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
Yellow Raven
Pain of Salvation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Of thunder and of rain
Yellow raven sipped the air
Gentle eyes kissing the rain
Where do you go, fantastic dreambird?
Answer to my yearning
Take me away from here
Where do you go, fantastic dreambird?
Take me away somewhere
Take me away from here
Oh, take me away
The thunderbird began to cry
The music died away
The thunderbird began to cry
And smoke was slowly drifting by
Where do you go, fantastic dreambird?
Answer to my yearning
Take me away from here
Where do you go, fantastic dreambird?
Take me away somewhere
Take me away from here
Yellow raven, your heart's flying
But your love is killing me
The lyrics of Pain of Salvation’s song Yellow Raven are quite cryptic, but they seem to be about a yearning to escape from the mundane and the troubles of reality, and to be taken away to a place where one can be free and surrounded by beauty. The yellow raven is a symbol of hope and possibility, representing the freedom and beauty that the singer seeks. The opening lines, “Yellow raven sipped the air, of thunder and of rain, gentle eyes kissing the rain” describe the bird as it drinks in the natural environment, suggesting a connection to nature that the singer desires. The refrain, “Where do you go fantastic dreambird? Take me away from here” expresses this longing for escape as the singer asks the yellow raven to take them away to a beautiful and fantastic place.
However, the second verse hints at a more melancholy tone as the thunderbird begins to cry, and the music dies away. The smoke that is mentioned suggests a possible tragedy or loss, and the singer’s desire to escape from this somber reality becomes all the more urgent. The final line, “Yellow raven, your hearts flying, But your love is killing me” is particularly poignant, suggesting a pain that the singer is feeling as they long for the freedom they seek.
Overall, the song is a beautifully crafted piece that captures the feeling of yearning for something more while being trapped by the mundane and the troubles of the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Yellow raven sipped the air
The yellow raven took a deep breath of the stormy air
Of thunder and of rain
Inhaling the charged silence of the storm and feeling the drops of rain
Gentle eyes kissing the rain
The raven's eyes closed serenely as they welcomed the feeling of raindrops
Where do you go, fantastic dreambird?
Addressing the creature, asking where it travels in dreams
Answer to my yearning
Asking for a response to the desire for escape
Take me away from here
A request to be taken away from a stifling place
Oh, take me away
An emotional plea for a way out
The thunderbird began to cry
The powerful bird of the storm began to weep
The music died away
The ambiance of the storm grew quieter
And smoke was slowly drifting by
As the rain extinguished the lightning, smoke from the storm began to clear
Yellow raven, your heart's flying
Commenting on the raven's heart which beats widely with excitement
But your love is killing me
Heartfelt emotions of a someone letting go of their love - it is too intense to bear
Contributed by Micah G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Louis Jamin
This moment when you discover one of your favorites modern bands covered one of the most beautiful songs by one of your favorite old bands... more than ten years later... :D
Mohsen Ansari Javid
Fantastic cover. There's a new 2015 version of the song by Uli Jon Roth and Nathan James which is cool. But Meine's voice is still the best and the most charming.
Michael Lyustik
Meine' voice is one of the best in the World-rock-scene. But this Cover is very very good
pajamasandmore
This is AWESOME. Please do more classic Scorpion covers.
David Bigelow
Wow very nicely done. Great cover of my favorite Scorpions tune!
Igor Lit
I heard a great version of a famous song. The artists were able to accurately convey the mood and retell the author's idea without violating the nature of the song.
dreamelka59
Daniel jedyny i niepowtarzalny ! Fantastic cover.
Poly Ko
Very good cover on a very beautiful song!
Jeff Bowling
Wow . A Classic scorpions tune to cover. I wish more metal bands would dig up 70s scorps and cover them! Nice job and great homage to a rock Icon
Jean-Pierre THETIOT
Grandiose ! !!!!! Que c'est beau. ...magnifique reprise
que dire de plus. .....😍👏☝