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 September 14, 2005 and internationally on October 25, 2005 under the Century Media label.[5] 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
Released	September 14, 2005[1]
Recorded	April - May 2005
Genre	Death metal[2] melodic death metal[3] power metal[4]
Length	37:23
Label	Spinefarm, Century Media
Producer	Mikko 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 is also in the music video game Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock.

The title track's video was shot in part at the Tavastia club in Helsinki, Finland on February 13, 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 March 18, 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?’"[6]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Rock Hard (de)	9/10[8]
Sputnikmusic	[4]
Terrorizer	4/10[9]
TrueMetal	80/100[2]

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.[10] However, it was criticized by Paul Stenning in Terrorizer as "interminably weak" and destructive of the band's "remaining credibility".[9]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Living Dead Beat"	Alexi Laiho	Laiho	5:19
2.	"Are You Dead Yet?"	Laiho	Laiho	3:54
3.	"If You Want Peace… Prepare for War"	Laiho	Laiho	3:57
4.	"Punch Me I Bleed"	Laiho	Laiho	4:51
5.	"In Your Face"	Laiho	Laiho	4:16
6.	"Next in Line"	Laiho Kimberly Goss	Laiho	4:19
7.	"Bastards of Bodom"	Goss	Laiho Roope Latvala	3:29
8.	"Trashed, Lost & Strungout"	Laiho	Laiho	4:01
9.	"We're Not Gonna Fall"	Laiho	Laiho	3:18

Japan bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
10.	"Somebody Put Something in My Drink" (Ramones cover)	3:20

United Kingdom bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
10.	"Rebel Yell" (Billy Idol cover)	4:13

Personnel

Children Of Bodom Alexi Laiho – lead guitar, lead vocals Jaska Raatikainen – drums Henkka Seppälä – bass, backing vocals Janne Wirman – keyboards Roope Latvala – rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Additional musicians Alexander Kuoppala – rhythm guitar on "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" Jonna Kosonen – female vocals on "Oops!...... I Did It Again"

Production Produced, recorded, and mixed by Mikko Karmila, except "Trashed, Lost & Strungout", produced and recorded by Anssi Kippo and mixed by Karmila Mastered by Mika "Count" Jussila Cover artwork by Sami Saramäki Band photographs by Toni Härkönen

Charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Austrian Albums Chart[11]	42
Finnish Albums Chart[12]	1
French Albums Chart[13]	67
German Albums Chart[14]	16
Italian Albums Chart[15]	80
Japanese Albums Chart[16]	17
Swedish Albums Chart[17]	16
Swiss Albums Chart[18]	79
US Billboard 200[19]	195

References

1. . Ultimate-guitar https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/compact_discs/children_of_bodom/are_you_dead_yet/index.html. Retrieved 2016-10-16. Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. Gaetano Loffredo (September 26, 2005). "Recensione: Are You Dead Yet?". TrueMetal (in Italian). Retrieved May 1, 2019.
3. Andrea Poletti. "Children Of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet?". Metallized (in Italian). Retrieved May 1, 2019.
4. "Children of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet?". Sputnikmusic. February 13, 2007. Retrieved May 1, 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
5. "Are You Dead Yet? by Children of Bodom on Apple Music". iTunes.apple. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
6. "Decibel Magazine: Children of Bodom". Red Flag Media. Archived from the original on 2009-06-18. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
7. "Are You Dead Yet?". Allmusic. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
8. Pöpperl-Berenda, Robert. "Rock Hard". issue 221. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
9. Stenning, Paul (December 2005). "Children of Bodom: Are You Dead Yet?". Terrorizer (138): 72.
10. [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 13. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. "Children Of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
12. "Children Of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
13. "Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
14. "Children Of Bodom". PHONONET GmbH. Archived from the original on 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
15. "Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
16. "Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?" (in Japanese). oricon ME inc. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
17. "Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
18. "Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
19. "Children of Bodom Chart History(Billboard 200)". billboard.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.