Pain of Salvation thread, v.2 (merged)

[abydos]

Is the Holy Diver cover part of this album? If so, I definitely won't waste time listening to it. That was almost a travesty, put me off even more than I already was.

[Mister Gold]

Been meaning to get into this band for some time now. At the suggestion of a friend of mine, I'm currently listening to Remedy Lane in its entirety. Holy crap, this album is amazing!

[PixelDream]

I've been listening to the album the last couple of days in order to give it a review.

Not listening for my own pleasure though. And I do like Pain of Salvation. Ugh, that new track 'Falling Home'. Really? Come on.

[Scorpion]

Been meaning to get into this band for some time now. At the suggestion of a friend of mine, I'm currently listening to Remedy Lane in its entirety. Holy crap, this album is amazing!

Remedy Lane is one of my favourite albums of all time. Other must haves include Entropia, The Perfect Element and, to a slightly lesser extent BE (unless you really like concept albums, then you should dig this one a lot more than I do) and One Hour By the Concrete Lake. Their later works have touches of brilliance, but none come close to the quality of their first five albums when taken as an album.

[Lynxo]

I couldn't find the new album on Spotify. Maybe it's not available in Sweden yet.

[ariich]

Yeah it's on Spotify here in the UK.

[Mister Gold]

Been meaning to get into this band for some time now. At the suggestion of a friend of mine, I'm currently listening to Remedy Lane in its entirety. Holy crap, this album is amazing!

Remedy Lane is one of my favourite albums of all time. Other must haves include Entropia, The Perfect Element and, to a slightly lesser extent BE (unless you really like concept albums, then you should dig this one a lot more than I do) and One Hour By the Concrete Lake. Their later works have touches of brilliance, but none come close to the quality of their first five albums when taken as an album.

I'll probably check BE out next. I'm a fan of concept albums and that was the second album a friend of mine recommended I check out (after Remedy Lane).

[Elite]

Is the Holy Diver cover part of this album? If so, I definitely won't waste time listening to it. That was almost a travesty, put me off even more than I already was.

Yes, it's part of the album. I really can't see how it's a 'travesty' though. It's a daring move, I'll give that, but I think they pulled it off very well. It's fun.

[abydos]

I thought it was abysmal and also a wasted opportunity. This was more fitting to be a comedy sketch, similar to that Australian guy who made a lounge version of a Cannibal Corpse song.

[Mebert78]

I'll probably check BE out next. I'm a fan of concept albums and that was the second album a friend of mine recommended I check out (after Remedy Lane).

I love Be.  It's in my top 10 all-time favorite albums.  The album is very creatively done concept.

[SoundscapeMN]

Falling Home is pretty good; probably better than I expected. My biggest issue or question being, is this album live? because there's no audience track.

That and the fact they already played Chain Sling acoustically on 12:5, even as much as I love it, they could have included something else not from 12:5,  instead.

[Elite]

My biggest issue or question being, is this album live?

No, it's not. It's a studio album.

[YtseJamittaja]

I couldn't find the new album on Spotify. Maybe it's not available in Sweden yet.

Interesting, in Finland it was on Spotify already on Sunday.

[Lynxo]

I couldn't find the new album on Spotify. Maybe it's not available in Sweden yet.

Interesting, in Finland it was on Spotify already on Sunday.

Just noticed it's there now, listening now. First impressions: Stress is so, so, so cool! Will return with more opinions later.

[Lynxo]

All right, so here are some opinions from me:

- As always, PoS display an impressive abilities to rework their own tunes into something completely different. Even the first song is incredibly cool-sounding.
- The production is a loooot better than the last acoustic album. I'm not that good with mixing terms but it sounds close and in your face - like they're playing in your living room. Maybe it's the lack of reverb? It sounds naked and honest.
- New member Ragnar gets to really show off his vocals, especially in Chain Sling. It might seem a weird choice with yet another version of that song - this is the fourth one and second studio one! But Ragnar's vocals totally sold me to yet another version.
- The vocal harmonies, oh my God. They've still got that part down.

Anybody know what Perfect Day and Falling Home is, are they entirely new songs?

[Zantera]

Anybody know what Perfect Day and Falling Home is, are they entirely new songs?

I believe Perfect Day is a Lou Reed cover, but Falling Home is indeed a brand new song.

[ariich]

I think Falling Home is new.

Perfect Day is a Lou Reed song I believe.

EDIT: ninja'd

[Lynxo]

Thanks to DTF for the facts! Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by this album.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

So I've heard forever about how bad the Road Salts are, but I'm just now listening through RS1, and I gotta say, I'm really loving it. This is probably going right to the top of my to-buy list.

[Ultimetalhead]

I love both of them to pieces. I think the main point of contention is the drastic shift in style and the production. Don't get me wrong, I would literally kill for them to make a metal album again. Once I got over that, I found the Road Salt albums have a lot of awesome to offer. Really, the only song that falls flat for me is Innocence. Everything else has at least a few nice hooks here and there.

[Zantera]

Road Salt One is very okay (not bad, not fantastic), and it has some good songs. Road Salt Two is genuinely good IMO.

[wolfking]

RS1 >>> RS2

[Elite]

For me, it's the other way round.

RS2 > RS1, although RS1 has a couple of songs that are better than the best on RS2.

[Zantera]

RS2 is way more consistent and has more highlights. On RS1 I would only say No Way and Sisters stand out, whereas on RS2, most (at least half) of the songs are genuinely enjoyable. RS2 was their best since BE IMO, though I guess that doesn't say much.

[ariich]

I think both albums are pretty much equally amazing. The only POS albums I prefer are BE and TPE.

[Zantera]

I think the main reason a lot of us aren't talking about the RS albums was because they weren't "omg amazing"-great. They were fine, but compared to the best the band has produced, a bit meh. If you traveled back to 2004 or so, when PoS were coming off strong after TPE, Remedy Lane and BE, I think a lot of fans had high hopes that PoS could take over the mantle of Prog giants (after DT), but then they released Scarsick and the RS albums, 90% of the band left, and I don't think anyone has those hopes anymore.

The first 5 albums remain very special though.

[Elite]

That sums it up quite nicely, though their first five albums are still more than enough for me to consider PoS amongst my top favourite bands, even though they're not appealing for me to see live anymore.

[Scorpion]

Speaking of PoS, are you going to start the discography thread soon Rich? There's only one running at the moment. No stress though!

[YtseJamittaja]

As many of you may knew that Daniel was in Sweden's Eurovision song contest semifinals but placed last in the voting. Here's the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2QqK1ona8c&feature=youtu.be

And from fb comments I found a lot more interesting thing:

- - We are writing a complex and uncompromising back-to-early-pos album right now --

- Daniel

[Zydar]

I knew he was in the Eurovision, but I didn't watch it - haven't bothered with that spectacle for many years now.

Great news about the new album though

[wolfking]

I'll believe that album news when I hear it.

[Zantera]

Eurovision is a popularity contest more than anything else. Daniel could have performed the best song in the contest and he still probably wouldn't have gone through. The last few years the winner has usually been a younger, in their late teens to early 20s "hot" guy or girl, because they tend to have the biggest fanbases. I didn't get to hear the song, so I can't say if he went out with a bang or if the song really sucked. A few years ago PoS were in the same contest with Road Salt, and I believe they got a second chance with that song, but they didn't go all the way.

As for the new PoS album, I will say that his comments are making me excited, and after the interest has dropped over the last few years, he is saying the right things to get me hyped. I do miss some of the classic line-up though. The new guys are fine, but there was a certain "soul" to their music when they had some of the older members. Daniel's brother Kristoffer on bass, you had Johan on guitar, and then Fredrik on keyboards. I would love another album in the spirit of BE, TPE or RL, but I don't know if the band has it in them. It really needs to sound genuine rather than trying to emulate a formerly successful blueprint, and I hope they can pull it off.

[Lynxo]

Has anybody seen the new video? The timing was a bit off, what with the Eurovision and all, but I actually really like the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGILlGzW1Jc

I'm starting to really like Ragnar Zolberg. He's got a beautiful singing voice and he co-wrote that song together with Gildenlöw. If Gildenlöw for once let other people contribute to the song writing and actually write something that's more similar to their earlier stuff, I'll be a lot more excited than I ever was for the Road Salt albums.

[bout to crash]

That's pretty! Not very original, but pretty!

[Mebert78]

I'll believe that album news when I hear it.

Same here.  Daniel said in an interview a couple years ago that he doesn't want PoS to be prog metal anymore.  I find it curious that he would backtrack on that.  Perhaps the Road Salt albums didn't sell well?  As I've said before, I'm not a fan of Daniel using the prog metal banner only when it's beneficial for him.  For example, he has the band appear at ProgPower USA after saying in an interview he doesn't want the band to be prog metal anymore.  I feel like he needs to decide what he wants PoS to be.  Too much flip-flopping for me.