I'm sure I've done this before on this forum but... what the hell
Clayman
To me Clayman represents the peak of In Flames' creativity, and the end of the 'Golden era' which started with TJR. I literally love everything about this album, production is the best In Flames have ever achieved imo, the vocals are starting to fade here but strangely fit perfectly with the songs, guitars are melodic heaven and the drums & bass do their job without inturrupting the flow of the album at any point. Lyrically it's a beautiful mix of introspective and external thoughts, a balance Anders struggles to find in later albums.
Whoracle
In the past I've always placed TJR above Whoracle... but now I think the 1997 album ranks higher. The song structures are tighter, the vocals are
far improved and the production is superior as well. I love the overall atmosphere on this album, the guitar melodies are out of this world. Lyrically this is a complex album that doesn't make sense at times, though whether that's a translation issue I'm not sure. The lyrics that do make sense are stellar, though, and more relevant to the modern world than people might think. The album artwork for this is fantastic, too.
Colony
I'm kind of surprised I'm putting Colony ahead of TJR as well, but objectively speaking it is a better album. Anders has never sounded better vocally, his performance is incredibly powerful on this album - both on cleans and growls/screams. He wouldn't sound anywhere near this powerful again until Come Clarity. I think this is the first time Anders set out to write lyrics solely in English rather than get them translated from Swedish, and it shows on a lot of the songs. Some great lyrics, though. Production and guitar-work on this album is once again stupidly good, and Embody the Invisible is probably the best opener I've heard for any album.
The Jester Race
Lyrically and musically this album is up there with the first three on the list, but it is let down a little by the production (which was vastly improved for Whoracle) and the vocals - Anders sounds far more comfortable on Whoracle, here his growl is as deep as it ever was with In Flames and he isn't able to maintain an affective rhythm throughout many of the songs. Many of the lyrics are skipped or words mangled, which doesn't happen so much in future albums. The lyrics on this album are amazing and make more sense than Whoracle, lyrically it is only just behind Clayman as my favourite and was a huge influence along with DT's Skydancer is my own creative writing. The mix of folk and metal on this album is mesmerising, and they pull it off perfectly. The guitar melodies on this album are entrancing, especially on Tracks like Artifacts and Moonshield. The album is let down slightly by the last two tracks, both of which are not at the same level as the songs preceeding them.
Reroute to Remain
I like this album, but can't class it as part of In Flames' 'golden era', as it is the beginning of their change in direction to a more mainstream sound. I really like the overall atmosphere on R2R, and even though I think Anders lyrics here are far poorer quality than Clayman they're still very good in an understated way. The vocals on the album don't have enough power, Anders sounds robotic at times which seems to be a production issue. In fact, production drags this album down in general. The muddy tone is too pronounced and leads to otherwise brilliant melodies being buried in a thick mix. As a result the guitars on this album sound less impressive, despite some fantastic riffs. This is the last album, for me, that contains the 'older' In Flames magic.
Come Clarity
Come Clarity does not capture the magic of older In Flames but of the last three In Flames albums this is by far the best. It's straightforward, in-your-face metal basically from beginning to end. Anders vocals regain some real power in this album, and his cleans are vastly improved (Leeches & Crawl Thru Knives in particular, not a huge fan of the title track though). Dead End and Vanishing Light are spectacular and more than worthy of the In Flames name. Lyrically this was a real return to form for In Flames, TTL & Scream aside. Production on the album is solid and there are some nice melodies from Jesper & Bjorn, the drums on this album are ferocious as well. One of the things that brings CC down for me is the fact it is one of only two albums (ASOP is the other) that has very little beneath the surface. You hear everything the song has to offer during the first listen, there's not really anything beneath the surface, though that's partially down to the up-front production of the album. For that reason, and the fact I think there's a lot of filler on here (Reflect the Storm, Pacing Death's Trail, Verses Terminus, Our Infinite Struggle), I'd never place it higher than this. As a metal album it's superb, as an In Flames album it's good.
Lunar Strain/Sub
Arguably these albums shouldn't be included as the majority of the recognised band weren't involved in it, but I'll add it in here anyway. Obviously the production is raw and the song structures a bit off... but I really like a lot of the songs on this album. You can feel the passion of the band even though the talent hasn't quite reached its potential at this point. The original album was rushed out as well, which probably accounts for filler like Lunar Strain and Everlost Part I. The folk elements LS are a little bit random but add a nice touch to proceedings, and I don't mind Stanne's vocals either. Behind Space, In Flames, Clad in Shadows & Upon an Oaken Throne are amazing songs, and as CiS & BS '99 showed, with better production these songs would all have been killer. Sub is a nice little album too, production is better and the guitar melodies are a sign of things to come.
Soundtrack To Your Escape
There's nothing wrong with the production of this album, but unfortunately that's almost all I can say positive about it. Lyrically it's poor, musically it's dour in many parts and the cleans on this album are largely sub-standard. This was the first album where In Flames lost their magic, to me, and they went from being a very unique metal band to just being... a metal band. I disagree with all of the Korn comparisons, but this album is heavily influenced by the american metal scene and it's worse for it. There are a couple of good tracks on here - I actually like The Quiet Place & my Sweet Shadow, but overall I barely ever listen to anything on this album.
A Sense of Purpose
Urgh. I can't really say anything nice about this album at all. Easily the weakest In Flames album for me, it makes STYE sound like Clayman in comparison. This album is the worst of In Flames bundled into 12 uninspired, insipid tracks. Funnily enough, the Mirror's truth EP was actually pretty good, but this album failed any expectations I had. The vocals on it are tragically weak, whiny cleans and half-arsed screams. The production is rock-pop soft and the guitars have no crunch or power at all. The song structures are all the same, and this album also introduced a song which I put up there with Bottled as In Flames worst - The Chosen Pessimist. I get what they were trying to do with it, but in my opinion it just didn't work, and worse still it ate up 8 minutes of their show when I last went to see them. Lyrically it's just dire, from start to finish. This album is the sound of a band without inspiration or, ironically, any sense of purpose, and I don't think it's a coincidence Jesper left before the next one was released.
Judging from SOAPF's first two tracks, i think it'll fit either above or below CC on the list, though I'd of course have to hear the full album before judging it
