Within Temptation: An Acoustic Night At The Theatre LTD | NUM | CLR version on vinyl LP in limited individually numbered colored edition. This particular edition was published in Europe in publishing company Music On Vinyl in cooperation with Sony Music on 26. August 2022.

"And if you feel that life is theatre, choose a role that you really enjoy." William Shakespeare The curtain rises on a new chapter in the success story of Within Temptations! After more than a decade of symphonic bombastic rock, the Dutch favourites and number 1 export hit brandish the boards that mean the world: "An Acoustic Night At The Theatre", a live recording of a sold-out theatre tour from late 2008, lets familiar songs ring out in unfamiliar tones. It's been a year since the Dutch superstars around frontwoman Sharon den Adel set new standards with their "Black Symphony" in terms of fusing symphonic metal accompanied by classical orchestration and big-screen show elements. In February 2008, 10,000 fans celebrated a unique event at Rotterdam's Ahoy Centre, featuring the Metropole Orchestra and other artists Keith Caputo (Life Of Agony), George Oosthoek (ex-Orphanage) and Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering, Agua de Annique). With projections on a 400 square metre video screen, lots of fireworks and a gigantic light show, they catapulted themselves to the Olympus of unforgettable spectacles, with even the critical magazine Kerrang declaring, "This really is the best show in the world." The band immortalised the bombastic peak of Within Temptation's career on the double DVD and CD "Black Symphony", which was released simultaneously in 40 countries in September 2008. This means that the number of video and audio CDs the former college band has sold worldwide now exceeds 2 million, with no end in sight. And now? It's time for something new. While the still-living sextet is touring Eastern Europe, Russia and South America, an idea is maturing for the first time. "I've been thinking about doing something acoustic with Within Temptation for a long time. I was attracted to the strange mood of such a record and was sure it would fit well with our kind of music. As if hearing my wish, some theatres approached us in 2008 and asked if we would like to do such a collaboration. Playing bands in theatres is a relatively new concept in the Netherlands and has only been practiced for a few years. So we finally got the chance to show a side of ourselves that hadn't been exposed much before, and we took it," recalls the singer. But before success, as we all know, the gods sweated. Robert Westerholt, the band's founder and guitarist, could tell you about it, "In preparation, I went to see another band to get a sense of the situation, which was the complete opposite of 'Black Symphony'. I immediately noticed an intimacy, a closeness to the audience that was much more focused on the music while sitting in the chairs. There's no dancing, no chatting and no drinking in the theatre," he laughs, although the talented singer-songwriter was initially rather sick to his stomach at the thought of acoustic guitar: "I learned a lot and the better it went, the more enthusiastic we got. The songs were chosen for their dramaturgical structure and rhythm, and they also wanted to offer a good cross-section of the four albums' repertoire. Sharon: "You need a vision. How a song can be reworked and arranged to surprise the listener. So a heavy song can appear Celtic in a new acoustic guise. So we were also guided by what songs would be most appealing to realize." The songs thus not only show a new face, but also reveal a little more of the influences that have inspired Within Temptation since their formation in 1996. Robert: "Our music combines Celtic and classical elements and has a lot of the character of film music - qualities we wanted to bring out even more in the magical atmosphere of the theatre." Sharon den Adel, whose mezzo-soprano has been maturing in self-practice since early childhood, also enjoys listening to Dead Can Dance, Clannad and Loreena McKennitt in private: "Even in the acoustic performance you could feel a bit of the 'Braveheart' vibe. With live violin and cello we could do a lot of things we hadn't done before, like 'Towards The End', which we had never played live before. We replaced the keyboards with a concert grand piano. Only a few small samples in the intro and Anneke and Keith's voices in the duets come from the tape, everything else is live and purely acoustic." You don't cheat in the theatre. When the house lights go down and the creaking of chairs is replaced by the expected silence, every note has to be right, every gesture has to carry weight, Sharon knows, "In a normal performance, small mistakes can be covered up or simply lost in the hustle and bustle and the many special effects. Acoustically, the songs are stripped of bombastic elements and must stand on their own without any pretensions. It was great to be able to prove that our songs can do that and that we are able to stand on a theatre stage where nothing distracts us and our music. To get into it and find the right mood, we rehearsed very intensely before we started - we really are terrible perfectionists." "You can't plan for success," says Robert, "it either comes or it doesn't." But as the sold-out theatre tour approaches its temporary climax at Eindhoven's Frits-Philips Music Centre on 30 November 2008, the excitement and applause is palpable. One wishes to "break a leg", good luck and moves on to the first act. Included here are 11 acoustic songs, including the energetically melancholic "Caged," the almost tender "Forgiven," and the romantic "Frozen," which utilizes the full range of Sharon's vocal abilities. After 45 minutes, the lights come up. Intermission. "Oh, these breaks! We couldn't get used to being taken out of the atmosphere like that. But theatre has its rules, and that includes the inevitable bureaucracy of intermission," Sharon notes. After the enforced intermission, it's out of the chairs and plugging in the electric guitars, the over-the-top culture of the man stiffens. "For the second part of the night, we wanted to give the fans some of the usual Within Temptation energy." In fact, sitting on stage for long periods of time is very unusual even for Sharon: "I'm always on the move at our shows, cheering the fans on. By the way, sometimes it's at the expense of the singing performance. It's perfect to just stand still. An Acoustic Night At The Theatre" is not only one of the six-piece band's most brilliant live recordings, but also a beautiful testament to their versatility. "We were very proud to have fans come to the theatre to see us, and they were equally enthralled by the immediacy of songs they thought they knew by heart. I'm very happy that we were able to show what Within Temptation can do, that we can handle the quiet tones, that the songs and the band have other qualities that we are able to bring out with an acoustic performance. And", Sharon adds happily, "there are definitely more opportunities to hear our music now. An acoustic album like this can be played constantly, throughout the day or in the background when visitors come over. I don't think you spontaneously reach for one of our regular albums on a quiet Sunday morning after a night of partying, so the acoustic version is definitely preferable." As is the brand new single 'Utopia', which Sharon den Adel co-wrote with long-time producer friend and co-songwriter Daniel Gibson. This soulful ballad tells the story of two lovers who, like royal children, can't live together because they're separated by completely different life dreams. "One of them wants to go out into the world, the other wants to stay home and live a normal life. They can only be together if one of them is willing to sacrifice his dreams. Utopia is a perfect world and they ask themselves: why does it have to be like this? Why does it have to rain in Utopia? I was inspired to write the song by some friends, but it's really about a moment that happens to everyone at some point in their lives: when you reach a point where you have to decide what your future should be." For the duet, Sharon chose English singer-songwriter Chris Jones, whom she met while working with world-famous trance DJ Armin van Buuren on the song "In And Out Of Love". With that, the curtain falls on "An Acoustic Night At The Theater," a final bow, a final round of applause. In April, however, Within Temptation will embark on a second tour of the theatres of their home country - to great success. And they're happy to showcase their latest gem on international stages, "because," says Sharon warmly, "we really enjoyed it."

Album spans genres Rock and Acoustic. 180g Numbered Coloured Red & Black Marbled Vinyl Limited Edition.