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Paradise Lost > Symbol Of Life
(GUN, 2002)
Tracklist:
01. Isolate
02. Erased
03. Two Worlds
04. Pray Nightfall
05. Primal
06. Mystify
07. Perfect Mask
08. No Celebration
09. Self Obsessed
10. Symbol of Life
11. Channel For The Pain
Bonus Tracks (appear on limited Digipak CD only)
12. Xavier
13. Small Town Boy
Credits:
Lyrics by Nick Holmes, Music by Greg Mackintosh, Except track 12 Music and Lyrics by Dead Can Dance, Track 13 Music and Lyrics by Sommerville, Forrest, Cole. Produced by Rhys Fulber. Keyboards and Programming by Greg Mackintosh and Rhys Fulber. Recorded and mixed by Greg Reely. Additional Keyboards on Isolate, Erased, Pray Nightfall, Channel For The Pain and Xavier by Jamie Muhoberac. String Arrangements and piano on No Celebration and Symbol Of Life by Chris Elliot. Additional vocals on Erased by Lee Dorian courtesy of Dreamcatcher Records. Additional vocals on Erased, Mystify and Primal by Joanna Stevens. Additional vocals on Two Worlds by Devin Townsend courtesy of Century Media. Assistant Engineers: Ewan Davies and Will Bartle for Chapel Studios and Bart for Dreamcatcher Studios. Recorded at Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire June-July 2002 and Dreamcatcher Recording Studios, Bradford 2002. Additional recording by Carmen Rizzo at Studio 775, Los Angeles. Mixed at The Green Jacket, Richmond, BC, Canada. Additional digital editing by Chris Potter. Mastered by Kai Blankenberg at Skyline Studios, Düsseldorf, Germany. Sleeve Design by www.dirkrudolph.de Photography by Olaf Heine (Band, Screens), Nick Veasey / Premium (Front).
Review
Paradise Lost plus Rhys Fulber? Yes please. Ive been a fan of both before, so this collaboration was a really good idea in my opinion. And being a fan of electronic rock music, my first PL album was Host. Yep, the Depeche Mode one. While I thought Host (1999) was good, I liked Believe In Nothing (2001) even more, very good songs. Now this baby. I was disappointed at first, but the record grew on me. But I cant say that this one is as good as Rhys Fulber and Paradise Lost together. The programming and songwriting are both excellent as always, but the record got its weak parts, for example the drums, the production isnt the best in general. it works well on the slow and midtempo tracks, but the fast parts get problematic most of the time.
This album features input from a lot of FLA/Delerium related people such as Devin Townsend and Joanna Stevens doing backing vocals, Greg Reely doing the mix as usual, Jamie Muhoberac on additional keyboards and Chris Elliot doing string arrangements it was recorded in England by Rhys with Paradise Lost, and was finished in Vancouver, Canada.
Isolate
Rammstein? You see it, Paradise Lost are back at heavy degrees with this album. This is a mixture between the older Paradise Lost, (yep once they were a goth METAL band, remember?) and the new PL plus Fulber. so this is goth metal embedded in a Fulber song-construction and equipped with Fulber programming skills. This track is well done, rocks.
Erased
Female vocals? You hear it, here is a novelty in the PL sound, and may I suggest that this one has something to do with the Fulber influence as well... The track works well with the rock foundament that already worked well on the previous one, yet it's less heavy but got its strengths in the great keyboard work. The refrain is very well done, and its a duet with Mrs Lee Dorian. experiment successful. first single.
Two Worlds
Devin Townsend? Yep, thats him singin along in the refrain. a heavy and slow track, gothic eh, but at first it opens with a surprizing chime. the track works well and makes a lot of pressure, the melodies are spinning around each other well in the verse, the refrain got a great guitar/vocal arrangement, the break got some excellent Fulber programming. well done, took me a while to get warm with this one though.
Pray Nightfall
I think the song could have been a bit more interesting if Nick wouldnt repeat to sing "In my head, this all is, in my head, this all is in my head" all over the track in the same repeating melody. Anyway, a midtempo standard track, but not bad, a good album track. Great keyboard passages and background production.
Primal
This is where it gets really good. a 30 second gothic soundscape with female voices, then a distorted guitar drifts its way through the soundscape, awesome riff. and BANG, the song begins. then it gets quiet for the verse, rolling toms, scratching guitars, and then the chorus BANG "lord dont let me down Im on my way dont let me down", then another soundscape-filled break, and BANG again. the composition is based on a great riff all the way. my favourite, very spacey, experimental.
Perfect Mask
Rammstein again? sounds a little superficial this one, again this lyrical repetition that I dont like. Again, I think the drums on the album are too weakly produced, and on a heavy pressuring track like this one it gets problematic. Isolate worked better, though.
Mystify
pretty catchy one, highlight. the chorus is the big deal, songwriting like only paradise lost do it, very nice piano. stuck in my head pretty soon, has a good midtempo groove, could have been a single. its got the groove and the hookline. no sensational production moments, but the songwriting takes this on top again. celebrate, terrify me, dont mystify your love.
No Celebration
not my fav track, too static, and then so slow. seems to me like this is a 100% formula paradise lost song, and Im glad that the other tracks arent. this totally doesnt rock, this is for goths :) not my cup of beer.
Self-Obsessed
another up-tempo track, but the drum figure brakes it down, and I'd liked to have a bit more pressure in it. the vocals do a good job on this one, very present, but not annoying. in the end this one goes okay as a rather heavy tune.
Symbol Of Life
if those damn drums werent... this is great, builds up, and then when the chorus comes in, the drum problem takes over again. ok im overdramatizing that. the rest of the song is brilliant, excellent hookline, cool verse/refrain difference. stays on 4 basic chords all the time, but rises up and falls down. damn the drums.
Channel For The Pain
its those damn drums. if this track had a breakbeat arrangement running under the fast parts, it would roll as hell. Im not saying that the drums are bad in general, its just the fast parts, maybe the snare sound, maybe the drummer should do double basses and stuff, it might be a speed problem, really. this is the fastest PL track I know, and it sounds like it could be a really cool track if the fast parts were okay.
Xavier
a dead can dance cover. nice female voices in the intro. overall a very well done cover, maybe because its slow, after writing this review Im pretty sure that slow songs are what PL are best at. this one is ok, but then it takes too long and stays the same for the last 2 minutes.
Small Town Boy
a bronski beat cover. might have become a big single success if gun-supersonic had been cool enough to release a second single off a top ten bands album. idiots. however, the cover is a classical type of a hard rock adaption of an eighties hit. I think the song is okay, and so is the cover.
so I have my problems with this one, but if Im on a good note this works. this is not the best Paradise Lost album, and not the best Rhys Fulber production either. I think both artists have the same weak spots, and Im sorry to say that they add together too well. on the other side, both artists have similar talents, and so this record has heights and depths. I'd be curious about what would have happened if Rhys had asked Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) for help on this album, I think a band like PL could benefit a lot from someone like Tom. anyway, this is the album, and its well done after all.
Reviewed by Henrik Bauer aka 21st Century Jesus
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Last updated 2005-08-14 04:20:22 by: unknown user.
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