BE LIVE

I am not a huge metalhead by any stretch, but I am..becoming a PoS fan. "Be" is a most amazing DVD experience. There are videos, there are concert DVDs, and then there is the "Be" DVD. A 70-minute ride that had me glued to the TV every second.

A fallible God? Well, it would explain a lot, wouldn't it? I'm not going into a discussion about all the concepts of this album because I don't feel like writing a book. Suffice to say that there's a lot there to chew on courtesy of Daniel's commentary track and the 48 page..yes, you heard me...48 page accompanying booklet. There are several topics addressed that could be controversial or even blasphemy to some although I don't feel that way. I like to see someone in Gildenlow's position of influence questioning established dogmas and social assumptions.

"Be" is a unique presentation that mixes a live concert of the full concept album with a live orchestra, a small intimate venue, and some conceptual music video. The music is rich and engaging, the performance close to perfection, and the concepts interesting. The specially constructed stage with its pool of water, the lighting, the costumes, the makeup, every possible detail hasbeen infused with meaning. The music was so rigidly constructed that the band chose a click-track to play along to during these shows. There could be no mistakes because the songs and the visuals were linked as was the band and orchestra. Daniel states that one of his favorite things about these shows was watching the faces of the audience. He said after a while he could see the moment when a person would stop trying to anticipate what they were going to hear and just relaxed and prepared to be surprised by the unknown. He really got off on that and when you think about it, that should be something that all prog fans of PoS should celebrate rather than criticize as "going too far" or not copying their previous favorite album. The fact that they can surprise their fans after this many years is a sign of a success.

The music. As good as the visual presentation is the music is better. Being a PoS newbie I've only heard three of their albums. This is my favorite material so far. The songs are so wonderfully diverse and majestic. Gildenlow's vocal performance is nothing short of astonishing. He moves here so effortlessly between quiet sensitive melody to regular verse singing to screaming rage to gospel reverence, always passionate and believable and perfect. The rest of the band is equally proficient.

"I am." The show begins with complete darkness in which pulsing red lights signify the origins in "Animae Partus." The orchestra begins playing and the band lauches into "Deus Nova" which is a fierce crescendo of riffs set to a reading of population figures over time. The time shifts and zig zags in the bands playing are very cool during this part. "I created the world to be an image of myself." Then we're into "Imago" which is a nice folky song where Daniel plays a stringed instrument hand made by his grandfather. There are some hand drums in this piece and the orchestra really begins to sparkle. They are here, Daniel explains, not just to make PoS songs pretty as other bands do with their "orchestra" albums, but rather to be an integral and driving part of the songs. Next is an absolutely breathtaking piano solo by Hermansson accented by strings that is one of many highlights. Another "normal" song follows in "Lilium Cruentus" and it's very good, moving back and forth from lovely melody to screaming rock. "Nauticus" is another departure moving into gospel territory; it's a slow and moving religious dirge. The camera focuses on a burning candle in darkness with some conceptual video coming and going. We then switch gears again 180 degrees with Mr. Money which is such a cool song with Daniel looking like Geddy Lee strutting around both on stage and in video. The whole band and orchestra dons shades to contribute to this commentary on selfishness and capitalism that would have Roger Waters smiling ear to ear and the Rand fans crying to mama. "I could have bought a Third World country with the riches that I've spent, but modern economics claim I deserved every single cent." It does get a bit overblown by the end but at this point, what the hell? They're going for broke here. Next is the famous "message" segment where fans were invited to leave messages to God on an answering machine and these are played over light music. It's a very intimate and moving piece accented by great bass lines and guitar harmonics. "Diffidentia" is next and this is another crunching rocker that sounds a little like Indukti but with vocals. "save me, I'm drifting away..." This is one of the tracks where the vocals are just belted out with such power and precision in places, quite stunning. "Nihil Morari" revisits the "Deus Nova" riffs that just boggle the mind as the guys are plenty warmed up now and just smokin. The strings and acoustic guitar ground the piece nicely. Another soft acoustic passage follows with great strings and lovely grand piano. Then the stage goes black as we hear some audio newscast headlines of various tragedies demonstrating a world out of control and mired in chaos. Dramatic organ passage as DG sings "serving our fragile race, will you come back to us with the meaning of life." He then submerges himself in the water in the onstage pool and becomes Mr. Money having an apparent breakdown/reawakening. He realizes he has made some tragic mistakes and will pay dearly. In "Martius" Daniel is back in the water singing of personal revelation and then back at Grandpa's stringed instrument pulling off some nice playing with hands that must have still been wet! That's not easy! The finale is a flurry of percussion. "You might hear the only answer..BE..I am!"

I have few criticisms here. It's true that spontaneity is sacrificed to the concept and there are just a couple of those marvelous guitar solos when you might want more of them. At times Daniel's philosophical IQ and lyrical ability don't quite reach the heights that he shoots for but I certainly respect him for trying. During "Imago" I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Daniel reminded me of Jack Black's Tenacious D homage to Dio styled fantasy metal (take me to the forest, teach me of the trees..) I'm sure he would cringe a little at someone making that connection..sorry! At times the orchestral parts are muddied during the heavier sections making the subtler nuances harder to find. As great as the show is it falls just a hair short of some the very best visual extravaganzas like The Wall, Kate at the Hammersmith, or Stop Making Sense. But who cares, it's freakin great. An effort like "Be" could have been a total disaster in the hands of a lesser band or any band that didn't sincerely believe they could pull it off. Their confidence and talents are what makes this so clearly successful.

I came to this site thinking the idea of metal music as progressive rather a joke but I decided to throw myself into it to be objective. I was WRONG and this band more than any other is responsible for flipping me. I will say that there are some aspects of prog-metal that are somewhat clichéd and predictable, meaning the genre is as susceptible to stagnation as any other. But not here. So a big thank you to PoS for breaking down the door to this genre for me. I heartily recommend this DVD to everyone. If you leave your preconceived notions at the door, I can't think of why anyone would not enjoy this conceptual experience.