Foreword

“Once I had a dream, and this is it”.
The opening line of the 2004 album that would change our lives.

Nostalgia is a powerful tool.
It’s been 16 years since the release of the album, but I easily remember what those days surrounding the release of the record were like. The excitement, the ambition, the comradeship, the triumphant tour to come, it was all there, about to carry the band to another level, musically and journey wise. “Once” instantly became Nightwish’s watershed album.

Phoenix Studios, Wembley, in 2003.
I ring the doorbell and Rick Wakeman comes to open the door. I try to act cool and fail miserably. He guides us to the recording studio where we meet Pip Williams and the St. Martin-in-the-Fields - orchestra. We’re ridiculously giddy and have but a little hunch of what’s to come.

The first song on the table to be recorded was “Ghost Love Score”.
It’s a most vivid memory, sitting on that couch of the monitoring room, and hearing them play that massive wave of orchestral decoration on top of our humble creation. Such a life-changing event, still giving me the ultimate chills when I think about that moment. We had no idea back then that we were about to give birth to the quintessential Nightwish opus that would follow us on all the live shows to this day.

Those mind-blowing moments while recording the band, the orchestra and the choir.
The frustratingly tedious process of getting the arrangement “Nemo” just right. The harrowing true stories behind “Higher Than Hope” and “Creek Mary’s Blood”. Almost burning down the studio while recording synths to “Kuolema tekee taiteilijan” by candlelight. Having good old fashioned fantastical fun with “Dark Chest Of Wonders”. Getting rid of the worst writer’s block ever by writing “Dead Gardens”.

Drowning in all these memories still takes us to a very happy place.

“Once” is the pinnacle of the ‘old era’ Nightwish, a launchpad for the most exciting and unexpected journey that followed.

Thank you for travelling with us!
Tuomas