Highest Hopes: The Best of Nightwish

Highest Hopes: The Best of Nightwish
Compilation album by
Nightwish
Released27 September 2005 (2005-09-27)
Recorded1997–2005
Genre
Length78:23
LabelSpinefarm
Producer
Nightwish chronology
Bestwishes
(2005) 		Highest Hopes: The Best of Nightwish
(2005) 		The Sound of Nightwish Reborn
(2008)
Singles from Highest Hopes
  1. "Sleeping Sun"
    Released: 19 October 2005
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Highest Hopes: The Best of Nightwish is the fourth compilation album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish.[2] Their first, Tales from the Elvenpath, was considered incomplete by many fans as it contains only tracks from Oceanborn, Over the Hills and Far Away, Wishmaster and Century Child, leaving out Angels Fall First. This compilation, though, contains songs from all previously released Nightwish albums, plus a live cover of Pink Floyd's "High Hopes".[3]

Highest Hopes was released in three different formats: Standard, Special Edition and Extended 2 CD. In addition to the normal version, a special edition was released, omitting the song "Deep Silent Complete" and replacing it with the popular cover version of "The Phantom of the Opera" song. It also contains a bonus DVD containing three full songs filmed live at the M'era Luna Festival in Hildesheim, Germany in 2003.[4]

The Extended Version is a 2-CD compilation with CD1 the same as the Standard Version plus a second CD of eight audio tracks from the Tarja Turunen period and includes a bonus DVD containing ten video tracks; Three full songs (tracks 1–3) filmed live at the M'era Luna Festival in Hildesheim, Germany in 2003 (identical to the Special Edition Bonus DVD but in an altered running order), three studio videos (tracks 4–6) and a further four full live songs (tracks 7–10) filmed live at the Summer Breeze Festival in Germany in 2002. All versions feature a new (2005) recording of the song "Sleeping Sun" and a live version of Pink Floyd's "High Hopes", from which this compilation takes its name.[4]

The album was certified platinum in Finland – for sales exceeding 40,000 copies – the same day it was released,[5] and also was gold in Norway with more than 20,000 sold copies.[6] It was also Finland's best-selling album of 2005, having sold more than 65,000 copies, certified with double platinum. Today, it has sold more than 103,000 copies.[7]

Track listing

Main article: List of Highest Hopes editions

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

Highest Hopes track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicOriginal AlbumLength
1."Wish I Had an Angel"  Once4:03
2."Stargazers"  Oceanborn4:26
3."The Kinslayer"  Wishmaster3:59
4."Ever Dream"  Century Child4:44
5."Elvenpath"  Angels Fall First4:38
6."Bless the Child"  Century Child6:12
7."Nemo"  Once4:34
8."Sleeping Sun" (2005 version)  Highest Hopes
(Non-album track)		4:24
9."Dead to the World"  Century Child4:19
10."Over the Hills and Far Away" (Gary Moore cover)MooreMooreOver the Hills and Far Away (EP)
(Non-album track)		5:00
11."Deep Silent Complete"  Wishmaster3:57
12."Sacrament of Wilderness" 
  • Holopainen
  • Emppu Vuorinen
Oceanborn4:09
13."Walking in the Air" (Howard Blake cover)BlakeBlakeOceanborn5:27
14."Wishmaster"  Wishmaster4:23
15."Dead Boy's Poem"  Wishmaster6:48
16."High Hopes" (Pink Floyd cover; live)
GilmourHighest Hopes
(Non-album track)		7:20
Total length:78:23

Sales and certifications

Country Certification
(sales thresholds)
Finland 5× Platinum[8]

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart 13[9]
Belgian Ultratop 51[10]
Brazilian Hot 100 25[11]
Czech Albums Chart 20[11]
Danish Albums Chart 56[11]
Dutch MegaCharts 41[12]
Finnish Albums Chart 1[13]
German Albums Chart 17[14]
Greek Albums Chart 1[11]
Japanese Albums Chart 235[15]
Mexican Albums Chart 1[11]
Norwegian Albums Chart 5[16]
Polish Music Charts 32[17]
Swedish Albums Chart 14[18]
Swiss Top 100 Albums 10[19]

Credits

References

  1. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. Review: Highest Hopes: The Best of Nightwish at AllMusic
  2. ^ ""Highest Hopes" cover revealed". Nightwish.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  3. ^ "Tracklisting for Best Of album". Nightwish.com. Retrieved 2009-11-10.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ a b ""Highest Hopes": NTSC version delayed". Nightwish.com. Archived from the original on 2009-10-06. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  5. ^ ""Highest Hopes" sells platinum". Nightwish.com. Archived from the original on 2009-10-06. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  6. ^ "The band: Biography". Nightwish.com. Archived from the original on 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  7. ^ "Nightwish albums". Ifpi.fi. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  8. ^ "IFPI Tilastot: Nightwish". Ifpi.fi. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  9. ^ "Extended Search: Highest Hopes". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  10. ^ "Extended Search: Highest Hopes". Ultratop.be. 2005-11-10. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  11. ^ a b c d e ""Highest Hopes" charts positions". Nightwish.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  12. ^ "Extended Search: Highest Hopes". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  13. ^ "Extended Search: Highest Hopes". Finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  14. ^ "Chartverfolgung / Nightwish / Longplay". Musicline.de. Archived from the original on 2011-08-30. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  15. ^ "Highest Hopes: The Best of Nightwish Deluxe Edition - Nightwish" (in Japanese). oricon ME inc. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  16. ^ "Extended Search: Highest Hopes". Norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  17. ^ "Nightwish- Highest Hopes". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  18. ^ "Extended Search: Highest Hopes". SwedishCharts.com. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  19. ^ "Extended Search: Highest Hopes". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2010-06-01.