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2 Band members: 3 Discography (albums): 4 Similar Bands 5 External links |
Nightwish's formation officially took place in Kitee, Finland in 1997.
It started out as Holopainen's experiment using acoustic guitars, no drums and the operatic voice of Tarja Turunen. At this time there were three band members: Holopainen, Turunen and Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen (guitar).
In early 1997 Jukka Nevalainen joined the band, to play drums. The acoustic guitar was replaced with an electric one. In April they went into the studio and recorded seven songs. These songs can be found on the limited edition of Angels Fall First.
In May the same year, they were signed onto the Finnish record label Spinefarm Records. Angels Fall First was released in November, and reached position 31 on the Finnish album charts. A single entitled "The Carpenter" had been released beforehand, and it reached position 8 on the Finnish singles chart.
In 1998 Sami Vänskä joined the band to play bass guitar. This year they released the album Oceanborn. This album was a little heavier than the previous one. It reached position 5 on the Finnish album charts. The single from that album, "Sacrament of Wilderness", went straight to the first place of the Finnish single charts. This album did better than anyone expected.
In 1999 they recorded the single "Sleeping Sun", for the eclipse in Germany. This single sold 15.000 copies during the first month in Germany alone. Oceanborn was certified gold in August.
In 2000 Nightwish participated in the Finnish qualification for the Eurovision song contest with the song "Sleepwalker". They ended up in third place. They won the public televoting, but the jury overruled. In May they released the album Wishmaster. It went straight to first position in the Finnish album charts, and stayed there for three weeks. During those three weeks it was certified gold. Wishmaster was, despite long-awaited releases from Iron Maiden and Bon Jovi, at the same time declared album of the month in the German magazine Rock Hard.
In 2001 Nightwish recorded a cover of Gary Moore's "Over the Hills and Far Away". Together with a couple of new songs and a remake of an old one, this was released as the EP Over the Hills and Far Away. They also released a VHS, DVD and CD with live material. All of these were entitled From Wishes to Eternity. Shortly afterwards, Sami Vänskä left the band, and Marco Hietala from Sinergy and Tarot took over the bass guitar (he did not leave the other bands he plays in).
In 2002 Nightwish released Century Child, and the singles "Ever Dream" and "Bless the Child". The main difference from previous albums is the use of a live orchestra on most songs, to get a stronger feeling of classical music. Century Child was certified gold two hours after its release, and platinum two weeks afterwards. It set a record on the Finnish album charts as well; never before had the second been so distant from the first place.
Band history
Band members:
Discography (albums):
Similar Bands
External links