Once (Nightwish album)

Once
Studio album by Nightwish
Released	7 June 2004
Recorded	Tempputupa Studios, Kitee, Finnvox Studios, Helsinki and E-Major Studios, Kerava, Finland, Phoenix Sound Studios, Wembley, England October 2003–March 2004
Genre	Symphonic metal, power metal
Length	60:07
Label	Spinefarm (Finland & Asia) Nuclear Blast (Europe) Roadrunner (North America and Australia)
Producer	Tuomas Holopainen, Tero Kinnunen
Nightwish chronology
Century Child (2002) Once (2004) Dark Passion Play (2007)
Singles from Once
"Nemo" Released: 19 April 2004 "Wish I Had an Angel" Released: 15 September 2004 "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" Released: 24 November 2004 (Finland and Japan only) "The Siren" Released: 25 June 2005

Once is the fifth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on 7 June 2004 by Spinefarm Records and Nuclear Blast. It is the last album to feature Tarja Turunen on lead vocals. In an interview, the main songwriter of the band Tuomas Holopainen said that it is up to the listener to find out the meaning of the title Once. The album cost nearly €250,000 to make,^[1] which made it Finland's most expensive recording ever until the release of Nightwish's next album, Dark Passion Play, which cost over €500,000 to produce.^[2]

Background

In 2008 Kerrang! interview Tuomas Holopainen remembered: "Doing this kind of really orchestral, symphonic stuff for four albums, you have to be prepared to take the next step and go 10 steps beyond, and that's how we ended up with the London Session Orchestra. At that time we also had the financial resources to do it. This was like our second breakthrough in a way; Oceanborn (1998) broke us, took us to the big league. Musically it was pretty laid-back from our side because everyone involved in the orchestra really knew their stuff, so we basically spent two days lying on the couch hearing all these people playing our songs, enjoying every moment. It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. The first song they started to play was "Ghost Love Score", we had no idea what to expect, and I just thought: This can't be happening!"^[3]

Musical style

The album continues the more streamlined musical approach first heard on Century Child, moving further away from the power metal-influenced sound of their previous albums into a slightly more mainstream, approachable feel. Once utilizes a full orchestra in nine of the eleven songs on the album; unlike Century Child, Nightwish chose an orchestra outside of Finland, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which is also featured on their next studio album, Dark Passion Play.

Once is their second album to feature a full-length song in Finnish, "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan". The band added new elements to their music for this album, such as the chorus riff and synthesized drum-beat of "Wish I Had an Angel", and the long Native American prayer chant on "Creek Mary's Blood". The song "Ghost Love Score" is an apt example of the combined work done by the orchestra and Nightwish, which the name hints at.

Cover art

The angel on the album cover is a view of the Angel of Grief, a sculpture by William Wetmore Story.^[4] The original is in the Protestant Cemetery of Rome, Italy. The statue shows an angel crying on the tomb of Story's wife; after his death, Story was buried under the same statue, close to his wife.^[5]

The cover of the album is very similar to the cover of 1998's Evanescence EP by the American alternative rock band Evanescence.

Tour

The success of the album allowed them to perform the Once Upon a Tour, which enabled them to play in many countries the band had never visited before.^[6] Nightwish performed at the opening ceremony of the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, held in Helsinki,^[7] highlighting the band's recently gained popularity.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Rock Hard	9.5/10[9]
Metal Storm	[10]
Sea of Tranquility	[11]
Metal.de	[12]
PopMatters	[13]
Metal Hammer (GER)	[14]

During the first week of its release, Once entered the German,^[15] Finnish,^[16] Norwegian^[17] and Greek charts as number one,^[18] selling over 80,000 copies in Germany alone.^[15] It was also the first Nightwish album to chart in the U.S., reaching No. 42 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart,^[19] and the band's first album to chart in UK, reaching No. 8 on the Rock Chart. In 2005, Once was ranked number 383 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.^[20]

Once has sold triple platinum in Finland,^[21] platinum in Germany,^[22] gold in Sweden^[23] and later reached No. 1 also in the European Top 100 Albums chart.^[24] The single "Nemo" topped the charts in Finland^[25] and Hungary,^[26] and reached the top ten in four additional countries.^[27][28][29] It remained in the UK Rock Chart for more than a year.^[30] "Nemo" therefore remains their most successful single ever, and Once is at number 47 of the best of all time albums in Finland.^[31] The total sales of the album have been more than 1 million copies.^[6]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Tuomas Holopainen, all music composed by Holopainen, except where indicated.

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Dark Chest of Wonders"		4:29
2.	"Wish I Had an Angel"		4:06
3.	"Nemo"		4:36
4.	"Planet Hell"		4:39
5.	"Creek Mary's Blood" (feat. John Two-Hawks)		8:30
6.	"The Siren"	Holopainen, Emppu Vuorinen	4:45
7.	"Dead Gardens" (feat. Jouni Hynynen)		4:28
8.	"Romanticide"	Holopainen, Marco Hietala	4:58
9.	"Ghost Love Score"		10:02
10.	"Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" (Finnish for Death Makes an Artist)		3:59
11.	"Higher Than Hope" (in memory of Marc Brueland)	Hietala, Holopainen	5:37

Bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"White Night Fantasy" (United States & Platinum Edition bonus track - originally found on the "Nemo" single (Jewelcase version))	4:05
13.	"Live to Tell the Tale" (United States & Platinum Edition bonus track - originally found on the "Nemo" single (Digipak version))	4:58

Personnel

Credits for Once adapted from liner notes.

Nightwish Tarja Turunen — vocals Tuomas Holopainen — keyboards, producer, mixing Emppu Vuorinen — lead guitars Marco Hietala — bass guitar, male vocals on tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, and 11 Jukka Nevalainen — drums and percussion Additional musicians Marc Brueland — spoken part in "Higher Than Hope" Jouni Hynynen — growling in "Dead Gardens" John Two-Hawks — vocals and Native American flute in "Creek Mary's Blood" London Philharmonic Orchestra — orchestral parts Metro Voices — choir James Shearman — orchestra and choir conductor Gavyn Wright — orchestra leader

Production Tero Kinnunen — producer, engineer, mixing Mikko Karmila — engineer, mixing Mika Jussila — mastering Pip Williams — choir and orchestral arrangements and direction James Collins — orchestral recordings engineer Aaron Price, Simon Goldfinch — assistant engineers Markus Mayer — cover artwork Toni Härkönen — photography Petteri Tyynelä — layout

Charts

Album Year Chart Position 2004 Finnish Albums Chart[16] 1 German Albums Chart[15] 1 Norwegian Albums Chart[17] 1 Greek Albums Chart[18] 1 Slovakian Albums Chart[32] 1 European Top 100 Albums[24] 1 Swedish Albums Chart[33] 3 Austrian Top 40 Albums[34] 4 Swiss Albums Top 100[35] 4 Hungarian Albums Chart[36] 5 UK Rock Chart 8 French Albums Chart[37] 9 Dutch MegaCharts[38] 11 Polish Albums Chart[39] 16 Belgian Ultratop (Flanders)[40] 30 Belgian Ultratop (Wallonia)[41] 42 US Billboard's Top Heatseekers[19] 42 UK Albums Chart[42] 102

Singles Year Title Chart Position 2004 "Nemo" Finnish Singles Chart[25] 1 Hungarian Singles Chart[26] 1 Greek Singles Chart[29] 2 Norwegian Singles Chart[28] 4 German Singles Chart[27] 6 Slovenian Singles Chart[29] 8 Swedish Singles Chart[43] 12 Austrian Top 40 Singles[44] 12 Swiss Albums Top 100[45] 14 Dutch MegaCharts[46] 64 French Singles Chart[47] 64 "Wish I Had an Angel" Finnish Singles Chart[48] 1 Spanish Singles Chart[49] 10 Swedish Singles Chart[50] 11 Norwegian Singles Chart[51] 19 German Singles Chart[52] 36 Swiss Albums Top 100[53] 40 Austrian Top 40 Singles[54] 47 UK Singles Chart[55] 60 Dutch MegaCharts[56] 65 "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" Finnish Singles Chart[57] 1 2005 "The Siren" Finnish Singles Chart[58] 3 Belgian Ultratop (Wallonia)[59] 14 Danish Singles Chart[60] 15 Swedish Singles Chart[61] 30 German Singles Chart[62] 51 Swiss Albums Top 100[63] 59

Preceded by To the 5 Boroughs by Beastie Boys The Cure by The Cure	European Album Chart number-one album 10 July 2004 - 16 July 2004 24 July 2004 – 30 July 2004	Succeeded by The Cure by The Cure Anastacia by Anastacia

Certifications

Country	Organization	Year	Sales
Finland	IFPI Finland	2004	3x Platinum (+ 90,000)[21]
Germany	BVMI	2012	3x Gold (+ 300,000)[22]
Sweden	IFPI Sweden	2004	Gold (+ 20,000)[23]
Switzerland	IFPI Switzerland	2004	Gold (+ 20,000)[64]
Norway	IFPI Norway	2004	Gold (+ 15,000)[65]
Austria	IFPI Austria	2004	Gold (+ 7,500)[66]
Greece	IFPI Greece	2004	Gold (+ 3,000)[67]

Release history

Country	Date	Record Label	Catalog Number	Note
Finland	7 June 2004	Spinefarm Records	981890-4[68]
Europe		Nuclear Blast	27361 12912[68]	released in four different editions
Japan	21 July 2004	Spinefarm/Universal	UICO-1067[68]
Australia	5 October 2004[69]	Roadrunner Records	RR 8216-2[68]
New Zealand
Canada			168618217-2[68]
United States
Brazil	15 December 2004	Spinefarm/Universal	AK5000[70]
Argentina	12 February 2005	NEMS Enterprises	NEMS 335[68]	released in two different editions
Japan	3 December 2008[71]	Spinefarm/Universal	UICY-91258	Super Audio CD

References

External links

• Nightwish's official website

Nightwish Tuomas Holopainen Emppu Vuorinen Jukka Nevalainen Marco Hietala Troy Donockley Floor Jansen Tarja Turunen Sami Vänskä Anette Olzon Studio albums Angels Fall First Oceanborn Wishmaster Century Child Once Dark Passion Play Imaginaerum Endless Forms Most Beautiful Live albums From Wishes to Eternity End of Innocence End of an Era Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places) Showtime, Storytime EPs Over the Hills and Far Away Soundtracks Imaginaerum: The Score Demos Nightwish Demo Angels Fall First (demo) Compilations Wishmastour 2000 The Golden Wishes Wishbox Nightwish 1997-2001 Memory Box Tales from the Elvenpath Bestwishes Highest Hopes The Sound of Nightwish Reborn Lokikirja Walking in the Air: The Greatest Ballads Singles "The Carpenter" "Sacrament of Wilderness" "Passion and the Opera" "Walking in the Air" "Sleeping Sun (Four Ballads of the Eclipse)" "The Kinslayer" "Deep Silent Complete" "Ever Dream" "Bless the Child" "Nemo" "Wish I Had an Angel" "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" "The Siren" "Sleeping Sun" "Eva" "Amaranth" "Erämaan viimeinen" "Bye Bye Beautiful" "The Islander" "Storytime" "The Crow, the Owl and the Dove" "Élan" "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" Songs "FantasMic" "Sleepwalker" "End of All Hope" "Beauty of the Beast" "Reach" "While Your Lips Are Still Red" "Last Ride of the Day" Tours The First Tour of the Angels Summer of Wilderness Oceanborn Europe Tour Wishmaster World Tour World Tour of the Century Once Upon a Tour Dark Passion Play World Tour Imaginaerum World Tour Endless Forms Most Beautiful World Tour Related acts Almah Altaria Alyson Avenue Barilari Brother Firetribe For My Pain... John Two-Hawks Kai Hahto Kotiteollisuus Northern Kings Pain ReVamp Sethian Tapio Wilska Tarot Timo Rautiainen Tony Kakko Related articles Awards and nominations Discography Members Once Upon a Nightwish Imaginaerum (film) Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge Book:Nightwish Category:Nightwish Portal:Heavy metal