We asked some of our favorite musicians to tell us about some of their favorite artists, songs and moments from 2008. Here's what Swedish metalheads In Flames had to say about the year in music.
Favorite album:
Who the hell released albums this year? [Laughs] I think, this is not a metal band but it’s a band called Glasvegas, from Scotland. That is an amazing album. I mean it’s kind of depressing in a way, but to me it’s in an uplifting way. A lot of darkness and sadness in the songs and everything, but to me I find beauty in these things as well. A lot of my friends were like “how can you listen to this stuff?” I love when things go in a new, darker and more depressed stage.
Favorite song:
Well it’s a Glasvegas song I’ve been listening to a lot lately: “Flowers and Football Tops.” It’s really, really beautiful. That’s all I can say. I really like it, especially the ending is f*cking amazing. It’s an almost 7 minute song and from 5 minutes on is like the most beautiful minute of a song I’ve ever heard. That’s an exaggeration, but it’s really nice.
Best new artist:
It’s the same band again, Glasvegas. I found another band called the Becoming the Archetype, they’re really good too.
Best tour memory:
That’s a big blur. We’ve played a few shows, you can say that. Playing our home town festival in front of 15,000 people was really big for us. The festival is called Metal Town and we were the last band out, headlining the whole [thing] and of course there’s the big deal of being in your own home and all these people there. It can also be a disaster, but turned out to be one of the best gigs we’ve done. That was really cool.
Proudest achievement:
I got a little son; that is definitely the biggest achievement. So that was cool.
Any current events addressed on your album:
No, not really.
One thing you learned this year:
Not to call home when you’re drunk. It always turns into a disaster.
Biggest disappointment:
I don’t have any real disappointments really. I left for Gigantour 3 weeks after my son was born which was really hard for me, but it wasn’t really a disappointment. I mean I knew it would happen but that was very, very tough for me -- especially in the middle of that tour, and almost feeling that now. But apart from that, life is what it is and I’m not disappointed about my album or movie or any thing that you can touch.
Most expensive purchase:
Well I bought a car -- that was expensive. An environmental friendly Volvo 350. It cost some money [but] you’ve got to be environmental friendly these days.
One thing you cut back on because of the recession:
You’re talking to a Swedish guy, I don’t know the word recession! When we were touring Europe and were looking into the ticket sales over here, it wasn’t as good in advance as they used to be in the past. But when we got over here, we got a lot of walk-ups instead, so the tour’s actually been really good. I’ve seen in advance how it affects us as a band, but I’ve [also] seen what your economy has done to my economy in Sweden. A lot of savings: stocks and bonds and stuff like that has drastically gone down, which to me sucks. My savings for my future are getting less because of your situation over here, it affects the whole world. It is what it is; if you play the game you got to adapt to it, but still it’s just interesting to see. I think you have to have a lot of patience because it’s not going to happen over a day, and for your new president and everybody expecting a big change to turn around pretty quick, I think it’s a long term plan and I don’t even know if it can change around to what it was.
Resolution for next year:
I wish I could say ‘be home more,’ but I can’t keep that promise, I know that already. We have touring up until this time next year, so it’s going to be a lot but I take it day by day. That’s my philosophy really.
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
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