Pain of Salvation fans

[Braxil]

Also, regarding the full length albums, what are your favorite 2 and least favorite 2 (excluding Remedy Lane) and why?

Favorites: The Perfect Element and One Hour By the Concrete Lake
Least Favorites: Probably Road Salt 1 & 2 although they aren't bad or anything, just inconsistent.

I'd say Remedy Lane and The Perfect Element are the best albums for "beginners", then I advise moving on to Entropia, BE, Concrete Lake, Scarsick, and then finishing off with the Road Salts.

12:5 is one of the most unique live albums I've heard and is definitely one you should check out after you've familiarized yourself with the first four studio albums.

 

[Paul LaPlaca]

I'd say go in chronological order to really see how they have changed over the years.

My favorite thing about this band is the density of their compositions and production. I have been listening to the same CDs for YEARS and almost every time I discover a new part or harmony that I hadn't heard before. Their work is constantly revealing itself with each listen. Brilliant stuff.

 

[Oblivion Ocean]

Be is brilliant, needs more love

Be is brilliant, I just would not recommend it first to a new fan. There is so much going on, it might not be the best introduction to the band.

 

[Formerly known as Chris F5]

This song off of Be might be one of my top 5 songs ever by them

 

[jaimek]

Lots to take in, for sure. Am curious to hear Be, as I recall the backlash on the Braveboard being pretty heavy when that came out.

I like Be, although I am aware that I'm in the minority and have been from the start. But I also get where they were going with the concept as well as really enjoying the music - Iter Impius is easily one of my top five PoS songs ever, maybe top three depending on mood.

They started losing me with Scarsick, and I still like about half that album. The Road Salts... not so much. Some standout tracks, but I can't just pop in the disc and enjoy the whole thing the way I do with the rest. I've never expected PoS to do the same thing over and over again, but they diverted a little *too* much for my tastes with that.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Entropia was my first, and it still is my favorite. Just something special about that album, and I feel it is rather undervalued in terms of their catalog.

 

[Oblivion Ocean]

Ok here is the Road Sale Redux I made.

I took songs from RS 1, 2, and the Linoleum EP. Clocks in at 62 minutes and seems to flow together pretty well.

https://play.spotify.com/user/12128837093/playlist/1tgyAsOVraiaQcLcqcgBNr

here is the tracklist

Road Salt Theme
Linoleum
Of Dust
Sisters
Conditioned
Healing Now
To the Shoreline
Mortar Grind
1979
Sleeping Under the Stars
Gone
Eleven
Road Salt
Ending Credits

 

[Mardoch]

They started losing me with Scarsick, and I still like about half that album. The Road Salts... not so much. Some standout tracks, but I can't just pop in the disc and enjoy the whole thing the way I do with the rest. I've never expected PoS to do the same thing over and over again, but they diverted a little *too* much for my tastes with that.

I agree. I don't fault them for trying new stuff, but that new stuff just wasn't for me. C'est la vie. I hope he does go back heavier for the new stuff as he intimated he might.

 

[Everonn]

Also, regarding the full length albums, what are your favorite 2 and least favorite 2 (excluding Remedy Lane) and why?

The Perfect Element Pt 1 is my absolute favorite of theirs. It's incredibly dense and deep and layered and dark but beautiful, hitting hard sonically from the first second of the first track and hitting hard emotionally through the next 11 songs.

This should be your very next to absorb, and I agree that you should stay with this one alone (and each of the others) until you feel you have fully absorbed it.

Excluding Remedy Lane, the next on my list is Entropia. It's rare to hear a band so fully engaged into their unique identity from the beginning. The album is structured in much the same way as TPE, getting your attention immediately and then allowing you to WALK... WITH... them along the journey through the rest of the songs, but ending on a little brighter, more optimistic note than the former.

Take the rest in chronological order.


- Chris

 

[Bound2Fate]

Be is brilliant, I just would not recommend it first to a new fan. There is so much going on, it might not be the best introduction to the band.

BE is what got me into Pain of Salvation, although I do find it funny that I tend to not recommend it as an introduction to the band either. I like everything they have done from The Perfect Element even through the Road Salts. I haven't listened to the first two albums as much as I probably should have though. I can't wait to see them live in a week.

 

[Prog_Muse]

This totally requires more time, but in short I will say that every record they've done has been different and sepcial in its own way. There isn't a record I don't like, although some have taken more time than others for me to warm to. I am also one of the five people in the world who thought that Scarsick was an absolutely brilliant record and is still in heavy rotation here in the Fox den. 12:5 is the best live album I have heard in my entire life. My suggestion? Get them all and really just revel in them. Each style and each song will touch you in a different place. <3

 

[TENTH DREAMER DECEIVER]

yes I fucked this up with a typo,I'm buzzing...

Did they play anything from Road Salt One at that time?

 

[TheLongshot]

Going back to the OP, it also took me a while to get into Remedy Lane. After the awesomeness of TPE, it was hard to switch gears, but it grew on me over time.

I also got into them through Ken Golden, picking up a Japanese copy of Entropia (The only way to get their albums at the time) at Powermad and listening to it on the way home. Listening to ! for the first time just blew me away.

I guess I'm an odd duck here in that I love just about everything they do, including the Road Salt albums. Be is probably the weakest album for me, if just because it feels like there is a lot of filler to fill out the concept, which never quite comes together for me. As for hoping they do something different, well they've been doing something different for every album. I expect after Road Salt they will again do something different, which fans in equal parts will love or hate as usual.

 

[Riceloft]

Start from the beginning and give each album some time to grow on you. I'd rank the albums like this

TPE
Remedy Lane
Entropia
One Hour By the Concrete Lake
BE
Scarsick
Linoleum EP
Road Salt 1

I haven't actually bothered to listen to Road Salt 2, so I can't rank it. I really like everything they've done up until the Road Salt albums. I actually love the Linoleum EP, even though its Road Salt material (go figure). I even love BE and Scarsick, though they're still below the first four albums. Iter Impius from BE is definitely one of their best 3 songs (along with Beyond The Pale and The Perfect Element).

Ok here is the Road Sale Redux I made.

I took songs from RS 1, 2, and the Linoleum EP. Clocks in at 62 minutes and seems to flow together pretty well.

https://play.spotify.com/user/12128837093/playlist/1tgyAsOVraiaQcLcqcgBNr

I DID however just listen to this play list and I must say, that combination makes for a pretty solid album.

 

[DigitalMan]

The first four disks are essential. You can't go wrong with any of them. If I had to make a recommendation, I'd suggest going chronologically.

Guy

 

[grilled_cheese]

Be is brilliant, I just would not recommend it first to a new fan. There is so much going on, it might not be the best introduction to the band.

BE is indeed brilliant. It is a musical journey.

But needs to be listened in the dark with nothing to disturb...

 

[Angrafan]

Start from the beginning and give each album some time to grow on you. I'd rank the albums like this

TPE
Remedy Lane
Entropia
One Hour By the Concrete Lake
BE
Scarsick
Linoleum EP
Road Salt 1

I haven't actually bothered to listen to Road Salt 2, so I can't rank it. I really like everything they've done up until the Road Salt albums. I actually love the Linoleum EP, even though its Road Salt material (go figure). I even love BE and Scarsick, though they're still below the first four albums. Iter Impius from BE is definitely one of their best 3 songs (along with Beyond The Pale and The Perfect Element).



I DID however just listen to this play list and I must say, that combination makes for a pretty solid album.

You should listen to Road Salt 2! It's much, much better than Road Salt 1.

It's actually one of my favorite PoS albums (while Road Salt I is my least favorite of them all).

 

[Oblivion Ocean]

You should listen to Road Salt 2! It's much, much better than Road Salt 1.

It's actually one of my favorite PoS albums (while Road Salt I is my least favorite of them all).

I would second that. RS2 is just a much more solid album, it has less filler than RS1. I have found myself revisiting RS2 quite often, I almost never go back to one.

 

[TheLongshot]

Again I'm an oddball for liking RS1 better than RS2.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that likes the Road Salts. My only gripe with them is I do think there is some filler. Preferably, I think had they made it to just one disc with the best stuff it would have been great. As others have said though, what I truly love about this band is that they do something different every time, which is why I think there is promise for the new one.