Black Roses (The Rasmus album)
Encyclopedia
Black Roses is the seventh studio album by the Finnish rock band The Rasmus
, which was released on 29 September 2008 in the UK. In Germany the album was released on 26 September and in the Nordic countries
two days before. The album immediately replaced Metallica
's Death Magnetic
on the top spot of the Finnish Album Charts and went gold after one week.
at a concert in Dominican Republic
3 November. Guitarist Pauli Rantasalmi told The Rasmus had written around 30 songs 11 of which were chosen for the album. The band started recording the new album in Dynasty Studios, Helsinki
, Finland
17 September 2007 for a month and in the end of the year went to Nashville
to go on. Smaller parts were recorded in Stockholm
, Singapore
, Berlin
and Greece
too. While Desmond Child was the main producer, he was helped by Harry Sommerdahl. Michael Wagener
was the mixer for Black Roses except "Livin' in a World Without You
", which was mixed by Niclas Flyckt. The album was originally planned to be released in March, but was delayed due to new songs the band still wanted to record, including "Livin' in a World Without You
". The album's sound is generally less heavy than that of Hide from the Sun
. However, a few of the album's songs, such as "Ten Black Roses", "The Fight", and "Lost and Lonely", contain symphonic rock
/metal
elements.
, and released in August. The song was first played live on 5 July in NRJ in the Park in Berlin
together with another new song, "Ten Black Roses".
The second single will be "Justify
", released later in autumn. It is quite low, dark and emotional song with some Depeche Mode
influences. The Depeche Mode influence is only weak to this song especially, and can be attributed more generally to the music of The Rasmus. But parts of the melody line is an echo of The Cure
hit song "Lullaby". This shows particularly in the first and last 30 seconds of the song.
Lauri Ylönen stated on the Austrian television station Go TV, that the duet with Anette Olzon
(Nightwish
) was to be released later in 2009. The title of song is "October & April
". It was released in November, 2009.
The group started the promotion for Black Roses with acoustic gigs at Radio SAW and RS2 in Germany 26–27 August. The Black Roses world tour started in January 2009 in Europe. In Finland they did a tour called Dynasty Tour 2008 in October 2008 together with Von Hertzen Brothers
and Mariko
starting from Seinäjoki
and finishing in Helsinki
. The Black Roses tour so far contained concerts in more than twenty-four countries, while some concerts in South America had to be cancelled because of the outbreak of the severe swine flu.
Between June 14 and June 28, 2009 The Rasmus played together with Alice Cooper
and Scorpions
on a short stadium tour in Russia called "Monsters of Rock". In the summer months of 2009 the band played several festivals.
The Rasmus
The Rasmus are a Finnish rock band that formed in 1995 in Helsinki while the band members were still in upper comprehensive school. The original band members were Lauri Ylönen , Eero Heinonen , Pauli Rantasalmi and Janne Heiskanen...
, which was released on 29 September 2008 in the UK. In Germany the album was released on 26 September and in the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
two days before. The album immediately replaced Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
's Death Magnetic
Death Magnetic
Death Magnetic is the ninth studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on September 12, 2008 through Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album to feature bassist Robert Trujillo and the first to be produced by Rick Rubin, making this Metallica's first album...
on the top spot of the Finnish Album Charts and went gold after one week.
Background information
According to Dynasty Recordings' MySpace profile, the band rested in Helsinki during the winter 2006 and also wrote songs for the upcoming album. They had met the producer Desmond ChildDesmond Child
Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
at a concert in Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
3 November. Guitarist Pauli Rantasalmi told The Rasmus had written around 30 songs 11 of which were chosen for the album. The band started recording the new album in Dynasty Studios, Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
17 September 2007 for a month and in the end of the year went to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
to go on. Smaller parts were recorded in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
too. While Desmond Child was the main producer, he was helped by Harry Sommerdahl. Michael Wagener
Michael Wagener
Michael Wagener is a music producer, mixer, and engineer from Hamburg, Germany, best known for his work with many top hard rock and heavy metal bands in the late 80's. Wagener's works have sold over ninetyfour million albums worldwide. Wagener was the original guitarist for the German band Accept...
was the mixer for Black Roses except "Livin' in a World Without You
Livin' in a World Without You
Livin' in a World Without You is the first single from the new album Black Roses by the Finnish alternative rock band The Rasmus and the first track on the album. It was released on 10 September. The first play was on the Finnish radio channel YleX 25 July at 8.35 AM with a new interview...
", which was mixed by Niclas Flyckt. The album was originally planned to be released in March, but was delayed due to new songs the band still wanted to record, including "Livin' in a World Without You
Livin' in a World Without You
Livin' in a World Without You is the first single from the new album Black Roses by the Finnish alternative rock band The Rasmus and the first track on the album. It was released on 10 September. The first play was on the Finnish radio channel YleX 25 July at 8.35 AM with a new interview...
". The album's sound is generally less heavy than that of Hide from the Sun
Hide from the Sun
Hide from the Sun is the sixth studio album by the Finnish rock band The Rasmus, originally released in mainland Europe, the UK, Scandinavia and Japan on 12 September 2005. It received Platinum status in Finland and sold more than 15,000 in the UK alone. All in all Hide from the Sun sold 400,000...
. However, a few of the album's songs, such as "Ten Black Roses", "The Fight", and "Lost and Lonely", contain symphonic rock
Symphonic rock
Symphonic rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock. Since early in progressive rock's history, the term has been used sometimes to distinguish more classically influenced progressive rock from the more psychedelic and experimental forms of progressive rock....
/metal
Symphonic metal
Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
elements.
Singles
The first single "Livin' in a World Without You" was released on 10 September and for radio stations in July. The music video for "Livin' in a World Without You" was shot on 3 July in StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, and released in August. The song was first played live on 5 July in NRJ in the Park in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
together with another new song, "Ten Black Roses".
The second single will be "Justify
Justify (The Rasmus song)
"Justify" is the second single released from the 2008 album, Black Roses by the Finnish rock band, The Rasmus."Justify" is a slow, dark and emotional ballad with Nine Inch Nails influences. This is a very melodic song. The first demo for "Justify" was made in Los Angeles, California, at both James...
", released later in autumn. It is quite low, dark and emotional song with some Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
influences. The Depeche Mode influence is only weak to this song especially, and can be attributed more generally to the music of The Rasmus. But parts of the melody line is an echo of The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
hit song "Lullaby". This shows particularly in the first and last 30 seconds of the song.
Lauri Ylönen stated on the Austrian television station Go TV, that the duet with Anette Olzon
Anette Olzon
Anette Ingegerd Olsson , known by the stage name Anette Olzon, is a Swedish singer from Helsingborg, best known as the second lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish. Olzon was formerly the vocalist in the Swedish AOR band Alyson Avenue...
(Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. Formed in 1996 by songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen, Nightwish's current line-up has five members, although Tarja has been replaced by Anette Olzon and the...
) was to be released later in 2009. The title of song is "October & April
October & April
"October & April" is a song by the Finnish rock band The Rasmus, featuring Anette Olzon from Nightwish.The song was recorded during the same time as the other songs from the band's latest studio album Black Roses, but wasn't included as it didn't follow the album concept. Instead it was later...
". It was released in November, 2009.
Touring for the album
The very first time The Rasmus played any new songs from Black Roses was the gig in Berlin on 5 July.The group started the promotion for Black Roses with acoustic gigs at Radio SAW and RS2 in Germany 26–27 August. The Black Roses world tour started in January 2009 in Europe. In Finland they did a tour called Dynasty Tour 2008 in October 2008 together with Von Hertzen Brothers
Von Hertzen Brothers
Von Hertzen Brothers is a Finnish prog-related rock band consisting of the three von Hertzen brothers, citing bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd and Kingston Wall as their influences. Each of the brothers have played in many popular Finnish rock bands. Kie played in Don Huonot,...
and Mariko
Mariko
-Places:*Mariko-juku , and post station along the Tōkaidō*Mariko, Mali-People:* Bourama Mariko, a Malian judoka* Oumar Mariko, a Malian doctor and politician* Mariko Daouda, an Ivorian football player* Mariko...
starting from Seinäjoki
Seinäjoki
Seinäjoki is a city located in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bruk iron and gunpowder factories founded in 1798. Seinäjoki became a municipality in 1868, market town in 1931 and town in 1960...
and finishing in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. The Black Roses tour so far contained concerts in more than twenty-four countries, while some concerts in South America had to be cancelled because of the outbreak of the severe swine flu.
Between June 14 and June 28, 2009 The Rasmus played together with Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
and Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
on a short stadium tour in Russia called "Monsters of Rock". In the summer months of 2009 the band played several festivals.
Reception
Track listing
Charts
| Charts (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Finland Albums Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 22 |
| Greek International Albums Chart | 7 |
| Greek Overall Albums Chart | 26 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 51 |
| German Albums Chart | 13 |
| Italy Albums Chart | 46 |
| Spain Albums Chart | 58 |
| Sweden Albums Chart | 32 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 22 |
| UK Rock Albums | 13 |
| Mexico | 7 |
| Czech Republic | 12 |
Release history
| Country | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Finland | Playground Music | |
| Sweden | ||
| Estonia | ||
| Norway | ||
| Denmark | ||
| Germany | Universal Music | |
| Austria | ||
| Switzerland | ||
| The Netherlands | ||
| Poland | ||
| International | ||
| Italy | ||
| Australia | ||
| Canada | ||
| Japan |