| Stones Grow Her Name | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Sonata Arctica |
| Cover: | Sonata-arctica-stones-grow-her-name.jpg |
| Released: | May 16, 2012 (Finland) May 18, 2012 (Europe) May 22, 2012 (North America) May 23, 2012 (Japan) |
| Recorded: | November 2011 at Studio 57, Nedervetil, Finland (bass, drums, hammond) January and February 2012 at Kakkoslaatu Studios (lead and backing vocals, additional keyboards) January and February 2012 at Sonic Pump Studios (trumpets, saxophones, acoustic guitars, viola caipira, banjos, violin, double bass, additional backing vocals, violin) January 2012 at Tico Tico Studio, Kemi, Finland (double bass)[1] |
| Genre: | Heavy metal, power metal, symphonic metal |
| Length: | 53:16 |
| Label: | Nuclear Blast |
| Producer: | Sonata Arctica |
| Prev Title: | Live in Finland |
| Prev Year: | 2011 |
| Next Title: | Pariah's Child |
| Next Year: | 2014 |
Stones Grow Her Name is the 7th full-length studio album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released in Finland on May 16, 2012, in Europe on May 18, 2012, in North America on May 22, 2012 and in Japan on May 23, 2012.[2] [3] It was the last album to feature longtime bassist Marko Paasikoski.
In a 2014 interview about the album's successor Pariah's Child, vocalist and songwriter Tony Kakko referred to it as "a rock album [more] than anything else", comparing it to the more back-to-the roots sound of the 2014 band's release.[4] Yet in a 2019 interview promoting the band's then new album Talviyö, Kakko said Stones Grow Her Name marked "some kind of maturity point for us", citing him becoming a father for the first time as an influence.[5]
Regarding the song "Cinderblox", Kakko stated:[6]
"Somewhere Close to You" was originally written for a possible solo release by Kakko, but ended up on the album.[4] "Losing My Insanity" was originally written by Tony Kakko for Ari Koivunen's Fuel for the Fire. The final two tracks, "Wildfire, Part: II – One With the Mountain" and "Wildfire, Part: III – Wildfire Town, Population: 0" continue the story introduced in "Wildfire" from Reckoning Night.
On October 24, 2012 a special 2 disc "Tour Edition" of the album was released in Japan to commemorate the band's appearance at the Loud Park Festival. The first disc contains the standard Japanese version of the album with "One-Two- Free-Fall" serving as the bonus track. The second disc features acoustic versions of "Only the Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)" "I Have a Right" "Alone In Heaven" and "Somewhere Close to You" respectively.[7]