A Sense of Purpose

A Sense of Purpose
Studio album by In Flames
Released 1 April 2008
Recorded September–November 2007 at IF Studios, Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre Alternative metal, melodic metalcore
Length 47:59
Label Nuclear Blast, Koch
Producer In Flames, Roberto Laghi, Daniel Bergstrand
In Flames chronology
Come Clarity
(2006)		 A Sense of Purpose
(2008)		 Sounds of a Playground Fading
(2011)
Singles from A Sense of Purpose
  1. "The Mirror's Truth"
    Released: 7 March 2008[1]
  2. "Alias"
    Released: 26 September 2008[2]
  3. "Delight and Angers"
    Released: 25 March 2009[3]

A Sense of Purpose is the ninth studio album by Swedish metal band In Flames. The album was released first in Japan on 26 March 2008 with 15 tracks and later in Europe on 4 April 2008 through Nuclear Blast[4] and through Koch Records in North America on 1 April.[5] This is the band's last album with guitarist and founding member Jesper Stromblad before he quit in February 2010.[6] The album debuted at number 1 on the official Swedish album chart. On 21 May 2009, the song "Disconnected" became an available download for the video game, Guitar Hero World Tour.

Musical style

Similar to previous In Flames albums, A Sense of Purpose showcased the band's influence to combine many elements such as rich keyboard use and distinct melodies, with thrash and heavy metal sounds. A Sense of Purpose contains the band's longest recorded song to date, "The Chosen Pessimist".

In an interview with Björn Gelotte, he had this to say about the album:

“ It’s awesome. It’s energetic, melodic, pretty much in the same vein. But we always try to mix it up a bit and try to put some dynamics into the songs, even though they are very intense. If you’ve heard the previous ones, you pretty much know what vein we’re going to be. It’s just a matter of small experiments in different songs.[7] ”

Release

The album was released in a limited edition boxset version of which only 1500 copies were made. This release became available on the same day as the European release.[8] A limited edition Digipak came with a making-of DVD.[4] In the documentary, it is stated that they recorded 17 songs and used 12 for the album and another three for the single. This makes two previously unknown songs that have not been released yet.

Before the album's release, In Flames launched a special fansite called the Jesterhead.com which featured exclusive contents about the band.[9]

The album also received a Parental Advisory label,[10] making the album the only In Flames album to have explicit lyrics since Lunar Strain except for the song "Watch Them Feed" from their Trigger EP. The artwork for the album cover was done by Alex Pardee, who has created all the cover art for The Used and Aiden's album Conviction.[11] The album is the first studio album since Clayman to feature the band's icon, the "Jester Head", on the cover art.

The lead single "The Mirror's Truth" was officially released on 7 March 2008 and was featured in the video game Madden NFL 09.[12] In Flames released two other singles from A Sense of Purpose: "Alias" and "Delight and Angers".[2][3]

On 10 April the album debuted at number 1 on the official Swedish album chart.[13] It also debuted at number 28 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.[14] In 2009 the album went gold in Sweden.[15]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com link
Allmusic link
Alternative Press link at the Wayback Machine (archived June 6, 2009)
Blabbermouth.net link
Chronicles of Chaos link
Pitchfork Media(7.0/10) link
PopMatters link
Sputnikmusic link
Sputnikmusic link

A Sense of Purpose has received generally positive reviews. Jason MacNeil of Allmusic gave the album a score of 4 stars out of 5, writing "In Flames continue to make their mark by being rooted in a strong metal or hard rock foundation but being musically and creatively inquisitive enough to seek out something more."[5] Popmatters' Adrien Begrand wrote "If there’s one fault that can be found on A Sense of Purpose, it’s that its pace can get redundant upon first listen... plus it lacks the huge arena-appealing hooks that Come Clarity had in spades..." Begrand concluded: "However, like Reroute to Remain, the album benefits greatly from patient listening, making it a worthy addition to the catalog and continuing one of the more impressive second-decade rebirths we’ve seen from a metal band."[16]

In a more negative review, Sputnikmusic's Adam Thomas wrote "...A Sense of Purpose shows getting rid of what was intrinsically In Flames, the harmonies. Now in their place are hackneyed synth passages and down tuned nu-metal style riffing. In an attempt to grab the attention of the fans of nu-metal's corpse, In Flames have stuck it to their old fans, again." Thomas concluded: "I'm sorry to say it, but In Flames are out of any worthwhile ideas. They even admit it in the opening track of the album, 'Without even trying' shrieks Anders on 'The Mirror's Truth'. At least he's being honest."[17]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Anders Fridén, Björn Gelotte and Jesper Strömblad. 

No. Title Length
1. "The Mirror's Truth"   3:02
2. "Disconnected"   3:37
3. "Sleepless Again"   4:12
4. "Alias"   4:53
5. "I'm the Highway"   3:46
6. "Delight and Angers"   3:41
7. "Move Through Me"   3:08
8. "The Chosen Pessimist"   8:16
9. "Sober and Irrelevant"   3:24
10. "Condemned"   3:36
11. "Drenched in Fear"   3:32
12. "March to the Shore"   3:30
Total length:
 47:59
  1. 1 2 3 Also featured on "The Mirror's Truth" single.[20]

DVD[21]

No. Title Length
1. "Introductions (03. Sept. - 09. Sept. 2007)"    
2. "The Boat Trip (10. Sept. - 16. Sept. 2007)"    
3. "Drums, Drums Drums (17. Sept. - 23. Sept 2007)"    
4. "Bass, Booze & Balls (24. Sept. - 30. Sept 2007)"    
5. "Guitar Sweatshop (01. Oct. - 07 Oct 2007)"    
6. "Diggin' In The Dirt (08. Oct. ? 14. Oct. 2007)"    
7. "Are We There Yet? (15. Oct. - 21. Oct. 2007)"    
8. "High Stakes (22. Oct. - 28. Oct. 2007)"    
9. "Guitar Smorgasbord (29. Oct. - 04. Nov. 2007)"    
10. "Rollin' (05. Nov - 11. Nov. 2007)"    
11. "Bare To The Bone(s) (12. Nov. - 18. Nov. 2007)"    
12. "This Is The End (19. Nov. - 30. Nov. 2007)"    

Personnel

The following people contributed to A Sense of Purpose:[22]

In Flames

Additional personnel

Charts

Album

Chart (2008) Position
The Billboard 200 28[13]
UK Top 75 54[13]
Sweden 1[13]
Finland 3[13]
Canada 7[13]
Japan 14[13]
Germany 6[13]

Singles

Year Song Peak positions
SWE
[23]		 AUT
[24]		 FIN
[25]		 GER
[26]
2008 "The Mirror's Truth" 14 51 5 72
2008 "Alias" — — — —
2009 "Delight and Angers" — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

See also

References

  1. ↑ IN FLAMES Films 'The Mirror's Truth' Video; Photos Available. Blabbermouth.net. 21 January 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  2. 1 2 IN FLAMES To Release 'Alias' Digital Single. Blabbermouth.net. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  3. 1 2 IN FLAMES: 'Delight And Angers' Video To Debut This Month. Blabbermouth.net. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  4. 1 2 In Flames - A Sense of Purpose. Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  5. 1 2 A Sense of Purpose - In Flames. Allmusic. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  6. ↑ JESPER STRÖMBLAD LEAVES IN FLAMES. Myspace. 12 February 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  7. ↑ Bowar, Chad. In Flames Interview - A Conversation With Guitarist Bjorn Gelotte. About.com. 2 April 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  8. ↑ IN FLAMES - A Sense of Purpose SPHERICAL LABYRINTH at the Wayback Machine (archived December 18, 2008). Nuclear Blast OnlineShop. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  9. ↑ Jesterhead.com – The Official In Flames Colony Page at the Wayback Machine (archived December 30, 2007)
  10. ↑ Sense of Purpose: In Flames: Music. Amazon.com. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  11. ↑ Alex Pardee reveals artwork for new In Flames album. Synthesis Magazine. 14 January 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  12. ↑ EA Reveals, Hypes Madden 09 Soundtrack. Kotaku. 8 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN FLAMES: More 'A Sense Of Purpose' First-Week Chart Positions Revealed. Blabbermouth.net. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  14. ↑ In Flames Album & Song Chart History. Billboard.com. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  15. ↑ Guld-Platina-2009. IFPI. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  16. ↑ Begrand, Adrien. In Flames: A Sense of Purpose. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  17. ↑ Thomas, Adam. In Flames - A Sense of Purpose. Sputnikmusic. 8 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  18. ↑ In Flames - A Sense of Purpose (CD,Album). Discogs. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  19. ↑ A Sense Of Purpose. The Complete In Flames Discography. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  20. ↑ "In Flames – "The Mirror's Truth"". Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
  21. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/In-Flames-A-Sense-Of-Purpose/release/1516005
  22. ↑ In Flames - the official homepage. inflames.com. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  23. ↑ "Discography In Flames". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  24. ↑ "Discographie In Flames" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  25. ↑ "Discography In Flames". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  26. ↑ "Chartverfolgung - In Flames" (in German). PhonoNet. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
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