Nightwish’s Elan wasn’t first single choice

Nightwish have revealed that recently released single Elan wasn’t their first choice to promote their upcoming album Endless Forms Most Beautiful.

And mainman Tuomas Holopainen says he’d decided on track Edema Ruh but was talked into changing his mind by band members Marco Hietala and Troy Donockley.

He says: “Choosing the single from the album was really easy – it was clear it was going to be Edema Ruh. But after two weeks of rehearsing, Marco and Troy asked, ‘How about Elan for the first single?’ They liked the chorus and Marco thought it was a better song.

“At the at point we had already started writing the script for the video specifically for the other song. The question was, ‘Can we still change the single at this point?’ We could, and Marco and Troy were right.”

The track was leaked online ahead of its official release earlier this month, with Holopainen saying he and the band felt “violated” by the move.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful launches on March 30 via Nuclear Blast and they’ve lined up a show at London’s Wembley Arena on December 19. They dropped into TeamRock Radio last week to talk about the album. The show is now available to hear on demand.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful tracklist

  1. Shudder Before The Beautiful 2. Weak Fantasy 3. Elan 4. Yours Is An Empty Hope 5. Our Decades In the Sun 6. My Walden 7. Endless Forms Most Beautiful 8. Edema Ruh 9. Alpenglow 10. The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula 11. The Greatest Show On Earth
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Scott has spent 36 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 11 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.