Former Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen has opened up about the worst record she has ever made. Turunen singled out the band’s debut album, Angels Fall First, describing it as a record she struggles to listen to even today.
She explained that the album was originally just a demo. Her vocal performance at the time did not reflect her true abilities as a trained singer.
“The worst record I’ve made. Nightwish’s ‘first record’, Angels Fall First, was actually just our second demo,” Turunen said. “It takes a lot of courage to listen to it; I sound like I had a potato in my mouth!”
Turunen went on to provide context for why the recording was such a challenge for her at the time.
“At that time I was studying in the music university and had started taking professional opera training,” she continued. “So I go into the studio for this, and it all took different takes and a completely different voice.”
Despite her dissatisfaction with the record, she acknowledged that it still found an audience.
“I just couldn’t do it at the time,” she said. “It wasn’t until the last couple of years in Nightwish I actually felt comfortable with my singing. There was nobody out there to teach me. But it did go gold, I suppose.”
Turunen parted ways with Nightwish in 2005 and has since pursued a successful solo career. Her discomfort with the band’s early recordings has stayed with her long after leaving the group.
“It’s hard for me to listen to early Nightwish albums because I do not like how I sound on those records,” she has said. “It was the beginning for me, and I didn’t know how to use my voice still.”
The origins of Angels Fall First help explain why Turunen feels the way she does. The album was released by Spinefarm Records on September 30, 1997, as a strictly limited edition of just 500 copies. It was never intended to be a commercial release in the traditional sense. The project began as a demo, and the lo-fi, unpolished nature of the recording reflects that.
The limited pressing included seven tracks. Two of those tracks were later left off the standard edition of the album. Nightwish keyboardist and primary songwriter Tuomas Holopainen even contributed lead vocals on several of those tracks, further underlining the informal, demo-like character of the original release.
Despite its humble beginnings, the album eventually reached gold certification in Finland. Turunen herself acknowledged this with a degree of wry surprise. What started as a rough studio exercise ended up becoming a milestone in Finnish metal history, even if its lead singer has never been able to fully make peace with what she heard on those recordings.
