Century Child
Encyclopedia
Century Child is the fourth studio album of Finnish symphonic metal
band Nightwish
, released in 2002 by Spinefarm Records
. It is the first album with current bassist and male vocalist Marco Hietala
.
The album is a notable departure from previous Nightwish releases, lyrically and musically. The overall musical scheme is slower and darker than the more light-hearted likes of Oceanborn
and Wishmaster
, with more emphasis on ambience and melodic leanings. It contains orchestra
l backing, an ethereal production, a much more streamlined vocal work from Tarja Turunen
and vocals by Marco in songs like "Ever Dream", "Slaying the Dreamer", "Dead to the World", "Feel for You" and "The Phantom of the Opera
"; furthermore, the lyrics depict the strongest concept album
undercurrents yet. This could also be considered one of Nightwish's darkest albums. The album received strong positive reviews. Century Child is also the first album on which guitarist Emppu Vuorinen
tunes his guitar to D tuning
in order to match Hietala's D-tuned bass.
Spinefarm Records
released a 2-CD special edition
version of the album in 2002. It includes the CD, liner art with the band members' signatures, and a Video CD
containing the music video
for their cover of Gary Moore
's "Over the Hills and Far Away". In addition, the booklet contains an ID code that allows the owner to download the entire album and three extra tracks from the Internet for a limited time. The bonus tracks are "Nightwish", "The Forever Moments" and "Etiäinen", all from the band's first demo (1996).
The album was certified 2x platinum in Finland with more than 60,000 sold copies, the second most sold Finnish album in Finland in year 2002, Today, Century Child has sold more than 90,000 copies in Finland alone. Worldwide, it sold more than 350,000 copies between 2002 and 2003.
Symphonic metal
Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
band Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. Formed in 1996 by songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen, Nightwish's current line-up has five members, although Tarja has been replaced by Anette Olzon and the...
, released in 2002 by Spinefarm Records
Spinefarm Records
Spinefarm Records is a Finland-based record label focusing mainly on heavy metal artists. In 1999, a sub-label titled Spikefarm Records was started by Sami Tenetz from Thy Serpent...
. It is the first album with current bassist and male vocalist Marco Hietala
Marco Hietala
Marko Tapani "Marco" Hietala is a heavy metal vocalist and bassist. Internationally, he is most known as the current bassist, male vocalist and composer, of the symphonic metal band Nightwish...
.
The album is a notable departure from previous Nightwish releases, lyrically and musically. The overall musical scheme is slower and darker than the more light-hearted likes of Oceanborn
Oceanborn
-Personnel:Credits for Oceanborn adapted from liner notes.The band*Tarja Turunen - Vocals*Tuomas Holopainen - Keyboards*Emppu Vuorinen - Lead guitar*Sami Vänskä - Bass guitar*Jukka Nevalainen - Drums and PercussionMain Crew...
and Wishmaster
Wishmaster
Wishmaster may refer to:*Wishmaster , a 1997 American film*Wishmaster , an album by Nightwish, and a song on that album...
, with more emphasis on ambience and melodic leanings. It contains orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l backing, an ethereal production, a much more streamlined vocal work from Tarja Turunen
Tarja Turunen
Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen Cabuli is a Finnish singer-songwriter and composer. She is a full lyric soprano and has a vocal range of three octaves....
and vocals by Marco in songs like "Ever Dream", "Slaying the Dreamer", "Dead to the World", "Feel for You" and "The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (song)
"The Phantom of the Opera" is a song from the stage musical of the same name, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, sung by Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, lyrics written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and additional lyrics by Mike Batt...
"; furthermore, the lyrics depict the strongest concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
undercurrents yet. This could also be considered one of Nightwish's darkest albums. The album received strong positive reviews. Century Child is also the first album on which guitarist Emppu Vuorinen
Emppu Vuorinen
Erno "Emppu" Matti Juhani Vuorinen is a Finnish guitarist, most famous for being a founding member and occasional songwriter of the symphonic metal band Nightwish...
tunes his guitar to D tuning
D tuning
D Tuning, also called One Step Lower, Whole Step Down, or D Standard, is an alternate tuning for guitar. Each string is lowered by a whole tone or two semitones resulting in D-G-C-F-A-D It is used mostly by heavy metal bands to achieve a heavier, deeper sound and by blues guitarists, who use it to...
in order to match Hietala's D-tuned bass.
Spinefarm Records
Spinefarm Records
Spinefarm Records is a Finland-based record label focusing mainly on heavy metal artists. In 1999, a sub-label titled Spikefarm Records was started by Sami Tenetz from Thy Serpent...
released a 2-CD special edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
version of the album in 2002. It includes the CD, liner art with the band members' signatures, and a Video CD
Video CD
Before the advent of DVD and Blu-ray, the Video CD became the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm optical discs. The format is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc...
containing the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for their cover of Gary Moore
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....
's "Over the Hills and Far Away". In addition, the booklet contains an ID code that allows the owner to download the entire album and three extra tracks from the Internet for a limited time. The bonus tracks are "Nightwish", "The Forever Moments" and "Etiäinen", all from the band's first demo (1996).
The album was certified 2x platinum in Finland with more than 60,000 sold copies, the second most sold Finnish album in Finland in year 2002, Today, Century Child has sold more than 90,000 copies in Finland alone. Worldwide, it sold more than 350,000 copies between 2002 and 2003.
Track listing
| Title | Writers | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bless the Child Bless the Child (song) Bless the Child is the ninth single by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released as the second single from their album Century Child. It is one of two songs which were filmed from the Century Child album, with other one being "End of All Hope".There is two versions of the single which has a... " |
Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... |
6:12 |
| 2. | "End of All Hope End of All Hope "End of All Hope" is a song by the symphonic power metal quintet Nightwish, from their fourth studio album Century Child. It is one of two songs which were filmed from Century Child, with other one being "Bless the Child".- External links :*... " |
Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... |
3:54 |
| 3. | "Dead to the World" | Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... |
4:19 |
| 4. | "Ever Dream Ever Dream Ever Dream is the eighth single by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish which was the group's first single release in two years. The single also preluded a new album, Century Child.... " |
Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... |
4:43 |
| 5. | "Slaying the Dreamer" | Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... & Vuorinen Emppu Vuorinen Erno "Emppu" Matti Juhani Vuorinen is a Finnish guitarist, most famous for being a founding member and occasional songwriter of the symphonic metal band Nightwish... |
4:31 |
| 6. | "Forever Yours" | Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... |
3:51 |
| 7. | "Ocean Soul" | Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... |
4:14 |
| 8. | "Feel for You" | Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... |
3:54 |
| 9. | "The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera (song) "The Phantom of the Opera" is a song from the stage musical of the same name, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, sung by Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, lyrics written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and additional lyrics by Mike Batt... " |
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of... |
4:09 |
| 10. | "Beauty of the Beast Beauty of the Beast "Beauty of the Beast" is a song on Finnish symphonic power metal quintet Nightwish's fourth album, Century Child.Beauty of the Beast is divided into three parts , and is 10 minutes and 22 seconds long... " |
Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... , Hietala Marco Hietala Marko Tapani "Marco" Hietala is a heavy metal vocalist and bassist. Internationally, he is most known as the current bassist, male vocalist and composer, of the symphonic metal band Nightwish... , Vuorinen Emppu Vuorinen Erno "Emppu" Matti Juhani Vuorinen is a Finnish guitarist, most famous for being a founding member and occasional songwriter of the symphonic metal band Nightwish... |
10:21 |
| 11. | "Lagoon" (bonus track) | Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... |
3:47 |
| 12. | "The Wayfarer" (bonus track) | Holopainen Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music.... |
3:25 |
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Top 40 Albums Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
15 |
| Dutch MegaCharts MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
41 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 1 |
| French Albums Chart | 32 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
5 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
19 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Svensktoppen Svensktoppen is a record chart at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. Svensktoppen airs once a week... |
39 |
| Swiss Albums Top 100 Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
50 |
The band
- Tarja TurunenTarja TurunenTarja Soile Susanna Turunen Cabuli is a Finnish singer-songwriter and composer. She is a full lyric soprano and has a vocal range of three octaves....
– SopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Vocals - Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen – Lead guitars
- Marco HietalaMarco HietalaMarko Tapani "Marco" Hietala is a heavy metal vocalist and bassist. Internationally, he is most known as the current bassist, male vocalist and composer, of the symphonic metal band Nightwish...
– Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Vocals (3,5,8,9), Backing vocals (4,10) - Tuomas HolopainenTuomas HolopainenTuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music....
– KeyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Jukka NevalainenJukka NevalainenJukka Antero "Julius" Nevalainen is the drummer in the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish and the Finnish progressive metal band Sethian.- Biography :He spent his early years in the city of Kitee...
– Drums, and PercussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Guests
- Mongo Aaltonen - orchestral percussion
- Sam Hardwick - Spoken parts (on tracks 1 and 10)
- Kristiina Ilmonen - Tin Whistle
- Joensuu City Orchestra, Juha Ikonen, Leader
- A chorus mostly consisting of the St. Thomas chorus of Helsinki - chorus, Hilkka Kangasniemi as choirmaster