Are You Dead Yet?

Are You Dead Yet? is the fifth studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom. It was released in Finland on 14 September 2005 and internationally on 25 October 2005 under the Century Media label.[4] It is the first Children of Bodom album to feature guitarist Roope Latvala (Stone, Sinergy, ex-Waltari), due to the departure of their original rhythm guitarist Alexander Kuoppala. In this album, the band used the drop C tuning, whereas they usually used D standard. The power metal influences previously prominent are also greatly reduced in this album, resulting in a more simplistic performance and slower tempos. The keyboards also were dropped lower in the mix, with the guitars maintaining musical dominance.

Are You Dead Yet?
Studio album by
Children of Bodom
Released14 September 2005[1]
Recorded
  • May 2004 (track 8)
  • April–May 2005
Studio
  • Finnvox
  • Hästfittan Studios
  • Astia-Studios (track 8)
Genre
Length37:23
LabelSpinefarm, Century Media
ProducerMikko Karmila, Anssi Kippo (Trashed, Lost & Strungout)
Children of Bodom chronology
Bestbreeder from 1997 to 2000
(2003)		 Are You Dead Yet?
(2005)		 Chaos Ridden Years
(2006)

Background

Are You Dead Yet? is the second Children of Bodom album to have two singles from it. "Trashed, Lost & Strungout" was released as an EP and single in 2004, and "In Your Face" was released in August 2005 shortly before the album. It was also their first album with three music videos, with their third video being the title track.

"If You Want Peace... Prepare for War" is the English translation of the Latin phrase Si vis pacem, para bellum and the song "Are You Dead Yet?" is a downloadable song in the music video game Rock Band 2, and it can also be played in some of the other Rock Band games.

The title track's video was shot in part at the Tavastia club in Helsinki, Finland on 13 February 2006. Additional footage for the video was filmed in the US. The clip received its premiere in the US on MTV's Headbangers Ball on 18 March 2006 wherein the band made a special appearance. The video for "Are You Dead Yet?" was directed by Ralf Strathmann and involves a rather controversial intimate make out scene that is bit graphic in nature for the actors who were minors at the time. Ashley Matthews (Riley Reid), better known as an American pornographic actress was just fourteen years old when she portrayed a prostitute. And actor Cohlie Brocato was only sixteen years old portraying the male counterpart portrayed in the video, all casting by Ralf Strathmann.

Name

The name of the album and its title track was conceived by Alexi Laiho after an alcohol-related injury. He alludes to this during the band's concert DVD, Chaos Ridden Years, and in a magazine article, says: "I came up with the new album title last winter when we were back home and I went out for a night of drinking. I got a hold of some of the cheapest vodka and just drank and drank and drank, and one thing led to another, so we were outside having fun, and I climbed on top of a car, and slipped and fell off, and next thing I know I was in hospital. I had three broken bones in my wrist and lots of stitches, got kept in over night. So when I woke up the next morning I obviously wasn't feeling too good. I looked in the mirror and said to myself, 'Have you had enough? Are you dead yet?'"[5]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Rock Hard9/10[7]
Sputnikmusic[3]
Terrorizer4/10[8]
Blabbermouth[9]
Metal Storm[10]
TrueMetal80/100[11]

In 2005, Are You Dead Yet? was ranked number 485 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[12] However, it was criticized by Paul Stenning in Terrorizer as "interminably weak" and destructive of the band's "remaining credibility".[8]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Living Dead Beat"Alexi LaihoLaiho5:19
2."Are You Dead Yet?"LaihoLaiho3:54
3."If You Want Peace… Prepare for War"LaihoLaiho3:57
4."Punch Me I Bleed"LaihoLaiho4:51
5."In Your Face"LaihoLaiho4:16
6."Next in Line"
Laiho4:19
7."Bastards of Bodom"Goss
  • Laiho
  • Roope Latvala
3:29
8."Trashed, Lost & Strungout"LaihoLaiho4:01
9."We're Not Gonna Fall"LaihoLaiho3:18
Japan bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
10."Oops!... I Did It Again" (Britney Spears cover) (feat. Jonna Kosonen)3:20
11."Talk Dirty to Me" (Poison cover)3:40
North America bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
10."Somebody Put Something in My Drink" (Ramones cover)3:20
United Kingdom bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
10."Rebel Yell" (Billy Idol cover)4:13

Personnel

Charts
Chart (2005) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart[13] 42
Finnish Albums Chart[14] 1
French Albums Chart[15] 67
German Albums Chart[16] 16
Italian Albums Chart[17] 80
Japanese Albums Chart[18] 17
Swedish Albums Chart[19] 16
Swiss Albums Chart[20] 79
US Billboard 200[21] 195

References
  1. . Ultimate-guitar https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/compact_discs/children_of_bodom/are_you_dead_yet/index.html. Retrieved 16 October 2016. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. Andrea Poletti. "Children Of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet?". Metallized (in Italian). Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  3. "Children of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet?". Sputnikmusic. 13 February 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2019. While not a drastic modification from Bodom's neoclassical power metal days, it foreshadowed a heavier, darker sound from the extreme power metal heroes
  4. "Are You Dead Yet? by Children of Bodom on Apple Music". iTunes.apple. 25 October 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  5. "Decibel Magazine: Children of Bodom". Red Flag Media. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  6. "Are You Dead Yet?". Allmusic. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  7. Pöpperl-Berenda, Robert. "Rock Hard". issue 221. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  8. Stenning, Paul (December 2005). "Children of Bodom: Are You Dead Yet?". Terrorizer (138): 72.
  9. "Reviews - Are You Dead Yet?". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  10. "Children Of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet? review". Metal Storm. 11 March 2006. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  11. Gaetano Loffredo (26 September 2005). "Recensione: Are You Dead Yet?". TrueMetal (in Italian). Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  12. Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Rock Hard. 2005. p. 13. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
  13. "Children Of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  14. "Children Of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  15. "Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  16. "Children Of Bodom". PHONONET GmbH. Archived from the original on 21 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  17. "Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  18. "Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?" (in Japanese). oricon ME inc. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  19. "Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  20. "Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  21. "Children of Bodom Chart History(Billboard 200)". billboard.com. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
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