Once (Nightwish album)

Once
Studio album by Nightwish
Released	7 June 2004 (2004-06-07)
Recorded	November 2003 – March 2004
Studio	Tempputupa, Kitee, Finland Finnvox, Helsinki, Finland E-Major, Kerava, Finland Phoenix Sound, Wembley, UK
Genre	Symphonic metal
Length	59:32
Language	English, Finnish
Label	Spinefarm Nuclear Blast
Producer	Tuomas Holopainen TeeCee Kinnunen
Nightwish studio album chronology
Century Child (2002) Once (2004) Dark Passion Play (2007)
Alternative cover
Special edition
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. It was released on 7 June 2004 by Spinefarm Records in Finland and Nuclear Blast in the rest of Europe. It is the fifth and last album to feature Tarja Turunen on lead vocals. The album cost nearly €250,000 to make,^[1] (1,000,000 including the videos^[2]) 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.^[3] As of 2013, Once has sold 2.3 million copies worldwide, being Nightwish's most successful album to date.^[4] The remastering of the album was released on August 6, 2021.^[5]

Background[]

In a 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!"^[6]

Musical style[]

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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 symphonic metal^[7] with 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 has been featured on every album released since.

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 a long prayer chant on "Creek Mary's Blood".^[8] The song "Ghost Love Score" was described by Hietala as follows: "I'm a big fan of old prog rock and this is a song that has a lot of different parts going on, and different atmospheres in different places in order to support the story. [...] My biggest influence from the prog world would be Jethro Tull, but I also love listening to Yes and Genesis and all those bands, and there's a correlation between the structures and the length of a lot of their songs and this one."^[9]

Artwork[]

The angel on the album cover is a view of the Angel of Grief, a sculpture by William Wetmore Story. The original is in the Protestant Cemetery of Rome, Italy.^[10]

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.^[11] Nightwish performed at the opening ceremony of the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, held in Helsinki,^[12] highlighting the band's recently gained popularity.

Reception and legacy[]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
Rock Hard	9.5/10[14]
Metal Storm	[15]
Sea of Tranquility	[16]
Metal.de	[17]
PopMatters	[18]
Metal Hammer (GER)	[19]

During the first week of its release, Once entered the German,^[20] Finnish,^[21] Norwegian^[22] and Greek charts as number one,^[23] selling over 80,000 copies in Germany alone.^[20] It was also the first Nightwish album to chart in the U.S., reaching No. 42 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart,^[24] and the band's first album to chart in UK, reaching No. 8 on the Rock Chart.^{[citation needed]} In 2005, Once was ranked number 383 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.^[25] In 2017, it was ranked 89th at Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".^[26]

Once has sold triple platinum in Finland,^[27] platinum in Germany,^[28] gold in Sweden^[29] and later reached No. 1 also in the European Top 100 Albums chart.^[30] The single "Nemo" topped the charts in Finland^[31] and Hungary,^[32] and reached the top ten in four additional countries.^[33][34][35] It remained in the UK Rock Chart for more than a year.^[36] "Nemo" therefore remains their most successful single ever, and Once had reached number 47 in the list of best-selling albums of all time in Finland.^[37] The total sales of the album have achieved 2.3 million copies in 2013.^[4]

Track listing[]

All lyrics are written by Tuomas Holopainen; all music is composed by Holopainen, except where noted.

Once track listing

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Dark Chest of Wonders"		4:28
2.	"Wish I Had an Angel"		4:03
3.	"Nemo"		4:36
4.	"Planet Hell"		4:39
5.	"Creek Mary's Blood"		8:29
6.	"The Siren"	Holopainen Emppu Vuorinen	4:45
7.	"Dead Gardens"		4:26
8.	"Romanticide"	Holopainen Marko Hietala	4:57
9.	"Ghost Love Score"		10:00
10.	"Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" (Finnish for "Death Makes an Artist")		3:34
11.	"Higher Than Hope" (in memory of Marc Brueland)	Hietala Holopainen	5:35
Total length:			59:32

International special edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
12.	"White Night Fantasy"	4:04
13.	"Live to Tell the Tale"	5:02
Total length:		68:38

Korean special edition bonus disc

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Where Were You Last Night" (Ankie Bagger cover)	Norell Oson Bard	3:53
2.	"Wish I Had an Angel" (demo)		4:08
Total length:			8:01

Personnel[]

All information from the album booklet.^[38]

Charts[]

Certifications[]

Country	Organization	Year	Sales
Finland	IFPI Finland	2004	3x Platinum (+ 90,000)[27]
Germany	BVMI	2012	3x Gold (+ 300,000)[28]
Sweden	IFPI Sweden	2004	Gold (+ 20,000)[29]
Switzerland	IFPI Switzerland	2004	Gold (+ 20,000)[71]
Norway	IFPI Norway	2004	Gold (+ 15,000)[72]
Austria	IFPI Austria	2004	Gold (+ 7,500)[73]
Greece	IFPI Greece	2004	Gold (+ 3,000)[74]

Release history[]

Country	Date	Record Label	Catalog Number	Note
Finland	7 June 2004	Spinefarm Records	981890-4[75]
Europe		Nuclear Blast	27361 12912[75]	released in four different editions
Japan	21 July 2004	Spinefarm/Universal	UICO-1067[75]
Australia	5 October 2004[76]	Roadrunner Records	RR 8216-2[75]
New Zealand
Canada			168618217-2[75]
United States
Brazil	15 December 2004	Spinefarm/Universal	AK5000[77]
Argentina	12 February 2005	NEMS Enterprises	NEMS 335[75]	released in two different editions
Japan	3 December 2008[78]	Spinefarm/Universal	UICY-91258	Super Audio CD
Worldwide	6 August 2021	Nuclear Blast	NE 4534	remastered version

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Ollila, Mape (2007). Once Upon a Nightwish. Deggael Communications. ISBN 978-952-99749-2-4.

External links[]

• Nightwish's official website