Paradise Lost - Host review
| Band: | Paradise Lost |
| Album: | Host |
| Style: | Gothic metal |
| Release date: | May 24, 1999 |
| A review by: | KwonVerge |
01. So Much Is Lost
02. Nothing Sacred
03. In All Honesty
04. Harbour
05. Ordinary Days
06. It's Too Late
07. Permanent Solution
08. Behind The Grey
09. Wreck
10. Made The Same
11. Deep
12. Year Of Summer
13. Host
"Host" is an obscure part in the course of Paradise Lost, concerning not the band and its sound but their fans. Many love to hate this album, some totally ignore its existence and consider it not a Paradise Lost release and there are many as well that love it for everything it has to offer.
The fact is that I really can't get why such a big part of the metal fan-base of Paradise Lost hate this album since it is Paradise Lost and this fact is quite obvious while listening to "Host", their most complex album when it comes to sound matters and ideas. Paradise Lost worked hard to bring this album to life, the use of electronics and FX is genius and it pays tribute to the synth-pop scene of the 80s and early 90s (a.k.a. Depeche Mode) incorporating as well elements from the dark sounding paths of the 80s infiltrating both influences through a Paradise Lost prism offering an in depth composed album.
The guitars this time have only an accompanying role, remaining often in the background, but they interpret their role in the most ideal way, lending to the fragile and gentle aesthetic of "Host". The fluid guitar sound and the FX/Echo-driven guitar passages lend their beauty to the affected atmosphere of the compositions with Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy keeping the Paradise Lost feeling in the guitar passages, no matter how "different" they may seem. The rhythm section is adorned with FX as well, especially the drumming which evokes either a beat-like sound or has a more artificial approach in terms of expression. What someone may notice is the use of orchestrations from time to time and whenever they enter the compositions they evoke a unique serene and emotional atmosphere, making the overall sound of the band more affected and beautiful.
Greg Mackintosh's musical mind paves the way with his ideas and melodies in the most appropriate way in the composing part and this is the moment Nick Holmes' voice enters to give life to his integral and emotional lyrics. His vocal lines have a sense of Morrissey (The Smiths) and Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), remaining always personal though. No more husky vocals, his voice is pure and clean and there's no need for a turning back at the moment. This time Paradise Lost have the best vocal interpretation they ever had as a matter of quality with Holmes showing his true vocal abilities, singing with such passion and emotion.
"Host" is an album that flows as one and the fact that Paradise Lost achieved, for one more time, a sound balance through its whole duration is for sure in the plus of the album, along with the wonderful production and the fabulous compositions and atmosphere. It is the most esoteric and fragile release of Paradise Lost with the band pouring themselves in the resonating blue of melancholy, taking a risky step without being afraid and the history has shown, despite the blinders and not thoughtful reactions of a big part of the metal fan-base of Paradise Lost, that "Host" is a very good Paradise Lost album, having a different approach but keeping the sense the band always had.
 | Written on 06.12.2005 by "It is myself I have never met, whose face is pasted on the underside of my mind." |
Comments
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Comments: 34
Visited by: 157 users
| Darkside Momo Retired Elite Posts: 9089  |
Really good review, and I totally agree. First time I listened to this album, i was disappointed, to say the least. A few years later, I listened it again. And again... And now, I think it's one of the best PL albums, without doubt.
---- My Author's Blog (in French)  "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you" "I've lost too many years now I'm stealing back my soul I am awake"
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| Danzig666 Posts: 183  |
I as well Love this album....
---- Open your Mouth to my Bloody Reign!
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| iaberis Advice Troll Posts: 1698  |
Indeed it's a great album. I can't say it's in my favourites but it does have some great songs. It's highly experimental but I love its atmosphere.
---- Bitch! Please
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| +{Jonas}+ I R Serious Cat Posts: 4955  |
I agree with iaberis, this album was a great experiment paradise lost did, and it certainly worked!
---- "Nobody wants to be the weird kid, you just end up being the weird kid. You don't know how you ended up getting there" - Rob Zombie http://jonas-bs.deviantart.com My dA, mainly photography, go check it out!
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
horrible album.. it was a experiment, but a very bad one, if play only eletronic music is metal, then i dont know what to think... almost pop
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
Written by Uirapuru on 05.06.2008 at 08:47 Unnecesary coment IMO... Since it's stupid to care about what genre some music is [well... the "tr00 and br00tal" ones always care about it] If you don't like this music, it's fine... But don't say it's awful just because it's not metal, doing that is childish. And as for the album... I like it a lot because it's different and the atmosphere is beautiful. I will buy it, it's very cheap on the internet, like 5 euro.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 12.06.2008 at 21:03 Well.. i like lots of styles besides metal... but Paradise Lost IS metal... unfortunally this album isnt.. thats why i found it horrible.
---- ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Uirapuru on 12.06.2008 at 23:16 Wooow... So if one of your favorite bands make and album that isn't metal at all, but it's still music that suits you, would you hate it? Because your post sounded like that... xD I know that it's a matter of tastes. No-one of us is right or wrong, but complain that something is horrible just because the genre changed is a weird explanation IMO.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 13.06.2008 at 13:18 Well... i've never liked this electro-gothic style.. and PL started in this style from this particular album (One Second had it too, but much less)... in the following ones this electro elements remain, but at least some heavy riffs are back and the drums can be heard again (not just the eletric beat). So thats why i like almost nothing about this album... the song ''Host'' is the best one, good atmosphere and the lyrics are beautiful etc. But the others are awful: ''So Much Is Lost'' looks like those poppy ending themes from Space Jam xD... ''Made the same'' and ''Deep'' incredibly gets me to remind of Korn o.O' ... the others are sleepy atmosphere with some lost chorus. Anyway... didnt like this album at all. And yes.. this album is horrible TO ME exactly because the genre changed, simply because i dont like this particular genre. Of course, you must like this kind of sound, and i know my first post wasnt thaaat explanatory xD... i just put that i hated without explain..my bad.. : 
---- ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
A horrible, horrible album. I fully agree with Angatupry on this one. This is like a second rate Depeche Mode and then to think I already hated the true original Depeche Mode. Nothing to do with metal or ven rock imo this album just electronic top 40 pop music. A shame of the talent Paradise Lost once possessed.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Uirapuru on 13.06.2008 at 17:16 NOW we're talkning ^^ I fully disagree with you and Marcel, but hey... I'm the one with weird taste... I have favorite bands from every genre in metal [well.. except Metalcore...] I just wanted that you gave some explanation because I don't like people that just says "yes" or "no" without saying why. Well, my work here is done  Probably in the middle of the next week, 5 cds will arrive my house. Host is one of them jejejeje. Mmmm, even if this album remains a lot of DP's music.. I hate DP... Now that's boring shit.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| VPeter Posts: 1450  |
I like this album actually, I don't care if it is not metal. it sounds a bit like Depeche Mode but it is still Paradise Lost. I also like Depeche mode btw.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Yep... This shit finally arrived my house...  And I'm gonna tell you guys, that i Don't give a fuck for the genre because this cd Rocks!!! I agree with Dez' Review... It seems that a lot of people love to hate this album... I like it a lot. The orchestrations are just fucking brilliant.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 19.06.2008 at 17:22 I know how u feel man... The same happen to me in some cases.... i really love the Finntroll's ''Visor om slutet'' and the Borknagar's ''Origin''... that are albuns different from the usual of the bands, with lots of acoustic parts and folk/cultured oriented blablabla... but these albuns are largely criticized. And i still like. So you're absolutly right.. dont give a fuck 
---- ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Uirapuru on 20.06.2008 at 13:31 Finntroll's "Visor Om Slutet" is an underrated album IMO... Fucking awesome when your in a swamp with some scout-friends...
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| In Bone Factory Posts: 381  |
Totaly disappointing.I dont care if the music is good or not.its not same thing I've always expected from Paradise Lost.
---- The End Is Nigh ...
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| Richard Elite Posts: 4862  |
Paradise Lost have always challenged themselves as musicians, and have often released albums that their fans weren't quite expecting. The change from their first two albums, Lost Paradise to Gothic, was in itself quite a leap. Host is totally different and non-Metal, but it's still a great album IMO with some fantastic songs. Perhaps it's easier to appreciate in retrospect, as a one-off.
---- 
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
I can't imagine what possessed PL to write this album... There are a couple of good tracks (Host and Ordinary Days come to mind), but the rest I just find... empty, pointless somehow. It could be that I'm so used to guitar distortion that I find everything without it bland, but it probably has more to do with poor songwriting. A 6 from me, tops. Quote: Totally invalid, IMO. How can this be more complex than "Gothic"?
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| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068  |
Written by Slayer666 on 20.10.2010 at 18:54 this is lol.
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
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| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068 |
Written by Slayer666 on 21.10.2010 at 14:23 By more complexity i meant that it has a lot more things in there to blend, electronics for example, it requires more time to fix the sound you want, whereas in gothic they went in the studio, they had the main idea, they played, they recorded, the album was ready 
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
And still Gothic is infinitely superior to this piece of horrendous 80s pop drivel  britney spears and lady gaga take even longer time to fix the sound they want and still it's not complex so that is not a criterium for complexity
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 21.10.2010 at 15:20 You're wearing blinders some times marcelito i stick to my opinion, it still has more instruments partaking and the sound is more complex along with the composing sector, they definitely worked harder on that in any corner of the album, even the production, whereas on gothic they only have the basic instruments, some female vocals and some slight keyboards/orchestrations, they're not mozart anyway and they didn't care that much back then anyway, just a bunch of some horny newcomers with something dark in mind, but why not, lost paradise is more complex, changed my mind
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| Vonpire Posts: 471  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.06.2008 at 17:21 Depeche Mode are one of the best and more influential bands ever. You had to hate it of course. Proves that they are really good.  As for the album it's good not less nor more, not even comparable with Songs of Faith and Devotion, Violator or Ultra for example. I remember when this album came out PL stated that this was completely based on DM work which was one of the bands biggest influences. In fact they try to sound like them, and in certain extent they acheived it. Very enjoyable album to listen sometimes when you want calm relaxing and atmospheric music..
---- Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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| QuakeForLinux Posts: 2  |
Wow, Paradise Lost trying to sound like Depeche Mode, I really love Depeche Mode, in my opinion is one of the greatest bands ever. Host sounds good, but hasn't any personality, if you show me this without saying what is band that released the album the first band I think is Depeche Mode.
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