''Over the Hills and Far Away'' is the first EP by

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...

band

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...

, released on 25 June 2001 through

Spinefarm Records Spinefarm Records is a Finnish independent record label focusing mainly on heavy metal artists. It is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. History Spinefarm Records was originally founded in 1990 by Riku Pääkkönen as a mail-order distrib ...

in Finland, and

Drakkar Records Drakkar Entertainment GmbH, also called Drakkar Records or Drakkar Publishing, is a German record label with its headquarters in Witten. It is a joint venture with Bertelsmann Music Group. History Originally Kopec Music Publishing, Drakkar En ...

in the rest of Europe. It was also released by

Toy's Factory is a Japanese record label founded in the late 1980s as a subsidiary of the entertainment company VAP, based in Japan. On May 30, 1990, it was established as an independent company. Toy's Factory, as of the first half of 2012, is the four ...

in Japan and

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...

in the US. Bassist

Sami Vänskä Sami Vänskä (born 26 September 1976) is the former bassist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. Background Vänskä started playing bass when he attended music school when he was nine years old. Rush, Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Pepper ...

left the band after its recording, due to musical differences between him and

Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen (born 25 December 1976) is a Finnish songwriter, record producer and musician, best known as one of the founders and the leader, keyboardist and songwriter of symphonic metal band Nightwish. He has stated that hi ...

. He was replaced by the bassist and male vocalist,

Marko Hietala Marko Tapani "Marco" Hietala (born 14 January 1966) is a Finnish heavy metal vocalist, bassist and songwriter. Internationally, he is best known as the former bassist, male vocalist and secondary composer to Tuomas Holopainen, of the symphonic ...

. The editions by Drakkar and

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

contain different live tracks taken from the live DVD ''

From Wishes to Eternity ''From Wishes to Eternity – Live'' is a live DVD/VHS/CD by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. It was recorded in Tampere, Finland on 29 December 2000. The CD was released as a limited edition of 10.000 copies, available only in Finland. ...

'', recorded in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

, Finland, on 29 December 2000. The EP debuted at number one on the

Finnish Singles Chart The Official Finnish Charts ( fi, Suomen virallinen lista; sv, Finlands officiella lista) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiell ...

and spent twelve weeks in the top three, topping it for another four weeks and spending six weeks at number two. It charted for a total of 49 weeks, including two weeks in early 2004. The EP has been awarded double-platinum certification in Finland and has sold over 36,000 copies to date, becoming the sixth-best-selling single of all time in Finland. ''Over the Hills and Far Away'' entered also the European charts, in the Top 100 of Germany, Austria, France and Switzerland. The EP has two new songs and a remake of '' Angels Fall First's'' "Astral Romance", sung by

Tony Kakko Toni Kristian "Tony" Kakko (born 16 May 1975) is a Finnish musician, composer and vocalist. He is known as the vocalist, primary songwriter, and creative lead of the band Sonata Arctica since 1996. Biography Kakko was born in Kemi, Finland and ...

beside

Tarja Turunen Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli (born 17 August 1977), known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish heavy metal singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Nightwish. She is a soprano with a three and a half o ...

. The

title song A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

is by Northern Irish singer and guitarist

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

, and has backing vocals by

and Kakko. "It had a bit of a

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

vibe because the backing track was so similar," Moore observed. "I don't mean that insultingly, but it was almost identical. I believe they're a pretty big band now, so it's cool that they did it."

Tapio Wilska Tapio may refer to: *Tapio (given name), a Finnish male given name *Tapio (surname), a Finnish surname *Tapio (spirit), a god or spirit in Eastern Finnish mythology *Tapiola, one of the major urban centres within the city of Espoo, outside of Helsi ...

sings on "10th Man Down".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for ''Over the Hills and Far Away'' adapted from liner notes.(2001). "''Over the Hills and Far Away'' liner notes". In ''Over the Hills and Far Away'' D booklet Spinefarm. Nightwish *

– vocals *

– keyboards, backing vocals on "Over the Hills and Far Away", mixing *Emppu Vuorinen – guitars *

– bass guitar, cover photo *

Jukka Nevalainen Jukka Antero "Julius" Nevalainen (born 21 April 1978, in Kitee, Finland) is the former drummer in the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. Personal life He spent his early years in the city of Kitee. His music teacher at school told him t ...

– drums Additional musicians *

– vocals on "10th Man Down" *

– vocals on "Astral Romance", backing vocals on "Over the Hills and Far Away" Production *Tero Kinnunen – producer, mixing, recording *Mikko Karmila – recording, mixing *Mika Jussila – mastering

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

Nightwish's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Over The Hills And Far Away (Album) Nightwish albums 2001 debut EPs Spinefarm Records EPs Century Media Records albums