Review: Nightwish — Once (2000)
How the monumental album Once turned Nightwish into global legends and became the final point of the golden era with Tarja Turunen
Once became the band's fifth album and the final full-length release featuring Tarja Turunen. In this album, Nightwish added many new elements to their music without losing the originality of their sound. One of the most significant additions was a symphonic orchestra.
The track “Ghost Love Score” serves as a signature example of the collaboration between Nightwish and the orchestra.
In the recording of the track “Creek Mary's Blood,” John Two-Hawks, a Native American of the Lakota tribe, participated by singing in the language of his people and playing the flute. At the same time, the band almost completely moved away from power metal and its characteristic fast guitar solos.
The song “Nemo” became the most popular track from this album. Translated from Latin, “nemo” means “nobody” or “nameless.” Keyboardist, band leader, and songwriter Tuomas Holopainen later stated that “Nemo” was one of the most difficult songs the band had ever written, noting that working on the arrangement took them months.
The track “Ghost Love Score” serves as a signature example of the collaboration between Nightwish and the orchestra.
In the recording of the track “Creek Mary's Blood,” John Two-Hawks, a Native American of the Lakota tribe, participated by singing in the language of his people and playing the flute. At the same time, the band almost completely moved away from power metal and its characteristic fast guitar solos.
The song “Nemo” became the most popular track from this album. Translated from Latin, “nemo” means “nobody” or “nameless.” Keyboardist, band leader, and songwriter Tuomas Holopainen later stated that “Nemo” was one of the most difficult songs the band had ever written, noting that working on the arrangement took them months.
According to Holopainen, the song is based on his occasional feelings of being lost, longing for the past, and a sense of namelessness. This contradicts assumptions that the song simply borrows the character Nemo from Jules Verne's book Captain Nemo or any other works. At one time, fans also put forward completely wild versions claiming that “Nemo” was somehow connected to the animated movie Finding Nemo. All of this escalated to the point where Holopainen addressed the rumors in an interview with the German publication Underground Empire, explaining that the track was not about a fish and that he could not believe everyone seemed convinced of that. He emphasized that “Nemo,” which means “nobody” in Latin, had nothing to do with the Disney film, stating that the core of the song revolved around the feelings he experienced from time to time. Holopainen described feeling nameless, not knowing who he was or where he was heading, and being aware only of his past, which he desperately wanted to return to. He clarified that the song was about being lost and not knowing where to go or what to do, yet desperately needing everything one could get out of life. He concluded that while those feelings did not always consume him, he had felt exactly that way when writing “Nemo,” though he felt better now.
A music video was filmed for the song with a budget of about 80,000 euros, which greatly exceeded the cost of most metal band videos at that time.
Speaking about “Nemo,” the band's vocalist Tarja Turunen recalled that they had initially received a rejection from MTV because the channel did not want to broadcast a video featuring snow. She noted that they had wondered why the channel showed videos with beaches all year round but refused to show a video with falling snow. Turunen added that while some channels had been unready to broadcast their video, it had meant a lot to them, as many new listeners had discovered the band thanks to that song.
Tarja also noted that she had really liked standing out in this video from most metal vocalists of that time, who wore black, as she appeared in a red coat instead. In addition, the band gained fame among gothic metal fans, despite the fact that they had never considered themselves part of that movement.
Tuomas Holopainen recalled 2004 as a completely wonderful year as a whole, noting that everyone had been happy with the success and simply happy performing on stage. He remembered them playing at the Astoria in London, which was their first time performing there, and mentioned that they had a poster reading “Tonight!! Nightwash!”. He added a laugh, stating that he would never forget that.
The cover art of the album is based on an image of William Wetmore Story's sculpture The Angel of Grief, which was erected in 1894 at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome.
Within the first weeks after its release, the album reached the top spots on the charts in Germany, Finland, Norway, and Greece. Metal Hammer magazine included Once in its list of the 200 greatest rock albums of all time.
In support of the album, Nightwish conducted their third world concert tour, “Once Upon a Tour.” The tour lasted from May 2004 to October 2005 and included more than 130 concerts in 32 countries, and after the completion of the final concert, the recording of which was released on the DVD End of an Era, an open letter was published regarding the dismissal of Tarja Turunen from the band.
A music video was filmed for the song with a budget of about 80,000 euros, which greatly exceeded the cost of most metal band videos at that time.
Speaking about “Nemo,” the band's vocalist Tarja Turunen recalled that they had initially received a rejection from MTV because the channel did not want to broadcast a video featuring snow. She noted that they had wondered why the channel showed videos with beaches all year round but refused to show a video with falling snow. Turunen added that while some channels had been unready to broadcast their video, it had meant a lot to them, as many new listeners had discovered the band thanks to that song.
Tarja also noted that she had really liked standing out in this video from most metal vocalists of that time, who wore black, as she appeared in a red coat instead. In addition, the band gained fame among gothic metal fans, despite the fact that they had never considered themselves part of that movement.
Tuomas Holopainen recalled 2004 as a completely wonderful year as a whole, noting that everyone had been happy with the success and simply happy performing on stage. He remembered them playing at the Astoria in London, which was their first time performing there, and mentioned that they had a poster reading “Tonight!! Nightwash!”. He added a laugh, stating that he would never forget that.
The cover art of the album is based on an image of William Wetmore Story's sculpture The Angel of Grief, which was erected in 1894 at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome.
Within the first weeks after its release, the album reached the top spots on the charts in Germany, Finland, Norway, and Greece. Metal Hammer magazine included Once in its list of the 200 greatest rock albums of all time.
In support of the album, Nightwish conducted their third world concert tour, “Once Upon a Tour.” The tour lasted from May 2004 to October 2005 and included more than 130 concerts in 32 countries, and after the completion of the final concert, the recording of which was released on the DVD End of an Era, an open letter was published regarding the dismissal of Tarja Turunen from the band.
Rating: 10/10
- Tuuli TalvinenFounder & Editor-in-ChiefInterviewer