lukretion Released in 1997, Angels Fall First is an impressive but flawed debut by Finnish symphonic metal superstars Nightwish. This first album did not actually yet squarely fall in the symphonic metal genre they will eventually help create, but it’s rather a concoction of several different influences, including symphonic and operatic metal, but also folk metal, power metal and a certain fondness for Broadway musical plays. There is a lot to like, but also many rough edges that should be chalked down to the inexperience of the young Finnish band.

Starting with the positives, the nine songs of this debut album make it already quite clear that Nightwish is a band of immense talents. The technical proficiency of the three musicians involved (Tuomas Holopainen on keyboards, Emppu Vuorinen on bass and gutiars, and Jukka Nevalainen on drums) is astounding. Tuomas’ sublime keyboard arrangements are the driving force of the music, but Emppu’s guitars offer a more than capable counterpart, whether he resorts to delicate acoustic guitar arpeggios or crunchy metallic riffs. Meanwhile, Jukka is a powerhouse, his drumming inventive, powerful and precise. And then there is Tarja Turunen. A trained classical singer, her operatic vocals are Nightwish’s trademark signature and she is one of the best vocalists in this style. Although on this record she still sounds somewhat immature (both in terms of expressivity and in the choice of some of the vocal melodies and arrangements), it is clear that her potential is vast.

The album also shows that Nightwish are a very ambitious band, unafraid to try and carve their own path in the metal musical landscape. The band’s ambition to write spacious, progressive compositions is apparent in tracks like “Beauty and the Beast” or the multi-part album closer “Lappi”. The ambition to merge the raw power of traditional metal with folk influences, symphonic arrangements, spoken narrations, and operatic vocals is impressive. Indeed, at the time there were no bands that sounded like Nightwish. The closest act in terms of common fondness for the symphonic/operatic influences were perhaps Therion, although the Swedish’s band had with very different musical reference points (death metal, doom, thrash) than the Finnish quartet and the two bands do not sound at all like each other.

Alas, at this stage of the band’s career, all these ambitions were not yet matched by solid compositional abilities. The various styles are not well amalgamated together on this album, which sounds too fragmented and without a clear identity. The speedy power metal of “Elvenpath” stands in stark contrast with the folkish romanticism of “The Carpenter” or the operatic ballad “Angels Fall First”. Their inclusion on the same album feels incongruous and may be partly explained by the fact that these tracks were actually recorded at two different points in time (“The Carpenter” and “Angels Fall First” in April/May 1997, while “Elvenpath” in September 1997). This makes me wonder whether, halfway through the record, Nightwish consciously decided to change the musical coordinates of an album that may have been initially conceived just as a folk metal album with symphonic leanings. Regardless of the reason, the lack of a clear identity is something I find somewhat unsettling about this record.

Another issue I have with the album is that at times the songwriting feels clunky and undeveloped. Most tracks lack a strong melodic identity, which is particularly problematic for the more complex compositions, like “Beauty and the Beast”, that would really benefit for one or two melodic hooks to help the listener navigate through the dense material. Moreover, the tracklist is diluted with a few tracks that are unremarkable and flat, and feel a lot like fillers (“Tutankhamen”, “Know Why the Nightingale Sings”). And then there are some unfortunate choices of arrangements, especially in the vocal department. The imitation technique Tarja uses on the verse of “Nymphomaniac Fantasia” (that second vocal melody that after a short delay imitates the main melody) and in "Lappi" sounds odd and ruins somewhat two otherwise decent tunes. But the biggest problem are Tuomas Holopainen’s vocals, which are just plain poor - there is no other way to describe them. He does not have a bad voice per se, but he has almost no control over it and therefore he is almost always out of tune. Unfortunately, his poor performance literally butchers songs that would have otherwise been decent, like “The Carpenter” and “Astral Romance”.

Some people complain about the production, but I actually find it quite fitting. It is raw and slightly unbalanced (the guitars at times dominating the keyboards), but it matches well the rawness of the musical arrangements and the juvenile songwriting.

Overall, Angels Fall First is an endearing debut album that revealed to the world a band of immense potential. It may be raw and undeveloped, but it is nevertheless an impressive musical achievement for a bunch of twenty-years-olds who had big ambitions and fearless dreams, and that soon, very soon, would end up dominating the metal charts for a long time to come.

martindavey87 ‘Angels Fall First’ is the 1997 debut album by Finnish symphonic metal group Nightwish, who would go on to become one of those most popular and prolific bands of the genre.

Compared to later releases, however, ‘Angels Fall First’ sounds very raw, and at times, slightly disjointed and directionless, lacking the epic bombast that the band would incorporate on future albums. However, there’s still a clear vision here of what the band want to accomplish, and there’s no doubting the writing talents of keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and the potential they display.

While ‘Angels Fall First’ is full of tasty guitar riffs and some fantastic interplay with keyboards, as well as a good balance of both male and female vocals, I find that most songs seem to deviate from the hook that first got my attention. Songs like ‘Elvenpath’, ‘Tutankhamen’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ have some incredibly strong and memorable melodies, but after a few minutes I find myself not really paying attention. It’s almost as if the ideas are there, just not quite the ability to flesh them out into full songs.

Still, this is a young band in their early days, playing a style of music which is equally in its early years, and so it’s forgivable that this album just isn’t overly memorable. No doubt Nightwish will improve vastly over time, but ‘Angels Fall First’ is best left for the die-hard fans of the band.

arcane-beautiful In the 90's, the symphonic metal genre, which was still in the stillborn phase, was only starting to take form, ever since Therion decided to loose the death metal scene and turn into an avante garde metal band with opera singers. Then, this album came out. And the rest is history.

The symphonic metal genre in the 90's was very weird and almost unaproachable, due to the songs being long drawn out verisons of The Marriage Of Figaro, with the odd guitar and drum parts. But then, in Finland, a young handsome stable boy (he proabbly did work in a stable), decided to get a keyboard, write some of the best songs ever, stick a few guitar parts in it, and shove in a Katherine Jenkins wannabe, and magic is born.

The production of this album is a bit week, but you have to give them credit, this was originaly a demo. The guitars have a quite trebbly tone to them and some of the timing isn't the best, but I guess the songs make up for it.

This album does get criticised alot, especially beacuse of Tuomas' vocals, but to be honest, I don''t think he is the worst singer in the world. His dark low tones almost give the songs a quite calm darky edge. And the keyboard and synth sounds are second to none.

1. Elvenpath - The lyrics of this song remind me of that Blind Guardian classic Imaginations From The Other Side (in my opinon, one of the best songs of all time) The almost childlike lyrics and fantasy charachters give the song a very jaunty effect. Tarja's vocals are amazing, the musicianship is to die for, and the odd quote from The Lord Of The Rings doesn't ruin the great song. An amazing opener to the album.

2. Beauty & The Beast - Probabbly one of my most favourite Nightwish songs. Tuomas' vocals aren't the worst in the world, but I did laugh a little when I first heard it. Tony Kakko's (Phowa) vocals do make the song better, in the From Wishes To Eternity dvd. The dramtic changes and spoken word passages make the song more ominous, and the guitar solo is one of the best solo's I ever heard. A masterpiece.

3. The Carpenter - A song abut Jesus, basically. A nice almost ballad feel to it and Tuomas's vocals aren't out of place either. I do not like the arabic flute part, for some reason I think it was just randomlly put in from Tutankhamen. Still a great song with a good catchy chorus.

4. Astral Romance - The stacatto rhythyms in this song are great, and Tuomas' vocals are quite good when he hit's that high note. In my opinion, one of their best lyricall moments.

5. Angels Fall First - The title track, and a ballad. A nice slower moment for the listener.

6. Tutankhamen - The arabic like melodies are great and the lyrics give a very space like feel to a modern Egyptian tale. The references to Carter (the explorer that discovered his tomb) was quite good as well. To be honest, it's a bit cheesey.

7. Nymphomaniac Fantasia - Ok, does anyone think it's a bit weird, that an album that has songs about fairytales, childrens Disney movies and other child like moments, should contain a song about sex. The lyrics of this song are incredibly funny, full of Lady GaGa like innuendos, it's hilarious. The music is quite good as well.

8. Know Why The Nightingale Sings? - One of their better riffs in my opinion. A very catchy and memorable song with great musicianship.

9. Lappi (Lapland) - This 9 minute song is quite amazing. Instead of making it all about power, it's a lot more calm and has some intresting moments that remind me of Pink Floyd fighting Burzum.

CONCLUSION - I'm gonna give every Nightwish album 5, so you can't stop me...hahahahahah. Buy all their albums. Expecially this one, it's not their best, but it's better than most albums.

Vobiscum With a beautiful picture for the cover, "Nightwish" released their first album. "Elvenpath" is a fanciful narrative with references to various mythical characters. The sound of the keyboard covering almost everything in the beginning of the song. The chorus with that sound so common to the "heavy melodic." The music is nice though without presenting news. Again, the keyboard is the instrument that starts another song: "Beauty And The Beast." It is known that "Tuomas Holopainen - keyboardist" is the owner of the band and also sings in this first album. "Emppu Vuorinen" creates good riffs though often muffled by the sound of the keyboard. Some synthesizers used in the album. A guitar solo in the middle of the song to help the drama of the letter. In the final minutes of music is the keyboard once again take its place of prominence. Until then, "Jukka Nevalainen" merely fulfilling his role as drummer. To escape some of the obvious, the third track titled "The Carpenter" sung by "Tuomas Holopainen" does not start at the sound of the keyboards. "Astral Romance" which is one of the most popular songs keeps the pattern shown since the beginning of the album. Featured in the "Emppu Vuorinen" with some guitar arrangements. The title track "Angels Fall First" is a composition more slowly moved on the basis of the keyboard, but started with an acoustic guitar fingerings. The voice of "Tarja Turunen" fits very well with the sound of music, plus a flute at certain times. Not wanting to belittle the work of "Nightwish" but the truth is that after years of hearing it, you realize that was a much immature, where "Tuomas Holopainen" itself takes the position of star and an obligation to give space to "Tarja Turunen". "Emppu Vuorinen" has quality, technique and talent but this first album did not get much space. "Jukka Nevalainen," added the group. "Know Why The Nightgale Sings" is one of the few songs on the album that gives way to the guitarist. "Nymphomaniac Fantasia" has some good guitar riffs, though, again the keyboard stay above. "Lappi (Lapland)" closes the album with its divisions into "Erämaajärvi", "Witchdrums", "This Moment Is Eternity" and "Etiäinen" which ultimately divided or not, is the same.