Over the Hills and Far Away (EP)

For the Richard Sharpe related album, see Over the Hills & Far Away: The Music of Sharpe.
For other uses, see Over the Hills and Far Away (disambiguation).

Over the Hills and Far Away
EP by
Nightwish
Released25 June 2001 (2001-06-25)
RecordedFebruary–March 2001
Studio
GenrePower metal
Length20:13
LabelSpinefarm
Producer
  • Nightwish
  • Tero Kinnunen
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
PopMatters[2]
Sea of Tranquility[3]
Kerrang![citation needed]
Metal Hammer (GER)[4]

Over the Hills and Far Away is the first EP by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on 25 June 2001 through Spinefarm Records in Finland, and Drakkar Records in the rest of Europe. It was also released by Toy's Factory in Japan and Century Media Records in the US. Bassist Sami Vänskä left the band after its recording, due to musical differences between him and Tuomas Holopainen. He was replaced by the bassist and male vocalist, Marko Hietala.[5]

The editions by Drakkar and Century Media contain different live tracks taken from the live DVD From Wishes to Eternity, recorded in Tampere, Finland, on 29 December 2000.[6]

The EP debuted at number one on the Finnish Singles Chart and spent twelve weeks in the top three, topping it for another four weeks and spending six weeks at number two.[7] It charted for a total of 49 weeks, including two weeks in early 2004.[8] 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.[9] Over the Hills and Far Away entered also the European charts, in the Top 100 of Germany,[10] Austria,[11] France[12] and Switzerland.[13]

The EP has two new songs and a remake of Angels Fall First's "Astral Romance", sung by Tony Kakko beside Tarja Turunen. The title song is by Northern Irish singer and guitarist Gary Moore, and has backing vocals by Tuomas Holopainen and Kakko. "It had a bit of a karaoke 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."[14] Tapio Wilska sings on "10th Man Down".

  1. ^ Over the Hills and Far Away at AllMusic
  2. ^ Begrand, Adrien (23 January 2005). "Nightwish: Once / Over the Hills and Far Away". PopMatters. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  3. ^ Pierce, Ken (2 February 2008). "Nightwish: Over the Hills and Far Away". Sea of Tranquility.org. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Nightwish: Over the Hills and Far Away". Metal Hammer (in German). July 2001. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  5. ^ "The band- Biography". nightwish.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  6. ^ "Over The Hills and Far Away (brazilian version) - Nightwish". whiplash.net. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  7. ^ "Nightwish - Over the Hills and Far Away (song)". Finnishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Nightwish: Over The Hills And Far Away" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  9. ^ "Kaikkien aikojen myydyimmät kotimaiset singlet" [Best-selling domestic singles of all time] (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Album - Nightwish, Over the Hills and Far Away". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Nightwish - Over the Hills and Far Away (album)". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Nightwish - Over the Hills and Far Away (album)". Lescharts.com (in French). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Nightwish - Over the Hills and Far Away". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  14. ^ Ling, Dave (July 2006). "Gimme More". Classic Rock #94. p. 67.