Dead Letters is the fifth album by Finnish band the Rasmus released in 2003. It was released later in 2004 in the US, UK and Australia. Their previous album, Into, had seen some success in some parts of Europe, particularly Scandinavia and Germany, but Dead Letters signified the band's major break-through. The album received 8 Gold and 6 Platinum music certification awards. Lead single "In the Shadows" received 6 gold and 2 platinum awards, selling over 1 million copies and breaking the record for performance royalties received abroad on a Finnish composition (overtaking the works of Jean Sibelius).

Making of the album

The Rasmus recorded Dead Letters in June–December 2002 at Nord Studios in Sweden, reuniting with Mikael Nord Andersen and Martin Hansen, who had produced their Scandinavian hit album Into.

Lead singer Lauri Ylönen explained the title of the album on the band's website. "Each song is a letter to somebody. It could be an apology, confession or cry out for help". The back side of the album booklet reads:

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" reminiscent of alternative rock bands Savage Garden, Nine Inch Nails and the Gathering. 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.

Track listing

Personnel

The Rasmus

  • Lauri Ylönen – vocals
  • Pauli Rantasalmi – guitar
  • Eero Heinonen – bass
  • Aki Hakala – drums

Additional musicians

  • Rutger Gunnarson – strings
  • Ylva Nilsson, Håkan Westlund, and Anna Wallgreen – cellos
  • Jörgen Ingeström – additional keyboards

Production and design

  • Mikael Nord and Martin Hansen – record producer, mixdown, programming, keyboards, and additional sounds
  • George Marino – mastering
  • Lars Tengroth – A&R
  • Seppo Vesterinen – business management
  • Dina Hovsepian – design
  • Henrik Walse – logo
  • Henrik Walse and Nela Koenig – photos

B-sides, outtakes and non-album tracks

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!width=30% | Song

!width=30% | Releases

|-

| "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"

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| "If You Ever"

| B-Side of "Funeral Song"

|-

|}

Release history

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

{|class="wikitable"

! Country

! Date

|-

| Italy

| 26 November 2003

|-

| Spain

| 5 January 2004

|-

| US/UK

| 22 March 2004

|-

| Japan

| Early 2004

|-

| Taiwan

| June 2004

|-

|}

Music videos

  • In the Shadows – Finnish "Bandit" version (2003)

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

  • In My Life (2003)

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

  • In the Shadows – European "Crow" version (2003)

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

  • First Day of My Life (2003)

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

  • In the Shadows – US/UK "Mirror" version (2004)

Video directed by Philipp Stöltzl in Bucharest, Romania.

  • Funeral Song (The Resurrection) (2004)

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

  • Guilty (2004)

Video directed by Nathan Cox in Los Angeles.

See also

  • Live Letters, a live DVD released in 2004.

Charts

Weekly charts

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! scope="col"| Chart (2003–04)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

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Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (2003)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)

| 19

|-

! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 27

|-

! scope="row"| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)

| 53

|-

! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 14

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (2004)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)

| 74

|-

! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)

| 67

|-

! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 92

|-

! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)

| 82

|-

! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 79

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 66

|}

Certifications and sales

References

  • Dead Letters on Playground Music
  • Dead Letters review at Allmusic