The_Days_of_Grays
The Days of Grays
2009 studio album by Sonata Arctica
The Days of Grays is the sixth full-length studio album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. The album was released in South America on 8 September 2009, on 16 September in Finland, 18 September in Europe and 22 September 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]
| The Days of Grays | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 8 September 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 | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from The Days of Grays | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Lords of Metal | 62/100[2] |
| The Metal Circus |   [3] |
| Metal Storm | [4] |
| Metal Symphony |  [5] |
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.
Sonata Arctica keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg described the album as:
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 26 August. 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]
The track "Juliet" continues the so called Caleb saga, a series of songs that started on Silence's "The End of This Chapter", was continued on Reckoning Night's "Don't Say a Word", Unia's "Caleb" and would be later continued on The Ninth Hour's "Till Death's Done Us Apart"[12] and Talviyö's "The Last of the Lambs".[13]
"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.
All music by Tony Kakko except "Nothing More" by Henrik Klingenberg, all lyrics by Tony Kakko, songs arranged by Sonata Arctica.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Everything Fades to Gray (Instrumental)" | 3:06 |
| 2. | "Deathaura"
| 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 | |
All tracks are written by Tony Kakko
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "In the Dark" | 5:21 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Deathaura" | 7:56 |
| 2. | "The Last Amazing Grays" | 5:10 |
| 3. | "Flag in the Ground" | 3:55 |
| 4. | "Juliet" | 6:02 |
| 5. | "As If the World Wasn't Ending" | 3:56 |
| 6. | "The Truth Is Out There" | 5:06 |
| 7. | "In the Dark" | 5:22 |
| Total length: | 37:27 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "In My Eyes You're a Giant" | 4:42 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Nothing More" | 3:55 |
| 14. | "In My Eyes You're a Giant" | 4:42 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Paid in Full (Live in France)" | 4:26 |
| 2. | "Black Sheep (Live in Italy)" | 5:56 |
| 3. | "Draw Me (Live in Switzerland)" | 4:06 |
| 4. | "It Won't Fade (Live in France)" | 6:22 |
| 5. | "Replica (Live in Switzerland)" | 4:38 |
| 6. | "Don't Say a Word (Live in Switzerland)" | 6:08 |
| Total length: | 32:06 | |
- Tony Kakko – vocals, additional keyboards
- Elias Viljanen – guitar
- Marko Paasikoski – bass guitar
- Henrik Klingenberg – keyboards, Hammond
- Tommy Portimo – drums
- Johanna Kurkela – female vocals (on 2, 9)
- Perttu Kivilaakso (Apocalyptica) – Cello (on 1, 6, 11, 12 and "In My Eyes You're a Giant")
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] | 52 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] | 96 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] | 50 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[19] | 2 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[20] | 41 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] | 24 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[22] | 56 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[23] | 40 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[24] | 31 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] | 26 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[26] | Gold | 17,807[26] |
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| South America | 8 September 2009 |
| Finland | 16 September 2009 |
| Japan | 16 September 2009 |
| Rest of Europe | 18 September 2009 |
| North America | 22 September 2009 |
- "The Days of Grays - Sonata Arctica | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
- "Sonata Arctica - The Days Of Grays | Review | Lords Of Metal metal E-zine - issue 95". Lordsofmetal.nl. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- themetalcircus.com. "SONATA ARCTICA - The Days of Grays". The Metal Circus. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- "Sonata Arctica - The Days Of Grays - Metal Storm". Metalstorm.ee. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- Metal Symphony. "Sonata Arctica: The Days of Grays // Nuclear Blast ( PIAS Music )". Metal Symphony. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- "Sonata Arctica: New Album Details Revealed". blabbermouth.net. July 9, 2009. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- "SONATA ARCTICA | The days of grays - Nuclear Blast". Nuclearblast.de. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- "Sonata Arctica | Official website". Sonataarctica.info. 2009-09-18. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- "Sonata Artica Lets Fans Design Cover Artwork". blabbermouth.net. July 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
- "Winner of Artwork Contest". SonataArctica.info. August 18, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
- "INTERVIEW Tony Kakko, chanteur de Sonata Arctica". La Grosse Radio. August 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- "Sonata Arctica reveals details about Finnish Tour 2018". Sonata Arctica's official Facebook page. Facebook. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- Giffin, Brian (3 September 2019). "SONATA ARCTICA // A Little Understanding". Hysteria Magazine. Hysteria Media PTY LTD. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
- "The Days Of Grays Sonata Arctica [CD]". Cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- "The Days Of Grays Japan Limited Edition van Tony Kakko Fan Page JPN op Myspace". Blogs.myspace.com. 2009-08-23. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- "Austriancharts.at – Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "Ultratop.be – Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "Dutchcharts.nl – Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "Sonata Arctica: The Days of Grays" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "Lescharts.com – Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "Offiziellecharts.de – Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "Italiancharts.com – Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "ザ・デイズ・オヴ・グレイズ". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "Swedishcharts.com – Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "Swisscharts.com – Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "Sonata Arctica" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.