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Nightwish - Oceanborn



8.6 | 1284 votes |
Release date: 7 December 1998
Style: Symphonic power metal

Owners:

1523 have it
63 want it
5 trade it


01. Stargazers
02. Gethsemane
03. Devil & The Deep Dark Ocean
04. Sacrament Of Wilderness
05. Passion And The Opera
06. Swanheart
07. Moondance
08. The Riddler
09. The Pharaoh Sails To Orion
10. Walking In The Air [Howard Blake cover]
11. Nightquest [bonus]
12. A Return To The Sea [bonus]
13. Sleeping Sun [bonus]

Top 20 albums of 1998: 12

Additional info
Recorded at Caverock Studio by Tero Kinnunen in August - October '98
Mixed at Finnvox studios by Mikko Karmila
Mastered at Finnvox studios by Mika Jussila
Artwork by Maria Sandell
Photo by Toni Härkönen

The limited edition digipack has "Nightquest" (4:16) and "Passion And The
Opera" (single edit) (3:35) instead of the last three tracks.

The 2004 digipack CD re-release by Spinefarm Records has only "Sleeping Sun" as bonus track.

The Drakkar-pressing of the CD contains only Sleeping Sun as a bonus track and also comes with diffrent coverart

Staff review by
Deadsoulman
Rating:
10
It's always hard to be objective when you talk about one of your favourite bands.I can's pretend I am going to be objective here, because I like this band so much.

The most noticeable thing with Nightwish is that everything lays on Tarja Turunen's fragile shoulders. And as her voice is perfect, everything works, even better than on the first album Angels Fall First. Compared to this one, Oceanborn is heavier, more varied and has, of course, a better sound, and finally Tuomas Holopainen decided to stop singing (his voice scared me when I first heard Angels Fall First): he who writes everything, and has stunning keyboard sounds decided to let Tarja do the job.

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published 18.09.2003 | Comments (23)

Guest review by
Spyroid
Rating:
7.6
Oceanborn - for many people the highlight of Nightwish's discography. This is a very hard album to review for me - I've had it for several years and I'm still not sure what I think about it. On some points Oceanborn is a masterpiece with ten points out of ten - I'll describe how first.

The material itself on this album is pure professionalism - song structures are all interesting and the only song I find to be bad is 'Swanheart' which always manages to bore me. Guitars are interesting, the keyboards are almost virtuoso and the performance is overall top notch. There's a lot of instrumental passages through the tracks which provide a lot; they take the music away from the deep, deep swamp of 'verse-bridge-refrain-repeat-solo-refrain-end'. I can't really find any tracks that are better than the others and for me there are no real hits here. That is the main reason why this album isn't perfect.

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published 07.07.2008 | Comments (17)

Guest review by
ErnilEnNaur
Rating:
9.1
Oceanborn. What's in a title? A lot. Purity and innocence are words that describe someone who is born in - or from - an ocean. There is a sweet innocence to Nightwish's 2nd album that can not be found in the later albums or on the previous one. "Dark Passion Play," "Nymphomaniac Fantasy," "She is my Sin," "Slaying the Dreamer" - what's in a title? That's not to say Oceanborn doesn't have its darker themes, too, they just aren't overwhelming. When I listen to the album as a whole, it is a solemn, but joyful experience. I get the feeling that Tuomas and the band really enjoyed making this album and made it for themselves. Back then, their music was still in the foreground and business was somewhere on the background, not even in clear focus. They didn't have the troubles and responsibilities they now carry, they were young and free.

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published 24.04.2010 | Comments (16)

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Comments page 2 / 2

Comments: 32   Visited by: 1753 users
20.06.2023 - 21:49
JoHn Doe

Written by majormalfunction on 20.06.2023 at 21:26

I'm not really into symphonic power metal so this is one of the better ones i've heard in the genre.


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12.07.2023 - 04:09
Rating: 6
24emd
Theory Snob
Everything on this album sounds so much better than the debut. Most notably the production is actually adequate this time, but the performances are way tighter, and the symphonic/keyboard sounds have way more depth, not too mention the excellent songwriting, especially on "Gethsemane". I've never been sold on Tarja's vocals, and the album still has issues, but considering this improvement, it's definitely a good album.
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