{"id":15182,"date":"2013-10-21T00:00:17","date_gmt":"2013-10-21T00:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=15182"},"modified":"2013-11-13T22:31:31","modified_gmt":"2013-11-13T22:31:31","slug":"album-review-paradise-lost-tragic-illusion-25-the-rarities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-paradise-lost-tragic-illusion-25-the-rarities\/","title":{"rendered":"PARADISE LOST – Tragic Illusion 25 (The Rarities) (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARADISE LOST
Tragic Illusion 25 (The Rarities)<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nCentury Media (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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To celebrate their 25th anniversary the originators of gothic metal Paradise Lost have released Tragic Illusion 25<\/em>. The album is a collection of bonus tracks, B-sides and covers as well as the re-recordings \u2018Gothic 2013\u2019 and \u2018Our Saviour 2013\u2019. Additionally, the band offer a new song entitled \u2018Loneliness Remains\u2019, which kicks the album off. With the exception of the new recordings, all of these rarities have been previously released in conjunction with various special releases of the band\u2019s last few albums. <\/p>\n

If you are looking for an album that truly takes you through a band\u2019s career journey then Tragic Illusion 25<\/em> is definitely for you. This collection never stands still, weaving you in and out of the heavy, the rocking, and the beautiful, sometimes capturing all three at once. <\/p>\n

Everything here is so varied and it\u2019s hard to pinpoint highlights because it will most certainly depend on what aspect of Paradise Lost you prefer. \u2018The Last Fallen Saviour\u2019, a Decibel<\/em> magazine exclusive from the Tragic Idol<\/em><\/a> album cycle, ranks towards the top of this album as far as I\u2019m concerned. While it\u2019s not as \u201cgothic\u201d as the band\u2019s early works and it\u2019s not as \u201cheavy\u201d as some of their more recent albums, it\u2019s still a rampaging rock \u2019n\u2019 roll song that has a lot more piss and vinegar than much of the band\u2019s work. It\u2019s a brilliant juxtaposition with the song that follows, a Lost In Prague Orchestra Mix of \u2018Last Regret\u2019. The song is one of the very best moments of the Faith Divides Us \u2013 Death Unites Us<\/em> album (2009). While this version certainly would have sounded out of place on that album, the bombastic feel that the orchestra brings to this makes it feel way more important than the original. I rarely like orchestras in heavy music but this is a perfect example of how well it can work.<\/p>\n

\u2018Our Saviour 2013\u2019 and \u2018Gothic 2013\u2019 are interesting as well. These new versions sound a helluva lot tighter than the originals (as you\u2019d expect) and the recording is pristine. They may not have the raw brutality of the originals (particularly vocally) but they definitely come off as heavier and angrier than their counterparts. By the time the female vocals finally chime in on \u2018Gothic 2013\u2019 it takes the song well over the top and, even if you are against the idea, you can\u2019t help but sit back and say \u201cThat was truly awesome\u201d.<\/p>\n

The main event here though is the new song \u2018Loneliness Remains\u2019. It\u2019s got a deeply rooted dark, melancholic, classic metal feel to it that remind us that Paradise Lost\u2019s roots lie firmly entrenched in the doomy dungeons overseen by a young Black Sabbath<\/a> and Cathedral. While over the years the band have become so much more than simple doom metal, this song will surely please even the most diehard fan of the band\u2019s classic works.<\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t much Paradise Lost has done that I don\u2019t enjoy but Tragic Illusion 25<\/em>, in all its random glory, really moves me. To hear the band\u2019s expansive sound all presented at once is a deeply dynamic experience that should remind everyone just what Paradise Lost is capable of in an overall sense. <\/p>\n

Mark Fisher<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARADISE LOSTTragic Illusion 25 (The Rarities) Century Media (2013)Rating: 9\/10 To celebrate their 25th anniversary the originators of gothic metal Paradise Lost have released Tragic Illusion 25. The album is a collection of bonus tracks, B-sides and covers as well as the re-recordings \u2018Gothic 2013\u2019 and \u2018Our Saviour 2013\u2019. Additionally, the band offer a new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paradise-lost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15182"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15190,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15182\/revisions\/15190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}