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Dark Passion Play (2007)


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Rate "Dark Passion Play"  

7 members have voted

  1. 1. How would you rate this album?

    • 10 (this is the sound of Nightwish reborn)
      4
    • 9
      0
    • 8
      2
    • 7
      1
    • 6
      0
    • 5
      0
    • 4
      0
    • 3
      0
    • 2
      0
    • 1 (Bye Bye Nightwish)
      0


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Dark Passion Play (2007)

Dark_Passion_Play.jpg.fde763a78d71de41636fb1bb47206e4d.jpg

 

Track list (with relevant threads when available)

  1. The Poet And The Pendulum (lyrics)
  2. Bye Bye Beautiful (lyrics)  🎞️ (official video)
  3. Amaranth (lyrics)  🎞️ (official video)
  4. Cadence Of Her Last Breath (lyrics)
  5. Master Passion Greed (lyrics)
  6. Eva (lyrics)
  7. Sahara (lyrics)
  8. Whoever Brings The Night (lyrics)
  9. For The Heart I Once Had (lyrics)
  10. The Islander (lyrics)  🎞️ (official video)
  11. Last Of The Wilds (instrumental)
  12. 7 Days To The Wolves (lyrics)
  13. Meadows Of Heaven (lyrics)

Related tracks (released as single B-sides and various other formats including the digital-only collection The Sound of Nightwish Reborn)

  1. Escapist (lyrics)
  2. While Your Lips Are Still Red (lyrics)  🎞️ (official video)
  3. Erämaan Viimeinen (lyrics) ("Last Of The Wilds" alternate version with added Finnish lyrics sung by Joensu from Indica)
  4. Reach (demo version of 'Amaranth', sung by Marko Hietala)
  5. Eva (demo version, sung by Marko Hietala)
  6. The Poet And The Pendulum (demo version, sung by Marko Hietala)
  7. Amaranth (orchestral version)
  8. Eva (orchestral version)
  9. Bye Bye Beautiful (DJ Orkidea remix)
  10. Meadows Of Heaven (orchestral version)
  11. Cadence Of Her Last Breath (demo version, sung by Marko Hietala) (released exclusively on live album Made In Hong Kong)

 

From the band:

 

Tuomas about the tracks:

(from https://web.archive.org/web/20110724114248/http://tuomasholopainen.net/darkpassionplay.html)

The Poet And The Pendulum

The year 2005 was like hell and all the bad feelings are expressed in this song. The essence of this song is included in the speech that begins with the words: "Today in the year of Our Lord 2005, Tuomas was called from the cares of the world." Mentioning my own name may sound a bit vain but it had to be done like this. The part when Marco shouts out has very dark lyrics: there's something about spitting on a grave, masturbating onto it and so on. I had a strong need to express all my experiences and feelings as honestly as possible. When I first sent the lyrics for the boy soprano to the choir leader, the response was immediate: we're not making "The Exorcist II", he said. The lyrics were too rough... At first the whole album was supposed to be called "The Poet And The Pendulum" but in the end I changed my mind - using one of the songs' name as the album's name didn't seem to work. And "Dark Passion Play" has a nice double meaning.

Bye Bye Beautiful

Whatever an artist does, it always reflects his real life. This album contains three tracks about this subject. "The Poet And The Pendulum", this one and "Master Passion Greed". "Bye Bye Beautiful" is in a way a sister song to "Wish I Had An Angel". I don't really want to say anything more than this about this track. Usually I don't talk much about my lyrics and I want to keep it this way. Especially with this song.

Amaranth

The thing that I hate most in the music business is choosing songs for the singles. Well maybe not the most... But it's like a red rag to a bull to me. It's just not fair to pick one track from over an hour of music. It's no fair towards the album, the track itself and the fans. There's this anecdote about "Amaranth" - it was actually going to be expelled from the final version of the album. It stayed but I still think it's not one of the best ones. Quite a Cinderella-story: from almost being dropped out to becoming the first single.

Cadence Of Her Last Breath

A very personal song although others don't seem to understand what it is about. There's running away in this track. Then having a crush, falling in love and then running away again. It was the first song from the album that I finished. I'm a bit afraid if the music here doesn't sound a bit too much like American metal. You in Sävi [sic] while listening to the demo that it will become our first single. And of course it was nominated to be one. Other band members like "Cadence Of Her Last Breath" more, personally I think it's ok but not one of my favourites.

Master Passion Greed

Musically it's the heaviest song we've ever done. And the album's fourth bandsong. You guessed correctly the lyrics' subject and that I composed this track with a guitar not the keyboards. At first, the singing was to be divided evenly between Marco and Anette. But when Marco saw the lyrics he said that he didn't want to sound vain but it might be better if he sang this song almost entirely on his own. And he was right. It would've been unfair to make the new singer sing this text.

Eva

When you realize that this song is about a girl who is bullied at school, "Eva" becomes an honest ballad. The end of her story is left open on purpose. The song for the first single should be the one that describes the upcoming album best. But a 14-minute track is not good to do that job. Hopefully people understand that we had to pick one song. "Eva" is the album's simplest and easiest track.

Sahara

What could be more of a cliché than a heavy band singing about Egypt's history! One of my favourite tracks. And Marco's also. The track's text is a pure flow of mind's images that have no base in reality. An escapist's fantasy dream of Egypt five thousand years ago. We put in the lyrics some parts that we call "slave chants" - the man choir is singing along with the kettledrum 'Shah!' and 'Agadaga!' It brings pretty historical feel to the song - pulling blocks of stones, the sand rustling under your feet and burning sun.

Whoever Brings The Night

In a way the album's dimmest song. Tim Burton's climates alike. Emppu brought a demo to be, I picked his riffs and put them into a new order. The original singing melody was much more complicated so I straightened it a bit. Not because Anette couldn't sing it squiggled [sic]. I like this song so much. The lyrics have a really erotic tone and we had a lot of fun while making it.

For The Heart I Once Had

I have to admit that the melody of this track has something similar with the one of "Nemo". It may divide people's opinions the most. "For The Heart I Once Had" was almost left out but in the end we kept it. At some point it seemed that we were doing either very heavy or very soft songs for this album. Without this track, even though it's not the best one, there wouldn't be anything in between. I can't be blamed for similar tempos - every composer has their manners. To my mind, I avoided the worst clichés and tried uncommonly different things.

The Islander

I would have picked this one for the single, if we hadn't just changed our vocalist as Marco sings most of this track. It's a celtic song that he played a few years ago on the backstage saying it didn't really fit Tarot's style. It flashed through my mind that this song tells a story of a lighthouse keeper. Marco finished the music and I wrote the lyrics. It's a small elegy, a poem song about a lonely lighthouse keeper. No symbolism in this one, just a simply put story. This track could be played acoustically during the gigs. Something new for a change: few guys playing together on bar chairs.

Last Of The Wilds

This song makes me go back in time for about a thousand years to a tavern where people are jumping, dancing on the tables and singing to melodies played on some old instruments. A partying contest between Finland and Ireland. Or a bar fight. Emppu vs. violin vs. Uileann pipes. Then Finland raises her head in the c-part with Kantele in her hand. Teasing a bit but in the end everyone is friends. It's definitely the album's most positive track. We happened to have one positive day during the making of the album. This track was really nice to make. And we're going to play it live.

7 Days To The Wolves

I'd say this song has the best chorus in the album. And you can really feel Walt Whitman in the lyrics. "Leave the city of fools" or "The road less travelled by". I found about Peter Weirin [sic] from the movie "Dead Poets' Society". Later on Whitman became one of my favourite poets next to Edgar Allan Poe. I read "Leaves Of Grass" quite a few times. The lyrics have a clear message: we only have one life so we have to make the most of it. Carpe diem! The wolves are breathing behind you all the time.

Meadows Of Heaven

Seven-and-a-half minute ballad which has a gospel choir, a gospel solo and pipes. I knew from the beginning that it was going to be the album's last track. Seventy four minutes have passed by and just when you think you've heard everything you're surprised by a gospel choir. The warm spirit of the choir during the recording in Abbey Road has given this track a lot of strength. Even Jukka, who isn't the world's most ardent believer, almost got religious while listening to that. Those people really beamed with kindness. I have always wanted to write a song about my childhood but I haven't been able to do it. This subject has scared but also haunted me for a long time.

 

Marko about some tracks:

(from https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-10-best-nightwish-songs-marco-hietala-once-dark-passion-play-imaginaerum-endless-forms-most-beautiful)

THE POET AND THE PENDULUM (Dark Passion Play, 2007)
“Here’s another long song! I love this one for all the same reasons that I said about Ghost Love Score; I like playing interesting songs with a variety of atmospheres.”

CADENCE OF HER LAST BREATH (Dark Passion Play, 2007)
“It’s hard trying to choose another song from this album because there’s a lot of good stuff on it, but I have a soft spot for Cadence of Her Last Breath. In some ways, we didn’t get as far with it as we wanted to when we recorded the song in the studio – we wanted it to be a little bit more impressive. I think it’s got a lot of potential, especially when we play it live, and it’s different to a lot of other Nightwish songs; the rhythmic structure and how the melodies go over it is unique.”

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Anette commented on the DPP anniversary (from her FB):

 

So I’ve seen some of you sharing that it’s 13 years ago today since the release of Dark passion play✨ can’t believe it’s been so many years now but this album is of course very dear to me❤️ it was what made me able to live on my music finally at the age of 36 and it’s been my dream since childhood to be a singer full time and the dream came true when I was chosen to sing in Nightwish. The recording was 3 weeks for me where me and Tuomas lived in the forest during Finnish winter time. We recorded songs, we had fun and it was a great time we had. I didn’t know the boys that well in that time but the tour that came with the album was massive and I got to see the world. It was both an exciting time but also a stresful time since I had no idea how big the band really was when I joined and I had never been on a long tour so it was heavy job both mentally but also physically. I have so many nice memories and the thing with this album was that it was so much loved by the non metal fans too. It was played in the radio here in Sweden and was number one in the children’s top list and we won the amazing Echo award with it. So I will always feel so blessed to have been on this album and I am proud of my performance on it. The songs were not written for me and it was challenging many times to record them. But thanks to all of you who have bought it and for all the support we got with it ❤️😘 happy birthday to me, the other nightwish boys and of course to dark passion play. Listen to it through the link in my bio above 👆 #anetteolzon

https://www.facebook.com/anetteolzonofficial/photos/a.210255749162370/1477547155766550/?type=3

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  • 9 months later...
  • 7 months later...

The song "Amaranth" was the first song I listened to back in the summer of 2012 just before I was getting into the band. At first, I thought it was alright. After finding out they were coming to perform close to where I live, I began to listen to it more and more. I think that song was just the beginning for me as a fan.

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It was also one of the first songs I heard, while looking for more NW material on YouTube back in 2015 after I watched GLS at Wacken. What I found was Amaranth and Bye Bye Beautiful, and for a minute there I was confused at the different singers. 😳 I was impressed by the video though, and it's still today one of their better ones IMO, except for those second-rate special FX right there at the end. 😁 But it's a song that Anette really elevated (compared to Marko's demo) and was well suited to her voice range and bubbly style.

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  • 7 months later...

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