Nightwish: Endless Forms Most Beautiful [2015]

April 28, 2015 · by Philip Hung Cao · in Albums. ·

Released	March 25, 2015 (Japan)^{[citation needed]} March 27, 2015 (EU), (ARG) March 30, 2015 (UK) March 31, 2015 (USA^[1]) April 10, 2015 (rest of world)
Recorded	August–September 28, 2014 at Röskö Campsite in Eno, Finland^[2]^[3] October 2014 at Petrax Studio inHollala^[3] October 2014 in London, UK^[4]
Genre	Symphonic metal, power metal,folk metal, Celtic metal
Length	78:36^[5]
Label	Nuclear Blast, Roadrunner
Producer	Tuomas Holopainen

Endless Forms Most Beautiful is the eighth album by Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish. It was released on March 27, 2015 in the EU and Argentina, and was released on March 30 in the UK (although pre-orders made via the Nightwish official site were released on 27 March 2015) and on March 31 in the USA.^[6]^[7] It is the band’s first album with new singer Floor Jansen, as well as the first to feature Troy Donockley, who played uillean pipes and various other instruments on Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerum, as a full-time member.

It is also their first album without drummer Jukka Nevalainen, who had to take a temporary break from the band due to suffering of strong insomnia, leading him to step away from both the album and its subsequent tour. All the drum parts on the album were played by Kai Hahto from Wintersun and Swallow the Sun.^[8] Due to this, the album features only five Nightwish members, despite being their first album released with the band being a sextet.

The first single from the album, titled “Élan“, was leaked on February 9,^[9] four days before its planned release date of February 13, 2015.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Tuomas Holopainen except “Weak Fantasy” and “Yours Is an Empty Hope” by Holopainen and Marco Hietala, all music composed by Holopainen except where indicated.

No.	Title	Length
1.	“Shudder Before the Beautiful”	6:29
2.	“Weak Fantasy” (Hietala, Holopainen)	5:23
3.	“Élan“	4:45
4.	“Yours Is an Empty Hope” (Hietala, Holopainen)	5:34
5.	“Our Decades in the Sun” (Hietala, Holopainen)	6:37
6.	“My Walden” (Holopainen, Hietala)	4:38
7.	“Endless Forms Most Beautiful”	5:07
8.	“Edema Ruh”	5:15
9.	“Alpenglow”	4:45
10.	“The Eyes of Sharbat Gula” (Instrumental)	6:03
11.	“The Greatest Show on Earth” I. “Four Point Six” (5:47) II. “Life” (5:05) III. “The Toolmaker” (Hietala, Holopainen) (6:22) IV. “The Understanding” (3:00) V. “Sea-Worn Driftwood” (3:48)“	24:00
Total length:		78:36