Pain of Salvation’s “Undertow”
“Undertow” by Pain of Salvation has long been one of my favorite songs. I love it for its intensity of emotion and the way it conveys these deep, dark feelings with sincerity and beauty. Pretty much awesome stuff all around.
But another reason why I love “Undertow” is because the whole song seems to serve as a frame for the vocals. Every note played on every instrument is wonderful, but it never upstages the singer and only enhances what the he’s doing. Some of the guitar parts are simply unisons with the vocal melody.
And as the music becomes a backdrop for the singing, the focus shifts to the singer. The song is now defined by the vocal performance, the lyrics being sung, and the emotions with which the lyrics are delivered. And all that maximizes the song’s effect.
There are lots of good songs that suffer from poor vocal performances. Every time I hear Chad Kroeger grunt through “Far Away,” I think of how much better that song could have been with a better voice from a singer who at least acted like he felt some kind of connection with the words he was singing. “Undertow” is driven by the top-notch vocals of Daniel Gildenlow, and his emotional (not to mention eclectic) singing is what made me fall in love with Pain of Salvation.
A few days ago, I was browsing YouTube and came across a live performance of “Undertow.” At first, I was disappointed that the arrangement had been modified from the beloved studio version. But as the song progressed and Gildenlow sang his heart out, I began to realize that, though the arrangement had changed, the song had not—it was simply a different but equally effective backdrop for an unbelievably emotional vocal.
This is how you do music, folks.
Tags: Chad Kroeger, emotion, Far Away, live performance, metal, music, Nickelback, Pain of Salvation, progressive metal, rock music, singing, Undertow, YouTube