Century Child

Untitled

Century Child is the fourth album by Nightwish, released in 2002 by Spinefarm Records.

The album is a notable departure from previous Nightwish outings, aurally and mentally. It contains orchestral backing, an ethereal production, a much-more streamlined vocal work from Tarja Turunen, and the lyrics portray the strongest concept album undercurrents yet. This could also be considered one of Nightwish's darkest albums.

Additional material

Spinefarm Records released a 2-CD special edition of the album in 2002. It includes the CD with copy protection (the presence of which isn't mentioned), liner art with the band members' signatures, and an unusual-looking transparent Video CD containing the music video for their Gary Moore cover of "Over The Hills And Far Away". In addition, the booklet contains an ID code that allowed the owner for a limited time to download the entire album, and three extra tracks from the Internet. The bonus tracks were "Nightwish", "The Forever Moments" and "Etiäinen", all from the band's first demo, back when they were an acoustic project.

Track listing

1. "Bless the Child" (feat. Sam Hardwick) – 6:12
2. "End of All Hope" – 3:55
3. "Dead to the World" – 4:19
4. "Ever Dream" – 4:43
5. "Slaying the Dreamer" – 4:31
6. "Forever Yours" – 3:50
7. "Ocean Soul" – 4:14
8. "Feel for You" – 3:55
9. "The Phantom of the Opera" – 4:10
10. "Beauty of the Beast (Long Lost Love - One More Night to Live - Christabel)" – 10:21
11. "The Wayfarer" (Bonus Track; Japanese Limited Edition) – 3:22

Credits

• Tarja Turunen – Vocals
• Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen – Guitar
• Marco Hietala – Bass guitar, Vocals
• Tuomas Holopainen – Keyboards
• Jukka Nevalainen – Drums

Guests:

• Kristiina Ilmonen - Tin Whistle
• Sam Hardwick - Vocals