Paradise Lost — One Second

intothewellsabyss
Jul 14, 2023
3 min read

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

26 years ago today, we felt the “Blood of Another” upon our hands, and experienced the pain of “This Cold Life”!

On this day (July 14) in 1997, Paradise Lost released their sixth full-length album, “One Second” in the UK and the US via Music For Nations.

The album marks the group's transition from a Gothic Metal act to a more Electronic direction.

It is the bestselling record of their career and enabled the band to sign with the German branch of major label EMI. “One Second” is Paradise Lost's first album recorded in digital format.

Background:

Following the success of “Draconian Times”, and after four years of continuous touring, the band began to get bored with their signature sound and started to experiment with Depeche Mode-esque Synth-Pop and Electronica.

This new direction shaped “One Second”, and was most epitomised by the lead single, "Say Just Words".

The album was one of the band's most successful releases, particularly in Northern Europe, cracking the German, Swedish, and Finnish top ten charts.

The album spawned one more single, "One Second", the albums title track.

A 20th Anniversary Edition was released on July 14, 2017, which contained the original album remastered by Jamie Gomez Arellano and an additional disc with audio from a Paradise Lost's concert at Shepherd's Bush Empire on January 26, 1998.

The concert was part of the tour in support of the “One Second” album release. The concert was previously released as part of the “Evolve” DVD, and is released on CD for the first time.

About the musical style of “One Second”, Nick Holmes told Decibel Magazine;

"After we recorded “Draconian Times” and toured it non-stop, we just felt like doing something else—something a bit less up-tempo and darker, also Greg bought a keyboard! The result was “One Second”. It was greeted on the whole very positively, but quite a departure from “Draconian Times” and pissed off a few people naturally. However, it's very much a part of the band's journey—like every album has been—and we enjoyed making it."

Critical Reception:

Matt Mills from Metal Hammer wrote (in the loudersond.com article “10 Metal Bands Who Went “Soft” and Were Better Off for It”);

“ British misery merchants Paradise Lost’s first two albums, “Lost Paradise” and “Gothic”, established them as Death-Doom pioneers. But they began to soften their sound on 1992’s “Shades Of God”, which saw them upping the sullen melodies and found frontman Nick Holmes trading growls for Hetfieldian barks. Come 1997’s “One Second”, they’d turned into a full-blown Goth-Metal Depeche Mode, bringing in synths and big choruses. The experiment went awry a couple of albums later, but it remains a bold move.”

In 2020, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1997 by Metal Hammer magazine.

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

▶ Listen to “One Second” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/one-second-20th-anniversary-deluxe-remastered/1237685755

▶ Listen to “One Second” via Spotify: One Second https://open.spotify.com/album/6xf27M8BHlFb0xqH17k0tD

▶ Watch the official music video for “One Second”: https://youtu.be/LZ5XWyC5i6A

▶ Watch the official music video for “Say Just Words”: https://youtu.be/ahIs4GX4yos

▶ Follow Paradise Lost on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paradiselostofficial/

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Paradise Lost — One Second

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