After the Japanese tour, Sonata Arctica toured Europe as a support act for the band Gamma Ray along with Vanishing Point as special guests. Then the band headed towards Japan in September. In July, a Finnish tour kicked off along with separate gigs (including Wacken Open Air in Germany) in Europe. The latter half of 2001 was very busy for the band. The band also played its first four concerts in Japan in September 2001. The album was scheduled for an initial release in Japan in June, other territories following shortly after. The first single from the album, "Wolf & Raven", was released in May '01. Again, all the songs were composed by the band's vocalist Tony Kakko. The band worked on the second full-length album from autumn of 2000 through the winter of 2001. In the spring of 2001 Sonata Arctica opened two gigs for Alice Cooper, Dio and Ratt (in Oulu and Helsinki) in Monsters of the Millennium 2001 tour. The new millennium is also treating the Sonata beans well.
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Sonata was chosen as a candidate for "the best new-comer band" by the Finnish Recording Industry Association in their annual Awards Gala, Emma.
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Year 2000 brought not only a big tour, new mini-CD, and a small line-up change, but also media recognition. Janne was replaced by Marko Paasikoski, who happened to be one of the founding members of Tricky Beans. Janne's last gig took place in Kemi on 30th June in the summer of 2000. In a small line-up change, Janne Kivilahti made a decision to part with the band due to personal reasons. This new disc included two previously unreleased tracks, two cover tracks for upcoming tribute albums, some live tracks from Provinssi Rock and one edited track from Ecliptica. This successful tour was followed by the release of the new mini-CD Successor. It lasted for two months, during which Sonata played over 30 gigs in 10 countries, traveling thousands of kilometres. The tour started in April of 2000 with Stratovarius and Rhapsody on the road. Soon after the release of Ecliptica, Sonata Arctica was chosen as the support band for Stratovarius' European Tour, beating over 32 other bands from 15 different record companies. Their rise to fame continued through the end of 1999 and beginning of 2000. It introduced a new capability for Sonata Arctica - to have two keyboard players play simultaneously. Mikko Härkin (ex-Kenziner) joined the band to relieve Tony from keys and to allow the frontman to roam the stage. Soon after the release of Ecliptica, the band's keyboardist, Tony Kakko, decided to concentrate more on singing, as opposed to trying to sing and play keyboards at the same time. 'I Want Out' for a Helloween tribute album "Keepers of Jericho" and 'Still Loving You' for a Scorpions tribute, "A Tribute to the Scorpions". Widely successful, Ecliptica opened doors for Sonata Arctica to participate in two tribute records. Initially released in Finland, other countries quickly followed. Approximately 200 copies from that first run were sold and are now considered rare collectors items.Īutumn of 1999 marked the release of the very first full-length album, "Ecliptica". The mistake was discovered shortly after the first batch of discs was sent to music stores. During the first mix/pressing of the UnOpened single, Track 1, UnOpened, was unintentionally slowed down. Two tracks from the single, UnOpened and Mary-Lou marked the arrival of SA to the power metal community.
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The title song was instantaneously included in the Metalliliitto 1999 compilation CD. Summer of 1999 brought us the first single from Sonata Arctica, "UnOpened". At the same time Tricky Beans became Sonata Arctica. As fate would have it, and with help from Ahti Kortelainen of Tico Tico Studios, the "FullMoon" demo found its way to the premier metal label of Finland, Spinefarm. The band's trademark sound of fast, melodic and keyboard oriented heavy metal with clear, high vocals was born. This new demo was the first exploration for the band in heavy metal waters. At the time of recording the line-up consisted of: Tony (vocals/keys), Jani (guitars), Tommy (drums), and Janne (bass). In 1999 the band recorded a new demo "FullMoon" in Tico Tico Studios located in their hometown, Kemi. Originally formed as Tricky Beans, they released few demos and as they got the contract they had to change their name. Sonata Arctica was formed in 1996 on the edge of the world, in the northern Finnish town of Kemi.