Within Temptation

Despite the band's growing career, all band members were still studying. For this reason, it was decided to take a break in 1999 so that their studies could be completed.

2000 would be a fruitful year for the band. They performed at all the major European festivals and in December their second album 'Mother Earth' was released. The album was well received – music magazine 'Aloha' tipped Within Temptation as "ready for the big breakthrough" – Mother Earth remained in the Dutch album charts for more than three months.

The band started 2001 with a large Dutch club tour and also performed at Pinkpop and for the third time at the Dynamo festival. From the Mother Earth album, "Our Farewell" and "Ice Queen" were released, the latter giving the band a breakthrough with the general public. The single reached number 2 in the Mega Top 100 and the album re-entered at number 3, achieving platinum status.

The band's popularity did not go unnoticed and spread across all of Europe in 2002, where they played many shows. The band also opened for Paradise Lost during their extensive European tour. With the release of 'Mother Earth', the band also broke through in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium. The album achieved platinum status in Germany and gold status in Belgium. For the DVD "Mother Earth Tour", the band received an Edison.

In 2004, the band entered the studio to record the album "The Silent Force", produced by Daniel Gibson. With the first single "Stand My Ground", the album reached number 1 in the Netherlands and Finland, number 5 in Germany, the top 10 in Belgium, Portugal and Spain, the top 20 in Austria and Switzerland, and the top 30 in Greece, France, Turkey, Sweden and Norway.

The album went gold in Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Germany and platinum in Finland and the Netherlands.

In June 2005, the single 'Angels' was released. During this period, the band also played at many European festivals, including Pinkpop, Rock Werchter, Rock Am Ring, Sweden Rock, Ruisrock, Dubai Desert Rock and Gurtenfest. They also performed with Iron Maiden and Rammstein, among others. In August, the band received a 'World Music Award' for best-selling Dutch band abroad. After that, 'The Silent Force' was also released in Japan, Australia and Great Britain.

In 2006, Within Temptation received the Buma Cultuur Export Prize for the third time for 'Best-selling band abroad' and a Golden God Award from Metal Hammer UK for 'Best video'. The band also played at the largest festivals in Europe and performed in Japan for the first time.

The band started a collaboration with Dutch game developer Spellborn. This game is a so-called "Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing" Game with millions of players worldwide. For this, the band wrote three songs. They also jointly released the video trailer "The Howling" via the website www.the-howling.com. This was unique in the Dutch music industry, because this trailer contained a completely new song from an album that had not yet been released at that time.

At the end of 2006, the band announced that Roadrunner Records had signed the band in the United States in addition to Japan, Great Britain and Australia, a first for a Dutch band.

Now there is the new album "The Heart Of Everything". In January 2007, the first single 'What Have You Done' was released, featuring guest vocals from 'Life of Agony' frontman Keith Caputo. The single's release came simultaneously with the news that the band had won an Export Prize for the fourth consecutive time for 'Best-selling Dutch band abroad'.

Robert Westerholt about the new album: "Although it is clearly recognisable as a Within Temptation album, there has also been much development and change. Sharon shows more than ever her versatility as a singer – powerful, melodious, challenging, emotional, sensitive, it's all there. This album is dynamic, energetic, more guitar-oriented and generally has a more natural sound."

The album was produced by Daniel Gibson and mixed by Stefan Glaumann (Rammstein) and debuted at number 1 in the Dutch album charts. The album also reached number 2 in Belgium and Finland, entered the top 5 in Japan, Sweden, Portugal and Germany, the top 10 in Switzerland, the top 15 in Austria and the Czech Republic, and the top 30 in Spain, Norway and France.

With this, the album achieved number 5 in the European album charts.

In March and April, the band completed a large, completely sold-out European tour of 38 shows. The subsequent American tour with Italian rock formation Lacuna Coil was also a success. Such a great success that various American radio stations had already added the first single 'What Have You Done' to their playlist, even before it was officially released there.

In June, the second single 'Frozen' was released. With this single and accompanying video clip, the band wanted to draw attention to domestic violence and child abuse. Therefore, Within Temptation decided to support Child Helpline International by donating all proceeds from the sales of 'Frozen' to this organisation. Child Helpline International is a worldwide network of child helplines operating in more than 150 countries.

At the end of July, the album was released in the United States, with 'What Have You Done' as the first single. The album debuted at number 1 on the Heatseekers Chart, a chart for artists who have never previously charted on the US Billboard Hot 100.

In the summer, the band performed at major European festivals, including Pinkpop, Download, Bilbao BBK Live, Novarock and Rockperry. The band also sold out venues in Japan. In September, the band did their second tour in the US, this time as the headline act. Shows in all major cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston were sold out, with very positive and enthusiastic responses throughout.

In October, there was a tour through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. The year was closed with a large own production at the Beursgebouw in Eindhoven and 4 large shows in England.

In November, the third single 'All I Need' from 'The Heart of Everything' was released in Europe.

In October, there was a tour through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. The year was closed with a large own production at the Beursgebouw in Eindhoven and 4 large shows in England.

In 2008, many countries in Central Eastern Europe and Russia were visited where the band had never been before. In April, the band will do their first tour in South America.

On 7 February 2008, the band gave a special (sold-out) concert with the Metropole Orkest in Ahoy Rotterdam. Together with the PAdam choir, guest singers, a 400 m² video screen, beautiful light and pyro effects, the Black Symphony became a great success. Kerrang gave the concert the highest score and wrote: "this really is the greatest show on earth!"

The Black Symphony concert was recorded by 14 HD cameras and will be released at the end of the year on DVD, Blu Ray and CD.

The chart positions are from the Dutch album top 20/50/100.

The Dance 1998 highest position -

Mother Earth 2000 highest position 3

Enter 1997 02-02-2002 highest position 32

The Silent Force 2004 highest position 1

The Heart Of Everything 2007 highest position 1

The positions are from the Dutch top 40. tip = tip parade

Click on the song to watch the video.

Restless 1997 highest position: -

Ice Queen 19-01-2002 highest position: 2

Mother Earth 18-05-2002 highest position: 25

Our Farewell 2003 highest position: -

Running up that Hill 17-05-2003 highest position: 13

Stand My Ground 30-10-2004 highest position: 4

Memories 12-02-2005 highest position: 11

Angels 2005 18-06-2005 highest position: 8

What Have You Done 19-02-2007 highest position: 7 feat. Keith Caputo

Frozen 11-06-2007 highest position: 28

All I Need 12-11-2007 highest position: 15

Within Temptation site

Official international fan club

Within Temptation YouTube

Text: Wikipedia and thesilentforce.com