OPETH Week On Maidenfans (8/25 - 9/1)

Favorite Opeth albums? (Pick up to 3)

  • Total voters
    10
Cool reviews, thanks Mosh. I would, however, quibble with the premise that Still Life is one of the top 2 most "classic" or "renowned" Opeth albums. Blackwater Park is certainly one of them, but Ghost Reveries, not Still Life, is the other. Ghost Reveries is the most critically acclaimed of all the Opeth albums. I am not sure how exactly to prove this conclusively, the best I can do is point to the Wikipedia entries for each album and compare the "Reception" section in each. The reviews of Ghost Reveries are staggering, lots of 5/5, 9/10 and 10/10 ratings. Personally, I like Ghost Reveries a LOT more than Still Life. Looking forward to your views on that one, Mosh. :ok:

EDIT: I voted in the poll. Blackwater Park and Ghost Reveries got two of my three votes. The third? Pale Communion. I've listened to it at least a half dozen times already, it keeps getting better. Probably premature to make this call, but it may end up being my favorite Opeth album ever. Certainly the best new music I've heard this year, with "River" being the high-water mark (pun intended). Great, great album.
 
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Actually, Ghost Reveries is my favorite too. I do think it's their peak and the culmination of the "classic" Opeth sound. I equate Still Life with Number Of the Beast in some ways. Neither are anywhere near the band's best work (imo), but they're pretty well known and sorta put both bands on the map. You could use this poll as an example; Still Life is second only to Blackwater Park in votes. But yea, I like Ghost Reveries a lot more than Still Life too. In fact, I'm starting to feel that Pale Communion should go above it as well.
 
Deliverance/Damnation:
This is probably the most obvious pairing as these albums were made at the same time and released close together. These albums each primarily focus on one dimension of Opeth's sound without blending too much the way they do on other albums. For me, it works on Damnation but not so much on Deliverance. Deliverance has some great moments, such as the title track, A Fair Judgement, and parts of Master's Apprentices and By the Pain I See In Others. So it's not a bad album (I honestly don't think Opeth have made a bad album), but it falls a little short to the others. It sounds a little uninspired and almost seems as if Mikael felt like he had to write a heavy album to balance out Damnation and give the Metal fans something. He definitely seems less fearless in his direction now, which shows in the music as well.

Damnation on the other hand is a much more honest sounding album. It takes a lot of influence from progressive bands such as Camel or Porcupine Tree, but stays true to the Opeth sound. It's dark, melancholic, and has an atmosphere akin to any other Opeth album. It flows like a classic progressive rock record too. At only 40 minutes, it goes by very quickly yet says a lot in a very short time frame. It also flows as a cohesive piece, as if it's telling story. Much in the way that classic prog rock albums do the same thing. The music on this is really great too. Some of Opeth's best melodies are on this album and every song is a hit. Because it's so short and relaxing, this is probably my most played Opeth album. It's great if I want a quick fix and it's my go to if I want to listen to something on the quieter side of things. Opeth have done a couple more clean sung albums since then of course, but this one is one of a kind. I kinda want to say it's the best of the three, but Pale Communion has been dominating lately and it's putting up a seriously tough fight.

Deliverance is more of mixed bag in terms of quality. It also has the worst flow of any Opeth album, for me. I've only listened to it in its entirety a few times because it drags out and listening to it as a cohesive piece isn't as rewarding as listening to any other Opeth album. The first three songs don't have this problem, those feel very cohesive. Especially Deliverance and A Fair Judgement. That's one of the best segues ever. After that it's a little less cohesive and the last two songs seem tacked on. It also doesn't help that these songs are a bit subpar by Opeth standards. There are some really fantastic moments in each of them, but overall they seem lacking. Same thing with Wreath. So in the end I only go back to two songs from this album really. But that's not too bad since they're both really long and up there with Opeth's best. The title track would be in my top 3 for sure.
 
I'd like to make a correction here:
Mosh said:
Orchid/Morningrise:
The early albums. Very poorly produced compared to the other albums and really different from what they'd go on to do. There isn't as much progressive rock influence here, but instead influences range from Iron Maiden to folk to even black metal. These albums are often disregarded by fans but I think they're really good. Orchid is really strong for a debut when you think about it. You've got these long intricate progressive songs with really strong transitions already. Honestly I think if the production was more up to snuff, these albums would be liked more. I mean, listen to them perform these songs on the live albums, they sound amazing. It's pretty much 100% impossible now, but I would've loved for them to redo those albums. Or play them live in their entireties or something.

Morningrise would probably be my least favorite Opeth album, but it still has some stuff I like. I think my main issue with the first two albums (especially Morningrise) is that songs are a little bloated. The transitions are good but, but taken as a whole I think some parts could've been trimmed or made into their own songs. But it's a minor gripe anyway, since most of the time when I listen to these albums I don't think about what song I'm listening to and just take them as single entities. Like movements in a symphony. This makes the music much more enjoyable to me and you get to focus more on the riffs and the songwriting, which was very strong even then.
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These albums might be disregarded often, out here, (or seen as the least good ones), but really, (at least) Morningrise is not a disregarded album in many other metal communities, or worldwide metal community, in general as you wish. My memory tells me this, but you can also read this for example:
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/opeth-archived/89862-whats-your-favourite-opeth-album-3.html
http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=88773&PN=1
http://www.metalstorm.net/forum/topic.php?topic_id=7429 / http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=2471
http://www.reddit.com/r/Opeth/comments/2azt0e/ranking_opeth_albums_pale_communion_included/

Mikael on Morningrise:
- Comments about your second album, 'Morningrise' ?
'Many fans say it's our best. It's unique I think for a metal band, but my least favourite Opeth album due to the sound. It's absolutely bollocks! The snare is the worst I've heard + the guitars are really mosquito like! Good album but not my fave!'
- - -
Well I can understand that he can have personal issues with the sound, especially if it turned out different than he hoped for. Every creator who stands very close to his creation can find sound very important. It's part of the process. It can be a dominant factor. Although I am not sure if Adrian Smith would say if a certain Maiden album (he played on) is his least favourite because of the sound. We remember from Shirley's diaries that he was disappointed about the last album's sound, but would he really qualify it as his least favourite? Nahh.

Other aspects as well can play a part, e.g. Jon Schaffer's dislike for Burnt Offerings has especially to do with (personal) problems in and around the band. I don't think these issues make the music itself worse. I really have no problem with Morningrise's sound. Simply because the music itself has much more impact. I really like the sound actually. It is kind of black metallish, I am used to such stuff.
 
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I dunno, even on the lists you posted I frequently see Orchid and Morningrise getting lumped toward the bottom.

Mikael seems especially critical of his own music. He doesn't seem to like the Deliverance album either. I wouldn't be surprised if the only pre-Heritage albums he even likes are Ghost Reveries, Damnation, and BWP. This is judging from his own comments on them and how much they play material from these albums.
 
Sorry that I forgot to comment on these band weeks, been busy lately.
  • Pale Communion was a solid album that I enjoyed listening to. Wasn't exactly what I expected, I was expecting more of an heavy metal album, which was a belief that was further enhanced by the first release, 'Cusp of Eternity'. But the album is pure progressive rock. Unlike Heritage, the album featured a more focused side of prog. 'Eternal Rains Will Come' has become one of my favorite Opeth tracks, but as for the rest of the album, the track aren't quite as strong. Better than Orchid, Morningrise, on par with My Arms Your Hearse, inferior to anything else, in my book. As for Opeth's direction, I really, REALLY don't want them to do a 70s prog record again. 70s prog is probably one of my two favorite eras of music, but if they do a third straight 70s prog album, it'll sound really stale. I'd like to hear them do a darker and heavier take on Damnation, not death metal, but stuff like 'A Fair Judgement', maybe.
  • My favorite Opeth albums are Blackwater Park, Damnation and Ghost Reveries. Still Life has fallen a bit on my list but it's pretty much on the same level as GR. Deliverance went up in a big way, from my least favorite Opeth album last year to my 5th favorite this year. As for songs, I'll go with 'Blackwater Park', 'Face of Melinda', 'Harlequin Forest', 'Ghost of Perdition' and 'Windowpane'.
  • Love them both pretty much equally.
  • I feel like Royal Albert Hall has the best musical performance, Roundhouse Tapes has the best vocals and Lamentations has the best feel.
 
Deliverance is outright excellent. Very, very powerful stuff. Straight bulls eye from the first listen session (never paid much attention to this era before, because I was afraid it would be in the same vein as Still Life; but the last week changed everything at once; Blackwater Park and later albums are different from Still Life; and ten times better). Some mindblowing rhythmic shit going on (that ending of the title track: :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy: ).
 
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I feel that Deliverance is probably the band's most inconsistent release. The middle of the album (tracks 2-5) are excellent, but the record is bookended by two of the band's weakest songs. I can see some making a case for BTPISIO (I used to like that song quite a bit), but aside from a few sections I just can't get into Wreath. The middle part with the growled vocals just drags on and on...
 
Agreed whole heartedly. The middle of the album is good (title track and A Fair Judgement being top tier Opeth) but the first and last tracks are some of their weakest. Wreath in particular isn't anything offensive but it's the best example of Opeth "painting by numbers". It makes me glad they shifted gears afterwards because had they continued in that direction, we would've gotten some really bland music.

That said, it's cool to see you exploring Opeth's discography further, Foro!
 
Cheers!

I find the second half of this album not that great (the majority of Master's Apprentice is cool though) but disagree about Wreath.
 
Master's Apprentice took awhile to grow on me but I like it enough.

Honestly the only two songs I really go back to are the title track and A Fair Judgment. Deliverance is still a good album but it's bottom tier Opeth. To me it sounds like they forced themselves to write a heavy album to please the potential naysayers for Damnation. Obviously Mikael cares less about that now and I think they're better for that.
 
I have to admit that "Wreath" being the first track on the album was one of the main reasons of my low opinion of the rest. I was very biased during my first couple of listens. Currently, "Wreath" is the only track I don't enjoy.
 
Mosh said:
Honestly the only two songs I really go back to are the title track and A Fair Judgment. Deliverance is still a good album but it's bottom tier Opeth. To me it sounds like they forced themselves to write a heavy album to please the potential naysayers for Damnation. Obviously Mikael cares less about that now and I think they're better for that.
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I agree completely. Deliverance sounds even more half-hearted when paired with Damnation, which sounds like the record Mikael really wanted to make at the time. There's nothing outright bad about Deliverance, and some amazing moments, but it's among my least favorite albums.
 
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