Angels Fall First is the debut studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, originally released by Spinefarm Records on 30 September 1997 as a 500-copy limited edition, featuring seven tracks, two of which are not on the regular edition (released in November 1997).[5] This edition is highly sought after by collectors and in 2012 a copy was sold for $1137.23 on eBay.[6] The album was released in the US by Century Media in March 2001.[7]
Tuomas Holopainen wrote the music for the album during his time in the Finnish Army.[8] In a 2008 interview with the British magazine Kerrang!, Tuomas Holopainen remembered:
It came about in August 1996, around a campfire. We were at my summer cabin, a bunch of friends camping out, barbecuing, singing songs, and then it just hit me that I wanted to start a band. But we were too far ambitious at that time for it to remain simply acoustic and making music with just acoustic guitar, keyboards and female voice, was just a bit boring, and we naturally started heading in a heavier direction. The funny thing about Angels Fall First is that it was only supposed to be a demo to send out to record labels. But then Spinefarm heard it and thought it was perfect, so they put it out as it was with no remixing or anything. I used to be a bit embarrassed but now I can feel proud and nostalgic about those songs.[9]
The original pressing featured Holopainen's home contact address, an accident from reprinting the demo sleeve for the album.[9]
As of December 2009, Angels Fall First has sold more than 36,000 copies in Finland alone.[10]
The band, and especially band leader and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen has since frowned upon the album, considering it essentially an extended demo. In a 2011 interview, when asked what album other than Imaginaerum Holopainen wanted to make into a movie, he replied that it would be Angels Fall First, and that it would be "a black-and-white comedy".[11]
The male vocals heard on "Beauty and the Beast", "The Carpenter", "Astral Romance" and "Once Upon a Troubadour" are sung by keyboardist–band leader Tuomas Holopainen, as well as the whispers in the beginning of the demo version of "Etiäinen".[12] Following this release, Holopainen never sang credited on an album again, because he thought that he was not good enough.[12]
^ abRuskell, Nick (16 August 2008). "Treasure Chest. An Ultimate Portrait of a Life in Rock. Tuomas Holopainen.". Kerrang!. Vol. 1223. London, UK: Bauer Media Group. p. 54.
