Angels Fall First

Nightwish | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 6, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Century Media
• ASIN: B00005A0N4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,189 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Elvenpath

2. Beauty and the Beast

3. The Carpenter

4. Astral Romance

5. Angels Fall First

6. Tutankhamen

7. Nymphomaniac Fantasia

8. Know Why the Nightingale Sings

9. Lappi (Lapland) I: Erämaajärvi

10. Lappi (Lapland) II: Witchdrums

11. Lappi (Lapland) III: This Moment Is Eternity

12. Lappi (Lapland) IV: Etiäinen

Editorial Reviews

European version of the metal act's 1997 debut album with two bonus tracks added, 'Once Upon A Troubadour' & 'A Return To the Sea'. Nems. 2004. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A STAR IS BORN, January 26, 2006

By 

EMAN NEP - See all my reviews

This review is from: Angels Fall First (Audio CD)

One of my favorite bands! Fortunately, even their first one is rather good. Tarja's voice is truly wonderful and I think anyone who disagrees needs to have their ears checked! Second, the guitar work and background music is outstanding, to say the least. But I have to the slam the gavel down on the male vocals. They are mostly devoid of any emotion whatsoever, almost as if they were thinking "Yeah, right, like we're ever going to hit it big!" Little did they know . . . .

ELVENPATH: A good opening song. Lots of heavy guitar sounds for those of you that like your songs hard and heavy. Tarja is obviously still struggling with English pronunciation a bit. Notice how she says "swayrds" instead of "swords".

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Starts off great . . . and then the terrible male vocals come in. However, it is actually fitting in this song, the terrible male vocals representing the Beast and the heavenly female vocals of Tarja representing the Beauty.

THE CARPENTER: A bit Egyptian-sounding but what I disliked about this song is that the male vocals--once again--ruin the song. Tarja doesn't start singing until halfway through and she doesn't sing much, either.

ASTRAL ROMANCE: Somewhere I've heard a different version of this (maybe a live version). I thought the other version was far better. But either way they're both good. Tarja has an outstanding solo . . . and then once again it is ruined by this monotone, lifeless male voice. Guys, please, for this album just stick to playing instruments!

ANGELS FALL FIRST: The title song that is totally driven by Tarja's vocals and the background music. This song is much slower and softer than previous tracks.

TUTANKHAMEN: My favorite! I don't know why, but I love it when she sings ". . . cats meowing in the temple . . ." Yet another song with an Egyptian theme to it and this time in more ways than one; the topic being the first and the background sound being the second. Truly fantastic guitars, background music, especially good lyrics and Tarja really seems to be having a blast with this song!

NYMPHOMANIAC FANTASIA: Another good one. Starts with some good flute-work followed by weird lyrics but fun to listen to, nonetheless. "Deeper shall be the wound . . . between your legs!" Ouch!

KNOW WHY THE NIGHTINGALE SINGS: This one sounds awfully familiar to one of their later songs but I can't put my finger on it just yet. The male vocals are gone (fortunately) but the song itself just doesn't grab me by the . . . oh wait, that's right, she cut them off in the last song!

LAPPI (LAPLAND) ERAEMAAJAERVI: A very good folksy-sounding Part 1 that is sung by Tarja in Finnish. Don't have a clue what she's singing but it sounds good whatever it is.

LAPPI (LAPLAND) WITCHDRUMS: An eerie sounding Part 2 that honestly doesn't make me think of witches per se, but certainly makes me think of some sort of eerie setting (maybe a haunted forest or something). No vocals on this track.

LAPPI (LAPLAND) THIS MOMENT IS ETERNITY: Takes off so seamlessly from the last Part that you won't even notice half the time that this is a separate one. Good vocals, but in English. Another goody in this 4-part song.

LAPPI (LAPLAND) ETIEAIIENEN: A half folksy/half lullaby that makes a great ending to a great song. This would be a great piece to go to sleep to and I mean that in a good way.

A RETURN TO THE SEA: This is an EXTRA song you'll hear, but ONLY if you buy the Import version. It's very good (I like the xylophone-like sounds), but I don't think it's worth paying an import price for just one extra song.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Metal Milestone - Now Remastered, July 14, 2008

By 

Justin Gaines (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Angels Fall First (Reis) (Audio CD)

Originally released in 1997, Angels Fall First was the debut release from Finland's Nightwish. The album came at a time when European artists were radically changing the heavy metal landscape. Bands like Stratovarius and Conception were redefining the idea of progressive metal, the Gothenburg scene revolutionized the death metal genre, and bands like Blind Guardian and Rhapsody were changing the face of power metal. In this same manner Nightwish came along and essentially offered up an entirely new kind of heavy metal.

Keyboardist/songwriter Tuomas Holopainen merged elements of traditional heavy metal with orchestral arrangements (initially via keyboard and later with an actual orchestra), and operatic female vocals courtesy of classically-trained Tarja Turunin. The result was an album that was classy and melodic yet still retained a measure of the aggression and power that is so characteristic of heavy metal. Tarja's powerful and emotional vocal performance is what immediately stands out, though the symphonic elements and captivating songwriting reinforce the music's overall presence.

Today, symphonic metal bands with female vocalists are literally a dime a dozen, but the whole scene started with this album. Overall, Angels Fall First is probably the weakest of the "Tarja Era" Nightwish albums, but it's better than most of its imitators and will always stand out as a milestone for the genre. The fact that Nightwish would continue to improve significantly with each release that followed shows just how incredible this band was in their prime.

NOTE: The 2008 reissue of Angels Fall First features digitally remastered sound, expanded liner notes, and a handful of bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are Return to the Sea (originally from an import version of Angels Fall First) and demo versions of Nightwish, Forever Moments, and Etiainen. Another key difference between this reissue and the original version of Angels Fall First is that each part of the epic song Lappi (Lapland) is broken down here as a separate track. Between the improved sound, bonus tracks, and the new info and band photos, I didn't think twice about replacing my old copy of Angels Fall First with this classy reissue.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as Oceanborn but still amazing, June 22, 2000

By 

"clansman17" (LA PAZ, BCS Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Angels Fall First (Audio CD)

I understand this is the first Nightwish album, and is not as good as oceeanborn, but it's still a great combination of classical music and rock album, one of the best songs is "Beauty and the Beast". I don't understand why people think S&M by Metallica is something amazing and new, but if they listen to bands like nightwish and some others like therion, they will notice that the orchestration work is a lot better than Kamen - Hettfield - Ulrich effort. Please listen to this album and see what a good fusion work is, it's got energy, melody and Tarja's voice is perfect.