A difficult album to assess. CF had release three great left field albums, all with some critical acclaim, but with next to no commercial success. Flint and Fogle (bass / guitar) leave and Garven and Baker carry on with two new guys. The result was Paradise Lost.

First, the honesty. There are some duff tracks on here. Join The Legion is a solid opener, but from then on, Side 1 just doesn't work too well. The Troll is throwaway. Heaven Help Us is poor. And Go It Alone is ... horrible. Fire (Arthur Brown cover) is reasonable, and Before The Lash has something going for it, but no classic CU.

YET AND YET, the last three tracks (which time-wise is nearly 50% of the album) ARE classic CU. Chaos Rising, Fallen Idols and Paradise Lost. Over 20 minutes of wonderful metal. They STILL had it in them. Just brilliant tracks. A times a little Maiden-esque, but not in a bad way, but always driving and epic.

I gave it four, because I can't it 3.5 ... I won't give it 3 ... so 4 it is! A great example of when it is good to download specific tracks and avoid others! Get the last three