The Top 20 Best In Flames Songs
In Flames. One of the best metal bands ever and one of the true pioneers (along with At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity) of melodic death metal. Originating in Gothenburg, Sweden, founding member Jesper Strömblad had the vision of writing music that combined the melodic guitar style of Iron Maiden with the brutality of death metal and also making use of keyboards, something that was uncommon in death metal at the time.
The vision for the band has stayed true. In Flames has a signature sound that they have never abandoned but they have also pushed their sound further with each release. Like most bands that stand the test of time and release several albums, they see a slight shift in musical style over subsequent releases. This usually pisses off old fans but the band welcomes new fans at the same time. Currently In Flames has arguably the biggest fan base of their career, especially now that they have a lot of exposure and popularity here in the States. The true fan, such as myself, who embraces and cherishes the old work, the new work, and everything in between probably leans towards the older albums (e.g. 1996’s The Jester Race and 1999’s Colony) as technically their “best work” but more recent albums such as 2006’s Come Clarity and 2008’s A Sense of Purpose are outstanding as well. It is safe to say that any one song and any one album in the In Flames discography could be any one fan’s favorite. They are just that good.
So what are the best In Flames songs? Everyone probably has a different opinion – and the band probably does as well – but what I tried to do with this list is take everything into account and I aimed to appease fans of the old stuff, fans of the new stuff, and do the band justice at the same time. You can look at this list as ‘In Flames’ Greatest Hits’ meets ‘if I had a $20 iTunes gift card to buy In Flames songs, which ones should I buy?’
The ranking process of this list takes the following into account:
- Research around the web
- How well the songs charted on Billboard and similar charts
- The overall popularity of the songs (Youtube video views, top iTunes/Amazon/Spotify tracks, Last.fm scrobbles, lists I found on message boards and blogs, etc.)
- The sheer awesomeness of the songs
- Some elements of my opinion and people that I know who love In Flames
- The potential to fall in love with the song
- Songs that the band consistently play live
Listen to the complete Top 20 list as a Spotify playlist here
Watch the complete Top 20 list as a Youtube playlist here
Related posts:
Best In Flames Songs: Editors Picks (coming soon)
My Top 20 Favorite In Flames Songs (coming soon)
Top 20 Best In Flames Solos (coming soon)
Top 20 Best In Flames Intros (coming soon)
Top 15 Underrated In Flames Songs (coming soon)
Top 15 Best In Flames Choruses (coming soon)
Top 10 Best In Flames Epic Songs (coming soon)
[Make use of the links below the album/single covers to listen to and learn more about the song]
20. “Where The Dead Ships Dwell” (2011)
19. “Alias” (2008)
18. “Stand Ablaze” (1994)
17. “December Flower” (1995)
16. “Deliver Us” (2011)
15. “Clayman” (2000)
14. “Behind Space” (1999)
13. “The Mirror’s Truth” (2008)
12. “Come Clarity” (2006)
11. “The Quiet Place” (2004)
10. “Colony” (1999)
9. “Trigger” (2002)
8. “Artifacts of the Black Rain” (1995)
7. “Take This Life” (2006)
6. “Jotun” (1997)
5. “Scorn” (1999)
4. “Only for the Week” (2000)
3. “Cloud Connected” (2002)
2. “Pinball Map” (2000)
1. “Ordinary Story” (1999)
Honorable Mentions:
[All links below are to Spotify, unless otherwise noted]
“Lunar Strain” (1994) [Youtube]
“The Jester Race” (1995)
“Food for the Gods” (1997)
“Episode 666” (1997)
“Embody the Invisible” (1999)
“Bullet Ride” (2000)
“System” (2002)
“Touch of Red” (2004)
“My Sweet Shadow” (2004)
“Reflect the Storm” (2006)
“Dead End” (2006)
“Crawl Through Knives” (2006)
“Delight and Angers” (2008)
“Condemned” (2008) [Youtube]
“Sounds of a Playground Fading” (2011)
“Darker Times” (2011)
Links of Interest:
Follow In Flames on Facebook
Follow In Flames on Twitter
In Flames Official Site
In Flames Youtube Channel
In Flames Myspace Page
In Flames Wikipedia Page
In Flames Last.fm Page
In Flames ArtistDirect Artist Page
In Flames NME.com Artist Page
In Flames Lyrics at LetsSingIt.com
In Flames on Spotify
Trust me, I welcome comments. Don’t agree with the list? Would you insert some songs and take away others? Have a different opinion on the best In Flames songs? Sound off in the comments section below! Feel free to post your own Top 5 or even Top 20 list! In Flames we trust!
I myself am more partial to the older stuff, Reroute to Remain and older, but I must say if you want a good overall best of through all the years, this is a solid list.
Agreed! I am partial to the older stuff too. Honestly though, I am a fan of every album and just about every song. I think there are quite a few standout tracks on recent albums (Take This Life, Crawl Through Knives, The Mirror’s Truth, Condemned, Deliver Us, Where the Dead Ships Dwell, Darker Times, etc). What I wanted to do with this post is exactly what you said: an overall best of through the years. Thanks for checking out the post!
This is the band that made me love death metal :P. Personally I like the older stuff but Alias, Crawl Through Knives, and Take this life are my favs.
Great list, I mostly agree with all of your choices. Of course, since these lists are subjective, mine would have been different (would have added Reroute to Remain, My Sweet Shadow, Episode 666, Ropes, Borders&Shading, etc.) but it’s a solid list regardless.
^^
Thanks for the view. Totally agree – lists like this are subjective. Those are great additions. “Reroute to Remain” has really grown on me over my time of being a fan. All the rest are great songs too. Got an overall fav IF album?
where is ZERO Inc. ?
ups, sorry. Zombie Inc. hehehe…
So many of their songs are just insanely good and it makes it hard to single out which ones are the best haha
Totally! People comment in and ask why the hell isn’t this certain song on the list. Well, it’s a top 20 list so only 20 songs can be on there! Ha. What do you think about the new album Siren Charms?
Its a travesty my sweet shadow is not in the top 20. That is one of their true masterpieces and probably the sickest way to close out shows which they did tons, and you missed dead eternity to like idk man. and scorn above colony!!!! Like idk war to say about that one. Overall a good list I guess
Thanks for checking it out. I have to update it now that there is a new album! Siren Charms is good but I don’t think any song on Siren Charms breaks the Top 20. I will have to consider My Sweet Shadow since, you are right, they plan it live almost every single show.
What you think about The Chosen Pessimist?
Great song. Wasn’t initially interested in the song but it grew on me. The whole A Sense of Purpose album grew on me and I consider it in my top 3 fav In Flames albums. What about you?
Delight and Angers #1. One of the few songs where the music feels written to the lyrics. It has so much soul. Alternates from rage, to despair, to hope.
Great song from a very underrated IF album!
Honestly, personal fave album is come clarity. Crawl through knives is the song that really just made me listen to them more and more. I was huuuge into metal/metalcore/emo/screamo just like every other millennial then. They were objectively the hardest, yet most melodic band I listened too(instrumentally speaking.) it’s been a while since I revisited them so this article was good, made me listen to more than just the 2002-2011 era.