The band announced in late 2010 that more information about the album's content would be released in late January 2011, but on February 1, the official website bore a statement written by Holopainen that there would be a delay in the information being released due to schedule changes. Throughout summer 2010, the band gathered to rehearse songs in the Finnish village of Sävi, and recording of the album started in October 2010 and ended in May 2011, while the finished album stood ready on June 4. In April 2010, Holopainen revealed that he had then finished writing songs for the album, and in June, he had finished recording the pre-production demo. In early 2010, Olzon reported that the album was half-written, and that fans should not expect anything earlier than fall 2011. Holopainen said in a 2009 interview that 'I can't reveal to you anymore but there is going to be a big twist so to say, on the next album.' In an interview with uilleann pipist Troy Donockley (who recorded with the band on Dark Passion Play), when asked about his involvement in the new album, he stated 'Oh, yes, I will be playing on the next album and, from what Tuomas has told me, it is going to be something extraordinary.' Lead vocalist Anette Olzon dismissed the rumours as false and stated that the songs for the new album had not yet been completed, with the exception of three songs written before May 2009. In October 2009, rumours about the new album were circulated, suggesting that the title would be Wind Embraced. While rumours of the next Nightwish album had been circulating for a while, the album was confirmed in the June 2009 edition of the Finnish magazine Soundi, when lead composer and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen stated that he had started work on a new album. 3.1 Connections between the film and the album.It has been described as Nightwish's best album by Sonic Seducer and was chosen as the album of the month by Dutch metal magazine Aardschok Magazine. According to Iltasanomat, Imaginaerum sold more than 50,000 copies in Finland on its first day of release. The first single off the album, ' Storytime', was released on 9 November 2011 and quickly topped the Finnish single charts. It is their second and last album with vocalist Anette Olzon, as well as the last with drummer Jukka Nevalainen. The album was produced alongside the movie of the same name, directed by Stobe Harju, who previously directed Nightwish's ' The Islander' music video, and the album and the film share the same themes and general story. According to Nightwish songwriter Tuomas Holopainen, the album is a concept album that tells the story of an old composer who is reminiscing of his youth on his deathbed. It was released on 30 November 2011 by Scene Nation Oy and Sony Music in Finland, then on 2 December in Nuclear Blast in the rest of Europe and Roadrunner Records worldwide. Imaginaerum is the seventh studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish.

Nightwish Imaginaerum 320