Draconian Times

Ok, firstly I'm not going to give you all a low-down on the tracks or the album. I guess if you are here to check out this re-release you already know that alongside Icon, Draconian Times is Paradise lost's greatest work. The repackaging: The original package to this cd was awful. A black, pseudo-felt lined box with flimsy card cd case. The saving grace was the beautiful artwork contained within. Here on the Legacy Edition you get the most beautiful hard cover 'book type' case with all the elegant artwork contained throughout. Alongside the original artwork are the lyrics and brief notes from the band members, as they share their thoughts, experiences and memories from the classic paradise lost period. This cd packaging is the most beautifully designed and produced that I own in my collection, which is good going because I have a fairly extensive collection. The main reason for purchasing this remastered and repackaged edition was solely to buy the 5.1 mix, as I love my dvd-a and 5.1 surround mixes. The low-down is this: This 5.1 disc may not have the resolution of a dvd-a (btw, I don't care about the specifics of 96/24 vs dts or dolby digital, or whatever) all I want to say is that this disc is mind-blowing. The sound quality of this surround is absolutely awesome. The production and mastering for this special version are absolutely first-class. Each track seems to sound brand new and fresh once again, almost like you're hearing it for the first time. Every track I pick out things I don't recall hearing before, new drum beats, new guitar notes, new bass lines. It sounds sublime. The front central speaker is reserved solely for Nick Holmes voice and he just gives one of my favourite vocal performances ever. It really does send a shiver down the spine. This is what music is all about IMO, tapping into the raw emotions that make us love this kind of music; and with such an unbelievable sounding remaster it can't possibly fail to give this experience to everyone that bought and loved this disc 16 years ago! Enjoy! Please give us Icon in 5.1 next.

While they may not have achieved the level of success that their talents deserve, Halifax's Paradise Lost have a superb discography that VERY few bands of any genre can match, and this gothic metal masterpiece (released in 1995) is undeniably one of their very best. Similar in sound and style to it's awesome predecessor 'Icon', 'Draconian Times' is another collection of dark and brooding, but hauntingly beautiful and atmospheric songs. Highlights include 'Enchantment', 'The Last Time', 'Once Solemn' and 'Shadowkings', but the album is flawless from beginning to end and stands tall as one of the finest examples of it's kind. Even some of my trendy-rock friends have been blown away by it's trademark mix of melody, harmony and aggression. It's frankly scandalous that bands inspired by Paradise Lost (including Cradle Of Filth and Nightwish) have gone on to become highly successful, while Nick Holmes crew continue to struggle for recognition. 'Draconian Times' would ultimately fail to catapult the band into the big time (which it should have done), but it remains an absolutely essential album that ALL fans of quality metal should have in their collection. Highly recommended.

As it expected!!

This is a great album and can possibly be considered as one of their best efforts, but not at the expense of so many other better ones. For many years since its release (almost 20 years now - eek!) this one album has been the focus of fan and critic reveration. I enjoyed it when it came out and I enjoy it equally now but it is debatable whether this is their BEST. But that's purely objective and depends from fan to fan. For me this is close but not their best effort by no short distance. Icon and Shades of God were more my preference, and I even rate Host and Believe in Nothing as equal in quality to Draconian Times I'm afraid (you'll feel the urge to stop reading now, but honestly I'm not insane:)). Draconian Times is a very good album. But not the holy grail of Paradise Lost. Why? It is possibly their most accessible and easily their most conventional album to that point. 'The Last Time' was even on Top of the Pops. This did not harm it in any way but it seemed that the material was honed towards an audience with less time on their hands to appreciate the nuances of, for example, 'Your Hand in Mind' or 'Crying for Eternity' on Shades of God. This was both good and bad. It produced a large handful of excellent, single-like tracks. But it felt a bit empty. However this is a minor gripe really as most bands go through a commercial stage, and quite rightly a lot of them have to as the more listeners, the more revenue, which is something critical analysis shouls also be sympathetic to. Selling out is not always an abhorrent practice. It puts food on musicians' tables. But I suppose there are ways of selling out. PL did not sell out at all (even with Host, which I prefer to view as brave rather than foolhardy). Draconian Times was still a very heavy, very well written and thoughtful entry into their portfolio. It just wasn't QUITE as good as the 2 that preceded it. Best tracks are 'Hallowed Land', 'The Last Time', 'Shadowkings' and 'Shades of God'. But the rest are still good. Well worth a purchase for any self-respecting metal fan.

Amazing album

Not as dark as their first few albums but equally excellent.

One of my favourite ever metal albums in a special edition with surround sound and at great price.

This is a great album. Paradise Lost at it's peak of creativity. The 5.1 mix is nicely done, well balanced. 100% recommended.

para algunas personas no es un disco facil de digerir por su complejisdad y tiene que gustarte la voz de Nick Holmes. A mi me encanta y el sonido en este prensado (vinilos de color azul en mi caso) es muy bueno. Este album conquisto mi corazón y a partir de me interesaron más disco de la banda.

Czwarta płyta 👌

Je vais pas revenir sur tout ce qui a était dit sur le 5éme album des anglais...mais je confirme c'est un chef d'oeuvre!49mns environ de musique romantico-sombre qui vous emportent complétement de la premiére à la derniére seconde,avec un talent hors norme.Des riffs heavy dignent du meilleur de black sabbath,des solos majestueux,une production géniale et la voie incroyable de nick holmes qui vous submerge d'émotion sur chacunes des 12 perles de ce "draconian times".Ce n'est pas "juste" un album de metal,c'est une oeuvre compléte,un classique,un indispensable pour tous fans de musiques sombres .Une légére touche de piano renforce le coté mélancolique de l'oeuvre,et qui de ce fait vous posséde encore plus à chaque écoute de ce qui est peut-étre l'album de 1995("king for a day..."de faith no more a dans mon coeur ce méme titre).Réellement indispensable.Un classique,un vrai!ps:en 1996 sortait "october rust" de TYPE O NEGATIVE qui mérite autant de distinction que le chef d'oeuvre que je viens de commenter.Alors si vous voulez posséder 2 vrais classiques du metal dit gothique,vous savez ce qu'il vous reste à faire!

A definite break from the norm for them but well played and executed.For what it is as a rock album they purposely left out the ''goth''factor and went straight for the rock/metal/groove/heavy/melodic approach and it worked amazingly well.

CDでレガシー・エディションが発売されたので、アナログでも出るかな、と思っていたら重量盤、2000枚限定でピースヴィルから再発された。 内容は33回転で2枚組、レガシー・エディションに収録されたデモ、ライブは入っていない。 このアルバムは1995年にもミュージック・フォー・ネイションから2枚組でアナログが出たのだが、その盤はA、B面のプレスが良くなく、ちゃんとプレスされたC、D面との音質差が大きかった。少しでもまともなものを、と思って何枚か購入し、まぁこれくらいなら、という盤で聴いていたので、全曲クリアな音質で聴ける今回の再発はとても嬉しい。よく考えると歪んだ轟音をクリアに聴く、というのもヘンな話ではあるのだが。 アルバムそのものはパラダイス・ロストの最高傑作、というだけでなく、ゴシック・メタルの最高峰の１つといっていい。早くからゴシック、という概念を打ち出していたバンドだが、目指す方向とミュージシャンとしての経験値が過不足なく噛み合い、実力以上の完成度を引き出した。 この作品以後、バンドはメジャー・レーベルに移籍し、メタル色、アングラ色を薄めていくのだが、同時に魅力も失っていったように思う。やはり失敗だったのか、最近はまたゴシック・メタルに戻り力作を発表しているものの、残念ながらこの作品に匹敵するアルバムは生み出せていない。 発売当時、海外のメタル雑誌の表紙にこう書かれていたのを憶えている。 "New Metallica" この一言でどれほど高く評価されたのかがわかるだろう。