Dead Letters

Last updated

A dead letter is a letter that has never been delivered because the person to whom it was written cannot be found, and it also cannot be returned to the person who wrote it. [6]

Critical reception

Allmusic rated the album 3 stars out of 5. The review said "This Finnish group is more than capable of presenting dark and moody yet very finely tuned rock songs". It rated the best tracks as "Time to Burn", "Not Like the Other Girls" and the re-recording of "F-F-F-Falling", of which the original version appears on the Into album, and was added to the UK release as a bonus track.

Commercial performance

Dead Letters was released in Europe in early 2003. It reached the top of the album charts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as in Finland, where it stayed in the Top 20 Album chart for over a year. The album was released in the UK in 2004, being the first record to be released in the country by the band, and was one of the Top 50 best-selling albums of 2004. Commercial success in Europe led to the release of the album in other parts of the world. Dead Letters and lead single "In the Shadows" both reached the Top 50 of the Australian ARIA charts in 2004, as well as the Top 20 of the American Billboard Heatseeker charts.

The Rasmus received numerous music awards across Europe, winning the 'Best Nordic Act' category in the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards, and five Finnish EMMA awards for Best Group, Best Album, Best Video (In My Life), Best Artist and Export in 2004. The band also won an ECHO award for best international newcomer and were awarded "Best International Artist" at the 2004 MTV Russia Music Awards. "In The Shadows" was on the nominations list for the 2004 Kerrang! Award for Best Single. [7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by The Rasmus

Dead Letters
DeadLettersCover.jpg
Studio album by
Released21 March 2003 (EU)
See release dates below
RecordedJune–December 2002
StudioNord Studios in Stockholm, Sweden
Genre
Length52:14
Label Playground Music
Producer
  • Martin Hansen
  • Mikael Nord
The Rasmus chronology
Into
(2001)
Dead Letters
(2003)
Hide from the Sun
(2005)
Singles from Dead Letters
  1. "In the Shadows"
    Released: 3 February 2003
  2. "In My Life"
    Released: 1 August 2003
  3. "First Day of My Life"
    Released: 15 October 2003
  4. "Funeral Song"
    Released: 25 April 2004
  5. "Guilty"
    Released: 4 August 2004
No.TitleLength
1."First Day of My Life"3:42
2."In the Shadows"4:08
3."Still Standing"3:27
4."In My Life"4:01
5."Time to Burn"4:32
6."Guilty"3:40
7."Not Like the Other Girls"5:43
8."The One I Love"3:14
9."Back in the Picture"3:41
10."Funeral Song"3:17
UK Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
11."F-F-F-Falling"3:52
12."If You Ever"3:48
13."What Ever"3:11
US Bonus Tracks [8]
No.TitleLength
11."F-F-F-Falling"3:56
12."In the Shadows" (Video) 
China/Taiwanese Limited Edition Bonus VCD
No.TitleLength
11."In the Shadows" (Original Version – Video) 
12."In the Shadows" (European Version – Video) 
13."In the Shadows" (American Version – Video) 
14."First Day of My Life" (Video) 
15."Funeral Song" (Video) 
16."In My Life" (Video) 
17."Epk" (Interview) 
Dead Letters Finnish Edition
No.TitleLength
1."First Day of My Life" (US Remix)3:44
2."In the Shadows"4:05
3."Still Standing"3:31
4."In My Life"4:01
5."Time to Burn"4:32
6."Guilty" (US Remix)3:41
7."Not Like the Other Girls"5:43
8."The One I Love" (US Remix)3:15
9."Back in the Picture"3:41
10."Funeral Song"3:17
11."F-F-F-Falling" (US Remix)3:52
12."If You Ever"3:48
13."What Ever"3:11
14."Everything You Say"2:48
15."In The Shadows" (Meadows Remix)4:38
16."In The Shadows" (Nordic Version – Video) 
17."In The Shadows" (Nordic Version (Making of video)) 
18."The Rasmus Computer Stuff" (Screensavers, Desktops, Photo Gallery, Extra Video Material) 
Italian Edition Bonus DVD
No.TitleLength
1."First Day of My Life" (US Remix)3:44
2."In the Shadows"4:05
3."Still Standing"3:31
4."In My Life"4:01
5."Time to Burn"4:32
6."Guilty" (US Remix)3:41
7."Not Like the Other Girls"5:43
8."The One I Love" (US Remix)3:15
9."Back in the Picture"3:41
10."Funeral Song"3:17
11."If You Ever"3:48
12."Everything You Say"2:48
13."What Ever"3:11
14."Since You've Been Gone"3:03
15."First Day of My Life" (Acoustic Demo) 
16."In The Shadows" (Nordic Version – Video) 
17."In My Life" (Video) 
18."First Day of My Life" (Video) 
European Limited Edition – Bonus CD
No.TitleLength
1."In the Shadows – Video"03:57
2."The Making of the Video "In The Shadows""13:17
3."Making the video screensaver" 
4."Logo screensaver" 
5."Desktop wallpapers" 
6."Photo Gallery" 
7."Computer stuff" 
8."Photos taken by Henrik Walse, Nauska and the Rasmus" 

Personnel

The Rasmus

Additional musicians

Production and design

B-sides, outtakes and non-album tracks

SongReleases
"What Ever"B-Side of "In My Life"
"Since You've Been Gone"B-Side of "First Day of My Life" UK Edition
"Everything You Say"B-Side of "Funeral Song"
"If You Ever"B-Side of "Funeral Song"

Release history

A list of countries and the date when the album was released. [9]

CountryDate
Italy26 November 2003
Spain5 January 2004
US/UK22 March 2004
JapanEarly 2004
Taiwan June 2004

Music videos

Video directed by Finn Andersson for Film Magica Oy in Helsinki, Finland.

Video directed by Niklas Fronda and Fredrik Löfberg, Baranga Film/Topaz.

Video directed by Niklas Fronda & Fredrik Löfberg, Baranga Film in Stockholm, Sweden.

Video directed by Sven Bollinger and produced by Volker Steinmetz (Erste Liebe Filmproduktion) in Lausitzring, Germany.

Video directed by Philipp Stöltzl in Bucharest, Romania.

Video directed by Niklas Fronda and Fredrik Löfberg, Baranga Film in Stockholm, Sweden.

Video directed by Nathan Cox in Los Angeles.

See also

Charts

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria) [38] Gold15,000*
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [39] 2× Platinum78,363 [39]
Germany (BVMI) [40] Platinum200,000^
Hungary (MAHASZ) [41] Gold10,000^
Mexico (AMPROFON) [42] Gold50,000^
Poland (ZPAV) [43] Gold20,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [44] Gold50,000^
Sweden (GLF) [45] Gold30,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [46] Platinum40,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [47] Gold100,000^
Summaries
Europe1,000,000 [48]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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