 The album was rewarded with the title "Best Album of the Year" in 2005 at NRJ Music Awards.In France, "Avant que l'ombre..." became the singer's fifth number-one album, debuting atop the French Albums Chart with nearly 150,000 (Gold) units sold in the first week.Although Farmer did not promote the album, it remained at number one for three non-consecutive weeks, alternating with Grégory Lemarchal's album, "Je deviens moi".