Oceanborn

Oceanborn is the second studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. It was released in Finland by Spinefarm Records on 7 December 1998 and in the spring of 1999 worldwide. It was released by Drakkar Entertainment in the rest of Europe, and by Toy's Factory in Japan. It is their first album with bassist Sami Vänskä.

Oceanborn has sold more than 68,000 copies in Finland. The single "Sleeping Sun" was released in August 1999, and the song has been included in every reissue of the album since then. The album was released in the US by Century Media in March 2001.

In 2017, Loudwire ranked it as the 10th best power metal album of all time.

Background
Speaking to Kerrang! in 2008, band founder Tuomas Holopainen reminisced that the band got really ambitious after the debut album "that was never meant to be released as a proper record. It happened almost by accident, so we decided to put everything into making Oceanborn great." He added: "We were all such amateurs when it came to recording. We didn't really know what we were doing, so we were just experimenting with a lot of different things, we even brought in this string trio who were complete shit, then another violin, then another violin on top. So we ended up with 'Moondance' having 20 tracks of violin, just because we hadn't done this before and didn't know what we were doing! It's a pretty stuffed album, but I also think it's one of our best because you can hear the excitement of trying all these new things. It seems strange that this became a breakthrough album, because back at the time the music was so funny. It was really operatic, and when you look at the pictures, they look pretty horrific."

According to Kerrang!, "for all its Royal Albert Hall grandiosity, Oceanborn was actually recorded in a Finnish school."

Style
This album marked a definitive change in musical scope for Nightwish from their folk-laden roots in Angels Fall First, showcasing a more bombastic, power metal-oriented sound with faster tempos, harmonic guitar/keyboard leads, and plenty of double-bass-heavy drumwork. During that time, Stratovarius was Holopainen's biggest inspiration, hence the power metal sound of the album. Oceanborn's sound hearkens a more dramatic approach in the overall musical scope, mostly relegated to the symphonic keyboard work and lead singer Tarja Turunen's vocals. According to Mape Ollila, who penned the band's biography:

Along with Therion's Theli, the album came to be known as one of the cornerstones of the emerging genre of symphonic metal.

Most of the lyrics are fantasy-themed, with tracks like "Swanheart" and "Walking in the Air", a cover from the animated TV special The Snowman, as typical examples; however, the song "Gethsemane", has a more religious feel to it. In addition, there are also some theatrical tracks like "Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean". Oceanborn is among their darkest albums, making use of the harsh vocals of Tapio Wilska in the songs "The Pharaoh Sails to Orion" and "Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean".

Personnel
Credits for Oceanborn adapted from liner notes.

Nightwish
 * Tarja Turunen – lead vocals
 * Tuomas Holopainen – keyboards, backing vocals on "Moondance", songwriting, lyrics
 * Emppu Vuorinen – guitars, songwriting
 * Sami Vänskä – bass
 * Jukka Nevalainen – drums, percussion, backing vocals on "Moondance"

Production
 * Tero Kinnunen – engineering, producer
 * Mikko Karmila – engineering, mixing
 * Mika Jussila – mastering
 * Toni Härkönen – photography
 * Maria Sandell – artwork
 * Markus Mayer – re-release cover art

Additional musicians
 * Tapio Wilska – additional vocals on "Devil & The Deep Dark Ocean" and "The Pharaoh Sails To Orion", backing vocals on "Moondance"
 * Esa Lehtinen – flute
 * Plamen Dimov – violin
 * Kaisli Kaivola – violin
 * Markku Palola – viola
 * Erkki Hirvikangas – cello