12:5

A Masterpiece Acoustic Live Act!

By preference, actually I was not really into the kind of acoustic or unplugged things. But, this album changed everything for me even at first spin. Having been familiar with Pain of Salvation after enjoying Perfect Elements Part 1, this album forced me to try enjoying the acoustic music. It blew me and I kept playing it over and over at my CD player as well as in my car. There are two things that has made me falling in love with this album even until now after couple of months owning it. First, the creativeness of the band that has composed this acoustic music wonderfully. Second, the virtuosity of the musicians in performing all tracks flawlessly. Well, I really admire the musicianship of PoS, especially on acoustic guitar, piano / keyboards and powerful vocal. Top notch! I know myself that I have never endured listening to acoustic music. But with this album I even repeated.

The album comprises three books: Genesis, Genesister and Genesinister. Genesis has the first five parts of the Brickwork concept, which contains Leaving Entropia, This Heart Of Mine and Song For The Innocent - all areperformed in meddley fashion. The concept of Brickwork and the accompanying songs is intriguing in itself as well. But, the music is truly a masterpiece! Daniel Gildenlöw's singing style is really powerful especially with his "haaaa aaaaa aaa" accentuation. It's a great mixture of soulful, mellow, rough and accentuated styles. The music created from a combination of acoustic bass, some acoustic guitars, piano, drums and harpsichord is really nice and I never experience an acoustic music as dynamic and energetic like this one.

Unlike the first book Genesis, Genesister is not a medley. It comprises six separate songs that are somehow related to the concept. Dryad Of The Woods is a terrific atmospheric instrumental. Undertow is an excellent track that I have been familiar with. It's performed excellently with touchy piano work and stunning acoustic guitar that accompany melodic voice line. While Chainsling is another favorite of mine, it starts glowingly with great acoustic guitar and accentuated vocals. Oh my God . this track is truly wonderful as it moves to higher notes wit Gildenlow's vocal. I can see that the vocal is like another instrument - it characterizes the music.

Enjoying this album is like reading great novel as the music brings us into many forms or variations of harmony and melody and after all it conjures up into the peak of the peak. Why? Because, I think, the last book Genesinister is wonderful and it serves perfectly as the album's climax. WOW! The acoustic guitar work at the book's opening part VI - Ascend 1 (1:39) is truly wonderful. It moves seamlessly to VII - Ascend 2 (1:19) in a very smooth way. It ends up with great piano that remarks the start of VIII - Second Love T5 (4:12) with powerful vocal lines. The melody is really killing me! The harpsichords sounds combined with acoustic bass that opens IX - Ashes T5 (5:12) is another touchy segment. The concluding part X - Descend 2 (3:52) is opened with combination of two acoustic guitar work and piano, performed energetically. WOW! What an experience!

Even though this album leaves me with some big questions about my confusion of track titles, it's a masterpiece acoustic live set. When I say that I have some confusion is actually on the complexity of the song titles given to us. First of all, I don't really know what 12:5 really means? What is the concept behind Brickwork and why it must be inserted with loose tracks like in Book 2? What's the meaning of T5? It's all unclear to me. Actually, I have the same question also with confusing title name in Be album as well. But it's OK .. the music is really great! Highly recommended! Keep on proggin' .!

Progressively yours,

GW - Review #316

Walk with me / and change the world we see . - PAIN of SALVATION "Brickwork"

An acoustic Live album.

Pain of Salvation's most accessible record. Here, most of the songs they have chosen are not the ones that suffer from awkward time signatures/arrangements. These are some of their most accessible songs. From these songs chosen, the band chose to play without electrical instruments (think of unplugged albums). Do not think that there won't be power by taking out the electric guitars! This is easily the heaviest set of acoustic music I have ever heard.

I love this album. 12:5 shows the brilliance of the band (especially Daniel). While most artists play bland and lifeless (not to mention boring) acoustic adaptations to their main hits, Pain of Salvation brings a new dimension to their songs.

Chainsling, Dryad of the Woods, and Undertow are probably the best songs in this live album, but the rest is spectacular anyways!

My Rating : B+

Highly recommended to any prog fan.

A live release with a bit of flare, Pain of Salvation go "unplugged" if you will for us. The Brickwork sections are really intriguing, and great to hear some new material on a live release. However, I can't say that I am too fond of some of the song selections elsewhere. Most of them are some of my least favorite Pain of Salvation songs, which really takes away from me enjoying the atmosphere, which is probably the best part about this release.

Daniel proves once again that he is one of the great vocal performers. If nothing else, you should get this because of the talent this man possesses that makes so many others so jealous. An enjoyable fork in the road for Pain of Salvation that shows them evolving and improving.

I've got to say beforehand that usually I can't get crazy about unplugged concerts or records but when I listened to this one the first time it was immediately highly appealing to me (admittedly as a quite huge fan of this band). And indeed this acoustic session recorded during a gig in front of a selected audience of 80 listeners in their hometown Eskilstuna on May 12th 2003 (hence the cryptic album title, now the riddle is resolved!) sounds much different and much more lively and dynamic than similar ones by other bands. But on the other hand everybody knowing and appreciating the talents of these musicians has to admit as well that it's nothing extraordinary for THEIR standards and just a very good effort, nothing more and nothing less. Hope you know what I mean - speaking just for myself for example, I was quite certain about the fact that these guys know how to play and they're doing it very well and can manage as well without using amplifiers. Okay they might not be technical wizards like let's say Petrucci, Satriani or Rudess, but which music lover cares for that. I don't like to put down this album at all but I just have the impression that generally it's rather slightly overestimated (like all of their albums between OHBTCL and BE, but that's just my very own opinion). Let's be realistic and honest and see it as it is. PoS played their most accessible songs live on an acoustic set consisting of guitar, bass, cello, piano and harpsichord and decided later on to make an album out of these recordings. According to their tradition of having always concepts for their albums and subdividing them into three chapters like a book they carried this on here and finally found this "concept" presented here (which can't be called a real one, since it came obviously after the music).

Five (or actually only four) of the (admittedly well re-arranged) songs had been given the name "Brickwork Part I" with roman letters from I to V and comprising the first book called "Genesis". This one is opening with "I" which is actually a largely extended and slightly odd version of "Leaving Entropia" from their debut sounding here almost less acoustic than on its original version due to the use of keyboard and background choirs as well as Daniel's quite free vocal style applied here. As much as I love his vocals usually, I've got to say that the rather kinda rhythm & blues vocals used on this record here are at times going a bit over the top (at least for me, who usually can't enjoy that much R&B music). The following tracks are presented as a kind of medley. "II" is a shortened version of "This Heart Of Mine", one of my least favourites from "Remedy Lane" because I consider this one rather a pleasant pop-rock ballad than related to Prog in any sense. "III" is "Song for the innocent" from TPE Pt.1, again a shortened version with more keyboards and more rhythmic guitar than the original. Like with "This Heart Of Mine" already again the best parts of this song are ablated I've to say. "IV" is a short excerpt from "Her Voices" (TPE Pt.1) with edited lyrics. Again I prefer the original much more. Same goes for "V" which is even a shorter instrumental excerpt from "Idioglossia" again from TPE Pt.1. Would have been really great to hear how they're playing the complete track acoustically.

First three tracks of 2nd book "Genesister" (should mean "sister of creation"??) "Winning a War" (Entropia), "Reconciliation" (TPE Pt.1) and "Dryad of the Woods" (Remedy Lane) are sounding not that much different from the originals whereas "Oblivion Ocean" (Entropia) comes quite modified and improvised here, very interesting version anyway. "Undertow" (Remedy Lane) loses here a lot from its atmosphere I've got to say, once again the original album version is much more appealing to me. "Chainsling" (Remedy Lane) is one of the few exceptions where I find the acoustic version presented here at least as good as the original one. The lead vocal job has been shared here between Kristoffer Gildenlöw and Johan Hallgren and especially due to the rough vocals by the latter one a lot of heaviness of the original version has been well transposed into the acoustic one. This one is (according to my strange taste) the real (only?) highlight of this disc and in my humble opinion this record would have become much better if they would have taken the challenge to include more of their heavier songs.

Book 3, called "Brickwork Pt.2" or "Genesinister" (should mean something like the "evil creature"??) somehow continues where the first part ended, that means with short instrumental parts from "Idioglossia" and "Her Voices". "VIII" is more or less the original version of "Second Love", another one from "Remedy Lane" that I rather consider a flaw on this album. Those type of love ballads ain't just not "my cup of tea" and it's a kinda ear whig, somehow really beautiful and pleasant but I hate it, when some simplistic songs like this one keep sticking in my mind. "IX" is a R&B-version of "Ashes" (TPE Pt.1) which can't fascinate me neither and it's just revealing how simple this song originally is. This one segues into "X" which is a final jam session.

As a summary I can say, that "12:5" is by far not a bad album at all, but neither extraordinary. It's comprised mainly of their softer tracks or ballads anyway, admittedly well presented and packaged in an appealing garment, but I couldn't recommend it as an essential or excellent one. Anyway it's an enjoyable acoustic record to run in the back and I've to say I've had a hard time to analyse it that carefully to come to the final conclusion that there's an album by PoS which is "only" worth 3 stars.

Like Gatot I really don't like unplugged concerts or acoustic versions of songs for that matter. As a matter of fact, I probably wouldn't have even purchased this if I knew it was an unplugged concert. I thought it was an ordinary live album. Not that anything that PAIN OF SALVATION does is ordinary.They have really reworked some of their songs and have put a lot of thought into dividing the songs into three blocks, or books of music. These guys are truly musical masterminds.

The first section called "Genesis" is probably my favourite. The songs all blend together as if they were one song. A medley really of powerful, emotional music that really moved me at times.The words are so beautiful and I love the line "Live as death were but a dream".

The second section "Genesister" features a great instrumental "Dryad Of The Woods". I like when the piano comes in a minute and a half into the song. "Undertow" and "Chainsling" are a couple of beautiful songs as well from this section. The final section "Genesinister" features two songs that I really like "Second Love" and "Ashes".

This isn't a normal live acoustic album by any means.This is the only one (unplugged) that I have ever heard that I actually like. Again, I give this amazing band all the credit for making such emotional music.

12:5 is a live album were the band play reworked acoustic versions of many of their songs from their first four albums (Entropia to Remedy Lane). In-fact its more than that. This is an album with a few stand alone tracks in the middle of the album book-ended by a couple of 20 minute "epics" created by a few of Pain of Salvations shorter tracks and a few all new composed sections making up the songs. The result is an incredible live album that never once gets boring at any point in its 60 minutes, whenever its played.

The strength of this album is not just in the performance of the songs but the way they are performed, with several of them being completely reworked. For instance, Leaving Entropia, the short closing track to the debut album is the opener to this live album and is impressively fleshed out with all the band playing and stretched to double its original length whilst still maintaining some really interesting, and breathtaking playing. This is maintained throughout the album with pieces that you will recognize from elsewhere appearing here, like the opening section of Idioglossia opening Brickwork Part II and the Star Wars theme in the middle of Reconciliation.

Some of the songs performed here do tend to raise an eyebrow when you look over the track listings; Oblivion Ocean, Reconciliation, Dryad Of The Woods, Leaving Entropia, these are not the songs that you would have expected a band with such a strong back catalogue of songs to pick, but they surprise you in how good they sound here in an acoustic setting. Several of the songs, namely Dryad Of The Woods, Oblivion Ocean and Reconciliation, are better here as acoustic tracks than they are on the albums they come from with no more than a little re-arranging and played with acoustic instruments rather than electric.

This album is brilliant, I have tried hard and cant really find any faults with it at all. The separation into three sections (Genesis, Genesister, Genesinister) and the respective arrangements make it feel like a proper album with all the songs working together, and as I've said I prefer some of the songs here to their electric counterparts. The track listing may not be to every bodies liking but then, when is it ever on a live album? I urge everyone to at least listen to this album once, even if you aren't a fan of metal, this works brilliantly and fully deserves its 5 stars.

Featuring masterfully remixed versions of the band's library, "12:5" might just be one of the group's best albums-- and is one of my own personal favorite LIVE recordings of all time.

Even for those listeners who are not familiar with the original versions, "12:5" is a lush and emotive experience, featuring walls of acoustic texture laced with lead/backing vocals that drip with emotion; Daniel's voice brings tears to eyes and has NEVER sounded better, bringing new levels of meaning to his excellent lyrics. The first passage, "Genesis", is irresistible, while the material from "Remedy Lane/Perfect Element" positively shines in this format.

A perfect introduction to the band from those coming from outside the metal sphere; an amazing experience.

Setlist 4 Instrumental Performances 5 Stage Energy 5 Live Experience 5

Pain of Salvation - 12:5 5 stars

One of the extremely few live albums I own and for good reason.

This album is an entire acoustic set but more importantly, all of the songs preformed were reworked making this more then just the average 'unplugged' album, or a live album for that matter. The production and quality of the album is also superb that one can believe this was done in a studio if it wasn't for the screaming audience after every track. The vocals stick out especially.but I'm not really focusing on Daniel since we all know the talent he possesses in his voice. Kristoffer and both of the Langell's give some great backing vocals to show that everyone is seriously contributing everything they have into this effort.

This is a concept album of sorts but I don't quite get what exactly the message is, but I trust in Daniel's idea of concepts after the prior two masterpieces. Anyways, the concept is broken into 3 'books' called 'Genesis', 'Genesister' and 'Genesinister'.

'Gensis' and Genesinister' seems to me just to excerpts from about 5 to 6 songs each that build up into one cohesive work. The middle book Genesister is a collection of full tracks like 'Winning A War', 'Reconciliation', 'Dryad of the Woods', 'Oblivion Ocean', 'Undertow' and 'Chainsling'.

It is pretty simple describing what you are going to get on this album. Some might say this album is just an acoustic set that is redone, stripping the beauty of the original work. Others might find this to be another display of art, the ability to change ones work while keeping the same affect and thinking about doing something outside the box. Call this album a love it or hate it if you will. I am on the love it side; I applaud this kind of work and achievement. Regarding purchasing this album, I believe the listener should be very familiar with this band before trying this and then secondly, trusting my judgment.

An essential live album.

Ingenious. This is THE live album. Let me just say here that I am not a fan of live albums, really. I usually prefer the polished and better produced feel of studio work. However, this CD brings with it some amazingly reimagined pieces and two incredible medleys that just cannot be overlooked. This is not just the band in concert. This is not just the band unplugged. This is how live CDs should be done. Each song is substantially and appreciably different from their respective album versions, giving this release the value of hearing each piece in a completely new light.

I think this is the only live album I still own. And it is completely worth it. If you like Pain of Salvation at all, you'll like this one, almost guaranteed. In fact, it's a great place to start to wean non-metal fans onto the band. An essential part of the Pain of Salvation catalog.

It´s really ironic that my favorite album from swedish metal progsters Pain Of Salvation is their live unplugged CD. Not that I don´t like the others, I do. I still think Remedy Lane is a very strong and emotional album. But really, those wonderful songs are sometimes hidden behind a wall of guitar riffs, noises and effects. On 12:5 things change dramatically, sine it is a ´real´ acoustic album. Unlike most of the MTV sponsored affairs, this time there are no famous guests, no orchestras, no female backing vocals or extra musicians to beef up the songs. Only the band with minimum instrumentation. Even the keyboards are down to piano and harpsichord.

In that enviroment, only good, well suited songs could survive. And they do. It´s amazing how such complex, strong and emotional tunes work without the barrage of electric noise Pain Of Salvation is famous of. And to be quite frank, I´m also amazed how those stripped down way of playing did not represent a softening of those same songs. They remain intricated, challenging and defying categorizations. Even those unsettling , anguish feelings of some songs seems to be as strong as ever, if not even more so, with the new arrangements. Sometimes the beauty of the melodies are enhanced too, like in Ashes, where the fine vocal harmonies are more proeminent.

This is not an easy listening album. This is a much interesting experience through Daniel Gildenlöw´s ingenious compositons, even though it is also disturbing at times. In other words, a great work of art. Those guys really can cut it. 12:5 is an excellent addition to any prog collection.

'12:5' - Pain Of Salvation (9/10)

When I was first introduced to Pain of Salvation's first live album, I wasn't sure what to think. This was definately not your average progressive metal live performance. There was something wholly different about the sound, and the delivery. Regardless, I liked what I heard, and continued to listen.

Realizing that this focus on acoustic instruments wasn't just a fluke, but an intended theme for the live album, I was impressed. Even in such a stripped down atmosphere, the band managed to maintain power and energy with their songs. The songs are performed in front of a small crowd, so there's a real sense of warmth and intimacy with the music.

Daniel Gildenlow stated that he didn't want to simply do a 'live album,' he wanted to create something that offered something new to fans instead of a live rehash of studio material. Gildenlow certainly lived up to his promise. There are guitar textures here that were never before seen in studio, and probably would never have worked had they remained electric and heavy.

This is a very irregular live album, it offers something new to the point that it can be considered a true Pain of Salvation album as much as any of the actual studio releases deserve to be. A very rewarding piece of music.

It's been a while since I've heard a live recording worthy of that title. Fortunately when Pain Of Salvation decided to release their first live album they really made an effort of making it as memorable as possible.

Reworking the studio material is one thing but restructuring compositions into one fluent stream of music and doing it in a semi-acoustic setting is bound to become one spectacular show. What they did may not have sounded like anything original on paper but the results speak for themselves.

The material comes from Entropia, The Perfect Element Part 1 and Remedy Lane. I never understood why the material off One Hour By The Concrete Lake was omitted so if anyone knows then, by all means, please enlighten me!

It's true that I've never given Entropia and Remedy Lane a fair chance but the material that I did hear didn't seem that impressive so I welcomed all the new re-imaginings of the individual compositions from those album's. Come to think of it, this album might become a really great introduction album to Pain Of Salvation's music since after hearing it you will later remember and recognize bits and pieces of it when exploring the studio albums without actually realizing that you've already heard those melodies here first!

My personal favorite performances here are Brickwork I aka Leaving Entropia because it improved the badly recorded and mixed original version by at least 150% with this luscious version. I used to think that Second Love from Remedy Lane was a sort of tribute to the famous Scorpions power ballads, but the transition that the track has undergone on Brickwork VIII makes it sound just right in the Pain Of Salvation arsenal. I also have to give an honorable mention to Brickwork IX which is a different take of Ashes which I never really cared for on The Perfect Element Part 1 but, let's just say that, I will never neglect this version!

This is another highly creative album that should be heard by everyone who wants to get into Pain Of Salvation. Personally I still consider The Perfect Element Part 1 to be the band's must have album but 12:5 is definitely not far behind!

***** star songs: Brickwork I (5:44) Dryad Of The Woods (5:37) Chain Sling (4:25) Brickwork VIII (4:12) Brickwork IX (5:12)

**** star songs: Brickwork II (2:35) Brickwork III (1:23) Brickwork IV (0:37) Brickwork V (0:48) Winning A War (7:52) Oblivion Ocean (5:18) Undertow (5:46) Brickwork VI (1:39) Brickwork VII (1:19) Brickwork X (3:51)

*** star songs: Reconciliation (4:22)

There is quite an unusual concept behind this album. Band leader Daniel Gildenlöw was asked if Pain Of Salvation were interested in recording a special radio show for Swedish radio. This resulted in this acoustic album being recorded in front of 80 invited guests, and with no extra instrumentation added if you were there that night this is what you would have heard. The album is divided into three books, as is usual with POS, as there is an underlying story (titled "Brickworks) but most of the songs have previously been available on their studio albums. The difference now of course is back then they were powering prog metal and now this is in an acoustic setting.

The band comprises Daniel Gildenlöw (vocals and guitar), Johan Hallgren (guitar and vocals), Johan Langell (drums and vocals), Kristoffer Gildenlöw (bass and vocals) and Fredrik Hermansson (keyboards). While the band is playing acoustically there is never any doubt that this is a rock band. On "Winning The War" there is the feeling that the passion is just going to take over the band. There may be no amps involved, but they seem intent on killing those acoustic guitars. It shows how well the songs are structured in that they can easily be switched from full on prog metallic mayhem to this environment.

A fascinating album, which while obviously of more interest to fans of the band, will also have appeal to those coming to them for the first time. Just don't expect any of their other albums to sound quite like this.

Originally appeared in Feedback #78, April 2004

Review Nº 13

This is my second review of a live album on Progarchives, it's my first review from the band, and it's also the second time I'm going to start reviewing a group, beginning with a live album. The first was 'Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends' of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. With '12:05', when I saw the high ratings given to this Pain Of Salvation live album, on this site, and because I love the band, I became very curious about it. So, soon as I could, I ordered to my supplier to buy it. When I got the album, I realized why it was so very well rated on Progarchives.

In general I prefer studio albums, instead live albums, in the most of the cases. I've especially two main reasons for that. First, usually the studio works are better recorded and produced than the live. Second, very often, the songs are played alive much in the same way that they were performed on its studio versions. In my opinion, a good live album must have the tunes slightly different and performed with other free creativity, than the original studio versions.

Pain Of Salvation is a Swedish tech/extreme progressive metal band founded in 1991, which is, in my humble opinion, one of the best and most original progressive bands in our days. The name Pain Of Salvation signifies, the meaning of balance, taking the good with the bad. It's also a good expression, in everyday use, when something doesn't go the way you planned.

'12:05' is the debut live album of Pain Of Salvation and was released in 2004. It was recorded from a live concert in the band's hometown of Eskilstuna, in Sweden on 12 May 2003 at 12:05. It's an unplugged live concert, totally performed alive with only acoustic instruments. Personally, I enjoy very much music performed with acoustic instrumentation. A performance like this is much more pure, clear and simple, and usually has more passion and naturality.

After 'Remedy Lane', the group engages in the Swedish assembly of the musical piece 'Jesus Christ Superstar', and were being responsible for implementing those songs. Before they do a new album, the band did acoustic shows in Sweden, presenting new approaches to some of their old songs. From those live performances, it would be born this fantastic debut live album, '12:05'.

The line up on '12:05' is the usual in those days. However, the musical instruments played on the live concert are very different from those who are usually used by the band. So, we have Daniel Gildenlow (lead vocals and acoustic guitar), Fredrik Hermansson (grand piano and harpsichord), Johan Hallgren (lead and backing vocals and acoustic guitar), Kristoffer Gildenlow (backing vocals, acoustic bass and cello) and Johan Langell (backing vocals and drums).

'12:05' has sixteen tracks. It has songs from all the band's studio albums, until that moment, except from their second studio album 'One Hour By The Concrete Lake'. The album is divided into three parts. The first part is Book I: Genesis ' Brickwork Part 1, which is divided into 5 tracks: 'Leaving Entropia T5 A', 'This Heart Of Mine T5', 'Song For The Innocent T5', 'Descend 1' and 'Leaving Entropia T5 B'. The second part is Book II: Genesister, which is divided into 6 tracks: 'Winning A War T5', 'Reconciliation T5', 'Dryad Of The Woods T5', 'Oblivion Ocean T5', 'Undertow T5' and 'Chainsling T5'. The third part is Book III: Genesinister - Brickwork Part 2, which is divided into 5 tracks: 'Ascend 1', 'Ascend 2', 'Second Love', 'Ashes T5' and 'Descend 2'.

The songs aren't simply the original studio versions played with acoustic instruments. Most of the music here was rearranged with the addition of some new parts. It happened because the group didn't want to simply release a normal Pain Of Salvation live album, but do a live performance, taking a more personal and different approach to the old material. Basically, what they wanted to do was to perform a new album with the old material, and they did it very well.

Conclusion: '12:05' is, in my humble opinion, a very tasteful album and a truly masterpiece in terms of live recordings. It's a must have for almost Pain of Salvation fans, especially for those who aren't fanatic metal heads. If you are a mature metal head that doesn't need everything to be hardcore, put your doubts aside and get it. For those who prefer a more traditional approach to the progressive style of music, and have been turned off by the group's more metallic musical approach to date, should also check it out. Finally, if you are a music fan in general, get it, because this is a wonderful album, with emotional music, full of creativity and performed live flawlessly. The final result of '12:05' is a superior acoustic live album, which sounds to a new musical work. Probably, this is the Pain Of Salvation most accessible album, and for those who doesn't know the band yet, I really suggest they begin with this album. This is with any doubt one of my favourite live albums ever, especially in terms of acoustic performances.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)