Oceanborn

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

After the debut Angels Fall First, which was never intended as a real record, the band wanted to pull out all the stops with Oceanborn. The album was released on 7 December 1998 in Finland on Spinefarm Records, with the rest of the world following in the spring of 1999. It is the first record with bassist Sami Vänskä. According to Tuomas Holopainen they still knew little about recording and tried everything: on Moondance there are twenty tracks of violin. That was done in a Finnish school.

The music became more bombastic and more power metal, with faster tempos, melodic guitar and keyboard and plenty of double bass drum, under the influence of Stratovarius. Tarja Turunen's vocals give the whole a dramatic character. Walking in the Air is a cover from the animated film The Snowman. Tapio Wilska sings harshly on The Pharaoh Sails to Orion and Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean. Together with Therion's Theli it is regarded as a cornerstone of symphonic metal.

Listening

Track list

1. 1Stargazers4:28Apple Music ↗
2. 2Gethsemane5:22Apple Music ↗
3. 3Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean4:46Apple Music ↗
4. 4Sacrament of Wilderness4:12Apple Music ↗
5. 5Passion and the Opera4:51Apple Music ↗
6. 6Swanheart4:45Apple Music ↗
7. 7Moondance3:32Apple Music ↗
8. 8The Riddler5:16Apple Music ↗
9. 9The Pharaoh Sails To Orion6:27Apple Music ↗
10. 10Walking In the Air5:31Apple Music ↗
11. 11Sleeping Sun4:05Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗

See also

• Nightwish