The Ark (Swedish band)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2015) |
The Ark | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Rottne, Växjö, Sweden |
| Genres | Glam rock Pop rock Indie rock Art rock |
| Years active | 1991–2011 |
| Labels | Virgin |
| Members | Ola Salo Sylvester Schlegel Martin Axén Jepson "Leari" - Lars Ljungberg Jens Andersson |
| Website | thearkworld.com |
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 songwriter 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 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 2000s 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.[2]
They made their last concert at the amusement park, Gröna Lund, in Stockholm 16 September 2011. The crowd was counted up to around 15,000 people.
Members
- Ola Salo: vocals, piano, percussion and songwriting (1991–2011)
- Jepson: lead guitar and vocals (1991–2011)
- Lars Ljungberg: bass, backing vocals (1991–2011)
- Martin Axén: rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1997–2011)
- Sylvester Schlegel: drums and backing vocals (1999–2011)
- Jens Andersson: keyboards and sound engineering (2006–2011)
Touring members
- Jens Andersson: keyboards and sound engineering (2000–2006)
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [3] |
NOR [4] |
FIN [5] |
ITA [6] | |||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | We Are the Ark
|
1 | — | — | 32 | |||||||||||||||
| 2002 | In Lust We Trust
|
1 | 18 | — | 24 | |||||||||||||||
| 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Extended plays
- The Ark (The debut EP is sometimes referred to as Racing with the Rabbits) - 1996
Singles
| Year | Title | Album | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [3] |
SWE Tracks [7] |
SWE Svensk toppen [8] |
ITA [6] |
GER [9] |
UK [10] | |||||||||||||||
| 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
- P^ "Deliver Us from Free Will" was only released as a promo single for International use.[11]
- D^ "Gimme Love To Give" wasn't released as a single as such but charted on the Swedish Singles Chart due to the large amount of digital sales of the album track.
Music videos
 |
| 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 |
External links
References
- ^ "Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts - A Swedish Star's Rock-and-Rile Words". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b Steffen Hung. "Discography The Ark". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Discography The Ark". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Discography The Ark". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
- ^ a b Steffen Hung. "The Ark - Let Your Body Decide". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
- ^ [1] Archived April 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Svensktoppens listarkiv - Svensktoppen | Sveriges Radio". Sverigesradio.se. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
- ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche". musicline.de. 2007-05-28. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
- ^ "Chart Log UK 1994-2010 (scroll down the page to The Ark - alphabetical order)". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ^ "Front cover". Foolsoftheworld.com. Retrieved 2015-02-23.[dead link]
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
