In Flames -Sounds of A Playground Fading (Upcoming 10th album)

[CladInShadows971]

After listening a few more times here are my scores for each song. Again, solid effort, awesome guitar work from Bjorn and Daniel sounded awesome on this album. At first I thought this was a little better than come clarity but thinking about it Come clarity is still a tad better.

I think this album would of been much better as a 10 song album, minus Jester's Door, The Attic and Liberation. It would of gotten more points with some low growls, whoracle/ colony type growls. All of this would of made it the closest thing to clayman.

1. Sounds of a Playgrounds Fading 7.5

2. Deliver us 7.5

3. All for me 7

4. The Puzzle 7.5

5. Fear is the Weakness 8

6. Where the dead ships dwell 6

7. The Attic 5

8. Darker Times 5.5

9. Ropes 6.5

10. Enter Tragedy 9

11. Jester's Door 3

12. A New Dawn 9

13. Liberation 5

Overall: 7


Other albums:
Lunar Strain 7, Subtarenean 8, Jester Race 10, Whoracle 10, Colony 9, Clayman 9, Reroute 7.5, STYE 6.5, Come Clarity 7.5, ASOP 6

OH yeah, the New Soilwork is much better.

New Soilwork is an absolute piece of trash. Honestly, though the majority of people clearly disagree, Sworn to a Great Divide was the best thing they've ever done. Wichers is massively overrated.

As far as SOAPF goes, it's brilliant. I loved everything they did up to Soundtrack, but CC got boring quickly and I hated ASOP. Why? Because it wasn't bad music but they'd lost the unique "In Flames" sound - those two albums could have been done by anyone.

This on the other hand is clearly In Flames. If I had never heard of them before, and you gave me this and Colony or Clayman, I'd guess they were the same band. Musically, the melodies that made them famous are there again, and just as good as ever. Sure Anders is singing clean, but it isn't "whiny" clean like ASOP, and it fits well with the music. Like someone said above, I'm really enjoying his vocals AND the guitars on this one, whereas in the older albums it's only the guitars I'm listening to.

This is pretty much all the guitar melody of old In Flames, added to the vocal melody of new In Flames.

Highlights at the moment are All For Me, Where the Dead Ships Dwell, and A New Dawn.

Also... I swear Anders sounds exactly like Stanne on one line in Fear is the Weakness...

 

[DE4life]

I still don't understand the love All For Me is getting intro & outro are OK, but the bulk of the song is slow, plodding and without any proper melody?

Also, The Puzzle and Enter Tragedy have very very similar intro sections...

 

[A88]

Now that I think of it Bjorn does use a few very similar riffs. Well obviously he's better at writing melodies and acoustic parts. It'll be interesting to see what will Engelin bring to the table.

 

[jurgens]

Ok, here goes my vote:


1.Sounds Of A Playground Fading - 7.5
2.Deliver Us - 6.5
3.All For Me - 8.75 (It really catches me, can't explain exactly why. Just something different for my ears)
4.The Puzzle - 7 (Intro reminds something from ASOP, but then song changes its face )
5.Fear Is The Weakness - 7.85 (really catchy chorus, but in between nothing spectatular)
6.Where The Dead Ships Dwell - 8.5 (again something new , love bass at beginning, dislike those electronic sounds)
7.The Attic - 6.5 (imo, this is The Chosen Pesimisst of SOAPF, however i'm one of those who actually like these type of songs but The Attic just missed something, i guess - atmosphere)
8.Darker Times - 5.5 (imo filler of album, really i cant highlight out anything Just - I HAVE A BETTER PLAN )
9.Ropes - 6 (good melody but again something is missing)
10.Enter Tragedy - 7.5 (awesome intro riff, love it, some parts reminds previous works)
11.Jester Door - (I can't even rate it, imo its not really a song, it could be nice intro for a song, or a movie)
12.A New Dawn - 9 (Blew me right away when it was leaked, powerful vocals, awesome melodies, and that acoustic part - OMG :love:, reminds me a part from Amon Amart song, and than that solo :love: )
13.Liberation - (Song which i really dont want to rate either, Its not typical IF song which doesnt fit in IF concept but perfectly fits in album, i thought Come Clarity was something radikal but this beats everyhing. I cant say i hate this song, but they could do something more original in same way but different)

Overall: 7,3

 

[belmer]

Ok, here goes my vote:


1.Sounds Of A Playground Fading - 7.5
2.Deliver Us - 6.5
3.All For Me - 8.75 (It really catches me, can't explain exactly why. Just something different for my ears)
4.The Puzzle - 7 (Intro reminds something from ASOP, but then song changes its face )
5.Fear Is The Weakness - 7.85 (really catchy chorus, but in between nothing spectatular)
6.Where The Dead Ships Dwell - 8.5 (again something new , love bass at beginning, dislike those electronic sounds)
7.The Attic - 6.5 (imo, this is The Chosen Pesimisst of SOAPF, however i'm one of those who actually like these type of songs but The Attic just missed something, i guess - atmosphere)
8.Darker Times - 5.5 (imo filler of album, really i cant highlight out anything Just - I HAVE A BETTER PLAN )
9.Ropes - 6 (good melody but again something is missing)
10.Enter Tragedy - 7.5 (awesome intro riff, love it, some parts reminds previous works)
11.Jester Door - (I can't even rate it, imo its not really a song, it could be nice intro for a song, or a movie)
12.A New Dawn - 9 (Blew me right away when it was leaked, powerful vocals, awesome melodies, and that acoustic part - OMG :love:, reminds me a part from Amon Amart song, and than that solo :love: )
13.Liberation - (Song which i really dont want to rate either, Its not typical IF song which doesnt fit in IF concept but perfectly fits in album, i thought Come Clarity was something radikal but this beats everyhing. I cant say i hate this song, but they could do something more original in same way but different)

Overall: 7,3

Hmmm I think it deserves more than just a seven, I'd give it a 9, but that's just my opinion.

 

[DE4life]

I think atm this album is being a bit overestimated due to the fact it's new. In time people will likely revise their initial high ratings down to the 6 or 7 out of 10 level. I don't think too many of these songs will endure the test of time, though certainly more will on this album than ASOP.

 

[A88]

Nah, I think this one will be 7.5+ after some time. Yeah it's not TJR, Whoracle, Colony or Clayman, but it has quality at least as much as CC and RTR (and I think it's a bit stronger than these two).

Surprising, but I really like Liberation.

 

[replicator]

I can´t be more happy for this album. Finally is the best album for this new era. Later after a few spins I will put my review.

 

[DE4life]

I really like Liberation too

But yeah, check the ASOP thread for how the 'newness aura' effects people's judgement of an album (sadly including myself )

Looking at it logically though, this is a good album and won't fall down below STYE or ASOP. I think in a year I'll be looking at it around the same level as Come Clarity. I still think R2R is a better album.

 

[krofius]

My rating of SOAPF:

1. Sounds Of A Playground Fading 8.5/10
2. Deliver Us 8/10
3. All For Me 9.5/10
4. The Puzzle 9/10
5. Fear Is The Weakness10/10
6. Where The Dead Ships Dwell 8.5/10
7. The Attic 7.5/10
8. Darker Times 9.5/10
9. Ropes 6.5-7/10
10. Enter Tragedy 9/10
11. The Jester's Door 8.5/10
12. A New Dawn 10/10
13. Liberation 7/10

In total I guess it's around a 9/10 score.
I love this album at the moment. Least favorite song is Ropes, although the intro is fucking awesome. Liberation is actually pretty good now after many listens. Fear Is The Weakness along with A New Dawn is the albums best for me. All For Me is worth mentioning as well, for sure Anders best vocal performance on the album.

 

[A88]

But yeah, check the ASOP thread for how the 'newness aura' effects people's judgement of an album (sadly including myself )

Ah, admit it man! You're lovin' ASOP! Singing "Oh, I feel like shiiiiit..." under shower and stuff.

(I do tend to post gay stuff (shower...) since a started listening to Liberation...need to listen some Manowar to get my ruff manly persona back)

 

[hans030390]

I'm going to respectfully disagree with your statement. honestly, i'm not sure if we're both listening to the same album. are you sure that you don't have ASOP playing through your speakers? I think that his vocals have gone through a vast improvement on this album. Plus In Flames without anders would be a pretty terrible idea. He's been around since TJR, and replacing him would not be a smart move. Album wise, i think his vocals are quite awesome. If anders wants to pull them off live, he should just practice more. but he has his moments live... thats for sure.

Hey, it's all personal taste! Not that I'm a fantastic vocalist, but I sing well enough and know enough about singing to understand that on a technical level, Anders has really hit-or-miss vocals. On this album, it's decent to tolerable at best and, as I've said, awful at worst. Sometimes he sings cleanly, and I'm fine with it. But, more often than not, he still sounds whiny and just straight up does not have a good voice. And then sometimes he tries to mix the clean vocals with growling/screaming, which is also hit-or-miss. Sometimes it sounds decent, sometimes not at all.

Granted, there are several awesome bands with technically poor vocalists. For example, I'm a big fan of Radiohead. Thom Yorke really doesn't have a good voice, but yet I still find it enjoyable. It fits well with the music and is unique in a way that works.

Anders often does a subpar job overall in SOAPF when it involves clean vocals. Not all the time, but often enough. And while it's not technically very good (yet could be labeled as unique), it just doesn't work out right when I listen to it.

I can deal with that, though. It's the lyrics that get me more than anything. On my way to work today, I remember him saying something typical like, "You don't understand me" and then shortly after following up with something like "I don't care what you think...or maybe I do." Seriously? What is this...middle school? The lyrics sound like they come from corny pop songs that are trying to be "dark". Really, it sounds like an emo/dark high-schooler is trying to write a lot of these lyrics. It's strange, because normally I expect people to become more mature and refined as they age. Anders did the opposite. His early lyrics were awesome. Once they changed styles, it quickly went downhill.

"OH GOD THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE ATTIC! OH NO!"...Yeah, sorry. I listened to "The Attic" once and vowed to never listen to it ever again.

Honestly, sometimes Anders sounds worse in SOAPF than he did in ASOP. I hate to say it, but I feel like in many situations, he's taking one step forward and two steps back. This is very disappointing to me, because everything else about this album is generally much, much better than ASOP.

I might also be spoiled by Opeth. I've found that I've stopped listening to most metal after getting into Opeth. Everything just sounds like child's play in comparison. If you want a guy that can truly move you with his vocals (no matter what style) and song writing, Akerfeldt is that guy. Side topic, I know...

But, anyway, that's just my opinion! If someone thinks it's the best album ever, then I hope they enjoy it!

 

[jurgens]

Am I onlyone who liked STYE ? Atm Darker Times is only song i want to skip. P.S The Puzzle with every listen seems better

 

[JesterScript]

STYE is alright. I like the live version of Superhero of the Computer Age in the Used and Abused live dvd . F(r)iend, Evil in the Closet are one of my favs as well.

 

[kdbolt70]

Am I onlyone who liked STYE ? Atm Darker Times is only song i want to skip. P.S The Puzzle with every listen seems better

I actually love STYE, but I imagine some of that is because I only came upon In Flames around 2006ish, and started working my way back through the albums.

Also, am I the only one that loves The Jester's Door? I think the dynamics and contrast to the rest of the album are sweet.

 

[DE4life]

Ah, admit it man! You're lovin' ASOP! Singing "Oh, I feel like shiiiiit..." under shower and stuff.

(I do tend to post gay stuff (shower...) since a started listening to Liberation...need to listen some Manowar to get my ruff manly persona back)

Lol, no although the chorus to Alias is always getting stuck in my head, even though I never listen to the song itself

It's the lyrics that get me more than anything. On my way to work today, I remember him saying something typical like, "You don't understand me" and then shortly after following up with something like "I don't care what you think...or maybe I do." Seriously? What is this...middle school? The lyrics sound like they come from corny pop songs that are trying to be "dark". Really, it sounds like an emo/dark high-schooler is trying to write a lot of these lyrics. It's strange, because normally I expect people to become more mature and refined as they age. Anders did the opposite. His early lyrics were awesome. Once they changed styles, it quickly went downhill.

"OH GOD THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE ATTIC! OH NO!"...Yeah, sorry. I listened to "The Attic" once and vowed to never listen to it ever again.

I do agree with you that lyrically Anders is a shadow of his former self. All his lyrics are now very basic "I, me, you" creations which are purposefully generic to reach out to a broad range of people, especially the large section of people in the world who only ever really think about events in relation to themselves. IMO his lyrics on this album are better than ASOP by some distance, but they're still nothing compared to TJR - Clayman.

 

[A88]

Am I onlyone who liked STYE ?

Yes!

I do agree with you that lyrically Anders is a shadow of his former self. All his lyrics are now very basic "I, me, you" creations which are purposefully generic to reach out to a broad range of people, especially the large section of people in the world who only ever really think about events in relation to themselves. IMO his lyrics on this album are better than ASOP by some distance, but they're still nothing compared to TJR - Clayman.

To be honest, this "I, me, you, hate you, love you, feel like shit" did start on Clayman. Anders is missing some kind of concept or idea (TJR-Colony), and when he doesn't feel inspired it turns to absolute shit (see: ASOP)! Now, if he was some lonely junky with problematic childhood and from some fucked up country...those lyrics would probably mean something. But FFS, he's a frontmen of famous band, owner of a studio, nice guy, from Sweden of all places.

And it's not like IF write some depressing music. It's usually uplifting tunes. So we have short uplifting tune with middle-aged guy from Sweden whining teen emo lyrics... I can see why do people call them sellouts.

 

[PlainVanilla]

"OH GOD THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE ATTIC! OH NO!"...Yeah, sorry. I listened to "The Attic" once and vowed to never listen to it ever again.

You didn't understand anything about this track, did you ?

 

[DE4life]

To be honest, this "I, me, you, hate you, love you, feel like shit" did start on Clayman. Anders is missing some kind of concept or idea (TJR-Colony), and when he doesn't feel inspired it turns to absolute shit (see: ASOP)! Now, if he was some lonely junky with problematic childhood and from some fucked up country...those lyrics would probably mean something. But FFS, he's a frontmen of famous band, owner of a studio, nice guy, from Sweden of all places.

Technically you're right, but the difference is the Clayman lyrics are creative and hard-hitting - basically awesome. Still a lot of outward looking lyrics as well, ATFRT, Brush the Dust Away, Another Day in Quicksand ...

R2R was the true start of Anders dumbing down his lyrics imo.

 

[hans030390]

I do agree with you that lyrically Anders is a shadow of his former self. All his lyrics are now very basic "I, me, you" creations which are purposefully generic to reach out to a broad range of people, especially the large section of people in the world who only ever really think about events in relation to themselves. IMO his lyrics on this album are better than ASOP by some distance, but they're still nothing compared to TJR - Clayman.

Sometimes, yeah, SOAPF has much better lyrics than ASOP. Other times, it's more of the same. It's those moments that make me a little sad inside.

You didn't understand anything about this track, did you ?

I've found that, lyrically and vocally, the new In Flames have become increasingly more and more shallow. So, no, I didn't really understand anything about it because I found there was nothing to really worthwhile to understand about it. I just thought it was a useless addition to the album.

If someone finds something deeper in it, then that's totally fine with me. I'm just voicing my opinion on it.

BTW my interpretation of the lyrics in that track was meant as a joke. I was just highlighting that I thought the lyrics were bad.