| The Ark | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Rottne, Växjö, Sweden |
| Genres | Glam rock Pop rock |
| Years active | 1991–2011 |
| Labels | Virgin |
| Website | thearkworld.com |
| Members | |
| Ola Salo Sylvester Schlegel Martin Axén Jepson "Leari" - Lars Ljungberg Jens Andersson |
|
The Ark was a Swedish glam rock band formed in 1991 by Mikael Jepson (better known as "Jepson"), and Lasse ("Leari") Ljungberg, Ola Salo and Leari being only fourteen years old at the time. In 1996 The Ark released an EP featuring four songs, of those "Racing With The Rabbits" being the most known. The EP gained very little success in both critical and commercial sense. Martin Axén officially joined the band in 1997, and Sylvester Schlegel in 1999. In late 2005, Jens Andersson joined The Ark as an official member. He had at that point played live with the band for several years.
Ola salo was the main song-writer of the group and his lyrics have sometimes been seen controversial. For example, the 2002 single "Father of a Son" is about homosexuals’ right to adopt. In October 2006, the band was criticized by members of the U.S. public for some controversial comments referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks that were apparently part of the joking banter between songs as the band performed at the opening festivities for the new Swedish embassy in Washington, D.C. [1]
The Ark participated in a bunch of top festival all over the countries where its music has been spread, and was the only band ever who performed at Hultsfred's festival - the most important summer festival of the entire northern Europe - each year of career. The Ark also performed in the Melodifestivalen 2007 with the song "The Worrying Kind". The song won the contest after capturing both the popular vote and the jury's vote. The song was Sweden’s Eurovision Song Contest 2007 entry, and is also included in The Ark’s fourth album Prayer for the Weekend, released in April 2007. Despite being a bookmaker favorite, it finished in 18th place (out of 24)
In 2006 The Ark toured the UK acting as the warm-up band for The Darkness.
"One of Us Is Gonna Die Young" was used in the 2007 snowboarding video, "Picture This" from Mack Dawg Productions for Seth Huot and Andreas Wiig's video part, also was it used for the Sam Blenkinsop and Philip Polc Section of the FOX Racing Shox 2007 Sequel. "Let Your Body Decide" was used in the 2010 film 'Super' starring Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page. Their all time hit remains being the 2000's manifesto for one's freedom in life, "It Takes A Fool To Remain Sane". It gained massive radio play especially in Sweden and Italy.
On December 8, 2010 the band announced that they would be breaking up after the release of their greatest hits compilation, Arkeology, and the following spring and summer tours. Arkeology contained two new songs, "Breaking Up With God" and "The Apocalypse Is Over". The Ark won numerous awards during their 20 years together and were lauded as the most successful Swedish band since ABBA, even being recognized by MTV as the most influential northern group of the last 10 years. Ola Salo and Jepson appeared once in Expressen, a Swedish newspaper, where they were referred to as two of the 10 most important personalities in Scandinavia.[1] They made their last concert at the amusement park Gröna Lund in Stockholm 16th of September 2011. The crowd was counted up to around 5.000 people and doors had to be closed long before the concert started.
Contents |
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [2] |
NOR [3] |
FIN [4] |
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| 2000 | We Are the Ark
|
1 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | In Lust We Trust
|
1 | 18 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | State of The Ark
|
1 | — | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Prayer for the Weekend
|
1 | — | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | In Full Regalia
|
2 | — | 12 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Arkeology: The Complete Singles Collection
|
3 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Title | Album | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [2] |
SWE Tracks [5] |
SWE Svensk toppen [6] |
ITA [7] |
GER [8] |
UK [9] |
|||||||||||||||
| 2000 | "Let Your Body Decide" | We Are The Ark | — | 9 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "It Takes a Fool to Remain Sane" | 7 | 1 | — | 4 | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| "Echo Chamber" | 42 | 7 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| 2001 | "Joy Surrender" | 23 | 3 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | "Let Your Body Decide" (International Version) | 59 | — | — | 15 | — | — | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | "Calleth You, Cometh I" | In Lust We Trust | 2 | 1 | — | 10 | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "Father of a Son" | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| "Tell Me This Night Is Over" | 28 | 5 | 10 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| 2003 | "Disease" | — | 5 | 12 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | "One of Us Is Gonna Die Young" | State of The Ark | 4 | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| 2005 | "Clamour for Glamour" | 10 | 3 | 13 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "Trust Is Shareware" | — | 11 | 11 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| "Deliver Us from Free Will" [P] | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | "Absolutely No Decorum" | Prayer for the Weekend | 26 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "The Worrying Kind" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 34 | 99 | 121 | ||||||||||||||
| "Gimme Love To Give" [D] | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| "Prayer for the Weekend" | 15 | 3 | 3 | 32 | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| "Little Dysfunk You" | 58 | 2 | 9 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| 2010 | "Superstar" | In Full Regalia | 33 | 2 | 9 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "Stay With Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | "Breaking Up With God" | Arkeology | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "The Apocalypse Is Over" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
| Title | Director(s) | Date |
|---|---|---|
| "Flower King" | Stefan Berg | 1994 |
| "It Takes a Fool to Remain Sane" | Magnus Rösman | 2000 |
| "Echo Chamber" | Johan Perjus | 2000 |
| "Joy Surrender" | Markus Johnson | 2001 |
| "Let Your Body Decide" | Mikeadelica | 2001 |
| "Calleth You, Cometh I" (swedish version) | ? | 2002 |
| "Calleth You, Cometh I" (international version) | Amir Chamdin | 2002 |
| "Father of a Son" | Amir Chamdin | August 2002 |
| "Tell Me This Night Is Over" | Amir Chamdin | 2002 |
| "One of Us Is Gonna Die Young" (swedish version) | RBG6 | 20 November 2004 |
| "Clamour for Glamour" | RBG6 | 14 March 2005 |
| "One of Us Is Gonna Die Young" (international version) | Magnus Rösman | June 2006 |
| "The Worrying Kind" | Magnus Rösman | April 2007 |
| "Prayer for the Weekend" | Magnus Renfors | June 2007 |
| "Superstar" | ? | April 2010 |
| Preceded by Carola |
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 |
Succeeded by Charlotte Perrelli |
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