Yakov and the Seven Thieves first two releases were "The English Roses" (September 2003), and "Mr. Peabody's Apples" (November 2003). Both debuted at number one on "The New York Times" Best Seller list. Joe D'Angelo from MTV News confirmed that the third book would be titled "Yakov and the Seven Thieves". Madonna was again inspired by a 300 year-old story by rabbi Baal Shem Tov that she had heard from her Kabbalah teacher, and wanted to share the "essence" of it. "We must never forget that hidden behind a large amount of darkness is a large amount of light," the singer wrote in the preface.
Icon & The Black Roses (album) extend the release to a full album. The band flew to Berlin to record the extra material and in June 15, 2004, their self-titled debut album was released by Dark-Wings with distribution by SPV. http://www.iconandtheblackroses.com/album/icon-the-black-roses/ Icon & The Black Roses (album) Icon & the Black Roses is the debut studio album by Portuguese band Icon & The Black Roses. It was released on June 15, 2004, following a demo released 2001 and an EP released in 2003. In this early period the band recorded a demo called “4 Winter Songs” which allowed them to secure a deal with Dark-Wings records