Soundtrack to Your Escape

In Flames | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 6, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nuclear Blast Americ
• ASIN: B0001HOYEU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (262 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,999 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Although In Flames have still yet to achieve great success in North America, the Swedish band, over the past decade, has become one of the most revered, yet highly scrutinized metal acts in the world. With as many high quality releases as the band has put out, the fans demand excellence every time out, and with Soundtrack to Your Escape, In Flames continue to hold up their end of the bargain. Nuclear Blast. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Experimental, underated, different., December 3, 2006

By 

Scott N. Pardo "Sepulnutt987" (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soundtrack to Your Escape (Audio CD)

First off let me say just listen to this album yourself from a friend or through buying it or w/e before making an opinion about it. This album along with Reroute to Remain took a lot of trash from old school In Flames fans who felt that In Flames sold out with this album. While I cannot deny the elements of sell out within their newer music neither can I deny the blant fact that they were looking to make something new not Jester Race 2 or Clayman 2 and also they went somewhat experimental. This album is most certainly not like their older work yes melody is still here for sure but the instrumentals have taken a backseat I would say or sort of share the spotlight with Anders vocals. The album has some killer tracks and then lacks in others. Listen for yourself one things for certain its a change from their older work but it is still deff good music however deff not something I listen to a whole lot. But still good the polished production is at times very very lovely and at other times just annoying. I personally liked the album and thought it was good. Its just not a mind blowing classical like their earlier releases. Lets leave it at this, In Flames will be remembered for Jester Race, Whoracle and not this album but that doesnt mean this isnt still good music.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars F(r)iend, July 22, 2005

By 

M-Life (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soundtrack to Your Escape (Audio CD)

Apparently some people can never deal with the fact that some bands actually try to evolve their sound over time (no I'm not talking about Metallica - Load). I've been a fan of In Flames for 4 years now, and I still think every one of their albums deserves at least 4 stars.

STYE is a continuation of what the band tried with RTR. Nu-metal? Hardly. For one, it doesn't suck like any of the crap I hear on the radio here in the U.S., but I do have to admit it does have some "nu-metal" type elements. These aren't exactly bad, they add to the music. After all, who said nu-metal couldn't be done "right"?

This whole Korn comparison is complete BS too. I'd like to see Head (now left Korn because he found Jesus) or Munky write interludes of the same calibre Jesper and Bjorn can still write. And if you're complaining about Anders' vocals, apparently you didn't hear him on Clayman or RTR. His current vocal style has been in-development for quite a few years now. There should be no surprises here!

All-in-all, STYE is an album that has grown on me as another reviewer put it. Like many, I was skeptical of In Flames' "newer" sound, but it's still far superior to anything Korn, Linkin Park, System of A Down, (insert any crappy nu-metal band's name here) can come up with.

STYE may not be their most solid effort, but it's still a good listen. If you can listen to this album with an open mind and not long for the days of Jester Race or Whoracle (2 very high-quality albums), then you should be able to enjoy it. Otherwise face it people, the In Flames of the "old" era don't seem to be coming back. If you can't deal with that, either stop listening or stop complaining!

Best Songs: Evil In A Closet, Like You Better Dead

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In Flames - Soundtrack To Your Escape, April 11, 2004

By 

Metal-Rules.com - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soundtrack to Your Escape (Audio CD)

Well, well, well...it's been 2 short years since In Flames graced the metal community with REROUTE TO REMAIN. In that time, the album has become one of the most reviled, mocked and generally slandered releases to come from a band who once were held in the highest regard. At The Gates and In Flames set the standard for European melodic death and with the former's quick demise in the mid-90s, In Flames soldiered on, carrying the torch and blessing metalhead's ears with such landmark releases as THE JESTER RACE and WHORACLE. Then something changed. The band decided to lean more towards the melodic than the death beginning with 1998's COLONY and by the time REROUTE TO REMAIN came out, they were almost a shadow of their former selves. The band had embraced some of the worst elements of the North American nu-metal movement causing many of their fans to turn on them, and metal in general used the CD as a punchline. It looked as if In Flames had, indeed, been snuffed out.

With their new CD, SOUNDTRACK TO YOUR ESCAPE, expectations are higher than ever leaving many to wonder if the band will finally listen to their critics (and, more importantly, their fans) and take a more traditional approach to the songs. There are some songs that hearken back to what made In Flames so original: the dual guitar interplay, the intricate patterns and death-style vocals. Unfortunately, much of what went wrong on REROUTE TO REMAIN still exists and sadly, that will overshadow the positive.

The first track, "F(r)iend," starts off well enough and things sound good with a speedy riff and aggressive, though not "true," death vocals. It is with the second track (and first single), "The Quiet Place," that the ugly Korn influences trickle in. Anders Friden takes on this whiney-voiced clean vocal that is similar to Jonathan Davis of Korn. The same fate befalls "Borders and Shading." At least "The Quiet Place" is catchy, but "Borders and Shading" is just plain dreadful. "Dead Alone" and "In Search For I" remind me of what some would call "classic" In Flames. Bjorn Gelotte and Jesper Stromblad's guitarwork is excellent, Friden's vocals have that gruff death style and the songs are fast and punchy. Speaking of stunning guitarwork, "Touch of Red" has a cool slow-building outro that segues directly into "Like You Better Dead." That song is a decent mid-tempo track with a scream at the end that would make "Corpsegrinder" from Cannibal Corpse shiver. "My Sweet Shadow" and the oddly titled "Dial 595-ESCAPE" are bogged down with too many keyboards. Many of the guitar parts have been replaced by keyboard effects and, while this may work for, say, Children of Bodom, it doesn't cut the mustard on an In Flames CD. "Evil in the Closet" raised my eyebrow as it is a full-fledged ballad for the first two minutes before turning heavy. There is a great guitar solo in there, too.

The songs on the CD seem to be tied together by a theme of some sort, as there is a lot of static, noise effects, radio interference, scratching (not the rapping DJ kind) and such. What that common link is I cannot determine but there is definitely something the band is trying to convey here.

SOUNDTRACK TO YOUR ESCAPE is not a bad album by any means. Many of the songs are heavy but catchy. Is that a crime? The dominance of keyboards on some tracks is a bit grating and Friden's use of clean vocals on a few tracks leaves a lot to be desired. This CD is probably mellower even than REROUTE TO REMAIN was. Still, overall, this is an excellent metal release that will appeal to more than the core fans of the band. This is NOT THE JESTER RACE 2 or WHORACLE 2 and it's a closed case to think the band will return to that sound. They have slowly moved away from the melodic death sound that they popularized in the mid-90s, to a more accessible (commercial, if you will) sound tailored to gain a broader audience on both sides of the ocean. No one can fault the band for seeking success; who doesn't want "more?" To call In Flames "sell-outs" is unjust because "selling out" is appealing to the masses without pleasing yourself. The band claims that this is the music that they have evolved into making, so to judge this record based on what In Flames released 10 years ago is an injustice both to the band and to the music.

KILLER KUTS: "F(r)iend," "Dead Alone," "In Search For I"