The long-awaited concept album "BE" finally has been completed, but was it worth the wait... Well, it depends on your preferences. The story is quite interesting and multi-dimensional. So relistening value of this album is very good. You can spend literally hours listening this album again and again. In addition to music, every now and then there are speech parts which vary from messages and newscasts to conversations (for example, on the 6th track there was a conversation between a man and a woman, where the man suggested of having oral sex while driving).

Musically "BE" doesn't offer anything new... Pain of Salvation has revised quite a lot of their old material. Also you should note that this album isn't very heavy, vice versa. There are many clean compositions which reside on the piano, clean guitars, the orchestra and (of course) Gildenlöw's vocals. Heavy parts were occasionally used for effect.

In parenthesis, quite a few times there was a part similar to the melodyline of the main theme from Blade Runner. First time it was done with piano in track 4 and then with violin in tracks 10 and 14... (I wonder if it was intended — it's quite common progression). Although "BE" is a concept album, you can listen to it as a normal album and enjoy the music. That way tracks 4, 5, 10 (the first half), 11, 13 and 14 (partially) stand out (other songs had good parts too, but they also had some "not-so-felicitous" parts).

Daniel Gildenlöw has done quite a good job on producing this album (and also on mixing)... the sounds are apposite for the most part. The recordings are clean and there's not much to complain.

If you decide to delve into the world of BE, it will reward you... as Gildenlöw said, the concept is intriguing. But "BE" isn't quick entertainment, you should use time to experience it in its entirety. BE is one of those albums that will grow on you... The more you listen to it, the more you'll like it. All in all, BE has a good concept, but the music isn't as good as I expected (doesn't stand in comparison to the story). I recommend this album to fans of PoS and progressive music (especially fans of concept albums will enjoy their journey through the world of "BE").

Release date: 27.09.2004

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- MAGE (19.09.2004)

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LINE-UP:
Gildenlöw, Daniel: Vocals and Harmonies and Other Voices, Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Grandpa's Mandola, Percussion on Toms, Roto-Toms, the Above Mandola and Other Noisy Things, Programming and Samples, Chinese Archò, Distorted Floorstamps, Nice and Ugly Sounds of Different Kinds and Origins... Hermansson, Fredrik: Grand Piano, Cembalo (Harpsicord), Samples, Percussion... Gildenlöw, Kristoffer: Fretted and Fretless Basses, Double Bass, Old Junkyard Steel Barrels Percussion, Harmony Vocals (live)... Hallgren, Johan: Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Harmony Vocals (live), Congas Langell, Johan: Drums, Cowbells, Djembe, Harmony Vocals (live)... The Orchestra of Eternity: Cucu, Mihai: 1st Violin Arvidsson, Camilla: 2nd Violin Ekman, Kristina: Viola Lanning, Magnus: Cello Karlberg, Åsa: Flute Kumlin, Anette: Oboe Pettersson, Nils-Åke: Clarinet van den Poel, Dries: Bass Clarinet Juvas, Sven-Olof: Tuba Guests: Ringkvist, Cecilia: Dea Pecuniae in Dea Pecuniae Howatt, Blair: Miss Mediocrity in Dea Pecuniae Howatt, Kim & Jim: News Casts and Other Readings Various PoS Fans All Over the World: The Messages to God in Vocari Dei
Producer:	Gildenlöw, Daniel
Mixing by:	Gildenlöw, Daniel
Mastering by:	Cutting Room

	TRACKLIST:
	Prologue 01. Animae Partus ("I Am") I Animae Partus 02. Deus Nova 03. Imago 04. Pluvius Aestivus II Machinassiah 05. Lilium Cruentus (Deus Nova) 06. Nauticus (Drifting) 07. Dea Pecuniae 08. Vocari Dei III Machinageddon 09. Diffidentia (Breaching the Core) 10. Nihil Morari IV Machinauticus 11. Latericius Valete 12. Omni 13. Iter Impius 14. Martius/Nauticus II V Deus Nova Mobile 15. Animae Partus II