The Silent Force
Encyclopedia
The Silent Force is the third studio album
by Dutch
symphonic metal
band Within Temptation
, released on November 15, 2004, by GUN Records
. This album is the first to feature Ruud Jolie on lead guitar, as well as Martijn Spierenburg
on keyboards, after Martijn Westerholt
had to leave the band due to illness.
It was released as three versions: a basic version with jewel case and no book
let; a standard version with jewel case and an eight page booklet; and a premium version as a digipak
with luxury artwork, enhanced CD-ROM
content and two bonus tracks (see below).
Only one week after its release, the album reached Gold status in the Netherlands
, Belgium
, and Finland
.
On August 5, 2008, The Silent Force along with Mother Earth
were released in the United States on Roadrunner Records
.
, lead singer Sharon den Adel
discussed the title of the album.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
symphonic 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...
band Within Temptation
Within Temptation
Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic gothic metal/rock band founded in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. Their music is described as symphonic metal, although their earlier material, such as Enter, was gothic metal. In an interview, Den Adel said they fell into a...
, released on November 15, 2004, by GUN Records
GUN Records
GUN Records was a record label located in Bochum, Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany and was founded 1992 by Bogdan Kopec and Wolfgang Funk....
. This album is the first to feature Ruud Jolie on lead guitar, as well as Martijn Spierenburg
Martijn Spierenburg
Martijn Spierenburg is the keyboardist for Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation.Spierenburg joined Within Temptation after Martijn Westerholt, Robert Westerholt's brother was diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis shortly after the release of Within Temptation's second full-length studio...
on keyboards, after Martijn Westerholt
Martijn Westerholt
David Martijn Westerholt is the founder along with Charlotte Wessels, the keyboardist and the main songwriter of the Dutch symphonic metal band Delain...
had to leave the band due to illness.
It was released as three versions: a basic version with jewel case and no book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
let; a standard version with jewel case and an eight page booklet; and a premium version as a digipak
Digipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
with luxury artwork, enhanced CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
content and two bonus tracks (see below).
Only one week after its release, the album reached Gold status in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and 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...
.
On August 5, 2008, The Silent Force along with Mother Earth
Mother Earth (album)
Mother Earth is the second studio album by Dutch symphonic metal/rock band Within Temptation. Originally released on December 4, 2000 in the Netherlands, and August 21, 2001 in other parts of Europe, it quickly became a success in the band's heartland, reaching platinum status in the Netherlands...
were released in the United States on Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
.
Title
In an interview on BuzznetBuzznet
BuzzNet is a photo, journal, and video-sharing social media network, owned by Buzz Media. Like other social networking sites, Buzznet is a platform for members to share content based on their personal interests...
, lead singer Sharon den Adel
Sharon den Adel
Sharon Janny den Adel is a Dutch singer and composer, best known as the lead vocalist and one of the main songwriters in the Dutch symphonic metal/rock band Within Temptation...
discussed the title of the album.
"The title of our latest album 'The Silent Force' is actually taken from the title of a book from the beginning of the 19th century from a DutchDutch peopleThe Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
writer (who lived in IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
when he was young) called Louis CouperusLouis CouperusLouis Marie-Anne Couperus was a Dutch novelist and poet during the Belle Époque. There is a wide variety of genres in his oeuvre, which contains poetry, fairy tales, psychological novels, and historical novels...
. All the songs on this album are in some way related to that book (or at least the title)."
Track listing
Bonus tracks
Videos
Not included on every release.Limited Edition version
B-sides
- "A Dangerous Mind"
- "The Swan Song"
- "The Swan Song" (Instrumental/Orchestral version)
- "Destroyed"
- "Towards the End"
- "Overcome"
- "Say My Name"
Demo versions
- "Run" (Overcome demo) (unofficial)
- "Orff" (Jillian demo) (unofficial)
- "It's the Fear"
Band members
- Sharon den AdelSharon den AdelSharon Janny den Adel is a Dutch singer and composer, best known as the lead vocalist and one of the main songwriters in the Dutch symphonic metal/rock band Within Temptation...
- vocals - Robert WesterholtRobert WesterholtRobert Westerholt is a Dutch musician, known as the guitarist, backing vocalist and co-founder of the symphonic metal band Within Temptation. He also writes music for the band, along with the band's vocalist, and his partner, Sharon den Adel...
- guitars - Ruud Jolie - guitars
- Martijn SpierenburgMartijn SpierenburgMartijn Spierenburg is the keyboardist for Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation.Spierenburg joined Within Temptation after Martijn Westerholt, Robert Westerholt's brother was diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis shortly after the release of Within Temptation's second full-length studio...
- keyboards - Jeroen van VeenJeroen van Veen (bassist)Jeroen van Veen is the bassist in the symphonic metal band Within Temptation. Jeroen has been a member of Within Temptation since the band's inception in 1996. Although he is the bassist of the band, Jeroen can also play the drums. He also played in the Grey Foxes an Amsterdam Funk Group...
- bass - Stephen van HaestregtStephen van HaestregtStephen van Haestregt is a Dutch drummer, best known as the drummer of the Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation....
- drums
Additional musicians
- Isaac Muller, Siard de Jong - celtic instruments
- Ego Works session orchestra conducted by Felix Korobov
- Choir conducted by Konstantin Majorov
Production
- Daniel Gibson - producer
- Stefan Helleblad - additional production, engineer
- Stefan Glaumann, Håkan FredrikssonHåkan FredrikssonHåkan Fredriksson, born December 18, 1970, is a Swedish producer and musician. He has been credited to work with bands/artists such as Within Temptation, Da Buzz, Fredrik Kempe and A*Teens....
- mixing - Bjorn Engelmann - mastering
Music videos
- "Stand My Ground"
- "Angels"
- "Memories"
- "Jillian (I'd Give My Heart)" (promo video for the DVD The Silent Force TourThe Silent Force TourThe Silent Force Tour is a double DVD which was released by the symphonic metal/rock band Within Temptation on November 18, 2005. In addition to the standard double DVD release, the deluxe edition includes a bonus CD....
)
Peak positions
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
12 |
| Belgian Ultratop (Flanders) Ultratop 40 Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization... |
4 |
| Belgian Ultratop (Wallonia) Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... |
53 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
1 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 3 |
| French Albums Chart | 34 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
5 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
30 |
| Portuguese Albums Chart IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
17 |
| Spanish Albums Chart PROMUSICAE Spanish Music Producers is a trade group representing the Spanish recording industry... |
26 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
28 |
| Swiss Top 100 Albums Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
22 |
Sales and certifications
| Country | Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|
| Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
Gold |
| 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... |
Gold |
| Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
Platinum |
| Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
Gold |