Century Child

Century Child is the fourth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. It was released in 2002 through Spinefarm Records in Finland, Drakkar Entertainment in the rest of Europe, Century Media Records in the US, and Toy's Factory in Japan. It is the first album which features now-former bassist and male vocalist Marko Hietala, who left the band in January 2021. It is also the first Nightwish album to feature an orchestra.

Century Child
Studio album by Nightwish
Released	25 May 2002 (2002-05-25)
Recorded	January–April 2002
Studio	Caverock (Kitee) Finnvox (Helsinki)
Genre	Symphonic metal power metal
Length	50:09
Label	Spinefarm
Producer	Tuomas Holopainen TeeCee Kinnunen
Nightwish studio album chronology
Wishmaster (2000) Century Child (2002) Once (2004)
Singles from Century Child
"Ever Dream" Released: 3 May 2002 "Bless the Child" Released: 21 July 2002

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Sputnikmusic	[2]
Sea of Tranquility	[3]
Metal.de	[4]
Metal Hammer	[5]
Metal Crypt	[6]

Spinefarm Records released a 2-CD special edition of the album in 2002. It includes liner art with the band members' signatures, and a Video CD containing the music video for their cover of Gary Moore's "Over the Hills and Far Away". In addition, the booklet contains an ID code that allows the owner to download the entire album and three extra tracks from the Internet for a limited time.^[7] The bonus tracks are "Nightwish", "The Forever Moments" and "Etiäinen", all from the band's first demo of 1996.

The album was certified double platinum in Finland with more than 60,000 sold copies,^[8] the second best selling album of 2002 in Finland.^[9] Century Child has sold more than 80,000 copies in Finland alone.^[8]

Track listing

Century Child track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Bless the Child"			6:12
2.	"End of All Hope"			3:54
3.	"Dead to the World"			4:19
4.	"Ever Dream"			4:43
5.	"Slaying the Dreamer"		Holopainen Emppu Vuorinen	4:31
6.	"Forever Yours"			3:51
7.	"Ocean Soul"			4:14
8.	"Feel for You"			3:54
9.	"The Phantom of the Opera" (Andrew Lloyd Webber cover)	Charles Hart Richard Stilgoe Mike Batt	Lloyd Webber	4:09
10.	"Beauty of the Beast" I. "Long Lost Love" II. "One More Night to Live" III. "Christabel"		Marko Hietala (I) Holopainen (II, III) Vuorinen (II)	10:22
Total length:				50:09

All lyrics are written by Tuomas Holopainen, except where noted; all music is composed by Holopainen, except where noted

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Length
11.	"The Wayfarer"	3:25
Total length:		53:34

2007 reissue bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Lagoon"	3:46
12.	"The Wayfarer"	3:24
13.	"Bless the Child" (edit)	4:05
14.	"End of All Hope" (live at Summer Breeze Open Air)	4:17
15.	"Dead to the World" (live at Summer Breeze Open Air)	4:45
Total length:		70:26

Special edition bonus VCD

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Over the Hills and Far Away" (Gary Moore cover; music video)	Moore	3:51

Special edition digital hidden tracks

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Nightwish" (demo)	5:49
12.	"The Forever Moments" (demo)	5:36
13.	"Etiäinen" (demo)	2:59
Total length:		64:33

Personnel

Credits for Century Child adapted from liner notes.^[10]

Nightwish

• Tarja Turunen – lead vocals
• Tuomas Holopainen – keyboards
• Emppu Vuorinen – guitars
• Marko Hietala – bass, male vocals on tracks 3, 5, 8, 9, backing vocals on track 4 & 10
• Jukka Nevalainen – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Joensuu City Orchestra – orchestra
• Juha Ikonen – orchestra leader
• Riku Niemi – orchestra and choir conductor, orchestra and choir arrangements, orchestra and choir production
• Mongo Aaltonen – orchestral percussion
• St. Thomas Chorus of Helsinki – choir vocals
• Hilkka Kangasniemi – choirmaster
• Sam Hardwick – spoken words on "Bless the Child" and "Beauty of the Beast"
• Kristiina Ilmonen – tin whistle
• GME choir – additional noise

Production

• Tero "TeeCee" Kinnunen – production
• Mikko Karmila – mixing
• Mika Jussila – mastering
• Veijo Laine – orchestra and choir arrangements, orchestra and choir production
• Terhi Kallio – orchestra engineering
• Tuomas Holopainen – art direction
• Markus Mayer – cover art
• Spelltone – layout
• Hilkka Kangasniemi – choirmaster

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2002) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 15 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] 41 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] 1 French Albums (SNEP)[14] 32 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 5 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[16] 19 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[17] 39 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 50

Year-end charts Chart (2002) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 97

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[20]	2× Platinum	86,072[20]
Germany (BVMI)[21]	Gold	150,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Nightwish - Century Child review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
2. Butler, Nick (14 January 2005). "Nightwish - Century Child". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 31 August 2014.^{[dead link]}
3. Glenday, Duncan; Pierce, Ken (23 November 2003). "Nightwish: Century Child". Sea of Tranquility.org. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
4. Gregori, David. "Nightwish - "Century Child"" (in German). Metal.de. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
5. "Nightwish: Century Child". Metal Hammer (in German). July 2002. Retrieved 31 August 2014.^{[dead link]}
6. "The Metal Crypt - Review of Nightwish - Century Child". Retrieved 14 February 2024.
7. "The Band Discography - Century Child". Nightwish Official Website. Archived from the original on 14 April 2006. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
8. "Tilastot - Nightwish" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
9. "Myydyimmät levyt - Vuosi 2002" [Bestsellers plates - Year 2002] (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
10. (2002). "Century Child liner notes". In Century Child [CD booklet]. Spinefarm.
11. "Austriancharts.at – Nightwish – Century Child" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Nightwish – Century Child" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
13. "Nightwish: Century Child" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
14. "Lescharts.com – Nightwish – Century Child". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
15. "Offiziellecharts.de – Nightwish – Century Child" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
16. "Norwegiancharts.com – Nightwish – Century Child". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
17. "Swedishcharts.com – Nightwish – Century Child". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
18. "Swisscharts.com – Nightwish – Century Child". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
19. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
20. "Nightwish" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
21. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Nightwish; 'Century Child')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 20 June 2024.

Bibliography

• Ollila, Mape (2007). Once Upon a Nightwish. Deggael Communications. ISBN 978-952-99749-2-4.

External links

• Nightwish's Official Website