Sounds of a Playground Fading

Sounds of a Playground Fading is the tenth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released on 15 June 2011.^[8] It is the first album recorded by In Flames without founding guitarist Jesper Strömblad, who left the band in February 2010,^[9] making it also the only In Flames release not to have two guitarists. The album was reissued in 2014, featuring five additional tracks.^[10]

Sounds of a Playground Fading
Studio album by In Flames
Released	15 June 2011 (2011-06-15) (see release dates)
Recorded	11 October 2010 – 25 January 2011
Studio	IF Studios, Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre	Alternative metal
Length	53:58
Label	Century Media, Razzia
Producer	Roberto Laghi, Anders Fridén
In Flames chronology
A Sense of Purpose (2008) Sounds of a Playground Fading (2011) Siren Charms (2014)
Singles from Sounds of a Playground Fading
"Deliver Us" Released: 7 May 2011 "Where the Dead Ships Dwell" Released: 14 November 2011 "Ropes" Released: 5 February 2013

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	68/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Kerrang!	[3]
Metal Hammer	[4]
Metal Storm	[5]
Sputnikmusic	[6]
Earshot.at	[7]

Background

According to Anders, this album features increasingly wide vocal registers and reduced growls.^[11] In addition, some of the album's songs "pretty much go against the hard rock formula."^[8]

The entire album was written by Björn Gelotte. The guitar solos, unlike most other albums, were able to be pre-planned out and worked much better according to the in-studio report.

Release and promotion

The band revealed the cover art, track listing and first single, "Deliver Us", on their official Facebook page in April and May 2011. Then on 3 June 2011, aol.com streamed the entire album on their music network.^[12] In Flames performed the album on their European tour with support from Noctiferia,^[13] as part of the "Defenders of the Faith III" tour, with bands Trivium, Rise to Remain, Ghost and Insense,^[14] and with Trivium in their North American Tour.^[15]

Four music videos were filmed including the lead single "Deliver Us"^[16] and "Where the Dead Ships Dwell"^[17] both released in 2011 while "Ropes"^[18] and "Sounds of a Playground Fading"^[19] were also filmed but not released until 2013.

The track "Deliver Us" was featured in the soundtrack to the 2013 video game Saints Row IV.

Reception

Sounds of a Playground Fading received generally positive reviews. Review aggregate website Metacritic gave the album a 68 out of 100 based on six professional critics.^[1]

Commercial performance

Sounds of a Playground Fading debuted at number 27 on the US Billboard 200 album chart,^[20] number 2 on the Top Hard Rock chart,^[21] number 7 on the Top Rock chart, and number 5 on the Top Independent chart.^[22] It also debuted at number 1 of the Media Control German Albums chart,^[23] and at number 12 of the Billboard Canadian Albums chart.^[24]

Track listing

All music written by Björn Gelotte and all lyrics by Anders Fridén. All songs arranged by In Flames.^[25]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sounds of a Playground Fading"	4:44
2.	"Deliver Us"	3:31
3.	"All for Me"	4:31
4.	"The Puzzle"	4:34
5.	"Fear Is the Weakness"	4:07
6.	"Where the Dead Ships Dwell"	4:27
7.	"The Attic"	3:18
8.	"Darker Times"	3:25
9.	"Ropes"	3:42
10.	"Enter Tragedy"	3:59
11.	"Jester's Door"	2:38
12.	"A New Dawn"	5:52
13.	"Liberation"	5:10
Total length:		53:58

Japanese edition

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Deliver Us (Instrumental Version)"	3:31
Total length:		57:29

iTunes deluxe edition

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Deliver Us" (music video)	3:31
14.	"Darker Times (Eagleclaw Remix)"	5:45
Total length:		59:43

Deluxe edition DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Recording 'Sounds of a Playground Fading'" (studio report)	27:28

2014 reissue

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Darker Times (Eagleclaw Remix)"	5:45
15.	"The Puzzle (Big Chocolate Remix)"	3:43
16.	"Where the Dead Ships Dwell (Casper Remix)"	4:05
17.	"Where the Dead Ships Dwell (The Qemists Remix)"	5:12
18.	"Where the Dead Ships Dwell (Kristof Bathory – Dawn of Ashes Remix)"	4:46
Total length:		77:29

Personnel

In Flames

• Anders Fridén – vocals
• Björn Gelotte – guitar
• Peter Iwers – bass
• Daniel Svensson – drums, percussion
• Niclas Engelin – guitar (credit only)

Production

• Anders Björler – filming, editing and directing ("In the Studio"/studio report)
• Johannes Bergion – cello on "A New Dawn"
• Roberto Laghi – producer
• Örjan Örnkloo – keyboards and samples
• Dave Correia – album cover art

Charts

Chart performance for Sounds of a Playground Fading

Chart (2011)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[26]	50
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[27]	6
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28]	73
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[29]	53
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[24]	12
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[30]	24
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[31]	4
French Albums (SNEP)[32]	47
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23]	1
Italian Albums (FIMI)[33]	67
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[34]	10
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[35]	24
Scottish Albums (OCC)[36]	82
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[37]	41
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[38]	2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[39]	12
UK Albums (OCC)[40]	74
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[41]	6
US Billboard 200[20]	27
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[21]	2
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[22]	5
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[42]	12
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[43]	7

Release dates

Region	Date
Sweden	15 June 2011 (2011-06-15)
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway[44]	17 June 2011 (2011-06-17)
Europe (excluding Spain, Italy, Finland, Hungary)[44]	20 June 2011 (2011-06-20)
North America, Spain, Italy[44]	21 June 2011 (2011-06-21)
Finland, Hungary[44]	22 June 2011 (2011-06-22)
Australia, New Zealand[44]	24 June 2011 (2011-06-24)