Three emotional discs I haven't played in awhile.....

[LarryD]

Given the current mood lately, I reached for some emotional music to coincide with it ...... I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but I was looking to get some goosebumps out of it and here is what happened ......

1) PAIN OF SALVATION / The Perfect Element - Part 1
I remember way back when ...... I was going through some really tough times, and I'm talking almost 2 decades ago, I played this disc to death..... it is my favorite PoS disc, and after listening to it full steam, I know why that is ..... along with being one of the truly great prog discs of all time, to me it is also one of the most emotional.
On a musical level, this is the 2020 Anniversary mix, and I was hoping for a bit more in the production than in the original, but at least the imaging is much better, the keyboards have come way out front, but somehow, they managed to place Daniel's incredible vocal performance in the background and I still can't hear the lyrics clearly unless it is just him and the keyboards alone. However, it is better than it was, and the combined vocal performance with the better production just gives this one more emotion to take in. The wife sat down with me about 20 min in and just said "wow, that guy can sing" ..... she sat thru the rest of the disc with me and at the end she said " that is intense and powerful" .....yes, indeed it is. To me, it's PoS masterpiece and Daniel's finest performance. I left with goosebumps as asked for.


2) WOLVERINE / Communication Lost -
One should never listen to this disc when one is down, but I did and loved it. The vocals alone by Stefan Zell will send shivers down your spine, and the production is very good although I wish someone would come along (besides Jacob Hansen) and re-master this thing. When you write a disc as emotional and full of sorrow as this is, you would expect to feel on the same level but luckily I just smiled and said how great this thing is - and having seen them at Prog Power, and then play that amazing, tear-inducing acoustic show the next night easily goes as one of the best shows I've ever seen at PP. It is a tough follow if you have the booklet in front of you, and you cannot help but feel sadness for STefan for having gone through this in real life to write about it .... while it didn't make me feel more down, it did make me feel like this is one of the best discs I own. Absolutely fabulous.


3) WARMRAIN / Back Above the Clouds -
After the above discs, I went for something more mellow and less downing ......this is a British Neo-Prog band that released this beautiful 2-CD concept set, broken down into (2) discs called - 1) The Man Remembers the Boy and 2) The Boy Rescues the man. This is such a beautiful listen, and has the best production of the three listed discs here. As a matter of fact, it is a fabulous production and the music pays more than a passing homage to Pink Floyd. Even the singer sounds like a younger version of David Gilmour and the guitarist treats us to some tasty Gilmour-esque guitar solos..... It is one of those discs that you sit there and try to figure out what is going in the story, and each song is named after a date.....ex. Saturday, Feb 2. Yet on back of the disc the songs are named differently. Such a well written disc, and maybe too long for some to endure, and granted a lot of it comes off as samey but in the end it is just a wonderful way to end the three disc that I chose for emotion. If you are into Pink Floyd, and love that atmospheric, floating style of theirs, then this is for you.....

[GaetanL]

2) WOLVERINE / Communication Lost -
One should never listen to this disc when one is down, but I did and loved it. The vocals alone by Stefan Zell will send shivers down your spine, and the production is very good although I wish someone would come along (besides Jacob Hansen) and re-master this thing. When you write a disc as emotional and full of sorrow as this is, you would expect to feel on the same level but luckily I just smiled and said how great this thing is - and having seen them at Prog Power, and then play that amazing, tear-inducing acoustic show the next night easily goes as one of the best shows I've ever seen at PP. It is a tough follow if you have the booklet in front of you, and you cannot help but feel sadness for STefan for having gone through this in real life to write about it .... while it didn't make me feel more down, it did make me feel like this is one of the best discs I own. Absolutely fabulous.

This is a masterpiece. This is my favorite album of the 10s. It goes beyond music. The lyrics help to not forget what is really important in life.

[Alberto]

1) PAIN OF SALVATION / The Perfect Element - Part 1

Might be the least favorite of their classic albums for me, but, yeah, fantastic disc. First 4 PoS are untouchable.
For some reason, it took me sooo long to get into this band. It all finally clicked during a live show (they were supporting Remedy Lane and opening for Dream Theater). Very rare for me.

Not to hijack your thread but... have you gotten around to listening to Horizon's End / The Great Destroyer in full? This was a surprise hit for me! Sounds like it's from late 90s, and it very much channels a PoS vibe in several sections.
I remember reading some complaints about the singer's accent... Being Italian myself I can't comment too much on this hahaha. Anyway, it would be a pity if English native speakers had to miss out on this outstanding album because of that.

3) WARMRAIN / Back Above the Clouds -

On a cursory listen, this sounded pretty attractive - thanks! Let's see when I have enough time to check it out properly.


Alberto
NP: Avkrvst / The Approbation (another gem from 2023)

[Norén]

Thank you for Warmrain. Really liked it. The other two are decent too

[LarryD]

Thank you for Warmrain. Really liked it. The other two are decent too

***Glad you liked it my friend .........

[prog_powermetal99]

Given the current mood lately, I reached for some emotional music to coincide with it ...... I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but I was looking to get some goosebumps out of it and here is what happened ......

1) PAIN OF SALVATION / The Perfect Element - Part 1
I remember way back when ...... I was going through some really tough times, and I'm talking almost 2 decades ago, I played this disc to death..... it is my favorite PoS disc, and after listening to it full steam, I know why that is ..... along with being one of the truly great prog discs of all time, to me it is also one of the most emotional.
On a musical level, this is the 2020 Anniversary mix, and I was hoping for a bit more in the production than in the original, but at least the imaging is much better, the keyboards have come way out front, but somehow, they managed to place Daniel's incredible vocal performance in the background and I still can't hear the lyrics clearly unless it is just him and the keyboards alone. However, it is better than it was, and the combined vocal performance with the better production just gives this one more emotion to take in. The wife sat down with me about 20 min in and just said "wow, that guy can sing" ..... she sat thru the rest of the disc with me and at the end she said " that is intense and powerful" .....yes, indeed it is. To me, it's PoS masterpiece and Daniel's finest performance. I left with goosebumps as asked for.

Isn't it crazy how certain songs/albums can emotionally tie themselves to a specific moment in your life? I mean I can hear a certain song and have it remind me the exact moment in my life and what I was doing. Certain songs will bring me back to relationships I had and other songs bring me back to other times. But it's always a specific moment in time that it brings back to. So sorry that wasn't a good time for you. With me it's the opposite, I was the happiest in the late 80's, 90s and early 2000s, and so when I hear a song I actually get sad because it reminds me of how happy I was during that time and I want to go back to it so bad. Music is so powerful and so mysterious that way.