April Rain
| April Rain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Delain | ||||
| Released | 20 March 2009 | |||
| Recorded | September - November 2008 | |||
| Studio |
Jacob Hansen Studios, Ribe, Denmark, SpaceLab Studios, Grefrath, Germany, Excess Studios, Rotterdam, Netherlands | |||
| Genre | Symphonic metal | |||
| Length | 45:30 | |||
| Label | Roadrunner | |||
| Producer | Martijn Westerholt, Oliver Philipps | |||
| Delain chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from April Rain | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |    [1] |
| AllMusic | [2] |
| Lords of Metal | (94/100)[3] |
| Metal Underground | [4] |
| Rock Sound | [5] |
April Rain is the second full-length album by the Dutch symphonic metal band, Delain. It was released in the Benelux on 20 March 2009[6] and was released internationally on 30 March 2009 by Roadrunner Records. It was released in Australia on 10 April 2009.
History
Martijn Westerholt, founder of Delain, originally did not intend Delain to be a live band. But after the success of debut album Lucidity a live band was created which recorded the album April Rain. While Delain's previous album Lucidity featured many guest appearances, this album has only two: Maria Ahn, cellist from the Ahn Trio and Finnish singer Marco Hietala, who was featured on multiple tracks of Lucidity as well. "Virtue and Vice" is the only song on April Rain containing death growls performed by guitarist Ronald Landa, who also contributes clean vocals on "Invidia".
Demo versions of "Stay Forever" and "Start Swimming" were already played live by Delain in 2007 and 2008. In November 2008, a version of the song "I'll Reach You" with alternate lyrics was performed live on a Dutch TV show to get attention for UNICEF & BT's "Inspiring Young Minds" charity.
The original release date for the album was 9 February 2009, but in January it was announced that the release was postponed to coincide with foreign release dates.
In February 2009, "April Rain" was revealed to be the first single from this album when it became available for purchase online.[7]
On 13 March 2009, the Dutch website of Roadrunner Records put the entire album up for streaming, only available to residents of the Netherlands.
In October 2009, "Stay Forever" was announced as the second single from the album.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "April Rain" | Charlotte Wessels | Martijn Westerholt | 4:36 |
| 2. | "Stay Forever" | Ronald Landa, Wessels | Westerholt, Landa | 4:26 |
| 3. | "Invidia" | Wessels | Westerholt | 3:47 |
| 4. | "Control the Storm" (featuring Marco Hietala) | Wessels | Guus Eikens | 4:12 |
| 5. | "On the Other Side" | Wessels | Eikens | 4:09 |
| 6. | "Virtue and Vice" | Landa, Wessels | Westerholt | 3:55 |
| 7. | "Go Away" | Eikens, Wessels | Westerholt, Eikens | 3:35 |
| 8. | "Start Swimming" | Wessels | Rob van der Loo | 5:19 |
| 9. | "Lost" | Wessels | Westerholt | 3:23 |
| 10. | "I'll Reach You" | Wessels | Westerholt, Eikens, Wessels | 3:29 |
| 11. | "Nothing Left" (featuring Marco Hietala) | Wessels | Westerholt | 4:39 |
| Bonus tracks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
| 12. | "Come Closer" (American, Digipak and Japanese editions bonus track) | Wessels | Westerholt | 4:30 |
| 13. | "No Compliance" (Charlotte only vocals, Japanese edition bonus track) | Westerholt | Westerholt | 5:09 |
| Special MP3 Edition track listing[8] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "April Rain" | 4:37 | |
| 2. | "Stay Forever" | 4:27 | |
| 3. | "Invidia" | 3:49 | |
| 4. | "Control the Storm" (featuring Marco Hietala) | 4:14 | |
| 5. | "On the Other Side" | 4:11 | |
| 6. | "Virtue and Vice" | 3:56 | |
| 7. | "Go Away" | 3:38 | |
| 8. | "Start Swimming" | 5:21 | |
| 9. | "Lost" | 3:24 | |
| 10. | "I'll Reach You" | 3:30 | |
| 11. | "Nothing Left" (featuring Marco Hietala) | 4:42 | |
| 12. | "The Gathering" (live) | Eikens | 11:50 |
| 13. | "Silhouette of a Dancer" (live) | Westerholt, Jan Yrlund, Wessels | 5:46 |
Personnel
Delain
- Charlotte Wessels - vocals
- Ronald Landa - guitars, vocals on track 3 and 6
- Martijn Westerholt - keyboards, producer
- Rob van der Loo - bass guitar
- Sander Zoer - drums
Guest musicians
- Marco Hietala - vocals on tracks 4 and 11
- Maria Ahn - cello on tracks 5 and 6
Session musicians
- Guus Eikens - guitars on tracks 4, 5, 6 and 8
- Oliver Philipps - guitar solos on all tracks except 6, orchestral arrangements, co-producer
Production
- Jacob Hansen - mixing
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Alternative Top 30[9] | 1 |
| Dutch Album Top 100[10] | 14 |
| French Albums Chart[11] | 88 |
| Swiss Albums Chart[12] | 91 |
| German Albums Chart[13] | 96 |
| Oricon Japanese Album Chart[14] | 127 |
References
- ↑ Bowar, Chad. "Delain - 'April Rain'". Heavy Metal. About.com. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ Raggett, Ned. "Delain - April Rain review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ Arntz, Winston. "Delain - April Rain". Lords of Metal.nl. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ "Delain - April Rain (CD)". Metal Underground.com. 27 July 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ Moorehouse, Giles (24 January 2010). "Delain - April Rain". Rock Sound.tv. Rock Sound. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ "Delain Discography". Delain Official Website. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ "Delain Discography - Singles". Delain Official Website. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ "April Rain (Special Edition)". Play.com. Rakuten. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ "Dutch Alternative Top 30". Dutch Charts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ "Delain - April Rain (album)". Dutch Charts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ "Delain - April Rain (album)". Lescharts.com (in French). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ "Delain - April Rain". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ "Album - Delain, April Rain". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ↑ ディレインのアルバム売り上げランキング (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 8 April 2014.