...And to the guy who thought Amorphis' "Tuonela" was bad, I feel sorry for you. They worked very hard to produce a brilliant album, and because it's lacking, what, death vocals? you don't allow yourself to appreciate it.


When the light Disappeared from This Cold Life   September 29, 2000
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

Let me get this clear from the start: before you start accusing me of being a backwards death-metaller screaming `sell outs' from the stands, I understand that everything has to change. After doing it for however long they did it for, PL were probably pretty bored with their style (or had `taken it as far as it can go,' to quote), so I am not against them for changing. I am against the way that they changed. Now don't get me wrong, this is not a diabolical album; indeed, it's quite catchy in places, and various musical arrangements show above average gothic sensitivity, but songs that are good the whole way through are a little thin on the ground. `One Second', for example starts with this great piano intro, but then keeps the same riff going until you get bored of it. `Lydia' has an awesome chorus and verse, but then the bridge section arrives and it's just the verse without lyrics and you really want something else there. The only track that I can honestly say I like the whole way through is `Say Just Words', an awesome song that combines hard-rocking guitars with that new found obsession for keyboards. It's odd that it's track two, being as it starts their Reflection album, their live sets, and they have said themselves that they wrote it as an intro song, so it feels a bit misplaced, but there you go...

I dislike the lack of definitive style on this album. Every other album, the moment you heard it you knew instantly that it was different from all the other bands in the world; PL have changed their style from the very start, but each transition has always been unique and always been something very special. This album, on the other hand, could have been made by anybody. It's not a bad album, but it's not unique, not ground breaking, and not special by a long shot, and for me it was the originality that made PL the greatest band ever formed. To clarify this point, when I first heard `Ember's Fire' I looked up from whatever I was doing and immediately went: `Who's this?' Then, after being a fan for three years, I heard `Say Just Words', and I said: `This is quite cool. Which band is this?'

Having been a fan for many years, I've got pretty much everything PL ever released, and my third opposition to this album is in the way that they changed. There were so many possibilities; they could have gone mainstream gothic, like their B-side `Another Desire'; they could have gone what I call gothic-punk-metal, like `Once Solemn' and the B-side `Fear'; they could have gone for the gothic melodrama, like `Forever Failure'; instead they seemed insistent on keyboard-dominated tunes. The trouble with that is that they rely on the instrument rather than any tune or song structure to make the songs moody. The bridge in `Gothic', the outro of `Enchantment', the pre-chorus of `Hallowed Land', and the unbeatable remix of `Forever Failure,' that merges the guitars and keyboards, are all fine examples of PL's previous keyboard expertise. What they do on this album with that same instrument is entirely less creative.

So, in brief: it's listenable, but you won't look back on it in years to come as the sound that defined this time in your life. It's not an album to repeatedly come back to, but `Say Just Words' is great. Many of the songs have moments that take you away, but by the end of each one, you're just left wishing for something that never comes. To a great band, I tearfully bid adieu.


Goth? Metal? Goth-Metal? Who cares, it's great music!   March 7, 1999
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

The album that has some Paradise Lost fans up in arms. Is it a great, well-orchestrated, defining pinnacle in a fairly decent catalogue? Or is it a whiny collection of sad, depressing drivel from a band that lost its greatness? I opt for the former. It's different. It's refreshing. Nick Holmes is at his eerie best on faves "This Cold Life" and "Blood Of Another". A perfect blend of goth and metal, Paradise Lost should have a larger fan base than they do. Yes, they've changed, sure they've toned down a bit, but they did it with style. Gosh, what a cool band.


Advancing into new territory....and stumbling a bit   May 19, 2002
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

When this album was initially released, the first word out of many mouths was "sellout"-- a term used far too often and usually by unimaginative blockheads who favor musical consistency over growth. After many listens and in light of what has happenned with this band since, I wouldn't say this album qualifies as a "sellout". Overall it's not half bad, especially when compared with the garbage shoved down the public's throat on the radio airwaves. "One Second" is a foray into a much different brand of dark music for Paradise Lost, and one many fans were not ready for. It's also a little ungainly, which is to be expected when an artist tries something new.
While their earlier albums progressed from one to the other naturally, "One Second" is strikingly different in instruments and style. Paradise Lost abandon much of their guitar-driven sadness in favor of a darker, more miserable keyboard based sound here. Vocalist Nick Holmes adopts a new singing style, favoring melodic wailing and brooding whispers over the gutteral roar and on key yelling of his previous work. The production (handled by Sank)reflects the more quiet misery of the new style, with watery textures and cold sterility best describing the overall feel.
And it works well-- on about half of the songs. Despite the awkwardness of some of it, high points like "Mercy", "This Cold Life", and "Take Me Down" are a promising indication that the band is capable of growing in the new direction they've chosen, i.e., away from the trusty chugging guitar riffs the fans had gotten used to. These songs and a few other notables are excellent examples of what good dark music sounds like, and are a refreshing alternative to the grandstanding pseudo-goth...offered up by the likes of Marilyn Manson.
Unfortunately, the band's best efforts on "One Second" don't fill the void left by the great guitar work of their earlier albums. The flow of the songs is not as natural as, say, "Draconian Times." The songs in which the guitars do come to the forefront sound stilted and awkward, as if the old riffs have been shoehorned into the new playing style so as not to make too big a jump into new music. (Examples: "Blood of Another", "Soul Courageous")
All in all, a good album marred by a two-fold disappointment-- the first being the complete change of sound for those of us who fondly remember the guitar-powered and Simon Efemey produced days, and the second lesser disappointment of the disjointed and unsteady nature of the band's new music.


An acquired taste, but a gem   November 28, 2001
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

If you liked Paradise Lost for their early work this album's probably too soft for you. If you're not into gothic metal in the first place you'll probably see this one as some kind of joke. But if you find this album with no knowledge of PL and no expectations, you'll hear it for what it is: a grand, ambitious and inspired piece of work that any number of bands could make, but never would. One Second may not find much of an audience, being too verbose for its core audience and too dramatic for the mainstream. But there is a unique beauty in the lack of self consciousness and irony. When you realize how awful this record could have been you begin to appreciate the execution.