Paradise Lost (thing) by kobold

Paradise Lost is a British band which formed in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England in 1988. The line up originally consisted of Nick Holmes (vocals), Greg Mackintosh (lead guitar), Aaron Aedy (rhythm guitar), Stephen Edmondson (bass), and Matt Archer (drums), but Matt was eventually replaced by Lee Morris when he left. The arrangement, which still stands today, is that Greg Mackintosh writes the music while Nick Holmes writes the lyrics, although some tracks on later albums involved more of the band.

Most of them were approximately the same age which, in 1988, was eighteen, but despite their youth they were signed fairly quickly to Peaceville Records and released their debut album Lost Paradise in 1990. Their sound proceeded to change with each subsequent album, starting out with a very raw sound, mostly grinding guitars and gruff vocals accompanied by haunting female backing vocals. It was almost death metal in style, only slower and (slightly) more melodic than most of their contemporaries. Here is the track listing:

Their next album Gothic, released in 1991, featured a similar musical style but was more polished and featured better structured, more melodic tunes than the last album. The songs were also darker, using sounds which conveyed more a feel of decay and breaking despair than the raw heaviness of the first. This was a style previously unexplored and because of this it played a large part in redefining the gothic metal genre of the time, and even spawned bands inspired by the new sound. The tracks were:

Their 1992 album Shades of God was released on their new label Music For Nations, and saw a more noticable shift in musical style. The songs were still more focused on having a tune than just making a noise and thus had less of the grinding heaviness of the first two albums, and they also featured some of the best lyrics the band has ever written. Although some of the songs were a tad long-winded many maintain this to be one Paradise Lost's finest moments. Shades of God had the following tracks:

The following year 1993 saw one of their best works, Icon, with a dramatic, heavy, spacious sound, sounding as if it had been recorded in a vast hall or, more appropriately, a vast cathedral, which would be more in keeping with the album's image. The artwork in the inlay is a mix of christian imagery and cold stone statues, and the album actually sports a track called Christendom, which is basically having a bit of a go at the church. Especially in light of this song, the overall message is one of general disdain toward the church and a disenchantment with christendom in general. Paradise Lost had gone back to basics with this album, using just an effects unit and a wah pedal for the guitars, doing away with any post-production tweaking. This album also marked the end of their death metal image and the beginning of a more mainstream metal sound. The tracks were:

Then in 1995 came the pinnacle of their musical creativity, Draconian Times, which received critical acclaim worldwide and sold over 1 million copies, which was unheard of for a band like Paradise Lost. Although similar in sound to their previous album, the sound was much more refined, and it struck a perfect balance with less of the pounding heaviness of Icon and more melody. It sported some brilliant tunes, with fantastic artwork in the inlay. They still kept their dark despair-driven sound but managed to inject more life into it than their previous albums, and included more aggressive songs such as Hallowed Land and Once Solemn, which are excellent examples of how the band can rock out when they want to. This was also their first session with the new drummer, Lee Morris, after Matt Archer had left because he didn't like the direction they were heading musically. The band had already recorded most of the songs with Archer, so Morris' contribution was minimal despite being credited for it in the inlay. Archer's passing did not go entirely undocumented however; as a sort of farewell, the inlay contains a photo of Archer along with the other five members. The album's complete track list:

Then another noticable shift in direction came with 1997's One Second which, although retaining their trademark dark depressing mood, departed from the metal scene and became more mainstream in style, with a more electronic and keyboard-driven sound. The album had less energy than the previous one and the lyrics did not seem quite as heartfelt, but overall it still ranked as one of their better releases. The tracks on it:

In 1998 Paradise Lost once again switched labels to the bigger EMI. As a farewell to the smaller labels they had spent so long with they released Reflections, a compilation of their best songs spanning the last ten years, which featured the following:

Host - miserable music you can dance to! One Second's electronic theme was developed further on this their next album, released in 1999. It finally saw the band's departure from any kind of metal genre and more into the realms of sleek, brooding but funky music. It perhaps lacked the depth of One Second but it nevertheless was a typically brilliant Paradise Lost album, filled to the brim with memorable riffs and energetic beats. The tracks were:

2001's Believe In Nothing returned to a more guitar-based style, a sort of synthesis of their earlier rock roots and their later electronic sounds. Although, like Host, some of the tracks have a beat almost suited to dance music, the band manages to bring through a dark, funky and stylish modern sound to the rock scene with this album, and although this is their eighth album, the boys show no sign of losing their creativity. The following are its tracks:

2002 sees the release of Paradise Lost's first DVD - Evolve. It features a few of their Music For Nations-era videos (some of the earlier ones are laughably awful) and some highly entertaining home video footage, as well as a load of live performances. Go to Amazon and buy it now! It contains:

Harmony Breaks - Live at The Longhorn, Stuttgart - 5th Sept 1993

Promo Videos

Home Movies

One Second Live - Shepherd's Bush Empire, London - 26th Jan 1998

Promo Videos

Woohoo! 2002 brings yet another album, Symbol of Life. This is their ninth outing, and they arrive atop yet another record label, Gun. Rather than following on from the sounds of their previous album, as is their usual practice, the band seem to have completely reinvented themselves, as if they stepped back and untangled themselves from the path they were treading and started from scratch. Symbol of Life is full of good honest rock tunes with only the occasional synth-driven sound, and contains some of the best songs they have ever made, with songs like Self Obsessed and Perfect Mask providing a new heavy, aggressive attitude which balances out the quiter, melodic tracks like Pray Nightfall and No Celebration. What's more, they managed to out-weird Fear Factory's cover of Cars by covering a Jimmy Somerville song!

Isolate
Erased
Two Worlds
Pray Nightfall
Primal
Mystify
Perfect Mask
No Celebration
Self Obsessed
Symbol of Life
Channel for the Pain
Xavier (cover, limited edition digipack only)
Small Town Boy (cover, limited edition digipack only)

2005 and PL's tenth studio album is finally out! This one is self-titled and possibly worth buying for the cover alone (go and have a look on Amazon, go on!). This is darker and heavier than Symbol of Life and has some brilliant guitar riffs, with the occasional simple-but-effective solo which will get your head banging (the long, majestic solo in Over the Madness will have you air guitaring for ages). It's a brilliant album which I love, but there is still the nagging feeling at the back of my mind when listening to it, the same as the previous album, that the metal here is a lot more slick and polished than their earlier, more raw metal sound. I don't know why this bothers me though, it's still an awesome album. Here are the tracks:

Having said that, I haven't heard tracks 13 & 14 because I rushed to buy the album as soon as it came out and had to order it from Germany, where the last two tracks are strings remixes of tracks 1 & 12. At least it came in a cool folding digipak though.

Altogether one of my favourite bands of all time, Paradise Lost has rightfully amassed a large underground following which keeps them going despite a lack of chart success. They are still seen as kings of the genre, credited with having helped develop the gothic metal scene of the early nineties and injected some long-needed melody into the metal of the time, inspiring who knows how many new bands and styles. Rock & rule dudes!

Official website: http://www.paradiselost.co.uk

Paradise Lost: Book I	Summary of Paradise Lost	John Milton	Paradise Regained - Contents
Paradise Lost: Book X	Satan	Paradise Lost: Book II	The Big Lebowski
kinito	Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus	Amor Intellectualis	Paradise Lost: Book IX
Paradise Lost: Book IV	Gottfried Leibniz	high style	2001 echoes
Paradise Lost: Book VIII	Sorley MacLean	Adam and Eve	The City of Lost Children
Preface to Milton