Dark Passion Play is the sixth studio album by Finnish symphonic power metal quintet Nightwish, released on September 26, 2007 in Finland, September 28 in Europe and October 2, 2007 in the United States. It is the first Nightwish album with the band's new lead singer, Anette Olzon, and the first album not featuring former vocalist Tarja Turunen, who was dismissed in October 2005. Lead songwriter Tuomas Holopainen has referred to it as the 'album that saved his life'

　　The album has spawned five singles. "Eva", the album's lead single, was released on May 25, 2007 as a download-only single for charity; "Amaranth", released on August 22; "Erämaan viimeinen", which was released on December 5 in Finland only; "Bye Bye Beautiful", released on February 15, 2008; "The Islander" was released on May 21.

　　According to Holopainen, the band's keyboardist and main composer, the album's title was originally intended to be The Poet and the Pendulum, named after the album's first track. However, it was changed to Dark Passion Play for several reasons; taking into account that The Poet And The Pendulum was too long for an album title, and that he didn't want to name an entire album after himself (as he is the Poet in the song). The new name, though, has to do with the album's opening track:

　　"The morning dawned, upon his altar,
Remains of the dark passion play,
Performed by his friends without shame,
Spitting on his grave as they came."

　　Faster Harder Nightwish was announced as the title of the upcoming record on April 1, 2007 on the official website. The title is possibly a pun on the Scooter single, Faster Harder Scooter. They also released a photo of the new cover's artwork, which led viewers to believe the band were completely changing their style from symphonic power metal to something more like thrash metal. Just hours later, a "promo sample" of the album could be found on several peer-to-peer networks. It was later stated on their official website that this was an April Fools' joke.

　　Nightwish began recording the instrumental parts of Dark Passion Play in the autumn of 2006, and were finished by spring 2007. A total of 15 songs were recorded. Following this, the orchestral recordings took place in Abbey Road Studios, London in two sessions: one in mid-December 2006 and the other in February 2007. As with their previous studio album, Once, the band collaborated with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Metro Voices Choir. Vocal recordings began in February 2007, after Anette Olzon had been chosen as the band's new lead singer. The album was mixed and mastered at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki in April — May 2007.

　　The album's production cost 500,000€, making it the most expensive album ever recorded in Finland. An extra 270,000€ was spent on filming the two music videos of the album.

　　The album has sold more than 130,000 copies in Finland to date, placing 27th on the list of best-selling Finnish albums ever released, which has granted it a platinum certification four times. "Dark Passion Play" is close to selling more than 1 million copies globally. It was Best Selling Scandinavian Album of 2007. It was certified 2x platinum in Switzerland, and gold in Germany, Sweden, Austria, Hungary and Poland. As of January 2008, the album has topped the album charts in six countries. The singles, "Amaranth" and "Erämaan Viimeinen" have both reached the first position on Finnish charts. According to Last.fm, "Dark Passion Play" is their most played album, and its successful single "Amaranth" has as of February, 2009 been holding the position of most played song since its release.

　　The album was also critically acclaimed in most reviews. Allmusic called the album a "sort of opera aria" and praised "Bye Bye Beautiful", on a track pic and "Eva", that they say it focus on the new vocalist vocal abilities. Metal Storm said of "The Poet And The Pendulum" as "not just a statement to anyone who may have questioned the future of the band, but is also if you will, the title track with the pendulum on the front cover of the album and is also the epitome of the whole album to come", and called the album a "very much a Nightwish album is one of the most adventurous outings of the band's history."

　　In October 2005, after a world tour in support of Once, the band's lead singer Tarja Turunen was dismissed via an open letter. In search of a replacement, the band conducted auditions from March 17, 2006 to January 15, 2007, receiving over 2000 demo tapes in the process.[14]

　　Amidst much speculation the new Nightwish singer was officially announced on May 24, 2007 to be Anette Olzon, previously the singer for the Swedish AOR band Alyson Avenue. In an interview, Holopainen said they had made the decision in January 2007 based on the impression she made while performing the song "Ever Dream" from the album Century Child.

　　“ Of course it's gonna be a huge task for the singer — she will be always compared to Tarja but I'm pretty confident that she'll do well.
-Tuomas Holopainen regarding Anette Olzon's ability ”

　　Before the album's release, band leader Tuomas Holopainen said in an interview that the album will have a lot in common with the last album Once. For example, the band have kept the new kind of heavier songs (such as "Master Passion Greed," "7 Days to the Wolves," and "Bye Bye Beautiful."), but additionally there will be softer ballads (such as "Meadows of Heaven," "Eva," and "The Islander."). Also that there will be a very long symphonic track ("Ghost Love Score" on Once, The Poet and the Pendulum" on Dark Passion Play.). The new album includes lots of guest musicians and orchestral parts — in the same interview, Holopainen said that as they recorded Once they had 18 people in the choir, and still this wasn't enough!

　　He also claimed there was going to be "shockers" that he didn't want to reveal. The longest track, "The Poet and the Pendulum," is a song that according to him is a very personal, epic piece that is a lot like film music, and lasts for almost 14 minutes. Music engineer Mikko Karmila has also stated that the style is much more progressive than earlier.

　　“ The extremes are there more than ever before. So it's not going to be like Century Child 2. There is more hope in some of the new songs.
-Tuomas Holopainen, band leader, keyboardist, and main composer.”

　　Holopainen also said that there are darker pieces reminiscent of Century Child, such as "The Poet and the Pendulum", and some others. It will be a dark album, both musically and lyrically. Even though the album is much more upbeat than Century Child. Songs that reflect this mood are for example the second single "Amaranth" and "Bye Bye Beautiful"'s B-side "Escapist."

　　Just like the album Once, Nightwish included many new influences and experimentations in several tracks. On Once, much inspiration came from Native American music, especially "Creek Mary's Blood," which featured Lakota Indian musician John Two-Hawks. However, on Dark Passion Play, much inspiration comes from Finnish and Irish culture and music, which can be clearly heard on "Last of the Wilds." Songs like "Master Passion Greed" included thrash metal elements as well, displaying the newer, heavier sound of the band.

　　"While Your Lips Are Still Red", a bonus track on the "Amaranth" single, is the first song featuring Marco Hietala's softer vocals. Hietala is generally known for his screaming and sometimes growling in the songs. "While Your Lips Are Still Red" is written by Tuomas as the theme song for the upcoming Finnish feature film Lieksa!, although it's technically not a Nightwish track as it only features Marco on vocals, Tuomas on keyboards and Jukka on drums.

　　The album's average track length (Spinefarm Records' version with 13 songs) is 5.8 minutes, with most of the songs lasting for about four minutes. Three tracks are over seven minutes long, which is long for a Nightwish record, a band that mostly had songs about 4-5 minutes and one or two longer per album. The track "The Poet and the Pendulum" is the longest song in the band's history, 13:55, 3:33 minutes longer than the song that used to occupy that position, "Beauty of the Beast."

　　芬兰交响/能量金属五人乐队Nightwish的第六张录音室专辑，07年9月26日于芬兰发行，28日在欧洲发行。美国的发行时间是07年10月2日。这张专辑是新主唱Anette Olzon加入夜愿后的首张专辑，上一任主唱Tarja Turunen在2005年10月离队。领队及词曲作者Tuomas Holopainen称这是张“拯救”了他的生命的专辑。

　　专辑发行了5只单曲，首单Eva在07年5月25日作为公益歌曲发行。Amaranth于8月22日发行。Erämaan viimeinen（Last of the Wilds）仅于12月5日发行于芬兰。Bye Bye Beautiful发行于98年2月15日。The Islander则是5月21日发行。

　　根据键盘手Holopainen的说法，专辑原定名为“The Poet and the Pendulum”，也就是与专辑的首只曲目同名。不过因为以下几个原因最终改成了Dark Passion Play：首先，The Poet and the Pendulum的名字太长了；其次他们并不像用同名歌曲给专辑命名（毕竟这可是一首诗）。而Dark Passion Play则是这首诗中的一句。

　　专辑的名称和封面在07年4月1日（囧）在官网上贴出，新的封面象征着他们进入一个新的时期，也预示他们从交响/能量金属渐渐向碾核金属过渡。不久后还“真”的有了个新砖片段在p2p网络中流传开来。不过这最终证明是个愚人节的产物。

　　这张专辑从06年开始制作专辑的器乐部分，直到07年春完成。随后开始在Abbey Road Studio与伦敦爱乐管弦乐团和Metro Voices Choir一起制作管弦乐的版本。人声部分是07年2月份开始的，那时Anette Olzon已经被选入Nightwish，成为新的主唱。专辑的最终混音后期制作于07年5月赫尔辛基的Finnvox Studios完成。

　　专辑的制作成本高达50万欧元，是芬兰历史上最昂贵的专辑。此外，专辑的MV拍摄又花去了27万欧元。

　　专辑在芬兰售出超过13万张，这个4白金的成绩在芬兰历史上排名第27位。同时也是斯堪的纳维亚地区年度最畅销专辑。全球销量逾百万张。在瑞士取得双白金销量，欧洲各国都有金唱片的成绩。在08年1月，专辑在6个国家的榜单上排名榜首。单曲Amaranth和Erämaan Viimeinen都是芬兰单曲榜单的冠军。根据在线音乐数据库last.fm的统计，这张专辑成了最常被播放的夜愿专辑。09年2月份时单曲Amaranth甚至超过了Nemo成为最常播放的夜愿单曲。

　　专辑受到不少正面评价。Allmusic称专辑是那种“歌剧式咏叹调”，特别赞扬了Bye Bye Beautiful和Eva，称其体现出了新主唱的嗓音特制（3星评价）。Metal Storm称The Poet And The Pendulum“不仅仅排除了人们对新夜愿的怀疑，而且也可以看作整张专辑的一个缩影。而这张夜愿的专辑无疑是乐队历史上的一个伟大的尝试。”HardRockHouse，Kerrang，Lords of Metal都给专辑满星的评价。

　　鉴于前任主唱Tarja的离队，乐队开始在2000多份申请中筛选新的主唱。最终于07年5月24日宣布新的主唱是前瑞典摇滚乐队Alyson Avenue的Anette Olzon。Tuomas Holopainen 称他们听过Anette Olzon演唱Century Child专辑中的Ever Dream后选中她的。“很明显，这是个很有挑战性的位置－－她会常常被人和Tarja比较。不过我对她有信心。”
（据说这位新主唱的VQ（Voice Quality）相当高，不过感觉跟Tarja比较起来声音偏甜了，没有那种穿透力，但是听起来确实挺舒服，可能会走更流行的路线吧）

　　专辑发行前，Tuomas Holopainen称新砖会和上张Once有类似之处，比如保留了重些的曲目（如"Master Passion Greed" "7 Days to the Wolves"和 "Bye Bye Beautiful")与轻些的曲目（"Meadows of Heaven," "Eva,"和 "The Islander."）加上长片交响（The Poet and the Pendulum）这样的架构。新砖请来了众多艺术家和管弦乐团，不过Holopainen称，尽管合唱团中一度达到18人，可他还嫌这样不够！

　　长达14分钟的曲目"The Poet and the Pendulum" 打破了之前Beauty of Beast的记录。这个曲子是Holopainen个性的体现。非常的史诗化，像是电影音乐那样。而混音工程师Mikko Karmila称音乐风格比之前更加激进。Tuomas Holopainen称“这比之前的那些更加极端，但这张专辑不会是Century Child 2，因为新的曲目中充满了更多的希望。”他说，专辑的一些曲目会让人回想起黑暗的Century Child，比如"The Poet and the Pendulum"等。不过无论是音乐上还是歌词上都更加黑暗，尽管专辑听上去比Century Child要轻快。“Amaranth”，“Bye Bye Beautiful”和B-Sides曲目“Eacapist”都反映了他的心情。

　　和Once一样，专辑受到了些新的启迪，包括美国本土音乐，尤其是"Creek Mary's Blood"和印第安艺人John Two-Hawks。尽管如此，Dark Passion Play主要还是受芬兰和爱尔兰音乐及文化的影响，在"Last of the Wilds" 一曲很明显看出来。"Master Passion Greed"甚至包含了碾核金属的元素，展现了乐队更重金属的一面。

　　While Your Lips Are Still Red是电影Lieksa!的主题曲，但是并不是夜愿的主流风格，贝司手Marco Hietala作为该曲主唱展现了他偏温和的嗓音。（其实Bonus Disc中的Demo都是Marco作品）