THE PERFECT ELEMENT - PART 1

Great album, but its way too damn long. So first the good. Pain of Salvation has succeeded in creating a unique and distinct sound in a world filled with carbon copy, generic Prog Metal bands. That is success number one. When its comes to this album, its has some moments of real brilliance and some parts that drag, and overall, its way too long. This album did not need to be 74 minutes. This is a fatal flaw. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the album, but today while listening to it, I was like "Is this thing almost over yet?" just to look down at my IPOD and see I was on track 9 of 12 and sadly let out a groan. They seriously should have designed this album to be around 60 minutes and as a counterpoint I present Images and Words which clocks in at just under 60 minutes which feels likes its over in the blink of an eye and leaves me wanting more, where as The Perfect Element OVERSTAYS ITS WELCOME. Now usually I would just delete one or two songs from the playlist, but it can't be done in this case since the album flows together as if it was one long song, so in the end this album is fantastic for the most part, but is like a marathon to get through.