When then tiny independent record label Spinefarm decided to take a chance on a brand new group called Nightwish by releasing a modest 500-unit pressing of their first album, Angels Fall First (originally recorded as a simple demo), little did they know this would quickly evolve into their biggest future cash cow, and one of Finland's most successful bands ever! Believe it: such were the humble origins and expectations for both band and album; despite the already quite advanced songwriting abilities of chief architect, keyboardist, and vocalist Tuomas Holopainen, which adorned melodic power metal with gothic, folk, and classical music elements, then topped them with the budding vocal power of a still baby-faced opera student named Tarja Turunen. Completed by guitarist/bassist Emppu Vuorinen and drummer Jukka Nevalainen, the nascent Nightwish were in fact merely scratching the surface of their commercial potential (and ensuing stardom), at this stage; yet they showed amazing courage and versatility on forceful tracks like "Elvenpath" and "Know Why the Nightingale Sings," the Finnish folk-steeped "The Carpenter," and an early glimpse of their latter-day fascination with musical theater in "Beauty and the Beast." So even though there were still several areas where the precocious bandmembers required additional seasoning (e.g. replacing Holopainen's unsatisfying vocal efforts, leaving folk-metal aspirations for other Finnish bands to exploit, and reigning in occasional lyrical transgressions like those of "Nymphomaniac Fantasia"), Angels Fall First arguably remains the band's most eclectic album (unfocused to its detractors), and, for this very reason, a favorite for many of their fans. And in the greater scheme of things, Nightwish's unexpectedly popular debut easily trumped most of the era's less risk-taking, female-fronted goth-metal bands, and felt like a veritable tornado of fresh air blowing through the Scandinavian extreme metal scene -- hence its success among female consumers. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide
Angels Fall First is the debut album of Finnishsymphonic/power metal quintet Nightwish. It was released in 1997 by Spinefarm Records. The limited edition (of which only 500 copies were released), features only seven tracks, two of which are not on the regular edition. Today, Angels Fall First has sold more than 36,000 copies in Finland alone.[1]
Even though the only single, "The Carpenter" reached number three on the Finnish singles chart, Nightwish failed to gain national fame until the release of their second studio album, Oceanborn.
The male vocals heard on "Beauty and the Beast", "The Carpenter", "Astral Romance" and "Once Upon a Troubadour" are sung by Tuomas Holopainen, and the whispers in the beginning of the demo version of "Etiäinen" is also done by Tuomas. "Elvenpath" features audio clips from the prologue of The Lord of the Rings, directed by Ralph Bakshi. The track on the limited edition is the same track that was on their second demo, which was also titled "Angels Fall First".
The songs from this album are rarely played at concerts. In 2005 (before being fired from Nightwish) vocalist Tarja Turunen expressed that she would like to sing some tracks from Angels Fall First again.
Nightwish played only 8 gigs since Jukka Nevalainen and Emppu Vuorinen were waylaid by their mandatory military draft and Tarja Turunen hadn't finished her studies. The set list were as follows:[2]
I. ^ Elvenpath uses audio-clips from the prologue of The Lord of the Rings, directed by Ralph Bakshi.
II. ^ The first (and only) single of the album. A music video was made as well.
III. ^ Bonus track only on re-mastered version.
IV. ^ Bonus track only.
V. ^ Once Upon a Troubadour uses an audio-clip from the 1988 film Willow (film) Directed by Ron Howard
