Dark Passion Play is the sixth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band
Nightwish, released on 26 September, 2007 in Finland, 28 September in Europe
and 2 October 2007 in the United States. It is the first album without original
vocalist Tarja Turunen, who was dismissed in 2005, as well as the first
album involving future member Troy Donockley on uilleann pipes and tin
whistle. It is the first of only two albums with vocalist Anette Olzon, who
was eventually dismissed in 2012 after the release of the band's subsequent
album, Imaginaerum. Tuomas Holopainen has referred to it as the "album that
saved his life". The first single, "Eva", was leaked on
the Internet six days before its official release, prompting the band to
release the single earlier to boost downloads. Several other versions of the
song were posted on YouTube and torrent sites a month later; the entire album
with record label voiceovers had been leaked on the Internet by 2 August. The
full album was leaked on 21 September 2007, as a result of several stores in
Mexico selling the retail album much prior to the worldwide release date.
Pre-orders for Dark Passion Play had it certified gold in Finland before it had
even been released. The album debuted at number one in 6 European countries,
selling over 100,000 copies in Finland alone. In February 2008, the album was
certified quadruple-platinum in Finland, after having sold over 120,000 copies,
which makes it one of the 40 best-selling albums of all time in the
country. It has also sold 134,000 copies in the United States. Worldwide, Dark
Passion Play has sold over 2 million copies since its release, being
Nightwish's most successful album to date.
Background and production On 21 October 2005, after the Once Upon
a Tour, the band's lead singer Tarja Turunen was dismissed via an open
letter. In search of a replacement, the band conducted auditions from 17 March
2006 to 15 January 2007, receiving over 2000 demo tapes in the process. Amidst
much speculation the new singer was officially announced on 24 May 2007 to
be Anette Olzon, previously the singer for the Swedish AOR band Alyson Avenue.
In an interview, Holopainen said they had made the decision in January 2007
based on the impression she made while performing the song "Ever Dream" from
the album Century Child. The recording process started in the
spring 2006 in different studios across Europe; the drums were recorded by
Nevalainen in Hollola, Finland, at the Petrax Studios, Emppu Vuorinen recorded
the guitars in Kerava, Finland, were also record the keyboards by Holopainen
and the bass parts by Marco Hietala. Hietala is also the band's male singer,
and in 2006 Hietala sung some of the new songs to record the demo versions as a
base for the final recordings, with definitive vocals being recorded by
Olzon at the Petrax in March 2007, immediately after being chosen to
replace Tarja Turunen, and nearly two months before her name was given to the
media and the fans. When the drummer Jukka Nevalainen was
asked about the overall cost of the new album, he was quoted as saying "Roughly
half a million... We don’t know the exact sum down to the euros and cents as
yet." Half of this cost was incurred in London, over an expensive eight days at
the Abbey Road Studios in London, UK, during which time the London Session
Orchestra, the Metro Voices Choir, a gospel choir and two Irish musicians
recorded their parts at the studio. In the 16 August 2008, interview with
Kerrang! Tuomas Holopainen recalled: After the split with Tarja, we started
writing without a singer, and it was quite a liberating feeling. We knew the
right girl was out there somewhere, so we could just concentrate on the music.
It took 10 months in the studio to make, but the atmosphere was so good and
liberating there was a lot of bittersweet relief in the air. It was an
extremely inspirational time. "When I think back to it, it was such a
crucial point to so many people, we didn't even realise back then but it
showed us what we would be doing for the next year of our lives. We were never
nervous about Anette, or the album being good, but we just couldn't tell how
people would take it. Would they like Anette? Would they like the music? That
was in the back of our minds all the time. And there was such a huge amount
of money involved, over 800.000 euros, that we needed to sell at least a few
albums to get going," Tuomas Holopainen was recalling in 2008.
The orchestral line-up featured 66 members from the London Philharmonic
Orchestra, 32 singers from The Metro Voices and twelve gospel singers. The
final mixing process spent more than 75 days at the Finnvox Studios in Kitee,
Finland, the same place where Nightwish recorded all their previous albums.
Music description Before the album's release, band leader
Tuomas Holopainen said in an interview that the album would have a lot in
common with the previous album Once. For example, the band have kept the new kind
of heavier songs, such as "Master Passion Greed", "Whoever Brings the
Night", "7 Days to the Wolves", and "Bye Bye Beautiful", but additionally there
are softer ballads, such as "Meadows of Heaven", "Eva", and "The Islander". This
album includes lots of guest musicians and orchestral parts, just like Once,
but with a bigger level. Just like the album Once, Nightwish
included many new influences and experimentations in several tracks. On
Once, much inspiration came from Native American music, especially "Creek Mary's
Blood", which featured Lakota Indian musician John Two-Hawks. However, on
Dark Passion Play, much inspiration comes from Finnish and Irish culture and
music, which can be clearly heard on "Last of the Wilds". Songs like "Master
Passion Greed" and "Cadence Of Her Last Breath" included thrash metal and
alternative metal elements as well, displaying the newer, more modern sound
of the band. Holopainen also said that there are
darker pieces reminiscent of the album Century Child, such as "The Poet and the
Pendulum", and some others. It will be a dark album, both musically and
lyrically. Even though the album is much more upbeat than Century Child. Songs
that reflect this mood are for example the second single "Amaranth" and "Bye
Bye Beautiful"'s B-side "Escapist." Reception
The album has sold more than 130,000 copies in Finland to date, placing 26th
on the list of best-selling Finnish albums ever released, which has granted
it a platinum certification four times. "Dark Passion Play" has sold over 2
million copies worldwide. It has been certified as 2x platinum in Switzerland,
Platinum in Hungary, Germany, and Gold in Sweden, Austria and Poland; Dark
Passion Play is also the most successful Nightwish album in UK and USA.
As of January 2008, the album has topped the album charts in six countries; the
singles, "Amaranth" and "Erämaan Viimeinen" have both reached the first
position on Finnish charts. According to Last.fm, "Dark Passion Play" is their
most played album, and its successful single "Amaranth" has as of February
2009 been holding the position of most played song since its release.
The album was also critically acclaimed in most reviews. Allmusic called the
album a "sort of opera aria" and praised "Bye Bye Beautiful", on a track pic and
"Eva", that they say it focus on the new vocalist vocal abilities.
The album was also given a positive review by Blabbermouth's Keith Bergman,
who gave the album a 7.5 out of 10 and stated that it "may not be a masterpiece
throughout, but it's got enough moments of symphonic metal bliss to warrant a
high recommendation. About.com writer, Chad Bowar, gave the album a score of 4
out of 5 stars, calling Dark Passion Play "an excellent album that's right up
there with the best the band has done." Promotion
To promote the release of the album, Nightwish played the Dark Passion Play
World Tour, that took place from 2007 to 2009.
On 22 September 2007, the band hosted a secret concert at Rock Café in Tallinn,
Estonia, disguising itself as a Nightwish cover band called
"Nachtwasser". Their first official concert with the new singer was in Tel
Aviv, Israel on 6 October 2007. The Dark Passion Play tour thus started, visiting
the United States, Canada, most of Europe, Asia, and Australia. In 2008,
the band played over 100 shows, with dates in Oceania, Europe and Asia. In
November, the band played in South America, and before this leg they took a
three month break; Nightwish began the third leg in 2009, with dates in North
America and Europe, and also playing in several summer metal festivals,
including Graspop Metal Meeting and Masters of Rock. The last show was
played in Helsinki, Finland, in front of 10,000 fans.
The support bands were changing throughout the tour. The frequent acts
were the Finnish pop rock female group Indica, Swedish metal band Sonic
Syndicate and the Swedish industrial metal band Pain. The USA tour was
supported by Gothic metal band Paradise Lost. In the last concert, the opening
band was the Finnish act Apocalyptica. On 11 March 2009, was released an
EP/DVD, Made in Hong Kong, with 8 live tracks recorded during the tour in
various concerts; the DVD contains three music videos as well as a documentary
featuring material from Israel to South America, directed by Ville Lipiäinen.
Track listing All lyrics written by Tuomas Holopainen,
all music composed by Holopainen except where noted.
Charts and certifications Personnel
Credits for Dark Passion Play adapted from liner notes.
References See also
List of best-selling albums in Finland External links
Nightwish's Official Website