The Perfect Element, Part I is Pain of Salvation's third studio album, released in October 2000.

It is a concept album that focuses on the forming of the individual, particularly on the events from one's childhood and adolescence.

Part one of the concept is a story of human development, which focuses specifically on the progression from childhood to adolescence.

After that introduction, the concept focuses on the inner struggles and feelings of the characters after the events on "Ashes", and we also have some memory flashes, telling us more about their pasts and revealing what events in their lives caused them to become what they are, finally ending with the "falling" of He on the last song, "The Perfect Element".

A Limited Edition has been also released with an extra cd including bonus tracks and multimedia application containing videos ("Ashes", "Exclamation") and additional material/information.