Trademarks include concept albums focusing on social, environmental, philosophical, and emotional issues as well as songs that incorporate complex rhythms and time changes but retain flowing melodies.
The band was formed by Gildenlöw in 1984 under the name Reality. The band used to participate in many music contests in their homeland of Sweden. The first EP, Hereafter, was recorded in 1996 under the monicker Pain of Salvation, which has been the name of the band since 1991. The Lineup of the band was the same for their first official full length album, Entropia(1997).
After the departure of Daniel Magdic for continuing disagreements with the others over committing to the increasing demands of the band, the band recorded One Hour By The Concrete Lake(1999), a concept album about the issues of nuclear power/waste, disposition of indigenous peoples,industry and human discovery. The band began to receive more attention from critics and magazines all around the world. In 1999 they also played at the famous ProgPower festival in The Netherlands.
Their third and most famous album, The Perfect Element I was released in 2000 and received a great response from the crowd and critics, making them the second most famous Progressive Metal band over the world: a success confirmed by their fourth album, Remedy Lane (2002), a semi-autobiographical album written by Daniel Gildenlöw about loss, love, and life.
2004 saw the release of two different albums, an acoustic live show recorded at Eskilstuna called 12:5 where the band played most of their old famous songs rearranged, and the epic concept album about the origin of humanity and God called BE: It was the first album to divide the fan base in opinion, due to its musically experimental and philosophical nature; and perhaps also its lack of cohesive progressive metal pieces.
BE album was also released in a special DVD edition called BE: The Original Stage Production (2005). With a live CD recorded during the 2003 presentation of the album and a DVD rappresentation from the same dates.
On 21 February 2006, Kristoffer Gildenlöw was asked to leave the band due to him not being able to attend rehearsals, since he lived in Holland and the band lived in Sweden. Kristoffer has a solo album planned for the future, as well as a side project called Dial.
The new album, Scarsick, was released on January 22, 2007. It is more band oriented than BE, with Daniel Gildenlöw playing bass in the studio. Recent interviews with Daniel have revealed that Scarsick is, in fact, the second part of The Perfect Element, confirming the speculation of many fans.
A European tour to support the new album has been announced (it started February 17, 2007). The band will be playing with Simon Andersson, a new replacement bassist on this tour. On the 10th of March, after the Copenhagen show, Simon Andersson was welcomed into Pain of Salvation as a full member. The band issued this message on their website:
He (Simon Andersson) did an outstanding job on the tour and we are looking forward to the coming years with great anticipation. Since his girlfriend is a huge Pain of Salvation fan, we happily expect to see this decision put a little silver lining on their sex life as well, since she can now all of a sudden go to bed with a member of the band :-) Congratulations Simon, and welcome to the family!
In May 2007 it was announced that drummer Johan Langell had decided to leave the band to spend more time with his family.
For Progressive Nation 2009 Tour the band took a new bass guitar player - Per Schelander.
According to their website, there is a new EP "Linoleum" due in November 2009, while a double album "Road Salt", consisting of two parts (Ivory and Ebony) is recorded and to be released in 2010, 2011.
Current lineup:
Daniel Gildenlöw – vocals, guitar
Johan Hallgren – lead guitar, backing vocals
Léo Margarit - drums
Gustaf Hielm - bass guitar, double bass, vocals (1992–1994, 2011–present)
Daniel "D2" Karlsson – keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
Former members:
Daniel Magdic – guitar, backing vocals
Kristoffer Gildenlöw – bass guitar, double bass, backing vocals
Johan Langell – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Magnus Johansson - bass guitar (1990)
Joakim Strandberg - bass guitar (1984–1990)
Mikael Pettersson - drums (1984–1990)
Fredrik Hermansson – keyboards
Simon Andersson - bass guitar, backing vocals (2007-2008)
Per Schelander - bass guitar, backing vocals
Ragnar Zolberg - guitar, vocals, mandolin
Tell Me You Don't Know
Pain of Salvation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I can't seem to find him just today
If sometimes I ask you where to go
Just don't help me find the road
Tell me you don't know
Please tell me so
There was a me who always knew what's right
So if sometimes I ask you where to go
Please don't help me find the road
Tell me you don't know
Please tell me you don't know
If sometimes I ask you where to go
Just don't help me find the road
Tell me you don't know
If sometimes I ask you where to go
Just don't help me find the road
Tell me you don't know
Tell me you don't know
The lyrics to Pain of Salvation's "Tell Me You Don't Know" explore the themes of confusion, uncertainty, and the desire for guidance. The singer is struggling to find his way and is unsure of which path to take. He seems to be looking for someone to guide him, but at the same time, he is afraid of being led down the wrong path. The refrain "Tell me you don't know" is a plea for honesty and vulnerability. The singer wants to know that he's not alone in his confusion and that it's okay not to have all the answers.
The lines "There's a me who always found his way / But I can't seem to find him just today" suggest that the singer is feeling lost and disconnected from his former self. He's questioning his own identity and whether or not he's still the same person he used to be. The lyrics reflect the universal experience of feeling lost and searching for direction.
Overall, "Tell Me You Don't Know" is a poignant expression of the human desire for clarity and guidance in times of confusion and uncertainty. The song is a reminder that it's okay not to know all the answers and that sometimes the most honest response is simply "I don't know."
Line by Line Meaning
There's a me who always found his way
There was a version of myself who was confident and had direction
But I can't seem to find him just today
But currently, I am struggling to find that version of myself
If sometimes I ask you where to go
If I ever seek guidance from you regarding my path in life
Just don't help me find the road
Please refrain from providing me with a concrete solution on what to do
Tell me you don't know
Instead, be honest and tell me you don't have all the answers
Please tell me so
In this way, I can explore my own way of navigating life
There was a me who always knew what's right
In the past, I had a strong sense of what was the right thing to do
That's who I need to help me through this night
I wish to seek guidance from that version of myself to overcome my current struggles
If sometimes I ask you where to go
If I ever seek guidance from you regarding my path in life
Please don't help me find the road
Please don't lead me to a specific direction
If sometimes I ask you where to go
If I ever seek guidance from you regarding my path in life
Just don't help me find the road
Please let me navigate on my own
Tell me you don't know
It's okay if you don't have all the answers
Please tell me you don't know
Be truthful and don't give false hope or pretend to have knowledge you don't possess
If sometimes I ask you where to go
If I ever seek guidance from you regarding my path in life
Just don't help me find the road
Please allow me to make my own choices and learn from my own experiences
Tell me you don't know
It's okay to not have all the answers or to not be certain about everything in life
Tell me you don't know
Be honest and open instead of pretending to know the solution
Contributed by Max O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
David
Damn, I love the bluesy riff in this song. Makes me want to groove out forever
Errika Cha
love it <3 road salt one is an amazing album! I can t wait for road salt 2:D
Omer Sela
It's fucking amazing how PoS seem to do everything they want with absolute perfection.
Allmayor
Freakin' awesome !
Lunumbrus
With winters as long and cold as theirs, I imagine the blues feeling comes naturally. Look up Opeth's Damnation album. Not blues, but you can tell the same melancholy feeling exists, albeit in POS's case, they deny it with the blues, and in Opeth's case, they fall into it, and allow it to guide them. At least, IMO.
BlueTravesty
This is awesome. People who think this album sucks because they don't like POS... well, that's sort of understandable. People who like POS but think this album is a betrayal to their style... have no soul. period.
Umy1332
I love old POS, but I fucking love where they went with the Road Salts. So refreshing.
lesclaypool0727
It's brilliant ,but I prefer the earlier albums ,because the feeling nearest for me!
SSSavio
Awesome!
Sousa Bazooka
Sounds excellent! A bit like Monster Magnet?^^