First of all, Oceanborn is a huge step when thinking about Nightwish's debut album, Angels Fall First. All the elements of folk music and ambience are forgotten, and instead Nightwish have concentrated on using Tarja Turunen's wide voice and playing pure heavy metal. Or, well, another description could be opera metal. Drama and a variety of melodies are used and effective, but overrule all expectations. Songs are catchy, but they have a long lifetime. Also, the whole band does great work: even though they seem like another Dream Theater-wannabe, Holopainen and Vuorinen use their instruments with patience and don't slope into unneeded tricking. So everything seems to be alright, but the album as a whole lacks a little bit of diversity, and sometimes falls into repeating itself. The songs are, however, very strong, and the album as a whole works great. Oceanborn is, so far, Nightwish's most successful album. ~ Antti J. Ravelin, All Music Guide
Mikko Karmila (Mixing), Nightwish (Arranger), Nightwish (Main Performer), Hanna Wilska (Voices), Toni Härkönen (Photography), Tero Kinnunen (Engineer), Plamen Dimov (Violin)
Oceanborn is the second album of Finnishsymphonic power metal band Nightwish, released in December 1998 in Finland, and in the Spring of 1999 worldwide. Oceanborn is very different from its predecessor, the sound is much more towards power metal than Angels Fall First. The folk influence from Angels Fall First can still be heard on some parts, especially in the instrumental "Moondance".
Most of the album is fantasy-themed with tracks like "Swanheart" and "Walking in the Air" (a cover from the animated motion picture, The Snowman), however other songs such as "Gethsemane" have a more religious feel to them. In addition, there are also some theatrical tracks like "Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean". Oceanborn is among their darker albums, making use of the harsh vocals of Tapio Wilska in the songs "The Pharaoh Sails to Orion" and "Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean".
Since the album's release, "Sacrament of Wilderness" has remained a fan-favorite at concerts, and it's still performed often. Both "Sleeping Sun" and "Walking in the Air" have also been performed often on shows, but "Stargazers" has been dropped since vocalist Tarja Turunen's dismissal in 2005.[7] "Walking in the Air" returned to the live setlist of the band at September 19 2009 at Hartwall Arena, this time as an acoustic song and sung by the current vocalist Anette Olzon. The "hoi'ing" in otherwise instrumental "Moondance" is sung by Jukka Nevalainen, Tuomas Holopainen and Tapio Wilska, making it the only Nightwish song with vocals by Nevalainen. Oceanborn has sold more than 68,000 copies in Finland alone.[8]
