BY VILLE LIPIÄINEN, FEATURING A VERITABLE PANTHEON OF FINNISH ACTING VETERANS. RELEASED IN MARCH OF 2015,
ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL CLOSED THE YEAR AS THE BEST-SELLING ALBUM IN FINLAND AND BY THEN IT HAD SOLD A DOMESTIC
DOUBLE PLATINUM PLUS EXCEEDED GOLD RECORD SALES IN GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, AND CZECH REPUBLIC.
A 151 CONCERT TOUR COMMENCED, TAKING THE BAND FROM THE UNITED STATES TO JAPAN AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN.
THE TOUR INCLUDED E.G. A NIGHTWISH CRUISE ON THE BALTIC SEA, A SHOW AT THE PRESTIGIOUS UK FESTIVAL DOWNLOAD IN DONINGTON,
THE BAND’S FIRST EVER GIG AT ROCK IN RIO IN BRAZIL AND THE ICING ON THE CAKE, A SOLD OUT SHOW –
AS THE 1ST FINNISH BAND EVER – AT THE WEMBLEY ARENA. IT, TOGETHER WITH ANOTHER BIG PRODUCTION IN TAMPERE, FINLAND,
WAS IMMORTALIZED ON THE VEHICLE OF SPIRIT LIVE RELEASE FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON OF 2016.
A BREAK WAS NEEDED. EVEN TUOMAS ADMITTED HE’S ”EMPTY OF NIGHTWISH SONGS”.
Deep into the past
THE BEGINNING OF 2018 SAW THE RELEASE OF A COMPILATION ALBUM. CELEBRATING THEIR TWO DECADES IN THE SUN, DECADES: AN ARCHIVE OF SONGS – 1996–2015 WAS THE 1ST COMPILATION FULLY SANCTIONED BY NIGHTWISH AND IT WAS ALSO CURATED BY TUOMAS. THE DOUBLE ALBUM SHOWCASES THE BAND’S MUSICAL EVOLUTION IN REVERSE ORDER FROM 2015 BACK TO THE 1ST DEMO, RESEMBLING THE WAY RICHARD DAWKINS’ BOOK ANCESTOR’S TALE CLARIFIES THE QUIRKS OF EVOLUTION FROM NOW TO THE BEGINNING OF LIFE.
Back in time – cleansed and bare
THE DEBUT ALBUM OF AURI, A PROJECT OF TUOMAS, TROY, AND JOHANNA KURKELA, SAW THE DAYLIGHT IN MARCH OF 2018.
RECORDED IN ENGLAND DURING NIGHTWISH’S BREAK, AURI WAS A MINIMAL AFFAIR COMPARED TO NIGHTWISH, PERHAPS HARKING BACK
TO THE CAMPFIRES, MELANCHOLIC MOOD MUSIC AND FANTASY DOMAINS TUOMAS ORIGINALLY HAD IN HIS DESIGNS.
THE WRITING PROCESS OF AURI OPENED TUOMAS’ FLOODGATES AND SOON HIS CUP OVERFLOWETH WITH NIGHTWISH SONGS AS WELL.
THE SUMMER OF 2018 SAW THE START OF AN AVALANCHE OF NIGHTWISH REACTION VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE. ENTICED FIRST BY GHOST LOVE
SCORE’S SEMINAL WACKEN PERFORMANCE, THE REACTOR TRAIN KEEPS POURING NEW PEOPLE INTO THE MACHINE EVERY DAY STILL AND MOULDS THEM INTO FANS. TWO YEARS ON, WITH ITS 5500+ REACTION VIDEOS, NIGHTWISH HAS BECOME – WHAT ELSE – THE MOST EVER REACTED-TO ARTIST ON YOUTUBE.
Decades, make them matter
DECADES WAS FOLLOWED BY A NINE-MONTH TOUR OF 82 SHOWS, A ROARING SUCCESS. THE BAND PERFORMED REFRESHING RE-IMAGININGS OF THEIR OLD SONGS; NOW ARRANGED FOR THEIR CURRENT SIX-HEADED LINEUP.
FAN FAVORITES ORIGINALLY SUNG BY TARJA AND ANETTE GOT A NEW SHEEN WITH TROY’S ETHNO INSTRUMENTS AND LUSCIOUS THREE
VOCALIST HARMONIES THAT WERE BECOMING A STAPLE OF THE NEW NIGHTWISH SOUND. THIS SINGER TRIFECTA WOULD
BECOME TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE ON THE NEXT STUDIO ALBUM.
DECADES WORLD TOUR ENDED AND RESULTED TO A LIVE ALBUM AND BLURAY, THIS TIME RECORDED IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA.
THE GLORIOUS LIVE ALBUM SHOWED A TIGHT BAND WITH MAGICAL CHEMISTRY AT THE PEAK OF THEIR POWERS. IT DEBUTED ON FINNISH CHARTS AT #1 AND SCORED TOP20 POSITIONS IN 11 MORE COUNTRIES.
CLOSE TO THE END OF 2019 MARKO HIETALA, IN TURN, RELEASED HIS SOLO WORK PYRE OF THE BLACK HEART, FIRST DOMESTICALLY IN FINNISH AND LATER IN ENGLISH.
IN HOLLAND, FLOOR JANSEN TOOK PART IN A HUGELY POPULAR TV SHOW BESTE ZANGERS AND DID SOME WONDERFUL PROMOTION FOR
NIGHTWISH AND METAL MUSIC IN GENERAL, AN OVERLOOKED GENRE IN THE NETHERLANDS. DESPITE BEING AN INTERNATIONAL STAR,
FLOOR WAS A VERITABLE UNKNOWN IN HER HOMELAND BEFORE THE TV, BUT TURNED THE TABLES AND STORMED THE CHARTS,
LED NIGHTWISH TO HOLLAND’S RADIO WAVES AND WHILE AT IT, MADE HERSELF SORT OF A CELEBRITY THERE.
Music To Endlessness
SONGS FOR THE NEW ALBUM, HUMAN. :||: NATURE. WERE COMPLETED IN OCTOBER OF 2019. THE MASSIVE DOUBLE ALBUM WOULD
BE ANOTHER FORWARD STEP FOR THE BAND: THE FIRST BID GOODBYES TO NIGHTWISH’S GIGANTIC TRADEMARK ORCHESTRATIONS AND
SOUNDED MORE LIKE AN ORGANIC HEAVY METAL BAND ACCOMPANIED WITH CHOIRS AND STRINGS. ON THE SECOND DISC THE ORCHESTRA
WAS FRONT AND CENTER, WHEREAS THE BAND WAS MISSING, SAVE FOR SOME WORDLESS SINGING. SCRUTINIZING HUMANITY FROM A
PLETHORA OF ANGLES, THE MOST STRIKING NEW FEATURE ON THE ĐBAND DISC” WAS THE THREE-SINGER HARMONIES THAT GRACED ALL
THE SONGS. THE 2ND DISC WAS AN INSTRUMENTAL WORK, TUOMAS’ LOVE LETTER TO NATURE IN EIGHT PARTS.
THE ALBUM DROPPED IN APRIL OF 2020. IT MAY WELL BE THE MOST AMBITIOUS THING NIGHTWISH HAS DONE UP TO DATE.
IT IS A MUSICAL TOUR DE FORCE THAT SPANS TO EVERY VAST DIRECTION AND REFERS TO SO MANY LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOURCES ANDWINKS AT NIGHTWISH’S OWN HISTORY THAT SOME LISTENERS MAY HAVE TROUBLE TAKING IT ALL IN.
THE HUMAN. :||: NATURE. WORLD TOUR WAS SUPPOSED TO COMMENCE IN OULU, FINLAND WITH A SECRET GIG UNDER THE GUISE
OF NEVSKI & THE PROSPECTS, BUT COME LATE 2019, NATURE DECIDED OTHERWISE AND HIT HUMAN WITH
THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, HALTING THE WORLD ON ITS TRACKS AND CLOSING BORDERS EVERWHERE.
The core of all life is a limitless chest of tales.
BUT IT’S NOT LIKE THE NIGHTWISH MUSICIANS ARE RESTING ON THEIR LAURELS. DURING THE INVOLUNTARY COVID-19 SABBATICAL,
FLOOR HAS RELEASED A CHARITY SINGLE, AND TUOMAS, JOHANNA KURKELA, AND TROY HAVE COMPLETED THE SECOND AURI ALBUM.
BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD, NIGHTWISH’S FUTURE TOUR ENDEAVORS ARE YET
TO BE DETERMINED BUT BE IT HALF A YEAR, A YEAR OR MORE, ONE DAY THE WORLD OPENS AGAIN AND EVENTUALLY THE
FANS’ WILL BE REWARDED FOR THEIR EAGER ANTICIPATION.
NIGHTWISH’S DARK CHEST OF WONDERS ISN’T EMPTY YET. THE CURRENT REIGNING GIANTS OF METAL MUSIC ARE GROWING OLD
AND THEY WON’T TOUR FOREVER. AND RIGHT THERE, LURKING IN THE SHADOWS BIDING THEIR TIME ARE NIGHTWISH – LYING IN WAIT... AND DREAMING EVER MORE TALES TRUE.
See us dream every tale true
The verse we leave with you
will take you home.
A Nightwish energy drink.Nightwish & Sinebrychoff soft drinks company revealed their joint venture, a Nightwish Battery energy drink in March of 2012. The can is of course designed by Janne “ToxicAngel” Pitkänen in cooperation with Tuomas Holopainen. The limited edition of five hundred thousand cans was sold out during that spring.
A Gold Record Award for Imaginaerumfor the sales exceeding 15000 copies in Switzerland.
An Imaginaerum beer mug.Rare promotional material of the film.
TUOMAS AS A CHILD AND HIS ETERNAL LONGING TO CHILDHOOD
According to his mother Kirsti Nortia-Holopainen, as a child, Tuomas loved to pick up flowers and bring them home to mom. In the 2005 book “Once Upon A Nightwish” Tuomas professes that his childhood has a very, very special place in his heart:
“I’d like to be able to explain myself one day how tremendously much the first thirteen years of my life meant to me. When I close my eyes, I still think about some of those childhood Christmases, my childhood home, and all the little details about different occasions. I still get an incredible kick out of that. Cold shivers. That's what my paradise looks like. When I die, I want to go there, return to those times. I have no words-and apparently not even music-to describe how much my childhood meant to me and how happy it was.”
Eventually, in 2007, Tuomas was able to put his feeling into music with a song called “Meadows Of Heaven”:
I close my eyes, the lantern dies
The scent of awakening, wild honey and dew
Childhood games, woods and lakes
Streams of silver, toys of olden days.
Company Name
www.loremipsum.com
info@loremipsum.com
Tlf.: +11 111 111 111
A Nightwish energy drink.Nightwish & Sinebrychoff soft drinks company revealed their joint venture, a Nightwish Battery energy drink in March of 2012. The can is of course designed by Janne “ToxicAngel” Pitkänen in cooperation with Tuomas Holopainen. The limited edition of five hundred thousand cans was sold out during that spring.
A Gold Record Award for Imaginaerumfor the sales exceeding 15000 copies in Switzerland.
An Imaginaerum beer mug.Rare promotional material of the film.
TUOMAS AS A CHILD AND HIS ETERNAL LONGING TO CHILDHOOD
According to his mother Kirsti Nortia-Holopainen, as a child, Tuomas loved to pick up flowers and bring them home to mom. In the 2005 book “Once Upon A Nightwish” Tuomas professes that his childhood has a very, very special place in his heart:
“I’d like to be able to explain myself one day how tremendously much the first thirteen years of my life meant to me. When I close my eyes, I still think about some of those childhood Christmases, my childhood home, and all the little details about different occasions. I still get an incredible kick out of that. Cold shivers. That's what my paradise looks like. When I die, I want to go there, return to those times. I have no words-and apparently not even music-to describe how much my childhood meant to me and how happy it was.”
Eventually, in 2007, Tuomas was able to put his feeling into music with a song called “Meadows Of Heaven”:
I close my eyes, the lantern dies
The scent of awakening, wild honey and dew
Childhood games, woods and lakes
Streams of silver, toys of olden days.
Company Name
www.loremipsum.com
info@loremipsum.com
Tlf.: +11 111 111 111
Virtual Nightwish story by
360Finland.fi
Manuscript: Mape Ollila
Visual design: Janne Pitkänen
Sound design and mixing: Samppa Hirvonen
Keyboards: Petri Koistinen
Guitars: Tomi Virtanen
Virtual Nightwish story by
360Finland.fi
Manuscript: Mape Ollila
Visual design: Janne Pitkänen
Sound design and mixing: Samppa Hirvonen
Keyboards: Petri Koistinen
Guitars: Tomi Virtanen