Year: 1997
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 3 mins. 32 secs.
YouTube link (below average audio quality)
The sixth album by Paradise Lost, entitled One Second was released 15 years ago to the day, on 14 July 1997, so it seems more than fitting to celebrate one of the British group's most interesting songs today. The album was a departure for the group who had become known as makers of death and doom style metal. This time around they had taken a much more commercial approach to music making. This most certainly culminated in Soul Courageous, a straightforward pop song masquerading as hard rock that must be familiar to any rock/pop fan active at that time.
Hiding among the twelve melodic rock tracks leaning a bit towards the gothic, is one song that should catch even a prog fan's interest. Now I must immediately emphasize that track #3 on the album, Lydia most definitely isn't prog. But it has some interesting things going on that, in my opinion, make it remotely prog related. Not only does this make it my own personal favourite in the group's output, but might also be of interest to other prog fans.
Lydia is an exemplary piece of music making by any definition, but what really makes it stand out is its peculiar song structure. To begin with, you already have a very ominous, even slightly threatening, doom-laden atmosphere when you enter the song following a short instrumental introduction, which sounds almost monaural.
Through the searching lights that weave and dart
Comes the stranger that cares not for your heart
The pain of living life this way
Must take its toll on you some day
Lydia opens with verse and then proceeds to chorus. These two are repeated as you might expect a regular pop song to do, although this is anything but. The ominous lyrics are left hanging in the air after the repeat of the chorus, leaving the listener to expect a conclusion of some kind.
The frail skin that bleeds
Emotionally on guard
But instead of bridge, or another repeat of verse, what follows is an unexpected sequence that does repeat the verse but does so without lyrics. We have a cliffhanger. The second chorus has left the story kind of open and one is expecting it to continue. There must be a conclusion somewhere, even though it is unexpectedly delayed.
But alas, following the instumental version of the verse, there is a short sequence of screeching guitars, and an abrupt end. Nothing is ever concluded. Everything is left open. Rules of structuring a song are not observed. I love it.
Later on, Paradise Lost have started moving back towards a more metal sound, unlike, for example, their former colleagues Anathema. Many of their songs made in the 2000's have been very good, but I don't think they have ever surpassed this short and weird gem from 15 years ago.
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