The following page contains a message on the album by Tuomas Holopainen in white characters and a flowery baroque decoration.

In the third inner page the lyrics begin to appear. Here there is also a planet, below a blooming meadow where a blond girl is lying down. Some small bright light balls are falling onto her, so she is covering her yes with a hand. In the hand is contained a tiny toddler or maybe a wingless putto. A spiderweb is also visible.

In the fourth the blue background becomes darker than the one seen in the previous page. Moreover a girl's face and a wolf standing on a snowy grass are drawn blended with further faint white light balls.

In the fifth and sixth inner page a black and violet stormy sea is protagonist, with the faces of Tarja and Tuomas portrayed on the right.

The seventh and eighth contain a picture including all the members sitting on a wide couch. A photographic effect was used to emphasize black, azure and white. Tarja wears a jacket (?) trimmed with black plumes on the neckline and cuffs, while her hair is gathered up. Her old-fashioned image is quite distant from the one of the other band mates in black, although all of them deliver a feeling of elegance. Two large paintings are seeable at their shoulders.

With the ninth and tenth page we notice a repetition of the theme shown in the fifth and sixth inner pages, this time with the addition of the faces of the 3 remaining members.

The eleventh sees the comeback of the bright blue together with the image of a stylized Roman or Greek warrior armed with a sword and shield fighting a dragon (or the devil).

The twelfth inner page portrays a typical wintery Finnish landscape; as a matter of fact the river, bridge, buildings and trees here photographed are covered with snow. The drawing of a boy and a girl in love was added upon: they hold each other's hands and are rising to the sky. In the right corner above the sun is reflected before it is covered by the moon's eclipse.

The thirteenth and fourteenth inner pages the already seen violet rough sea constitutes the background for info about the guest musicians, the composers and a thankslist.

The sixteenth page (the last) shows the same ocean of the front cover just faded, along with the magnified face of the girl protagonist of the front cover, as well as a closing message and Spinefarm Records' logo.

"Nightwish" was a name of a song on the band's first demo. Soon after the band decided to call themselves by the same name.

"Oceanborn" was composed during the spring of 1998 when some members were still in the army.

Drummer Jukka's mother founded his first proper kit, the Tama Esprit he'd always wanted.

While the rest of the musicians recorded at Caverock studio their parts, Jukka recorded his in the locker room of the Huvikeskus Sport Hall.

Tuomas Holopainen's former music teacher provided some violin parts for the album.

The lyrics to "The Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean" were deemed in certain corners as 'blasphemous'.

In May 1999 the platter picked up and international release with a different artwork, and a bonus track was added at the end, the single "Sleeping Sun", that was initially issued to coincide with the solar eclipse of August 11th 1999, complete with eclipse-proof glasses.

Tarja is a light lyrical soprano with a 3-octaves width.

Tarja's talent to music was noted when she sang in a church choir at the age of 3, "Enkeli taivaan" (the Finnish version of "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come") in the Kitee church. She officially joined the church choir and started taking vocal lessons. At age six, she started playing piano.
At comprehensive school, Turunen performed as a singer for several projects. Her first piano teacher Kirsti Nortia-Holopainen (Tuomas Holopainen's mother), "Tarja was in a school that had some very musical people. Even then she got to perform a lot. I think she sang in every school function there was." Her music teacher, Plamen Dimov, later explained that, "If you gave Tarja just one note, she immediately got it. With the others, you'd have to practice three, four, five times". At school she had a tough time, since some girls bullied her because they envied her voice. To solve that problem, Dimov organized projects outside school. At 15 she appeared as a soloist at a church concert in front of 1,000 listeners.

The idea of Nightwish was born in July 1996 at midnight when Tuomas Holopainen was spending a night with his friends around a campfire. The first three songs, which were acoustic mood music, were recorded between October and December 1996. At that time the band had three members: Tuomas, Tarja, and Emppu. Originally, Tarja Turunen wasn't into Metal at all. She was approached by the first two members of her school at the time, and asked to join because they knew she was one of the best singers in the school.

Tarja was fired with an 'open letter' by the 4 other band members on Oct. 22, 2005. It took until May 2007 for her replacement, Anette Olzon (of the AOR band Alyson Avenue) to be announced.

The band did 3 surprise gigs in autumn 2007, pretending to be various Nightwish cover bands: Sep 22nd in Tallinn, Estonia as Nachtwasser, "the German cover band"; Sep 26th in Helsinki, Finland as Natuvissyset, "the Estonian cover band" and Sep 28th in Hamburg, Germany as Sushi Patrol, "the Japanese cover band".

Tuomas Holopainen is a huge fanatic of Disney animation and he loves Disneyworld in Florida, USA. Nightwish played some shows there at the Blues Club, and at that time, the Disney film "Finding Nemos" was in theatres, leading to the misconception the song 'Nemo' had something to do with the movie. The truth is Nemo is Latin for 'nobody' and the name is a coincidence. At Nightwish live shows, it's usual that somebody in the audience throws the Nemo fish character plush doll on stage to the band.

In 2000 Nightwish was accepted in the Finnish Eurovision Song Contest tryouts with the song "Sleepwalker". Despite winning the public vote, Nightwish eventually finished in second place, with the jury choosing local Gospel singer Nina Åström to represent Finland.

The fifth album "Once" was recorded with London Symphony Orchestra, whose musicians also took part in "The Lord of the Rings" soundtrack recording. One of the LP’s songs "Creek Mary's Blood" featured the Indian John Two-Hawks from the tribe Lakota. He sings in his native language and plays the flute on the track.

In 2005, Nightwish performed "Nemo" at the opening ceremony of the World Championships in Athletics, held in Helsinki.

Nightwish covered a Jaakko Teppo song "Hilma ja Onni" for a tribute album 'Pörsänmäen Sanomat - Tribuutti Jaakko Tepolle' in 2009.

Three Nightwish songs were used for big-production movies:
"Planet Hell" in The Ring of the Nibelungs (2004, TV) - with some big actors in it.
Their song "I Wish I Had An Angel" was featured on the soundtrack of the 2004 horror film "Alone in the Dark" starring Christian Slater and Tara Reid.
"Nemo" was featured on the soundtrack of the 2005 survival horror film "The Cave".
Two Nightwish songs, "End of All Hope" and "Slaying the Dreamer", were used on a small-production flick, "Kohtalon kirja".

Nightwish were pictured on one of six Finnish postage stamps celebrating Finnish Rock Bands, issued on 11 September 2015. The price on the day of the issue was 1.10 Euros.

The 2005 San Antonio Spurs' introduction song into the stadium was "Planet Hell" (with no vocals).

The Minnesota Wild's introduction song for their NHL home games was the beginning climax of "The Poet And The Pendulum" (with no vocals) during the Stanley Cup Playoffs (2014).

Nightwish's cover of "The Phantom of The Opera", with Tarja Turunen and Marko Hietala at End of An Era (2005 Hartwall Areena), is composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's favorite version to date.

Along with the new album "Imaginaerum" recording, Nightwish started filming the musical fantasy film based on the forthcoming self-titled LP. The film premiered on November 10, 2012, in Helsinki during the band’s debut concert with the new vocalist Floor Jansen.

The album "Endless Forms Most Beautiful", released in late March 2015, was influenced by poet Walt Whitman and scientific works of naturalist Charles Darwin. The record featured the popularizer of science Richard Dawkins, who narrated in the songs "Shudder Before the Beautiful" and "The Greatest Show on Earth".

Jukka Nevalainen left Nightwish due to persistent insomnia issues, thus making "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" the first Nightwish recording without his participation. Kai Hahto took temporarily his place both in studio and on stage. He has since stepped down from the drummer position to focus on the business end of the band, with Hahto taking his place permanently.

Sami Vänskä was fired in 2001 due to creative differences. On August 20th, 2016 he joined the band on stage to perform "Stargazers" as a bass player while Marco Hietala was in the crowd.

Emppu Vuorinen started playing guitar at the age of 12 and learned to play as both a rhythm and a lead guitarist.
Vuorinen plays in either standard and D-tuning.

Nightwish is Finland's biggest, best-selling band, with multiple platinum, 3x platinum, and gold selling albums and singles.

Nightwish singles that went Platinum: "EverDream", "Bless The Child", "Nemo", and "Amaranth". Nightwish singles that went Gold: "Sacrament of Wilderness", "Walking In The Air", "Sleeping Sun", and "I Wish I Had An Angel".

"Wishmaster" reached Gold status within 2 hours of its release in Finland.

Whilst some fans are passionate about their favorite Nightwish's singer and claim them to be the true face of the band, most fans are savvy enough to understand that Nightwish is the brain and lovechild of Tuomas Halopainen, who composes and writes 90% of the music and lyrics. The guitarists write their solos, and the singers create their melodic lines.

Tuomas Halopainen's favourite composer is Hans Zimmer, and draws heavy inspiration from him.
Nightwish is heavily influenced by Finnish Power Metal band Stradivarius, as well as Metallica, Rammstein, and Black Sabbath.

The song "Higher Than Hope" (from the album "Once") was written in memory of, and dedicated to, Marc Brueland. Marc Brueland was a passionate fan and became good friends with Nightwish. He and Tuomas would talk over the phone frequently. He was given a speaking part in the song before he died of cancer in 2003, at 30.

Nightwish has covered several songs throughout their career, Gary Moore's "Over The Hills and Far Away", Howard Blake's "Walking In The Air", Pink Floyd's "High Hopes", and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of The Opera".

Every album since 2002's "Century Child" has a magnum opus to end the album, that averages about 10 minutes long. Century Child: "Beauty Of the Beast", Once: "Ghost Love Score", Dark Passion Play: "The Poet and The Pendulum", Imaginaerum: "Song of Myself", and Endless Form's Most Beautiful: "The Greatest Show on Earth". "Human/Nature" is the first album to break the pattern in 18 years, with two songs that are 7 minutes instead.

On June 7th 2004, Nightwish released their all time best-selling album "Once", and embarked on a 1.5 year world tour to support the new album. Unfortunately behind the scenes, the tensions between Tarja, Marcelo, the rest of the band, and band management, were reaching it's boiling point. In late 2004, bassist Marko Hietala was the first to think of firing Tarja; Jukka agreed first. Eventually Tuomas, Emppu, and Ewo would also agree, and kept their final decision secret from Tarja and Marcelo. A 'personal' letter, with a list of grievances, was written specifically to be given to Tarja, with the signatures of all four (now) ex-bandmates signed at the bottom. This letter was scanned to be uploaded onto Nightwish's personal website later. On October 21st 2005 after their (now legendary) concert at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland, Tarja Turunen was unceremoniously fired via open letter. The letter was given to her backstage directly after the concert, with Tuomas Halopainen personally asking that she not open it until the following day. Tarja gave a tearful press conference, and posted her own open letter in response to the allegations made by Nightwish, to her personal website in the following days. Media scrutiny and fan backlash to the debacle was so intense, Tarja fled the country to join her husband, Marcelo Cabuli, in Argentina, and Tuomas retreated to his parent's house to recuperate after receiving death threats. The incident flung Tuomas into a major depression, and he wrote the song "The Poet and The Pendulum" as catharsis so that he'd "be able to kill myself in a song without having to do it in real life". In response to the continuous references to her and vitriol aimed at Marcelo in 2007's "Dark Passion Play", Tarja responded to Nightwish via her own song "Enough", on her 2009 solo album "My Winter Storm".

Nightwish's Hartwall Arena concert was recorded Live, titled "End of An Era" and released as a concert DVD in 2006. The band's biography "Once Upon A Nightwish: The Official Biography 1996-2006", was also released that same year; detailing the incident, the band's founding, the band's early years, their successes, and the inner-personal tension that eventually led to Tarja's dismissal. Tarja and Marcelo attempted to sue Nightwish for defamation and libel over the book, but the Helsinki court tossed out their case in 2011. Nightwish's open letter to Tarja, and Tarja's subsequent press conference and replying letter can still be found online.

After Turunen's dismissal, the band reviewed about 2,000 applicants for a new lead singer. Around 10 progressed to personally audition in front of Nightwish. Anette Olzon was eventually chosen as their new lead singer in February 2007, after initially being rejected due to Tuomas's concerns of her having a young son. However, she was persistent. Her audition song was Nightwish's "EverDream". Her identity was kept secret, with her being introduced as Ewo's (Nightwish's manager) Swedish cousin whilst at a Tarot concert. She was officially announced as Nightwish's new frontwoman on May 27th, 2007. "Everdream" was released as Anette's debut with Nightwish the day after. And "Dark Passion Play" was released later that year on September 26th, 2007.

Fans' backlash to Anette Olzon was swift, with many Nightwish holdouts believing it was too drastic a change from Turunen's dark, precision-based, operatic vocals, to Anette's bright, relaxed, Pop/Rock style vocals. Sadly, at many concerts, Anette was harassed from stage by Tarja-Nightwish fans to the verge of tears.

Tarja Turunen married Argentinian businessman Marcelo Cabuli on 31st December 2002 – their wedding was celebrated in July 2003; they lived in Buenos Aires with their daughter who was born in 2012. In an interview, Tarja explained that in 2016 they had plans to move back to Europe due to her touring schedule and that their daughter was starting school in the coming year. She currently lives in the south of Spain. In October 2021, she revealed she had a stroke three years earlier after a U.S. tour.

Tarja fluently speaks Finnish, English, Spanish and German.

Turunen played at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in July 2006 as main act; she sang alongside Finnish tenor Raimo Sirkiä, supported by the Kuopio Symphonic Orchestra. Turunen performed classical arias like "O mio babbino caro" by Giacomo Puccini, "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" by Giuseppe Verdi and some songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber—"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "Phantom of the Opera"—among other songs.

Tuomas Halopainen originally intended Nightwish to be an acoustic band. His decision to make Nightwish a Heavy Metal project came, in part, from his time as an exchange student in the United States, where he saw Metallica Live for the first time, and then cemented by hearing Tarja Turunen's singing voice for the first time. He asked her to sing for his project because he knew her from being a former classmate, they were friends, he knew that she was a Voice major, and she agreed. Upon hearing her much stronger voice for the first time, he realized he had to make the music heavier to better suit her so that the music wouldn't be drowned out. Evidence of Nightwish's acoustic roots are evidenced in the album " Angels Fall First" self-titled song, "Angels Fall First".

Tuomas always used male vocals in addition to Tarja's, as evidenced by his first attempt to sing, in Nightwish's " The Carpenter", and by the other male singers hired later.
Four compositions, "The Carpenter", "Beauty and the Beast", "Astral Romance" and "Once upon a Troubadour" from the debut album "Angels Fall First" are the only songs in Nightwish’s discography featuring Tuomas Holopainen’s vocals.

Marko Hietala (Tarot, Sinergy, Northern Kings etc.) officially joined Nightwish in 2001, after Sami Vänskä's firing. His hiring turned Nightwish into an official Heavy Metal band, and attracted many Metal fans. Marko enabled Tuomas to add an aggressive, masculine component to Nightwish's music, to contrast with Tarja's soft, feminine soprano vocals; a modernized, more pleasant usage of the "Beauty and The Beast" effect that's common in Gothic Metal bands. His Nightwish debut was "Century Child". Previously when Tuomas needed a male voice, he'd either ask Tapio Wilska (Finntroll) or Tony Kakko (Sonatica Artica).

Anette Olzon's last concert as Nightwish lead singer was at The Complex, September 29th, 2012, in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was hospitalized with a liver cyst, and was forced to cancel subsequent shows. Nightwish tapped Elize Ryd of Amaranthe, and Alissa White-Glutz of then-The Agonist, to fill her place as singer(s) for her shows instead of wanting to cancel them. Olzon was extremely upset by this, and traded barbs online with Nightwish via her hospital bed. Nightwish fired Anette Olzon on October 1st, 2012 subsequently. Anette has gone on to theorize that the reason she was fired was because she was pregnant. Nightwish vehemently denied this, stating they were all congratulatory to her, but that "the split with Anette wasn't because of pregnancy or illness. We discovered her personality didn't fit this work community, and was even detrimental to it." Anette further went on stating that she was fired exactly the way Tarja was, and wants to speak to Tarja directly, so that they can share their experiences. Tarja is supposedly yet to do so, and seems unlikely to, as in all interviews since her solo career, answers in questions regarding Nightwish that she is proud of what she and Nightwish did together, but has since moved on. "I have my life, they have theirs."

After, Floor Jansen was called whilst at her sister, Irene Jansen's wedding, and asked to be Anette Olzon's temporary, emergency replacement for Nightwish, still on mid-tour. Floor agreed, and learned Nightwish's setlist on the plane ride over to the United States, documented in Nightwish's "Please learn the setlist in 48 hours". Floor Jansen's first debut with Nightwish was in October 2012, in Seattle, Washington, to raving reviews. Floor Jansen was officially announced as Anette Olzon's permanent replacement, and Nightwish's third Lead Vocalist in October 2013.

The two most personal songs in Nightwish's entire discography are "Dead Boy's Poem" and "The Poet And The Pendulum". "Dead Boy's Poem" is Tuomas Holopainen's autobiographic song, and "The Poet And The Pendulum" contains excerpts of what Tuomas's parents actually said to him ("Mother and Father" sequence) in the wake of the Tarja's sacking debacle. He requested Audio Tech to mute his earphones from the vocals in "The Poet And The Pendulum" multiple times.

As of 2021, Nightwish no longer performs "The Poet and The Pendulum" live; Tuomas's father, Pentti Holopainen, died on February 4th, 2021.

Plamen Dimov and Tony Kakko (Sonatica Artica) are directly responsible in both the formation of Nightwish, and continuing its existence. Plamen Dimov was Tuomas Holopainen and Emppu Vuorinen's music teacher and mentor, and Tarja's vocal teacher in comprehensive High School. Plamen Dimov mentored Emppu in how to best handle his frustrations at feeling "like a hired gun who does what he's told", at a time when Emppu was seriously considering quitting the band because Sami was lowering morale. During a hike, Tuomas divulged to Tony Kakko that he was seriously considering disbanding Nightwish due to rising tensions over Sami's behavior. Tony convinced him not to quit because he'd regret it, and offered some advice in how to handle it. When they got back from their hike, Tuomas officially hired Ewo Pohjula as Nightwish's personal Manager, and had Sami Vänskä fired.

"Passion & the Opera" (in "Oceanborn") is secretly dedicated from Tuomas to Tarja. She understood his love and interest to her but pretended not to.

"Nightquest" (in "Oceanborn") was written implying the hopeful belief that Tuomas (the storyteller and pied piper), Tarja (the maid and queen of the night), Jukka (the warrior), and Emppu (the merry minstrel) would be in the band as friends for its entire duration, and likened it to a Fantasy Quest. Sadly, this would prove not to be the case.

"Shoemaker" (Human/Nature) is in honor of the true story of American geologist, and a founder of Planetary Science, Eugene Merle Shoemaker (April 28, 1928 - July 18, 1997). He co-discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Carolyn S. Shoemaker (his wife) and David H. Levy. This comet hit Jupiter in July 1994, with the impact televised around the world. Shoemaker studied terrestrial craters, such as Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona, and along with Edward Chao which provided the first conclusive evidence of its origin as an impact crater. He was also the first director of the United States Geological Survey's Astrogeology Research Program, and worked closely with NASA in training U.S. astronauts. He himself was candidate to be an Astronaut for one of the Apollo missions, but was disqualified after he was diagnosed with Addison's disease (disorder of the adrenal gland). Sadly on July 18th 1997, he was killed in a head-on car accident, while on his way to visit an impact crater site, on the Tanami Track, in Australia. His wife was with him, and was severely injured in the crash but survived. His remains were cremated with half his ashes given to his wife, and the other half given to NASA to take to the Moon for his final resting site, on the Lunar Prospector mission; for his contributions to science and in honor of his part in training their astronauts. His urn is inscribed with the excerpt: "And, when he shall die Take him and cut him out in little stars And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun."
The excerpt comes from William Shakespeare's " Romeo and Juliet". The brass foil wrapping on Shoemaker's memorial capsule is also inscribed with images of Comet Hale-Bopp and the phrase "The last comet that the Shoemakers observed together". He is the only human being whose remains are interred on the Moon.

The final lyric "Laudato si Ad Astra" is Latin for 'Glory to the stars'. This is the first Nightwish song to feature Tuomas Halopainen's wife (married in 2015) Johanna Kurkela, who speaks the Shakespeare excerpt.

"The Kinslayer" from the "Wishmaster" full-length is based on the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999; the lyrics are based on both the shooters, and survivors perspectives.

Nightwish were announced as an inductee of the Finnish Music Hall Of Fame on October 26th, 2018.

At Tuomas's request, the band has agreed that the song "Ocean Soul" will never be played live. Tuomas says it is because it is a very personal song to him.

Nightwish have two animal species named after them: (Tanidromites nightwishorum and Sciophila holopaineni).

All the lyrics are in English and seem to be at a complex level, sometimes using old English words. They deal with love, nature, astrology, religion, fantasy, beauty.
Here is what they are about in detail:

* cosmic stargazers.
* suffering caused by lack of the loved one, and Jesus' suffering on Getsemani, the wood he was arrested in.
The fraction dedicated to Jesus is one of my fave lyrics from this record.
* the devil's birth incarnated in the womb of a virgin.
* an angel performing a sacrament in an arctic wilderness.
Another high point in the fantasy themes written by the Finnish group.
* a virgin offered to a kin of the devil.
* somebody who would like to have all the models for him and make them fall in love with him.
* a wise man who knows all the answers.
* a pharaoh tells Moses to go away, counting on the power given by his pyramids following Orion's constellation and the constellationes of the divinities he adores.
This lyric is inspired by a biblical passage.

"Stargazers", chosen to open the full-length, begins with a vibrant interlacing of keys and drums, ensued by a guitar solo and later on by Tarja's crystal-clear vocals filling and embellishing the dead spaces. The song goes on presenting some passages alternated a couple of times until a mid-tempo break sets in, and that's when classy keyboards lines catch the ear. A short Prog Metal keyboard solo follows, the verse returns, and after them a guitar lick precedes authoritative key touches before the song fades out. Only elegant keys and a flute remain, and next the main riff reappers closed by another keyboard solo and a sturdy drum roll. A good start, occasionally reminiscent of Rhapsody's.

Once again the team work between graceful keys and particularly hammering drums starts a composition, but in "Gethsemane" Tarja enters and sings till her vocals are overdubbed with other less high ones. This kind of structure is repeated and partially accompanied by piano touches in the background, interrupted by a heavy riff, preceding a Pan-like flute tune in the vein of certain Jethro Tull; later on elegant occasional keyboards triumph and Tarja's distant voice gradually grows. Afterwards the riff comes back replaced by the verse met earlier on sung and overdubbed. Here Tarja displays her full vocal range, going even higher.
Time for a second break, a crescendo, succesively the main riff, various guitar licks and a guitar solo that makes the number more diversified until the conclusion.

A wicked riff kicks off to "Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean"; soon a blastbeat attacks the listener mercilessly before an atmospherical variation with magical keys arrives. Male effected vocals speak before Tarja's fast ones, and after a few moments a second blastbeat accompanied by fast keyboards. This formula is repeated, to be cut off by another break while the male vocals become more and more diabolical. Tuomas goes solo with his synth, the drummer rolls rapid, and the infernal male vocals are mixed with Tarja's angelic ones. A female scream is placed in the background during an instrumental vampiric frame, just before an oppressive blastbeat and all of a sudden the pattern is abruptly broken off a few times, alternated with the said blastbeat, until the male and female vocals, with Tarja's taking the lion's share. Tuomas enterprises a fugue anticipating a thundering drom roll closing the track unexpectedly.

"Sacrament of Wilderness", also matched by an official video showing the band during the 'First Tour of the Angels' live at Huvikeskus Club in Kitee and how Tarja wasn't into Metal at all in the early stages, while Tuomas and Emppu definitely were even if they still had short hair ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5dJeNay_XU"), commences with sinister keyboards lines and lively drumwork. When the keyboards solo ends, a Power Metal riff turning to Techno-Thrash (!) Metal - the finest of the platter - arrives. Tarja's opera vocals shine as usual resting during the next keyboards solos. Nightwish decide to drop a heavy slab of a Power Metal acceleration, where Tarja trills higher. Gloomy keys are back, and sometimes they even sound a bit alien, preceding fiery guitar licks and a very original guitar solo. Tarja's ready to re-offer us the initial verse, and then it's party-time with another keys solo, this time reminding me of Dream Theater. Again a Power Metal speed-up before Tarja goes even higher just like a professional opera singer. Wow, great stress on her body for such a performance!
Some guitar licks are played a few instants before incisive drums and keys stop sharply. Probably the highest point on this platter.

How do they choose to begin the following "Passion and the Opera"? With a guitar riff waiting for the rhythmic section to add on. In the course of the mid-tempo Tarja's voice greets us for its comeback, then a drum roll and controlled keys and guitar licks in an interlocutory segment quickly make room for a powerful riff, and then for a nice drum fill. Aterwards, they accompany Tarja one more time.
Tribal drumwork leaves guitar and keys free to produce a long note, preparing the hearer for a crushing riff alternated with the previous elements, followed by Tarja's mezzosoprano vocals, who sounds like a nightingale on hypnotizing bass lines. The keys lines are unusually based on low notes, and paired with a demolishing riff create a stark contrast with Tarja's delivery. A further keyboards layer is added on, ethereal as ever, while the drumwork operates in countertime. All of them fade out slowly on this occasion. This is one of their toughest and brawniest songs hands down.

With "Swanheart" a flute and delicate keyboards parts are chosen as beginners, ensued by Tarja's fairy vocals, also present with a second layer. A soft piano and then a keyboards solo get rapidly replaced by bass an drums finally. Then symphonic keys dominate the song, and then Tarja is requested to sing louder and higher. Later on a drum roll similar to the one produced by a classical orchestra and the nth guitar solo procede for a while with the guitar reaching its climax; soon the drumwork builds a frame around itself before disappearing, thus leaving keys and guitar the opportunity orf fading out with no hurry.

Courteous synth and piano lines start "Moondance", then a robust riff that strangely reminds me of a Renaissance or Baroque court gala with a touch of Slavic style punch the clock. A relaxed part with a flute and keys, then the section reminding me of a tight fast dance in presto among blue blood people restarts. This is a catchy and animated almost completely instrumental with just a small number of male vocals singing 'hey' from afar and a good 20 tracks of violin!
An incredible composition...I still don't understand why Emppu did not want to record it.

"The Riddler" is a track that sets off in the beginning with almost all of the instruments, then Tarja enters and lastly the guitar cuts away a way in to soon goes solo, first at an average speed, while fast in the last seconds. After, Tarja gives another excellent performance, while the guitar goes away and soon returns in order to enhance the conflicting effect until a mature axe solo takes the spotlight growing by degrees. The refrain is easy to remember and keeps up until an atmospherical rhythmic variation takes control with the guitar meowing in the background. Then it starts scratching again in the reproposition of the verse and refrain paired with a soft Power Metal blastbeat until the finalè comes, rendered through a fluctuating guitar note.

Things change a lot with "The Pharaoh Sails to Orion", where seismic bass lines and Transylvanic keyboards are substituted by vicious male vocals in the span of a bunch of seconds. After that a portion of Symphonic Metal goes on a fugue with rapid drumming and keys touches, a dynamic guitar riff turns up, whilst vocals of two sexes complete the picture of the composition. The ensuing blastbeat is as speedy and stubborn as the keys in this long and highly differentiated song. Despite that, Tarja makes no effort to keep up with the variations and in the central climax there's a keys riff paired with explosive drums. The male vocals keep on offering wicked and gothic interpretations, until the next wonderful flute solo, followed by quivering keys covering the whole acoustic spectrum. During the keys solo Tarja's vocals are far away, then the guitar squeals and the vocalist reappears loud and clear just in time to let a Malmsteenian closure stand out, one where the guitar seems impossible to tame. A conclusive drum roll leaves space to the sound of the waves of the ocean.
I find extremely delightful the uncountable variations of the keyboards parts and the drumwork adapting to the modifications with absolute timing.

Without pauses "Walking in the Air" kicks in. That is a cover version of animated TV special "The Snowman" composed by Howard Blake in 1982, that many other Rock bands executed before Nightwish and that Tuomas reputes the best musical piece ever composed in human history.
It is based on flute, keys and Tarja's marvellous vocals: hypnotic and tragic. Subsequently, the rhythmic section pops into by a slow tempo. In this song Tarja's expressive capacities are stretched to the limit, still she passes the test using all the pathos she has inside, helped by low and high keyboards notes. A guitar solo emphasizes the heavenly feeling permeating the whole composition bringing us to another, far better dimension. Later the keys go hand in hand with heavier drums, with the guitar completing the recipe without stealing anybody the centre of the stage. That has been reserved for ultra-refined keys and mighty drum sounds. The guitar solo fades out along with keyboards lines that sometimes seem magical and at other times horrorific depending on the day I listen to them.

"Sleeping Sun" is the second track accompanied by an enticing official video ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGfKMV5AbMI") where only Tarja appears because Tuomas did not want to invest more money unlike the second 2005 version ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yMCSDbwaCo"), and concludes the reissues of "Oceanborn" after its first appearance in the single "Ballads of the Eclipse" in 1999. As to the melancholic original video shot in the wonderful Finnish nature, there are different interpretations: some say it's about the eclipse, some say it's about someone at night with a partner in a moment they wish lasted forever, others say it's a song about a serene death after a long, peaceful, satisfying life, a death without violence, struggle or pain, and that's why Tarja is in a bathtub and gets up, meaning a new life elsewhere.
The second version shows Tarja waiting in vain for her husband, longing for him and wishing he had never gone to the battle that would cost his life. The other interpretation, more likely, is that she is a valkyrie choosing the heroes that will be slain in a battle against crusaders and accompanying them to Valhalla.
This piece is constituted by wintery keys, heartfelt vocals, while the bass enters slowly, walks on this way, and a guitar later works on a precise short riff a bit in the background, replaced by frying keys briefly playing very low notes. The tender refrain is delivered once again, then a few angelic female vocal tracks are placed before a short axe solo and the last repetition of the refrain before the faded-out keyboards touches.
I don't know how many of you noted especially in this song Tarja's thick accent, and I mean it in a good way, in that it makes this, as well as the remaining songs even more unique.
Anyway, this song makes you understand why people used to cry when listening to orchestras and operas. And when somebody says all Metal is evil, invite them to have a listen to this tune.


The first of the 4 bonus tracks is "Nightquest", the only studio composition. Probably one of the toughest and heaviest in the entire repertiore of the Finnish outfit, it is built around swift vocals and keyboards episodes, trembling guitar licks, a lively piano that delivers a solo not long later.. The verses are repeated and the keyboards triumph together with bass parts mixed higher this time at last. thus coming before a scorching guitar solo. A masterpiece that was a mistake not to publish in the initial editions, since it is all but a filler.

"Sleeping Sun" is a live version at a Summer Breeze Open Air festival, decidedly faithful to the original classic with just some additional vocal fills and harsher keyboards sounds.

"Swanheart" is taken live at Pakkahuone and lasts less than the studio version. As usual Tarja appears as perfect as in the studio recording, whereas I would say that the guitar solo is even better on that stage because it sounds warmer and more involving.

The last bonus, "The Pharaoh Sails to Orion" is another excerpt from the same concert at Pakkahuone. Introduced by Tapio Walika's aggressive voice resurfacing effected and demonical, Nightwish are clever at performing, as well as making the audience sing a little in the central part and then again some minutes later, but most of all in constructing the moving conclusion.
All of the live songs have exceptional sound quality, so that they don't even sound live when you don't hear the public sing or shout.

For the historical value in defining the genre this album was very important in the previous decades and still is for those who have to approach Symphonic Metal for the first time starting by a classic evergreen.

I like to have this version in my hands because of the additional material mentioned above, so the value is high, even if not as high as a deluxe boxed set for rich fans.