Behind the Music (album)

For the KJ-52 album, see Behind the Musik (A Boy Named Jonah)

Behind the Music

Studio album by The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Released

12 February 2001 (Europe)
16 January 2002 (UK)
24 September 2002 (U.S.)
24 November 2003 (Australia)

Recorded

Svenska Grammofonstudion and Music-A-Matic, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2000–2001

Genre

Rock

Length

57:33

Label

Telegram Records (Europe)
Hidden Agenda/Universal (US)
In-Fidelity Recordings (Australia)

Producer

Ebbot Lundberg with Johan Forsman

The Soundtrack of Our Lives chronology

Extended Revelation...
(1998)

Behind the Music
(2001)

Origin Vol. 1
(2004)

Singles from Behind the Music

"Still Aging"
Released: 2001
"Nevermore"
Released: 2001
"Sister Surround"
Released: 13 May 2002 (UK)
"21st Century Rip Off"
Released: 9 September 2002 (UK)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
The Guardian	^[2]
NME	^[3]
Pitchfork Media	^[4]
PopMatters	favourable^[5]
Rolling Stone	^[6]
Spin	^[7]

Behind the Music is the third album by the Swedish rock band The Soundtrack of Our Lives. It was originally released in Europe in February 2001, and subsequently around the world over the next two years. The album was the band's breakthrough record outside their native Sweden, and was nominated for the Best Alternative Album award at the 2003 Grammy Awards. Among their newly found fans was Noel Gallagher, who proclaimed Behind the Music to be "the best album to come out in the last six years"^[4] and invited The Soundtrack of Our Lives to join on Oasis's UK and European tour in 2002.

The front cover features alginate masks of the faces of the six band members, cast by Swedish artists Per Svensson and Anna Strid. Svensson and the group's frontman Ebbot Lundberg had previously collaborated in an experimental sound and art project called 'Audio Laboratory'.^[8]

Track listing

"Infra Riot" (Lundberg/Bärjed/Gustafsson) – 4:45
"Sister Surround" (Lundberg/Bärjed) – 3:35
"In Someone Else's Mind" (Lundberg/Bärjed) – 2:45
"Mind the Gap" (Lundberg/Person) – 4:21
"Broken Imaginary Time" (Gustafsson) – 5:14
"21st Century Rip Off" (Lundberg/Person) – 3:56
"Tonight" (Lundberg/Hederos) – 3:42
"Keep the Line Movin'" (Lundberg/Person) – 2:47
"Nevermore" (Lundberg/Bärjed/Olsson) – 3:21
"Independent Luxury" (Lundberg/Bärjed) – 3:59
"Ten Years Ahead" (Lundberg/Bärjed) – 2:51
"Still Aging" (Lundberg/Person) – 3:52
"In Your Veins" (Lundberg/Person) – 4:22
"The Flood" (Lundberg/Person) – 2:47
"Into the Next Sun" (Lundberg/Bärjed) – 5:06

Bonus Future Excerpts EP

"We're Gonna Get It Right" – 4:01
"Can't Control Myself" – 3:18
"Slow Drift Away" – 2:51
"Hang Ten" – 4:37
"We'll Get By" – 1:59

This special limited edition bonus EP came bundled with the original release, and later appeared with special tour editions of the album in some territories. All five tracks of the EP appeared later on A Present from the Past.

Personnel

Mattias Bärjed – guitar, backing vocals, slide echoes and "additional instruments that makes us too pretentious to mention"
Åke Karl Kalle Gustafsson – bass, backing vocals, double bass violin and cembalo
Martin Hederos – piano, Mellotron, organ, backing vocals and string arrangement
Ebbot Lundberg – lead vocals, sitar, harmonica and dulcimer
Ian Person – guitar, backing vocals, percussion, Spanish sound effects and space slide
Fredrik Sandsten – drums, percussion and spiritual guidance

Additional personnel

Arpad Carlesäter – handclaps on "Independent Luxury"
Eva-Tea Lundberg – horns
Martin Wingate, John Löfgren, Märja Tokkola, Sigvard Järrebring and Kajsa Ivars – string quintet
Salmaan Rasa – tablas on "Can't Control Myself"

References