Angels Fall First

Angels Fall First is the debut album of the Finnish symphonic power metal quintet, Nightwish. It was released in 1997 by Spinefarm Records. The limited edition(of which only 500 copies were released), features only seven tracks, two of which are not on the regular edition.

Even though the only single, "The Carpenter" reached number three on the Finnish singles chart, Nightwish failed to gain national fame until the release of their second studio album, Oceanborn.

The male vocals heard on "Beauty and the Beast", "The Carpenter", "Astral Romance" and "Once Upon a Troubadour" are sung by Tuomas Holopainen. "Elvenpath" features audio clips from the prologue of The Lord of the Rings, directed by Ralph Bakshi. The track on the limited edition is the same track that was on their second demo, which was also titled "Angels Fall First".

Angels Fall First is generally considered to be the band's most underrated release (although it has been rated 92% on average at Encyclopaedia Metallum database)^{[citation needed]}, and the songs from it are rarely played at concerts. In 2005 (before beng fired from Nightwish) vocalist Tarja Turunen expressed that she would like to sing some tracks from Angels Fall First again.

[edit] Track listing

Standard Edition

	Title	Writers	Length
1.	"Elvenpath"^[I]	Holopainen	4:40
2.	"Beauty and the Beast"	Holopainen	6:24
3.	"The Carpenter"^[II]	Holopainen	5:57
4.	"Astral Romance"	Holopainen	5:12
5.	"Angels Fall First"	Holopainen	5:34
6.	"Tutankhamen"	Holopainen	5:31
7.	"Nymphomaniac Fantasia"	Holopainen	4:47
8.	"Know Why the Nightingale Sings"	Holopainen	4:14
9.	"Lappi (Lapland)"	Holopainen	9:20
10.	"Once Upon a Troubadour" (Bonus Track)^[V]	Holopainen	5:21
11.	"A Return to the Sea" (Bonus Track)	Holopainen	5:48

US Edition

	Title	Writers	Length
1.	"Elvenpath"^[I]	Holopainen	4:40
2.	"Beauty and the Beast"	Holopainen	6:24
3.	"The Carpenter"^[II]	Holopainen	5:57
4.	"Astral Romance"	Holopainen	5:12
5.	"Angels Fall First"	Holopainen	5:34
6.	"Tutankhamen"	Holopainen	5:31
7.	"Nymphomaniac Fantasia"	Holopainen	4:47
8.	"Know Why the Nightingale Sings"	Holopainen	4:14
9.	"Lappi (Lapland): I. Erämaajärvi"	Holopainen	2:15
10.	"Lappi (Lapland): II. Witchdrums"	Holopainen	1:18¨
11.	"Lappi (Lapland): III. This Moment is Eternity"	Holopainen	3:12
12.	"Lappi (Lapland): Etiäinen"	Holopainen	2:32

Japanese Edition

	Title	Writers	Length
1.	"Elvenpath"^[I]	Holopainen	4:40
2.	"Beauty and the Beast"	Holopainen	6:24
3.	"The Carpenter"^[II]	Holopainen	5:57
4.	"Astral Romance"	Holopainen	5:12
5.	"Angels Fall First"	Holopainen	5:34
6.	"Tutankhamen"	Holopainen	5:31
7.	"Nymphomaniac Fantasia"	Holopainen	4:47
8.	"Know Why the Nightingale Sings"	Holopainen	4:14
9.	"Lappi (Lapland)"	Holopainen	9:20
10.	"A Return to the Sea"	Holopainen	5:48
11.	"Swanheart-Live" (Japanese bonus track)	Holopainen	?:??
12.	"Deep Silent Complete-Live" (Japanese bonus track)	Holopainen	?:??
13.	"Dead Boy's Poem-Live (Japanese bonus track)"	Holopainen	?:??

2008 Spinefarm UK/US Edition

	Title	Writers	Length
1.	"Elvenpath"^[I]	Holopainen	4:40
2.	"Beauty and the Beast"	Holopainen	6:24
3.	"The Carpenter"^[II]	Holopainen	5:57
4.	"Astral Romance"	Holopainen	5:12
5.	"Angels Fall First"	Holopainen	5:34
6.	"Tutankhamen"	Holopainen	5:31
7.	"Nymphomaniac Fantasia"	Holopainen	4:47
8.	"Know Why the Nightingale Sings"	Holopainen	4:14
9.	"Lappi (Lapland): I. Erämaajärvi"	Holopainen	2:15
10.	"Lappi (Lapland): II. Witchdrums"	Holopainen	1:18¨
11.	"Lappi (Lapland): III. This Moment is Eternity"	Holopainen	3:12
12.	"Lappi (Lapland): Etiäinen"	Holopainen	2:32
13.	"Return to the Sea" (Bonus Track)	Holopainen	5:48
14.	"Nightwish" (Demo/Bonus Track)	Holopainen	5:52
15.	"Forever Moments" (Demo/Bonus Track)	Holopainen	5:38
16.	"Etiäinen" (Demo/Bonus Track)	Holopainen	3:00

Original Limited Edition

	Title	Writers	Length
1.	"Astral Romance"	Holopainen	5:12
2.	"Angels Fall First"	Holopainen	4:34
3.	"The Carpenter"	Holopainen	5:57
4.	"Nymphomaniac Fantasia"	Holopainen	4:47
5.	"A Return to the Sea"	Holopainen	5:48
6.	"Once Upon a Troubadour"	Holopainen	5:21
7.	"Lappi (Lapland): I. Erämaajärvi"	Holopainen	2:15
8.	"Lappi (Lapland): II. Witchdrums"	Holopainen	1:18¨
9.	"Lappi (Lapland): III. This Moment is Eternity"	Holopainen	3:12
10.	"Lappi (Lapland): Etiäinen"	Holopainen	2:32

Angels Fall First (Demo - unreleased)

	Title	Writers	Length
1.	"Astral Romance"	Holopainen	5:12
2.	"Angels Fall First"	Holopainen	4:34
3.	"The Carpenter"	Holopainen	5:57

[edit] Credits

Tarja Turunen - Vocals
Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen - Guitar, Bass Guitar
Tuomas Holopainen - Keyboard/Piano, Vocals
Jukka Nevalainen - Drums

Samppa Hirvonen - Bass Guitar (Sessional Live Member)
Marjaana Pellinen - Backing vocals, Second Keyboard (Sessional Live Member)

Guests:

Esa Lehtinen - Flutes

[edit] Notes

I. ^{^} Elvenpath uses audio-clips from the prologue of The Lord of the Rings, directed by Ralph Bakshi.
II. ^{^} The first (and only) single of the album. A music video was made as well.
III. ^{^} Bonus track only on re-mastered version.
IV. ^{^} Bonus track only.
V. ^{^} Once Upon a Troubadour uses an audio-clip from the 1988 film Willow (film) Directed by Ron Howard

v • d • e Nightwish

Tuomas Holopainen \| Marco Hietala \| Emppu Vuorinen \| Jukka Nevalainen \| Anette Olzon Tarja Turunen \| Sami Vänskä

Studio albums & EPs	Angels Fall First \| Oceanborn \| Wishmaster \| Over the Hills and Far Away \| Century Child \| Once \| Dark Passion Play

Live albums	From Wishes to Eternity \| End of an Era

Demos	“Nightwish” \| “Angels Fall First (demo)”

Compilations	Wishmastour 2000 \| Tales from the Elvenpath \| Bestwishes \| Highest Hopes

Videos and DVDs	From Wishes to Eternity \| End of Innocence \| End of an Era

Documentaries	From Wishes to Eternity \| End of Innocence \| The Making of Nemo \| The Making of "Wish I Had an Angel" \| A Day Before Tomorrow \| Shooting Some Amaranths \| In Between the Eyes \| The Making of the Islander

Singles	“The Carpenter” \| “Sacrament of Wilderness” \| “Passion and the Opera” \| “Walking in the Air” \| “Sleeping Sun (Four Ballads of the Eclipse)” · “The Kinslayer” \| “Deep Silent Complete” \| “Ever Dream” \| “Bless the Child” \| “Nemo” \| “Wish I Had an Angel” \| “Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan” \| “The Siren” \| “Sleeping Sun” \| “Eva” \| “Amaranth” \| “Erämaan Viimeinen” \| “Bye Bye Beautiful” \| "The Islander"

Related acts	Tarot \| Tarja Turunen \| Brother Firetribe \| Sethian \| For My Pain... \| Northern Kings \| Kotiteollisuus \| Timo Rautiainen \| Alyson Avenue \| Altaria \| Barilari \| Sinergy

Related articles	Members \| Discography