The Days of Grays

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The Days of Grays
File:Sonata Arctica - The Days of Grays.jpg
Studio album by Sonata Arctica
Released September 16, 2009
Recorded 2009 at Tico Tico Studio (drums and bass)
Fantom Studios and Magic-7 Studio (guitars)
Lanceland 2 and Kakkos-studio (keyboards)
Studio 57 (hammond organ)
Kakkos-studio (vocals)
Rock Valley-Studios (cello)
Great Sounds Studio (female vocals)
Genre Power metal, symphonic metal, progressive metal
Length 59:20
Label Nuclear Blast
Producer Tony Kakko, Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica chronology
Unia
(2007)Unia2007		 The Days of Grays
(2009)		 Live in Finland
(2011)Live in Finland2011
Singles from The Days of Grays
  1. "The Last Amazing Grays"
    Released: August 26, 2009
  2. "Flag in the Ground"
    Released: September 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars[1]
Lords of Metal 62/100[2]
The Metal Circus 8/10 stars[3]
Metal Storm 8/10 stars[4]
Metal Symphony 3.5/5 stars[5]

The Days of Grays is the sixth full-length studio album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. The album was released on September 16, 2009 in Finland, September 18 in Europe and September 22 in North America through Nuclear Blast.[6] The special edition of the album includes the album along with an orchestral CD as a digipak.[7][8]

It is the first album with guitarist Elias Viljanen and also the first since 1999's Ecliptica in which vocalist Tony Kakko also plays the keyboards.

History

Sonata Arctica keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg described the album as:

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a bit darker and maybe not so complex as [2007's] "Unia". Nevertheless, it's definitely not a back-to-the-roots album with fast power metal. All the trademark SONATA stuff is on there, solos, lots of singing [and] some slower songs.

— [6]

The first single from the album is "The Last Amazing Grays". It was released by Nuclear Blast Records only in Finland on August 26. The band ran a fan art contest to choose the artwork for their second announced single, "Flag in the Ground" which the press release calls "an uplifting story about a young couple fighting their way to freedom and their own land in North America back in early 1800s."[9] The winner of the contest was Simo Heikkinen from Finland.[10] The name for The Days of Grays apparently took a very long time to come to as the band had a name for the record that was deemed more appropriate "for a death metal band or something" according to Henrik Klingenberg. In a French interview, Tony Kakko stated that the original name was Deathaura, the name of a song on the album.[11]

"Everything Fades to Gray" features the lyrics "It's not fair, it's not fair, there was a time now" relating to the Twilight Zone episode Time Enough at Last and "The Truth Is Out There" is about the popular TV series The X-Files.

Track listing

All music by Tony Kakko except "Nothing More" by Henrik Klingenberg, all lyrics by Tony Kakko, songs arranged by Sonata Arctica.

All songs written and composed by Tony Kakko. 

No. Title Length
1. "Everything Fades to Gray (Instrumental)"   3:06
2. "Deathaura"
  • "The Premonition"
  • "The Witch-Hunt"
  • "Exposing the Heathen"
  • "Envy"
  • "The Fear"
  • "The Grudge"
  • "The Curse"
  • "The Flames"
  • "Endless Inquisition"
  • "...Together, Today, for All Eternity"  
 7:58
3. "The Last Amazing Grays"   5:40
4. "Flag in the Ground"   4:08
5. "Breathing"   3:55
6. "Zeroes"   4:23
7. "The Dead Skin"   6:14
8. "Juliet"   5:59
9. "No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart"   4:33
10. "As If the World Wasn't Ending"   3:49
11. "The Truth Is Out There"   5:03
12. "Everything Fades to Gray (Full Version)"   4:32
Total length:
 59:20

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Belgian Album Charts 41[14]
Finnish Albums Chart 2[14][15]
Ö3 Austria Top 40 52[14][16]
Dutch Albums Chart 50[14][17]
French Album Charts 41[14]
German Albums Chart 24[18]
Swedish Music Charts 31[14]
Swiss Music Charts 26[14][19]

Personnel

Release history

Region Date
South America September 8, 2009
Finland September 16, 2009
Japan September 16, 2009
Rest of Europe September 18, 2009
North America September 22, 2009

References

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  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Suomen virallinen lista[dead link]
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