Pain Of Salvation - Scarsick review
| Band: | Pain Of Salvation |
| Album: | Scarsick |
| Style: | Progressive metal |
| Release date: | January 30, 2007 |
| Guest review by: | Spyroid |
01. Scarsick
02. Spitfall
03. Cribcaged
04. America
05. Disco Queen
06. Kingdom Of Loss
07. Mrs. Modern Mother Mary
08. Idiocracy
09. Flame To The Moth
10. Enter Rain
An extraordinary diverse and interesting album.
I don't think any other progressive metal album has received as much hate as this one, and maybe that's what Daniel Gildenlöw wanted? Still it's their greatest commercial success (6th on the Swedish album list, most sold copies of any PoS album). How come? Lets find out.
It's an album that musically really will grow on you - it did with me, pretty quick but still. You can't say that it's commercial, but it's still much more simple (less progressive if you want) than for example 'Remedy Lane'. It's a progressing album - it takes music to another level. But it's not progressive in the way that it's complex. There you have the reason that some people obviously hate it - it's not complex enough and the hiphop/"metalcore"/disco/pop influences are just a bad attempt to be different. The reason it sold so good - well, probably their fanbase is as big as every because of 'Be' being such a success, and therefore more people than ever bought this album - probably without hearing it first.
The songwriting is good but not perfect, it could get 7 points. Disco Queen is awesome in every way, the absolute highlight of the album. Idiocracy is the only other really good track, it reminds me of Porcupine Tree sometimes. Except from the Pop song America, all the 'genre-experimenting' tracks are better than the others. The vocals are not as diverse and good as in previous albums but they are still impressing (he's a great rapper, and a "metalcore"screamer), and I really like that Daniel doesn't sound as Swedish as 9/10 singers from Sweden does.
Lyrically though, it's very possible that you wont like it. I might not be the most objective viewer since I don't share Daniel's political opinions, but I still think that the lyrics are awful, totally crap. The title track - oh, Daniel hates society. Too bad. Spitfall - oh, Daniel envies the hip-hoppers that get more money than he does, and tries to get revenge by gangsta rapping about them. Have you ever thought that some people might deserve their money/fame? America - oh, Daniel hates America, surprise! And that's the way it goes... there is nothing wrong in criticizing the things he sings about, but on this album Daniel is like child who is angry because he doesn't get a toy. Immaturely hateful and in no way creative. The only exception is Disco Queen - which has awesome lyrics. He compares having sex to playing a vinyl record in a really interesting way. Since the lyrics get about 3 points, my rating is hereby explained.
An album that you really should hear, but be prepared - I like it because it's interesting, but that doesn't mean it's great.
And by the way, you have to hear Disco Queen!
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 4 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Spyroid | 15.11.2007
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
8.0
8.0
|
Rating: 8.0 |
"We will be the first band ever who will make the Prog Metallers dance!". It was the words that Johan Hallgren told me when I had the luck to meet him the other day in Paris to talk about the new album of Pain Of Salvation, "Scarsick". Of course it was not so serious but it is for me a good way to show you that it will be a really disturbing album for the fans of the already cult band of Progressive Metal. Different, special but always extremely deep and beautiful, "Scarsick" will maybe be a "hate or love" album for some of you, but I can tell you that with time, you'll learn to love it. One more time with the band, we're in front of a really good album. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 14
Visited by: 76 users
| Katatronik Angel of Lust Posts: 1018  |
Songwriting 4 is too low IMO... Agree it's not their best indeed and songwriting isn't as the Perfect Element and BE levels...
---- "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023  |
Written by Katatronik on 16.11.2007 at 17:51 Read the review and you'll understand why (hopefully ^^). I hate the lyrics, which is a big part of the songwriting on a political concept album.
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| Katatronik Angel of Lust Posts: 1018 |
Written by Spyroid on 16.11.2007 at 18:34 I read it and I agree about the lyrics, not as good as the other works... probably because I'm not really interested basically on lyrics, I'd give a higher rating in songwriting... Anyway, I admit you're not wrong.
---- "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023 |
Written by Katatronik on 16.11.2007 at 22:11 I just totally prefer Be. A lot of things I don't agree with in the lyrics there aswell (Mr. Money mostly), but still is really well written and thought-through compared to this simple, stupid stuff. Normally I don't care much about the lyrics either - but on a concept album by such a band I just can't accept this. Nevermind, I respect your opinion, hope you liked my review 
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| addiction Posts: 277  |
in my opinion this review was not good. i think you missed the point about the lyrics mostly....oh daniel hates this....oh daniel hates that....and that comment about rappers actually deserving the money they make.......??????? that completely discredited everything else....i am very openminded when it comes to reviews because it is somebody's personal opinion, but that comment was just ridiculous....there is absolutely no rap or hip-hop artist that make a lot of money and actually deserving their money...not a single one....and daniel doesnt rap cause they make more money than him....what are you talking about....?????? and also disco queen is by no means the highlight of the album, but just the song that maybe stays in your mind more cause it is so different and unexpected.... just to finish, i think you kinda missed the point in this review....you started going somewhere and then you just talked about the lyrics you dont like, the simple music....(btw not very simple) and then you said you liked it cause it is interesting....no offense, but bad review....try to be more objective and state your personal beliefs a bit less...(for example i dont care about your personal political views at all....and nobody else does either...) and this does not come from a hardcore pos fan at all....
---- alive in the superunknown
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023 |
Written by addiction on 03.12.2007 at 17:00 I think your arguing a bit against yourself. Disco Queen is in my opinion the best song of the album, not only because it's awkward. And you said you are openminded to peoples personal opinions. Sorry, but I can not be objective and and have personal opinions at the same time. I mentioned my political views just so people would understand that they had an impact of my opinions of the lyrics and might therefore understand my rating better. Yes, I do think that hiphopers that makes a lot of money might deserve their fame. The music is very simple compared to old PoS-albums. Since it got through proof-reading I obviously explained my ratings well enough. But only for you - It's a diverse album with a lot of genre experimenting. Therefore it's interesting and worth checking out.
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| addiction Posts: 277 |
first of all you didnt understand what i said....i chose my words carefully and you didnt even notice that...i said "try to be more objective and state your personal beliefs a bit less"......i said your personal beliefs....and not opinion...which is completely different. ok maybe i am overdoing it here with the linguistics but i have learned to do this because of what i do, so i understand that anybody could get confused quite easily....but anyway....i completely stand behind what i said before.... and by saying that hiphopers deserve their fame you are sayng that britney and those people deserve their fame and money as well....but then again you listen to metal music....how can you say that these people are actually doing good in our society? if you believe that, i am sorry to say it but you are just following a trend, which is a mass following, which is what sheep do as well....then all pop music that people listen to all the time is good and those artists deserve to be rich, whereas metal bands are not rich....so they dont deserve to be famous......and you still listen to metal music....i think you are the one contradicting yourself..... and as far as this album, yes it is the most simple one they have made, but it is not simple compared to everything else that exists....it is still progressive....and it is their worst one but so what? it is still good enough. if you didnt know what they did before you would probably like it.... and the proof reading does not mean much at all....the proof reader are not gods and they know that they cannot expect much from you or anyone else writing here...you are not a journalist...but the standard is good enough for something like this.... i dont have anything against you and i can see that you have the potential to write better than that...and that is why i made a criticism...a good reviewer knows how to accept that....:) and i also think that generally speaking you have a good taste in music...:)
---- alive in the superunknown
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023 |
First of all - you're probably better at the english language than I am, I realise that. If I missunderstood you it had nothing to do with you expressing yourself wrong probably. The thing you made up there about that I dont support metal musicians (?) was quite strange. I wrote that hiphopers might deserve their fame and money yes. Not that I like hiphop, but if you have worked hard which I suppose many (not all though) of them did, you deserve your money. And erhm, Britney does not equal hiphop. Deserving money doesn't mean that you're good - just that you have worked for them. Money does not equal goodness. Good metalbands of course deserve attention, but if they don't get it it's probably because they didn't make music that enough people liked. And that's the way society works, not much to do about it. It's their worst album yes, and there fore a 7 might be apropriate? I've never said it's not good enough "If you didn't know what they did before you would probably like it" - not sure about that. And besides, I do know what they did before.Of course I can take critisiscm, I'm just trying to answer it now well, atleast I hope you liked my other reviews better. I'm not totally satisfied with the structure on this one (I don't put down like hours on them, I'm not a journalist  but I still stand behind my opinion. Have a good day ^^
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| 4look4rd The Sasquatch Posts: 840  |
4 for song writing seems to be low, I get your point when you say that Daniel is just an angry kid.... But the way that he expressed his political ideology is pretty impressive. I also disagree when you call this album simple... may simple by PoS standards, but it defiantly has its complexity. Personally I like all the songs expect for Spitfall (hate that song, rap cant be good no matter how it is sang) Highlights of the album: Disco Queen (How can you not love this song?!), Scarsick (nice progressive metal piece, reminds me of The Perfect Element), Cribcaged is another great track in this album, America has funny lyrics but the music itself is not that good, Enter Rain and Idiocracy are also in my fav list.
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023 |
Written by 4look4rd on 19.12.2007 at 20:43 You seem to have more or less the same idea as me about the highlighst. I do think he can express his political ideology great but not in this album. And the music is simple enough to let me down - not that it's totally simple, especially not at it's moments, but I know they can do better and I prefer when they do.
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| 4look4rd The Sasquatch Posts: 840 |
Its a fun album to listen to, its very unusual and thats what makes me like it so much. I think that many fans hate this album because Pain of Salvation released 3 flawless albums, 12:5 (live album), and the BE DVD..... Those 5 releases were just perfect, and with Scarsick I think they tried to release something "just for fun"
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023 |
Written by 4look4rd on 20.12.2007 at 04:43 I totally agree with you! And I don't hate this album, I like it for the same reasons as you. I just don't like the lyrics.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by lord artan on 10.06.2009 at 19:18 such a well constructed argument. Care to explain why you hate it? And why you say fuck this band and this album?
---- 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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| lord artan Posts: 297  |
I cant good write english but in my idea this album is very bad becaese i listen to this album ((BE)) and i say is very good but this album in my idea and all of fans in iran is not good i write first biography Pain Of Salvation in iran and all of my friends like this band but this album is disaster for Pain Of Salvation sorry for all the thing
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