Pain of Salvation
Falling Home

“I Pain of Salvation make me sick…

…in fact, I love them.”

This was the first thought that crossed my mind as I began listening to the newest “Falling Home"; a love/hate that allowed me to sit back and enjoy the album with a bit of prejudice, I admit, but very hopeful.

Let's cut to the chase and say right away that my hopes, admittedly quite weak, were immediately dashed.

I have loved this group since their beginnings, defining them as brilliant, innovative, imaginative, and they have always rewarded me with masterful and sometimes immense works (above all “Remedy Lane” and “Be”, their masterpieces).

The first cracks appeared with “Scarsick (The Perfect Element Pt.II)”, still listenable despite being qualitatively light years away from the first “The Perfect Element”, then the collapse with the two disastrous chapters of “Road Salt”, where the shift towards a senseless rock/blues was clear.

This “Falling Home” is nothing more than an acoustic album recorded live in the studio where our band, now devastated in formation having lost all original members (except for mainman Gildenlow), revisit pieces from the last era and some older ones completely losing their reason and incorporating influences of all kinds, from country to shuffle, to blues to tango; not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, but the question that arises is simple and not trivial: “to what end?”

Wasn't the magnificent acoustic live “12:5” from 2004 enough to pay an unplugged tribute to the past?

(an album that captured a magical moment of the band, with incredible renditions of amazing tracks, especially the version of “Ashes” played in major).

Wasn't it perhaps necessary to restart to convince everyone that the head/master of POS hasn't dug his (artistic) grave yet but has some shots to fire?

Does this really sonic mishmash (which has the sole merit of having a tracklist with the best songs from the last 3 albums and is partly saved only by the extremely high quality of the composition) supposed to make those who were disappointed and burned by the stylistic twist of a group always considered among the top of “intelligent” and never banal progressive change their minds?

Daniel Gildenlow is a genius and he knows it very well and it breaks my heart to hear him show off singing 4 different styles in 3 seconds of a song or manage to give a predictable version of “Holy Diver” by Dio, with a crooner's voice and little respect.

Not to mention “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed, beautiful as always but in a version I wouldn’t play on the beach with a detuned classical guitar.

I repeat, the quality of the songs is indisputable but too often it's hard to recognize them for how much they've been altered, in the most negative sense of the term; also excellent is the execution which, if truly recorded live, once again demonstrates the extremely high instrumental level of the individuals.

The only new track doesn't bode well, the title track placed at the end of the limited edition, very (too?) simple and I hope it's not a preview of the new direction; a nice review of the old records is urgently needed and above all a deep breath is needed before continuing in the most unbridled mannerism and the desire to “show” what Gildenlow doesn't need to show (not least, I would also eliminate that annoying falsetto that has accompanied him for too long).

In essence, an album with great songs, redundant and exaggerated arrangements and zero (I say zero!) sense; a way, in my opinion, to fill a time gap while waiting for a new work which I personally see very (and I was about to say “too”) much as the last chance to stay afloat.