State of The Ark was released on 27 December 2004 and is the third studio album from the Swedish rock band The Ark

The Ark (band)

The Ark was a Swedish glam rock band formed in 1991 by Jepsson Mikael , and Lasse Ljungberg, when Ola Salo and Leari were only fourteen years old. Martin Axén officially joined the band in 1997, and Sylvester Schlegel in 1999. In late 2005, Jens Andersson joined The Ark as an official member...

, and their final as a quintet. In it, the band's sound became more synthesizer-flavoured and keyboard-oriented, a departure from the more organic glam rock sound of the first two albums. Three singles were released from the album: "One of Us Is Gonna Die Young", "Clamour for Glamour" and "Trust Is Shareware", the latter being a new recording specifically made for single release. "This Piece of Poetry Is Meant to Do Harm" appears in John Cameron Mitchell

John Cameron Mitchell

John Cameron Mitchell is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus and Rabbit Hole.- Early life:...

's film Shortbus

Shortbus

Shortbus is a 2006 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by...

and the band has stated that "Hey Kwanongoma!" was inspired by the marimba

Marimba

The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...

 piece "Rugare 2" by Alport Mhlanga.

Track listing

All songs were written by Ola Salo

Ola Salo

Ola Salo, born Rolf Ola Anders Svensson on 19 February 1977 in Avesta, Sweden, is the Swedish rock vocalist of the Swedish glam rock band The Ark. Salo lived in Rottne, Växjö Municipality, in Sweden when he was a child. It was while living in Rottne, in 1991, that he and his friends Jepson and...

, except where noted.

1. "This Piece of Poetry Is Meant to Do Harm" – 3:27
2. "Rock City Wankers" – 4:10
3. "Clamour for Glamour" – 3:09
4. "One of Us Is Gonna Die Young" – 3:28
5. "Let Me Down Gently" – 2:55
6. "Hey Kwanongoma!" – 4:48
7. "The Others" – 3:27
8. "Girl You're Gonna Get 'Em (Real Soon)" – 3:27
9. "Deliver Us from Free Will" – 5:06
10. "No End" (Lars Ljungberg) – 3:24
11. "Trust Is Shareware" – 4:25

The Ark

• Ola Salo
  Ola Salo
  Ola Salo, born Rolf Ola Anders Svensson on 19 February 1977 in Avesta, Sweden, is the Swedish rock vocalist of the Swedish glam rock band The Ark. Salo lived in Rottne, Växjö Municipality, in Sweden when he was a child. It was while living in Rottne, in 1991, that he and his friends Jepson and...
  
   – lead vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  , keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  
• Martin Axén
  Martin Axén
  Karl Martin Axén is a guitarist in the Glam-rock band The Ark.Axén lived with his family in Kenya from the age of four to seven. As an eight year old he began taking guitar lessons but did not continue with them until he began playing again as a teenager. In 1997 he became a member of The Ark...
  
   – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  
• Mikael Jepson – lead guitar
  Lead guitar
  Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
  
  
• Lars "Leari" Ljungberg – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Sylvester Schlegel – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Jens Andersson – producer, sound engineer, additional percussion, keyboards
• Åsa Håkansson – strings
• Mattias Rodrick – strings
• Anna Rocén – strings
• Erika Lilja – backing vocals
• Maria Lilja – backing vocals
• Erik Hjärpe – voice synthesizing