Vapen & ammunition (Swedish for Weapons & Ammunition) is the fifth studio album by Swedish alternative rock band Kent. It was released on 15 April 2002 through RCA Records and BMG. The white tiger on the album cover is a tribute to the band's hometown Eskilstuna: Parken Zoo had white tigers as its main attraction.
Vapen & ammunition was voted Best Album of 2002 on the Grammis awards, the Swedish equivalent to the Grammy. It is the best-selling album by Kent.
In an interview in January 2003, Berg spoke about the great success of Vapen & ammunition: "What exists is a self-confidence underpinned by many years of work, a certainty that we know the art, know the craft, we can redo it and more than that, we can do it better. But that in itself is no guarantee that the commercial success can be surpassed. What happened to us may never happen again. Regardless of whether we make the best album in world history next time. It's not really about that. It's more about timing, releasing the right kind of album at the right kind of time. Last year I kind of had to shake myself up and think: Enjoy! This is maybe once in a lifetime. Maybe this will be the best year of my life. It gives strange perspectives. At the same time, it is a depressing thought."
Contents
Background and recording
In April 2001, lead singer Joakim Berg played fifteen new songs on acoustic guitar in his apartment for the other band members. In June, Kent rented a big house in Nantes, France, where the band spent a week recording demos. In October, the band traveled to Copenhagen to start recording a new album. They later went on to record the album in Stockholm as well. In December, they had laid the foundations for nine of eleven songs. They reported from the studio that they had tried to make an album with more radio-friendly songs.
Commercial performance
Vapen & ammunition debuted at number one in Sweden, Norway and Finland, and at number four in Denmark. In 2003, the album had sold over 600,000 copies worldwide.
Track listing
All music and lyrics written by Joakim Berg, except "FF" lyrics written by Berg and Nancy Danino.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Vapen & ammunition.
Kent
Joakim Berg – music, lyrics, vocals, guitar
Martin Sköld – bass, keyboards
Sami Sirviö – guitar, keyboards
Markus Mustonen – drums, backing vocals, keyboards, piano
Harri Mänty – rhythm guitar, percussion
Additional musicians
Martin von Schmalensee – slide guitar on track 1, acoustic guitar on track 9
Titiyo – vocals on track 4
Nancy Danino – vocals on track 8
Henrik Rongedal, Ingela Olson, Jessica Pilnäs, Niklas Gabrielsson – backing vocals on track 9
Thobias Gabrielsson – backing vocal arrangement on track 9
Jojje Wadenius – acoustic guitar on track 10
Technical
Kent – producer
Zmago Smon (Zed) – producer, mixing, recording
Martin von Schmalensee – producer, recording
Björn Engelmann – mastering
Artwork