Dead Letters

Dead Letters
Studio album by The Rasmus
Released 21 March 2003 (EU)
See release dates below
Recorded June–December 2002
Studio Nord Studios in Stockholm, Sweden
Genre
Length 39:24
Label Playground Music
Producer
  • Martin Hansen
  • Mikael Nord
The Rasmus chronology
Into
(2001)		 Dead Letters
(2003)		 Hide from the Sun
(2005)
Singles from Dead Letters
  1. "In the Shadows"
    Released: 3 February 2003
  2. "In My Life"
    Released: 1 August 2003
  3. "First Day of My Life"
    Released: 15 October 2003
  4. "Funeral Song"
    Released: 25 April 2004
  5. "Guilty"
    Released: 4 August 2004
Alternative cover
UK/US cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Melodic [2]

Dead Letters is the fifth album by Finnish alternative rock band The Rasmus released in 2003. It was released later in 2004 in the US, UK and Australia. Their previous album, Into, had seen some success in some parts of Europe, particularly Scandinavia and Germany, but Dead Letters signified the band's major break-through. The album received 8 Gold and 6 Platinum music certification awards. Lead single "In the Shadows" received 6 gold and 2 platinum awards,[3] selling over 1 million copies and breaking the record for performance royalties received abroad on a Finnish composition (overtaking the works of Jean Sibelius).[4] Dead Letters had sold around 2 million copies as of December 2004, including 130,000 in the US alone, and is currently their biggest selling album to date.

Making of the album

The Rasmus recorded Dead Letters in June–December 2002 at Nord Studios in Sweden, reuniting with Mikael Nord Andersen and Martin Hansen, who had produced their Scandinavian hit album Into.

Lead singer Lauri Ylönen explained the title of the album on the band's website. "Each song is a letter to somebody. It could be an apology, confession or cry out for help".[5] The back side of the album booklet reads:

Critical reception

Allmusic rated the album 3 stars out of 5. The review said "This Finnish group is more than capable of presenting dark and moody yet very finely tuned rock songs". It rated the best tracks as "Time to Burn", "Not Like the Other Girls" and the re-recording of "F-F-F-Falling", of which the original version appears on the Into album, and was added to the UK release as a bonus track.

Commercial performance

Dead Letters was released in Europe in early 2003. It reached the top of the album charts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as in Finland, where it stayed in the Top 20 Album chart for over a year. The album was released in the UK in 2004, being the first record to be released in the country by the band, and was one of the Top 50 best-selling albums of 2004. Commercial success in Europe led to the release of the album in other parts of the world. Dead Letters and lead single "In the Shadows" both reached the Top 50 of the Australian ARIA charts in 2004, as well as the Top 20 of the American Billboard Heatseeker charts.

The Rasmus received numerous music awards across Europe, winning the 'Best Nordic Act' category in the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards, and five Finnish EMMA awards for Best Group, Best Album, Best Video (In My Life), Best Artist and Export in 2004. The band also won an ECHO award for best international newcomer and were awarded "Best International Artist" at the 2004 MTV Russia Music Awards. "In The Shadows" was on the nominations list for the 2004 Kerrang! Award for Best Single.[7]

Track listing

All tracks written by The Rasmus.

No.TitleLength
1."First Day of My Life"3:42
2."In the Shadows"4:08
3."Still Standing"3:27
4."In My Life"4:01
5."Time to Burn"4:32
6."Guilty"3:40
7."Not Like the Other Girls"5:43
8."The One I Love"3:14
9."Back in the Picture"3:41
10."Funeral Song"3:17

Personnel

The Rasmus

Additional musicians

  • Rutger Gunnarson – Strings
  • Ylva Nilsson, Håkan Westlund and Anna Wallgreen – Cellos
  • Jörgen Ingeström – Additional keyboards

Production and design

B-sides, outtakes and non-album tracks

Song Releases
"What Ever" B-Side of "In My Life"
"Since You've Been Gone" B-Side of "First Day of My Life" UK Edition
"Everything You Say" B-Side of "Funeral Song"
"If You Ever" B-Side of "Funeral Song"

Release history

A list of countries and the date when the album was released.[9]

Country Date
Italy 26 November 2003
Spain 5 January 2004
U.S./UK 22 March 2004
Japan Early 2004
Taiwan June 2004
The rest of Europe October 11 2007

Music videos

  • In the Shadows - Finnish "Bandit" version (2003)

Video directed by Finn Andersson for Film Magica Oy in Helsinki, Finland.

  • In My Life (2003)

Video directed by Niklas Fronda and Fredrik Löfberg, Baranga Film/Topaz.

  • In the Shadows - European "Crow" version (2003)

Video directed by Niklas Fronda & Fredrik Löfberg, Baranga Film in Stockholm, Sweden.

  • First Day of My Life (2003)

Video directed by Sven Bollinger and produced by Volker Steinmetz (Erste Liebe Filmproduktion) in Lausitzring, Germany.

  • In the Shadows - US/UK "Mirror" version (2004)

Video directed by Philipp Stöltzl in Bucharest, Romania.

  • Funeral Song (The Resurrection) (2004)

Video directed by Niklas Fronda and Fredrik Löfberg, Baranga Film in Stockholm, Sweden.

  • Guilty (2004)

Video directed by Nathan Cox in Los Angeles.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dead Letters at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Roth, Kaj (March 6, 2003). "The Rasmus - Dead Letters". Melodic. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  3. ↑ Awards Archived May 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Rock piece by The Rasmus overtakes Sibelius in foreign music royalties Archived 2014-02-25 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Biography Archived 2004-06-10 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Dead Letters album booklet, original version (2003).
  7. ↑ Awards Archived May 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Dead Letters (Media notes). The Rasmus. Santa Monica, CA, USA: Interscope Records. 2004.
  9. ↑ Dead Letters album release history The Rasmus - HellofaSite
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