thoughts on new paradise lost album

[insidethefall]

looking at the thread title...
my current thought on the new album is that I like it more and more.. its a cd you need to listen to 50 times before it gets you. and the last song is beautiful. I've heard it from other ppl as well that it needs a lot of listens, so dont give up, and loop your playlist!

As always, there are good and bad songs on the new one, although the bad are few and I mostly find rather interesting songs. Okay - it's not draconian times but it's not symbol of life part 2 either - it's a step in a better direction with gregor's leads being a bit more abundant and better (although still lacking in technique and enthusiasm compared to say Shades of God or Icon) and Nick's vocals being less pretentious and more 'gruff.' The last song is really nice, I wish they were all as emotional as that one. Not a bad album, not a great one and probably not one that I will throw on when I want to hear some Paradise lost, but we shall see...

 

[discouraged1]

pl wont bash kata coz they kent - they know kata is betterer and that pls time is gone (w/ all due respect).

imo one second woz the best pl album. its mostly brave of all.

and btw, smbdy mentioned that pl arent such a good band. i just think they were very lucky upon releasing drakkonian when mtv took their single and promoted it 25/7

peace

 

[discouraged1]

@allan: anathema 'attitude' on posting really is a grower isnt it?

 

[Dora]

Yeah, and what I like about the last 3-4 albums (if not all PL) that after it gets to me, I still can listen to it as an album cos the songs dont vary in "quality" much, uh... (sorry i cant talk sense before my 3rd coffee a day..) So what I want to say is that this album has no (or maximum one) song that I started to skip. Which is good. (Spirit is the one I like the least...) Actually, after listening to it for days I dont even know what my first complaints were about.. it is just simply good.
On the other hand I think its never good to wait for an album, as I remember all the time I was hit by the greatness of a new cd it was always something sudden and never something expected. Expectations lead to disappointment. Do they?

 

[Blakkheim]

yer here talking on and on about the album, sayin whatever u want and nobody even reacts to any of it. i say what i think and all hell breaks lose...what did i miss? the backside of being a public person....?
fine...and yes... expectations are no good....a former greatness side-effect...

 

[The Scourge]

yer here talking on and on about the album, sayin whatever u want and nobody even reacts to any of it. i say what i think and all hell breaks lose...what did i miss? the backside of being a public person....?
fine...and yes... expectations are no good....a former greatness side-effect...

Well Anders, we get away with it because we are faceless unknowns outside of our avatars that is. Unfortunately, you have the stigma of being one of the main creative forces behind an internationally known band. What you say carries alot more weight simply because of your earned status. I really think that is really unfair to you because at the heart of it all, you are a dedicated music fan like the rest of us. It is ridiculous that you have to censor yourself just so you don't rock the boat, but we can say whatever the hell we want and it goes unnoticed(in the big picture). I say fukk 'em man and speak the truth, no matter how some mob of pharissees react to it. The internet is the greatest medium of free speech that we have, and no unspoken law should prevent that just because you are established.

 

[jptk]

yer here talking on and on about the album, sayin whatever u want and nobody even reacts to any of it. i say what i think and all hell breaks lose...what did i miss? the backside of being a public person....?
fine...and yes... expectations are no good....a former greatness side-effect...

I reckon people are just so bored with nothing to do, then they saw the opportunity to make a big drama over nothing

 

[Lord_AgathoN]

Now in retrospective i can understand why they picked Forever After as the single.........cause the rest is even worse....

 

[Dora]

i think over the madness and grey are better, e.g.

 

[insidethefall]

yer here talking on and on about the album, sayin whatever u want and nobody even reacts to any of it. i say what i think and all hell breaks lose...what did i miss? the backside of being a public person....?
fine...and yes... expectations are no good....a former greatness side-effect...

Well I got my anti-PL post recorded in Nick Holmes personal signature, beat that!

 

[Dora]

 

[Skaldir]

Well I got my anti-PL post recorded in Nick Holmes personal signature, beat that!

shit, I can't read it there..
but anyway thats pretty cool. The wise man will bow down before "insidethefall"!

 

[Novembers Paul]

yer here talking on and on about the album, sayin whatever u want and nobody even reacts to any of it. i say what i think and all hell breaks lose...what did i miss? the backside of being a public person....?
fine...and yes... expectations are no good....a former greatness side-effect...

I was going to post on this myself a few days back. I am stunned that your opinion of this CD has sparked such a uproar. You put up your review of a promo. That's what promos are for, to get out early reviews, and help create a buzz on the music, to generate CD sales when the release date hits. So, you didn't like it. It's not like your word is going to make or destroy Paradise Lost. If you have said you loved it, this would have never happened. I commend you for being honest and open. Most people in your position would never do this, for this exact resaon. When you are put into a public position of respect (well deserved I may add), people view your opinion differently. From what I gather from the posting on the Pardaise Lost site, people also seem to be upset, because of the PL influence in Katatonia, and the fact that you should automatically like what ever product they produce, because you were once inspired by this band. It's all quite silly actually.

 

[Blakkheim]

yeah, i really posted those lines as a fan and at that point i didnt consider the "look what anders from katatonia wrote" aspect and how it was gonna blow off cuz it was not about me, or katatonia, so why should i worry? i am a longtime fan just speakin his heart, yes i'm just a fan like everyone else here so my opinions shouldnt weigh more or cause a riot cuz i'm in katatonia. the credibility i want is for the 16 years i've been a fan of paradise lost and im NOT and never was lookin for a draconian times part II...

 

[BenderTheOffender]

yeah, i really posted those lines as a fan and at that point i didnt consider the "look what anders from katatonia wrote" aspect and how it was gonna blow off cuz it was not about me, or katatonia, so why should i worry? i am a longtime fan just speakin his heart, yes i'm just a fan like everyone else here so my opinions shouldnt weigh more or cause a riot cuz i'm in katatonia. the credibility i want is for the 16 years i've been a fan of paradise lost and im NOT and never was lookin for a draconian times part II...

dear anders!

I'm really sorry to see what happened on weeping words (paradise lost board) after kevin (ParadiseLostforever) posted the link with your thoughts about the new album. And I'm really sure that he never wanted to start any board-war. I think, he just made this link because there are many KATATONIA fans on the PL board too!! If you look at his thread, you can't see any bad comments (from him) about your person or katatonia, can you? He never made it look like that you went to weeping words and made your comments there, which actually wouldn't have made any difference. The boys from PL are used to get our honest opinion about the direction they choose, don't you worry!

Me, as a PL fan, and a metal fan in first place, thinks that we should pull on the same end of the rope and not start fighting each others, because its just ridiculous and pathetic.

Best regards to deliverence6, who enriched our board with his point of view and respectful comments!

Don't know how many of the PL board members went here and wrote bullshit. After all its not my business what other PL fans do!

Peace friends, no matter if you are into PL or not!

 

[Deliverance6]

Best regards to deliverence6, who enriched our board with his point of view and respectful comments!


Peace friends, no matter if you are into PL or not!

Thanx....I really was trying to kind of smooth things out a bit.....this may seem non-metal...but I hate it when people fight....and I do find myself unable to control my emotions from time to time....but for the most part i try to keep a level head.....
PEACE

 

[strangedays]

You've done it now Blackheim.... you made me have to post a difficult comment..

You see, Paradise Lost have had a few changes in the past, but I will say that for me HOST was their best album. It's remained one of my stongest favourites..

But hang on one sec.. this Viva Emptyness...was a bit of a gamble. You practically threw away your sound (ok maybe not so much in Evidense, which is lovely to play acoustic!!) but the rest of the album was a turn.

I really enjoyed Viva.. but you see I fear you face a similar issue that faced Paradise Lost.. LFDGD was catchy and everything before that featured a rich sound that many of us loved, but Viva was experimental, and I loved it for that, but there was very little to keep me hooked, I drifted back to the older albums.

Now I remember around the point that Host was released, the fans wanted Paradise Lost to return to the earlier stuff.. but for a band progressing they can't "give up" a new direction so they tried as was done on Symbol of Life to mix the two together, and I won't comment on my view of the recent sound and songs, but this is something that faces many popular bands... even Katatonia.

Whilst your opinions are very valid, Paradise Lost have gone a long way in their career, and they have had some very bright moments, I for one hope they do recapture some of their lost sound.

If Katatonia were to end up with similar media attention as Paradise Lost would they hold it together?

Or if they saw it going a similar way would they quit? (see Manson a great british band that pulled out due to the worries of commercialism effecting the creation of the songs). How could one quit....?

 

[Dora]

wow. that was a nice pointless post. i just threw away 2 minutes of my life...

 

[The Scourge]

You've done it now Blackheim.... you made me have to post a difficult comment..

You see, Paradise Lost have had a few changes in the past, but I will say that for me HOST was their best album. It's remained one of my stongest favourites..

But hang on one sec.. this Viva Emptyness...was a bit of a gamble. You practically threw away your sound (ok maybe not so much in Evidense, which is lovely to play acoustic!!) but the rest of the album was a turn.

I really enjoyed Viva.. but you see I fear you face a similar issue that faced Paradise Lost.. LFDGD was catchy and everything before that featured a rich sound that many of us loved, but Viva was experimental, and I loved it for that, but there was very little to keep me hooked, I drifted back to the older albums.

Now I remember around the point that Host was released, the fans wanted Paradise Lost to return to the earlier stuff.. but for a band progressing they can't "give up" a new direction so they tried as was done on Symbol of Life to mix the two together, and I won't comment on my view of the recent sound and songs, but this is something that faces many popular bands... even Katatonia.

Whilst your opinions are very valid, Paradise Lost have gone a long way in their career, and they have had some very bright moments, I for one hope they do recapture some of their lost sound.

If Katatonia were to end up with similar media attention as Paradise Lost would they hold it together?

Or if they saw it going a similar way would they quit? (see Manson a great british band that pulled out due to the worries of commercialism effecting the creation of the songs). How could one quit....?

Just curious here. What was the driving reason behind your argument? I do respect the fact that you are very emphatic in the validity of your statement, but if I follow your logic correctly, you are saying that Blakkeim's criticism of the new Paradise Lost, reveals weakness in his own creative credo. Given the same question to any simply unknown metal fan, their response would be forgettable at best, yes? But you place so much emphasis on Blakkheim's opinion, and gather an incredible amount of ultimately subjective understanding, that you gestate an argument that is laughable at best. The fact that you bring up flaws in Viva Emptiness(which you did not even have the respect to spell correctly) makes me think that you use this pre-existent argument to justify your own disapprovement with said album. Thusly, this confirms that your argument is selfish, meaningless, and downright insulting. I really am not trying to play the role of bodyguard here, as I am sure Anders can take care of his own fights. But to see someone so unabashedly blaring their ignorance from a podium of this publicity, it makes my sick. So again, what was your real reason for your post?

 

[Dora]

Omg...