And so this is the so-called sellout for Paradise Lost...After the gothic sounding "One Second", which was disappointing for many of their fans, Paradise Lost came to release an album with nothing at all to do with metal. The guitars seem absent on this album and all one can hear are processed synthesizers and programmable drum beats. The band claims that what sounds as synthesizers is actually processed guitar but in either case it doesn't really make any difference. The question about the album is : Is it any good? Yes, it's different than anything else they released but still it retains many of the original Paradise Lost elements such as clever songwriting and the melancholy of previous albums like "Draconian Times" . The closest comparison to what they sound like is Depeche Mode. Even though this album was strongly criticized by most of their earlier fans it's still a very interesting album with songs like "Permanent Solution" and "Behind the Gray" standing out. The album is recommended to people who liked "One Second" or fans of bands like Depeche Mode. Other fans of the band ...proceed with caution!

No, I am not a kid who could care less about metal. I am a metal fanatic who also loves Depeche Mode. Many metal bands admit to being inspired if not influenced by DM (Katatonia, In Flames, Opeth, Dark Tranquility, to name just a few) and DM is an excellent band that transcends genres. Just great music. Paradise Lost started as death/doom band and having created their absolute highlight/ masterpiece in 1993's Icon, they have begun to move away from metal. A discerning ear can already pick the DM influence on Draconian Times, their next album, which was certainly a step down from heaviness of Icon. DT was still a great metal album, but the song "Hands of Reason" reminded me heavily of Depeche Mode's "Songs of Faith and Devotion". And no wonder, for Greg Macintosh (PL guitarist) admitted to being fascinated with that record. So the next, also great, record, "One Second", was very very DM, this time in more than one song, but also changed the way every song is written on that CD. Host is simply the completion of this era of PL's development or devolution, depending on your taste. It is absolutely true, that it is NOT a metal record. There is no metal whatsoever on Host. There is however great music. They do sound a hell of a lot like DM, but the stuff is really good. It is okay if you hate PL for this album, given your expectations of them. But in my opinion, after Icon/Draconian Times there could be no topping themselves in metal for PL. So they changed the style. This, admittedly, COMPLETELY backfired on them for Believe in Nothing and their self-titled, which are rather mediocre affairs, with surprisingly strong Symbol of Life, in between. On SOL, they realized that this is as far as they can take DM influence without losing their touch. They tried to go back to the roots, but it was too soon- they have wandered too far from metal and now it just sounded awkward. The metal of the self-titled sounded forced and artificial. And so they released great, if slightly disappointing, In Requiem. In my opinion, they are now going back to Icon/DT era and trying to recapture the brilliance for the next album.As for this one, Host, if you like Depeche Mode, you'll like it too. If you hate DM, you will consider this an utter garbage. But there is no denying the fact that PL are very versatile and extremely talented bunch. If you like Paradise Lost, obviously it's not because of Host or Symbol of Life. You, like myself, love them for the Gothic-Draconian Times era, and I can't blame you. Then they were no doubt at their best. In Requiem is the transition that will let them finally reclaim the "Lost" Paradise of metal. Bottom line: Host is still great in itself. Is it Paradise Lost we know and love from the late eighties/early nighties? Hardly. Is it good music? Hell yeah! Enjoy it for what it is, not for what you want it to be.

I was rocking out to Paradise Lost back in the 90's when Draconian Times and Icon were new. I sort of forgot about them for a while, but found a video from the first song on this album on Youtube. It was different from what their other albums, but I enjoyed it enough. This really does sound like a dark 80's New Wave album. It's a bit darker than Depeche Mode (another reviewer compared the two bands as well) but a little more upbeat than the lighter Nine Inch Nails music. Over all, I like it, and highly recommend it if you're open to the type of music I described. Those who're expecting something similar to the older Paradise Lost albums will possibly be disappointed.

In the Paradise Lost discography, 1999's Host definitely stands out as the black sheep of the family. The band has always pushed their sound to new territory, moving from the early doom metal days to gothic metal and gothic rock and then (somewhat) back to doomier territory, but Host is the album where the band may have taken it one step too far.

With Host, Paradise Lost went full-on gothic rock, or maybe even gothic pop. It sounds a lot more like Sisters of Mercy or Depeche Mode than it does Paradise Lost, and I say that as someone who loved the sound of

. One of this band's great strengths is Gregor Mackintosh's powerful guitar style, and here he's all but traded his guitar for a keyboard. Host is all techno beats and overpowering synths. The lyrics are great, and Nick Holmes's vocals are impressive, but the album is almost a chore to listen to. You get the sense that these could all be really good songs if the band would just make them more metal.

Fortunately Paradise Lost soon steered their sound back in a more metallic direction. Host remains their least regarded album, and is one of the only Paradise Lost albums I don't honestly love. If you're a die-hard Paradise Lost fan, you'll probably want to own a copy just so there isn't a gap in your collection. That's about the strongest recommendation I can give it though.