| Poets of the Fall | |
|---|---|
Poets of the Fall performing at Columbia Club in Berlin on 24 April 2008 – left to right: Tukiainen, Snellman, Saaresto, Mäkinen |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Helsinki, Finland |
| Genres | Alternative rock, Alternative Metal, Post-grunge |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | Insomniac |
| Associated acts | Old Gods of Asgard, Phoenix Effect, Playground, Pohjoinen Syke |
| Website | www.poetsofthefall.com |
| Members | |
| Markus Kaarlonen Marko Saaresto Olli Tukiainen |
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Poets of the Fall (POTF) is a rock band from Finland. It consists of Marko Saaresto (lead vocals), Olli Tukiainen (lead guitar) and Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen (keyboards, production).[1] On tour the band is supported by Jani Snellman (bass guitar), Jaska Mäkinen (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) and Jari Salminen (drums, percussion).
The band has sold over 100,000 albums in Finland.[2]
Contents |
The band was founded in 2003 with the collaboration of Saaresto and Tukiainen who had written multiple songs for Saaresto's previous band Playground and performed with Finnish jazzband Pohjoinen Syke previously.
In 2003, Saaresto's friend Sami Järvi, a script-writer working at Remedy Entertainment handed Saaresto a poem he had written, asking him to turn it into a song to use in Remedy's upcoming action game Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. The song, entitled Late Goodbye, was used as the ending-theme of the game as well as a recurring motif, being sung and whistled by multiple characters. It was produced by Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen, who joined the band shortly after due to Saaresto and Tukiainen liking his work.[3]
Kaarlonen being a former employee of benchmark-developer Futuremark, POTF were offered to have their song Lift included in the 2005-literation of Futuremark's benchmarking-software 3DMark, which exposed the band to a wider audience than Max Payne 2 had done.
In order to keep complete control and freedom over the band, the members founded their own independent record label, named Insomniac, on which they have released all their CDs as of now.
On 30 June 2004, the Poets released their debut single Late Goodbye in Finland which was followed by Lift on 9 September 2004.[4][5] The songs reached ranks 14 and 8 on the Finnish single charts and ranks 2 and 7 in YleX's 2004-voting for "Best Finnish song". POTF were also voted "Fresh Newcomer of 2004" by Ylex.[6] The videos for both songs were directed by Tuomas "Stobe" Harju. POTF performed at Popkomm 2005 in Berlin.[7]
On 18 December 2004, the Poets released a free download single on their website entitled Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day to market the release of their debut album Signs of Life.[8] After having been taken offline, it was remastered and reissued on the band's second album Carnival of Rust.
The band's debut album Signs of Life was released in Finland on 19 January 2005, followed by iTunes on 25 May 2005.[9] It entered the Finnish Top 40 album chart at number one and has been certified platinum by the Finish IFPI.[2] The album was awarded the Emma Award for the "Best Debut Album of the Year 2005" and the band received the "Best Newcomer of the Year"-Award.[10]
Accompanying the album, the band released a video for the song Lift, directed by Tuomas "Stobe" Harju, and used the songs Stay and Illusion and Dream as promotional radio singles.[11] The album contains a password granting access to a secret page on poetsofthefall.com that hosts a remix of the song Lift, entitled "Dramadance Remix" as well as wallpapers made from the Lift-video and the album-artwork.
The title Signs of Life is a reference to the Pink Floyd-instrumental of the same name released in 1987.
Having won the "Best Finnish Breakthrough"-Award at the NRJ Radio Awards, POTF released their third single, entitled Carnival of Rust in Finland on 22 March 2006 with a release in Germany following on 1 December 2006.[12][13] The single, which entered the Finnish charts at No. 2, features a radio- and an album-edit as well as a live-recording of Don't Mess With Me, the fourth track on Signs of Life, from the band's performance at Rockperry Festival, Vaasa, Finland on 15 July 2005.[14]
On 30 March 2006, the band released the video to Carnival of Rust which shows a gas-masked woman visiting an old carnival, and also references every song from the band's second album of the same name, became hugely popular in Finland, winning two Muuvi Awards as well as the YLE Audience Choice Award as "Best Finnish Music Video of All Time". It was also voted "Best Music Video 2006" by The Voice.[15][16][17] In 2009, the video was remastered by Elmeri Raitanen as his bachelor-thesis in visual and media arts at Lahti institute of Design and reissued in high definition.[18]
The Poets' second album Carnival of Rust was released in Finland on 12 April 2006 and has since been released in Sweden, Australia, Ukraine, Russia, Germany and on iTunes.[19][20][21][22] It includes 11 new songs, a remastered version of Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day, as well as the music video to the title track.[23] The cover, which sees the return of the lollipop from the first album, was designed by Tuomas Harju.
Carnival of Rust also went straight to No. 1 on the Finnish charts.[24] It has been certified platinum.[2] It was selected as one of the best albums 2006 by Finland's largest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, and was nominated for "Best Finnish Album" at the NRJ Radio Awards as well as "Best Rock Album" at the Emma Awards in 2007.[25][26][27]
In 2008, POTF redesigned their moth-logo and also changed the font used to display their bandname. They also participated in the Voice's CD compilation Livenä Vieraissa, with a cover version of Chris Cornell's song You Know My Name, and their own song Diamonds for Tears.[28] In the same year, POTF signed Phoenix Effect, the band of former Sunrise Avenue-guitarist Janne Kärkkäinen to their Insomniac-label and produced their debut album Cyanide Skies with Saaresto / Tukiainen performing additional vocals / guitar work. The album was released on 18 February 2009 in Finland and entered the Finnish album charts at #22.[29][30] POTF also make a cameo-appearance in the video to Phoenix Effect's song King See No Evil.
Poets of the Fall released their next single called The Ultimate Fling in Finland on 6 February 2008.[31] The single features three variations of the title track (a radio-edit, an album-edit and an impromptu-version) as well as a live recording of Fire, the opening track of the band's second album Carnival of Rust which was recorded during the Poets' performance at Ankkarock Festival 2007 on 5 August.[23][32] The single charted at No. 2 in the Finnish singles charts.[33] Months after the release of the single, the band published the accompanying video which consists of fan-recorded footage of the band performing at various gigs.
The third POTF-album, entitled Revolution Roulette, was released in Finland and on iTunes on 26 March 2008. Its cover was designed by Tuomas Harju and features a giant padlock with a built-in roulette, abandoning the lolipop used on the previous album-covers. The record marks the first POTF-album not produced in Markus Kaarlonen's living-room, but the band's own professional studio. It went straight to the top of the Finnish charts and was certified gold two weeks after being released.[34] The band also released the title track of the album as a promotional radio-single.[23] Revolution Roulette is currently the only POTF album that has not been released physically outside Finland. While on tour with the album, the band played their first gig in the United States at Musexpo 2008 in Los Angeles on 29 April.[35]
On 18 September 2009, the band released a "Best of"-compilation in India.[36]
In mid-2009, after finishing the Revolution Roulette-tour, the band announced they would be heading into the studio to record their fourth album whose genre they described as "cinematic rock".[37] On 9 December 2009, the band announced that a song entitled War from their fourth studio album would be featured in Alan Wake, a psychological thriller video game developed by Remedy Entertainment. Along with War, Alan Wake also features two new songs, Children of the Elder God and The Poet and The Muse, which were written specifically for the game and are performed by Poets of the Fall as the in-game band "Old Gods of Asgard". In June, the band released a video for War (despite it being only a promotional single on radio) which reenacts live-action scenes from the game. It features Finnish actor Ilkka Villi as the game's protagonist of the same name (Villi also served as the model used for the creation of the character) and the band, except Saaresto, who portray Alan Wake's in-game antagonists, lumberjacks possessed by an evil force named "The Dark Presence", called "The Taken".
On 18 January, the band announced that their fourth album entitled Twilight Theater would be released on 17 March in Finland and that the first single from the album would be Dreaming Wide Awake which debuted on Radio NRJ Suomi on 21 January and was released on 3 February as a limited-edition single. It reached No. 18 on the Finnish single-charts.[38][39]
Twilight Theater was released in Finland and on iTunes on 17 March, followed by Germany, Austria and Switzerland on 29 October. It went straight to the top of the Finnish album charts and was certified gold a week after release.[40][41]
The band released a double-vinyl edition of their debut album Signs of Life on 19 January 2011, exactly six years after its original release.[42] A CD&DVD-compilation entitled Alchemy Vol.1 was released on 16 March 2011. It contains the band's whole videography as well as the favourite songs of the band-members and also features two new songs, No End, No Beginning and Can You Hear Me. The latter was released digitally on 2 February 2011 and is featured in the remake of Remedy Entertainment's video-game Death Rally.[43] The video to the song was directed by Mikko Harma and premiered on The Voice on 18 March 2011.[44]
A fifth studio album is also in pre-production, scheduled for release in spring 2012 to conform to the release-cycle of two years set by the previous albums.
| Year | Album | Release | Charts | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Signs of Life | 19 January 2005 (Finland) 25 May 2005 (iTunes)[45] 19 January 2011 (Limited Edition Vinyl – official webshop)[46] |
#1 (Finland)[47] | IFPI certification: Platinum[2] |
| 2006 | Carnival of Rust | 12 April 2006 (Finland, iTunes)[48] 12 September 2006 (Sweden)[20] 6 October 2006 (Australia, Russia, Ukraine)[21] 20 April 2007 (Germany)[22] |
#1 (Finland)[24] | IFPI certification: Platinum[2] |
| 2008 | Revolution Roulette | 26 March 2008 (Finland, iTunes)[49][50] |
#1 (Finland)[51] | IFPI certification: Gold[2] |
| 2010 | Twilight Theater | 17 March 2010 (Finland, iTunes)[52][53] 29 October 2010 (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)[54] |
#1 (Finland)[40] | IFPI certification: Gold[2] |
| Single | Release | Charts |
|---|---|---|
| Late Goodbye | 30 June 2004 (Finland)[4] | #14 (Finland)[55] |
| Lift | 9 September 2004 (Finland)[5] |
#8 (Finland)[57] |
| Carnival of Rust | 22 March 2006 (Finland)[14]
1 December 2006 (Germany)[58] |
#2 (Finland)[59] |
| Sorry Go 'Round (Limited Edition) | 16 August 2006 (Finland)[60] | #7 (Finland)[61] |
| Locking Up the Sun | 29 November 2006 (Finland)[62] | #3 (Finland)[63] |
| The Ultimate Fling | 6 February 2008 (Finland)[31] | No. 2 (Finland)[33] |
| Diamonds for Tears | 21 May 2008 (Finland)[64] | No. 13 (Finland)[65] |
| Dreaming Wide Awake (Limited Edition) | 3 February 2010 (Finland)[39] | No. 18 (Finland)[66] |
| Can You Hear Me | 2 February 2011 (Download)[67] | — |
"*" = refers only to the song, not b-sides etc. featured on the single
| Year | Song | Included on | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Beautiful Ones | Lift | [68] |
| 2011 | Can You Hear Me | Alchemy Vol.1 | [43] |
| No End, No Beginning |
| Compilation | Medium | Release | Charts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best of Poets of the Fall | CD | 18 September 2009 (India)[36] | — |
| Alchemy Vol.1 | CD+DVD | 16 March 2011[43] | #9 (Finland)[69] |
| Song | Original artist | Featured on | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tobacco Road | Dingo | Melkein vieraissa – Nimemme on Dingo | [70] |
| You Know My Name | Chris Cornell | Livenä Vieraissa | [71] |
| Year | Video | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Late Goodbye | Tuomas Harju[72] |
| Lift | ||
| 2006 | Carnival of Rust | |
| Locking Up the Sun | ||
| 2008 | The Ultimate Fling | Sami Mäkelä, Jussi Rautaniemi, Minni Wiitala |
| Diamonds For Tears | Niina Miettinen | |
| 2009 | Carnival of Rust (Special Edition HD Remaster) | Tuomas Harju |
| 2010 | Dreaming Wide Awake | Oskari Sipola |
| War | Aleksi Koskinen, Akseli Tuomivaara[73] | |
| 2011 | Can You Hear Me | Mikko Harma[74] |
| Years | Tour | Countries | Concerts | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–2005 | Signs of Life-Tour | 5 (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden) | 62 | [75] |
| 2006–2007 | Carnival of Rust-Tour | 8 (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Lithuania, Russia, Sweden) | 126 | [32][76] |
| 2008–2009 | Revolution Roulette-Tour | 5 (Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden, United States) | 59 | [77] |
| 2010 | Twilight Theater-Tour | 3 (Finland, Germany, Russia) | 24 | [78] |
| 2011–present | Alchemy-Tour | 4 (Finland, Russia, Ukraine, India) | 5 | [79] |
| Year | Award | Category | Related work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Game Audio Network Guild Awards | Best Original Vocal Song – Pop | Late Goodbye | Won | [80] |
| YleX's "Best of 2004" | Best Finnish Newcomer | Themselves | Won | [6] | |
| Best Finnish Song | Lift | 2nd place | |||
| Late Goodbye | 7th place | ||||
| 2005 | Musiikki & Media Events | Newcomer of '05 | Themselves | Won | [81] |
| Radio City | Album of the Year | Signs of Life | 7th place | [82] | |
| The Voice | Top 106 | Lift | 10th place | [83] | |
| 2006 | NRJ Radio Awards | Best Finnish Breakthrough 2005 | Themselves | Won | [12] |
| Emma Awards | Best Newcomer of the Year | Themselves | Won | [10] | |
| Best Debut Album of the Year | Signs of Life | Won | |||
| MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Finnish Act | Themselves | Won | [84] | |
| The Voice | Best Music Video 2006 | Carnival of Rust | Won | [16][17] | |
| Locking Up the Sun | 12th place | [17] | |||
| YLE Audience Choice Award | Best Finnish Music Video of All Time | Carnival of Rust | Won | [85] | |
| 2007 | NRJ Radio Awards | Best Finnish Band | Themselves | Won | [86] |
| Best Nordic Band | Themselves | Nominated | [27] | ||
| Best Finnish Album | Carnival of Rust | Nominated | [27] | ||
| Muuvi Awards | Bronze Muuvi Award | Carnival of Rust | Won | [16] | |
| Muuvi People's Choice Award | Carnival of Rust | Won | |||
| Emma Awards | Best Rock Album | Carnival of Rust | Nominated | [26] | |
| Helsingin Sanomat | Most Beloved Finnish Rock Song | Late Goodbye | Nominated | [87] | |
| 2011 | Emma Awards | Best Music Video | War | Nominated | [73] |
| Song | Featured in | Type of media | Annotations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Late Goodbye | Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne[88] | video game (Win, PS2, Xbox) | The song serves as the ending theme of the game and was written specifically for it. It is being sung and whistled by multiple characters. |
| Lift | 3DMark 05[89] | benchmarking software | The song is credited as "Lift Me Higher" |
| Locking up the Sun | Heroes | TV-show | Opening theme in Finland |
| Carnival of Rust | Suden Vuosi (The Year of the Wolf)[90] | movie | |
| Themselves | Phoenix Effect – King See No Evil | music video | |
| War | Alan Wake[88] | video game (Xbox 360) | The song serves as the ending theme of episode five (The Clicker). During the episode, it is being played by Pat Maine on his radio show "Bright Falls KBF Radio" during a combat-sequence in a warehouse. The song is also included on the in-game soundtrack. |
| Children of the Elder God | Credited as the fictional in-game band "Old Gods of Asgard". The song was written specifically for the game and can be heard during a combat-sequence taking place during episode four (The Truth), as well as during the beginning of the second downloadable-content-episode named The Writer, which features the song with guitars and vocals edited to sound off key. The original version of the song is included on the in-game soundtrack. | ||
| The Poet and the Muse | Credited as the fictional in-game band "Old Gods of Asgard". The song was written specifically for the game and serves as the ending theme to episode four (The Truth).It is also included on the in-game-, as well as on the Limited-Edition Soundtrack. | ||
| Late Goodbye | The song itself is not included, but referenced in the manuscript-page The Sudden Stop 2 at the beginning of episode two (Taken) | ||
| Themselves | The band can be seen briefly on the Harry Garrett Show which can be watched by turning on the television in Alan Wake's flat at the beginning of episode six (Departure) | ||
| Can You Hear Me | Death Rally[43] | video game (iPhone, iPad) | Song plays during the ending credits of the game. |
| Grinder Blues | Rochard[91] | video game (PSN) | |
| TBA | Alan Wake's American Nightmare[92] | video game (XBLA) |
Media related to Poets of the Fall at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by The Rasmus |
Best Finnish Act 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards |
Succeeded by Negative |
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