Angels Fall First

This article is about a music album. For the video game, see Angels Fall First: Planetstorm.

Angels Fall First
Studio album by Nightwish
Released	1 November 1997
Recorded	April-September, 1997, at Kitee Huvikeskus Studios
Genre	Power metal, folk metal
Length	51:39
Label	Spinefarm, Century Media
Producer	Tuomas Holopainen, Tero Kinnunen
Nightwish chronology
Nightwish Demo (1996) Angels Fall First (1997) Oceanborn (1998)
Singles from Angels Fall First
"The Carpenter" Released: 1 November 1997

Angels Fall First is the debut album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. The original limited edition of which only 500 copies were released features seven tracks, two of which are not on the regular edition.^[1]

Angels Fall First is very different from the later releases; it is much more folk metal and acoustic oriented than its successors.^[2] Its folky sound is also more or less reduced on later albums. Even though the only single, "The Carpenter", reached number three on the Finnish singles chart, Nightwish only gained international fame after the release of their second studio album, Oceanborn, 1998.

The male vocals heard on "Beauty and the Beast", "The Carpenter", "Astral Romance" and "Once Upon a Troubadour" are sung by keyboardist–co-founder Tuomas Holopainen, as well as the whispers in the beginning of the demo version of "Etiäinen".^[3] Following this release, Holopainen never sang on an album again, because he thought that he was not good enough.^[3] However, he provided some of the background sounds on "Moondance" of the second album Oceanborn and on "Master Passion Greed" of the sixth album Dark Passion Play.

As of December 2009, Angels Fall First has sold more than 36,000 copies in Finland alone.^[4]

Track listing

Main article: List of Angels Fall First editions

^[5]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Elvenpath"	Tuomas Holopainen	4:40
2.	"Beauty and the Beast"	Tuomas Holopainen	6:27
3.	"The Carpenter" (only single)	Tuomas Holopainen	5:57
4.	"Astral Romance"	Tuomas Holopainen	5:12
5.	"Angels Fall First"	Tuomas Holopainen	5:34
6.	"Tutankhamen"	Tuomas Holopainen	5:31
7.	"Nymphomaniac Fantasia"	Tuomas Holopainen	4:47
8.	"Know Why the Nightingale Sings"	Tuomas Holopainen	4:14
9.	"Lappi (Lapland)" (divided in 4 parts)	Tuomas Holopainen	9:20
10.	"A Return to the Sea" (bonus track)	Tuomas Holopainen	5:46
11.	"Once Upon a Troubadour" (bonus track)	Tuomas Holopainen	5:21

Charts performance

Chart (1998)	Peak position
Finnish Albums Chart[6]	31

Personnel

Main article: List of Nightwish members

Credits for Angels Fall First adapted from liner notes.^[5]

The band Tarja Turunen - Vocals Tuomas Holopainen - Keyboards, Piano and male vocals Emppu Vuorinen - Lead guitar, Acoustic guitar and Bass guitar Jukka Nevalainen - Drums and Percussion

Main Crew Tero Kinnunen - Sound engineer Mika Jussila - Mastering engineer Garry Black - Cover Artwork Toni Härkönen - Band Photography

Guests Esa Lehtinen - Flutes

Touring members Samppa Hirvonen - bass guitar Marjaana Pellinen - backing vocals

References

1. ^ "First album out". Nightwish's Official Website. 1997-11-01. http://www.nightwish.com/en/news/archive?month=11&year=1997. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
2. ^ "Angels Fall First by Nightwish". Last.fm. http://www.lastfm.com.br/music/Nightwish/Angels+Fall+First. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Nightwish: Interview With Tuomas Holopainen". MetalRules.com. http://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/NightwishCenturyChild.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-15. 
4. ^ "IFPI Tilastot: Nightwish". Ifpi.fi. http://www.ifpi.fi/tilastot/artistit/nightwish. Retrieved 2010-01-03. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "The Band - Releases: Angels Fall First (1996)". Nightwish's Official Website. http://www.nightwish.com/en/band/releases/details?id=1. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
6. ^ "Nightwish- Angels Fall First (album)". FinnishCharts.com. http://finnishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Nightwish&titel=Angels+Fall+First&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-06-17. 

External links

• Nightwish's Official Website