Author Topic: The official Opeth thread v. Bring on the new album!  (Read 192842 times)

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Offline Zantera

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #35 on: August 09, 2012, 12:33:35 PM »
As I said, I will still be following Opeth, buying their stuff and seeing them live, and obviously be excited for new stuff. But the news themselves about Åkerfeldt going for something more "Hard Rock", that itself doesn't get me that excited. I know he loves classic Hard Rock and how much it has influenced him, but me myself (while I can appreciate it) don't really listen to it, and IF we're talking more songs like Slither, then it won't be that exciting. But obviously the result may be very different from what everyone is expecting, it might still be awesome.

Offline darkshade

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #36 on: August 09, 2012, 12:44:02 PM »
C'mon, Opeth have albums like Damnation and Heritage, which got people worried, but in my opinion, those albums are still classic Opeth, even a transitional album like Watershed is still an amazing album. I sense that people think it's going to be some 70s/80s hard rock inspired album. I think Mikael just wants to bring some aggression back to the music, either composition-wise, or production wise, considering Heritage was a very low-key album as far as production went. Even though I've fallen in and out of love with Opeth over the years for personal reasons, they have never truly disappointed.

Offline pogoowner

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #37 on: August 09, 2012, 02:01:55 PM »
I love Heritage, and I think it's a stronger album than Watershed. So sign me up if Mikael wants to keep taking the band in different directions. He has yet to really misstep.

Offline darkshade

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #38 on: August 09, 2012, 02:04:44 PM »
Having gone through much of their discography, it's time for obligatory list:

Ghost Reveries  :hefdaddy
Deliverance   :metal
Heritage  :hefdaddy
Blackwater Park  :metal
Still Life  :tup
Watershed  :tup
Damnation  :hat
Morningrise  :hat
My Arms, Your Hearse  :metal
Orchid  :-\

Offline Ħ

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #39 on: August 09, 2012, 02:15:58 PM »
Ghost Reveries is the greatest album ever.
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Offline Buddyhunter1

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #40 on: August 09, 2012, 02:19:21 PM »
Just gonna do them in tiers, since I don't know the exact order.

Awesome: Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries
Excellent: Watershed, Heritage, Deliverance
Great: MAYH, Damnation, Still Life

Haven't listened to: Orchid, Morningrise
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Offline Zantera

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #41 on: August 09, 2012, 03:09:49 PM »
Orchid and Morningrise are both great.

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #42 on: August 09, 2012, 03:28:07 PM »
Eh, I'll read the reviews, listen to what other people think.  "Heritage" is pretty much a coffee coaster.  Did not like the change of direction at all, and based on the interview that came with the special edition of "Heritage" my guess is I am done buying Opeth albums, but we'll see what happens.




Offline darkshade

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #43 on: August 09, 2012, 04:19:47 PM »
Funny, Heritage is pretty much why I've begun to get back into Opeth. When Watershed came out, it seemed a little "more of the same" and/or "they might be actually running out of ideas". I see that album differently now, but it's still how I felt back then.

It seems like Heritage is garnering similar opinions and statements online that were garnered when Damnation came out. Yet, nowadays, it's seen as one of their best albums. Opeth are actually being progressive, pretty much always have been.

In the words of Edgard Varese - "An artist is never ahead of his time but most people are far behind theirs."

Offline darkshade

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #44 on: August 09, 2012, 04:31:22 PM »
Why is Deliverance their least popular album from the post-My Arms, Your Hearse era? Both critically, and popularity-wise, it is always lower. I always thought it was an awesome album, up there with BWP, SL, and GR.

On ProgArchives:

Still Life - 801 ratings
Blackwater Park - 822 ratings
Deliverance - 497 ratings
Damnation - 711 ratings
Ghost Reveries - 776 ratings
Watershed - 653 ratings
Heritage - 621 ratings

Offline Zantera

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #45 on: August 09, 2012, 04:59:44 PM »
Deliverance is my second favorite Opeth album. People are just crazy.

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #46 on: August 09, 2012, 05:26:33 PM »
Having gone through much of their discography, it's time for obligatory list:

Ghost Reveries  :hefdaddy
Deliverance   :metal
Heritage  :hefdaddy
Blackwater Park  :metal
Still Life  :tup
Watershed  :tup
Damnation  :hat
Morningrise  :hat
My Arms, Your Hearse  :metal
Orchid  :-\

Pretty much my list, just switch deliverance and Blackwater Park
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Offline senecadawg2

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #47 on: August 09, 2012, 05:36:05 PM »
Personally, I love both Damnation and Heritage. For an album with a little bit more bite, I tend to gravitate towards GR or Still Life.
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Offline Mosh

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #48 on: August 09, 2012, 05:48:22 PM »
Time to rank:

Fucking Awesome:
Blackwater Park
Still Life
Damnation
Watershed

Great:
Ghost Reveries
Deliverance

Decent:
Heritage
Orchid

Bad:
My Arms

Lol:
Morningrise

Ghost Reveries might jump up a few spots.
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Offline Gadough

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #49 on: August 09, 2012, 06:39:50 PM »
1. Ghost Reveries
2. Deliverance
3. Blackwater Park
4. Still Life
5. Morningrise
6. Damnation
7. My Arms, Your Hearse
8. Watershed
9. Heritage
10. Orchid


Dirge For November is the only reason BWP isn't #2.
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Offline VioletS16

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #50 on: August 09, 2012, 07:06:27 PM »
I'll follow Opeth no matter what  :laugh:
I can't really get into Still Life, which drives me insane.  :'( Considering I have it on CD and it's on my iPod, taking up space  :lol I love Watershed and Ghost Reveries the most  :heart
And, my mom has  a crush on Mikael  :lol
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Offline darkshade

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #51 on: August 09, 2012, 07:06:55 PM »
I forgot that I enjoy the Blackwater Park bonus track "Still Day Beneath The Sun". It's not on my copy, but it's on my computer; 'bout to throw that on. Opeth's bonus tracks usually seem to be bad, as far as I know, but BWP's are good.

Offline darkshade

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #52 on: August 09, 2012, 07:08:26 PM »
I'll follow Opeth no matter what  :laugh:
I can't really get into Still Life, which drives me insane.  :'( Considering I have it on CD and it's on my iPod, taking up space  :lol I love Watershed and Ghost Reveries the most  :heart
And, my mom has  a crush on Mikael  :lol

I've also never understood the love that Still Life gets myself. As an album, I think it's good, but not a masterpiece. I love The Moor, Benighted, and Face of Melinda, and the rest is good. Then again, I love Deliverance, and many fans don't, so..........

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #53 on: August 09, 2012, 07:11:54 PM »
Still Life is AMAZING - I feel sorry for those of you who don't dig on it. :sad:
 
I DO understand that people's tastes differ, though.

Offline Ravenheart

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #54 on: August 09, 2012, 07:53:38 PM »
Still Life
My Arms, Your Hearse
Blackwater Park
Morningrise
Ghost Reveries
Orchid
Watershed
Damnation
Heritage
Deliverance

I wouldn't rank any of them under a 7/10. That might make me sound like a softie, but hey, #YOLO.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #55 on: August 09, 2012, 11:43:56 PM »
The problem with Deliverance is that the opening and closing tracks are both just okay.  This will be the cue for fans of those songs to jump in and talk about how great they are, but sorry, I just don't see it.  Deliverance and A Fair Judgement are two of their best songs ever, but there is nothing else on that CD that I go back to with any regularity.

Damnation is great for what it is.  Their 4th best album, IMO, behind Still Life, Ghost Reveries and BWP.

Watershed is rock solid and a good mixture of modern day Opeth, but lacks that little extra something to put it over the top and be among their best, for me anyway.  I do love Hessian Peel, Burden and The Lotus Eater, however. :metal

Offline Xanthul

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #56 on: August 09, 2012, 11:47:21 PM »
Heritage has fallen a bit over time for me, I'm not so eager to listen to it anymore. I guess it hasn't aged terribly well, though I still think it's a solid record.

For me there are only two tiers in Opeth: three albums that could take number 1 at any time (though it's usually BWP) and four albums that I love but are a notch below the others:

The Best Them: Blackwater Park, Still Life, Ghost Reveries
Very good: Heritage, Damnation, Deliverance, Watershed
Ashamed I still haven't listened to them: MAYH, Orchid, Morningrise

Offline DebraKadabra

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #57 on: August 09, 2012, 11:49:43 PM »
The Best Them: Blackwater Park, Still Life, Ghost Reveries
Very good: Heritage, Damnation, Deliverance, Watershed
Ashamed I still haven't listened to them: MAYH, Orchid, Morningrise

The only changes I'd make to your list:
 
I'd add Heritage to "ashamed I still haven't listened to" and bump Watershed up to The Best Them.

Offline Zydar

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #58 on: August 10, 2012, 12:12:29 AM »
1. Ghost Reveries
2. Blackwater Park
3. Watershed
4. Still Life
5. Deliverance
6. Heritage
7. Damnation

I've barely listened to their first three so I can't rank them.
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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #59 on: August 10, 2012, 01:03:22 AM »
The tits:



Quite foxy:



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Offline Gadough

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #60 on: August 10, 2012, 01:50:56 AM »
So basically, according to black_floyd, Opeth is an aging woman.
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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #61 on: August 10, 2012, 02:03:24 AM »
Yeah, but at least Mike has a say in the matter whereas your frumpy aunt Frieda don't.
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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #62 on: August 10, 2012, 02:32:53 AM »
 :rollin

So... question, floydie - is your list in any particular order?

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #63 on: August 10, 2012, 03:53:47 AM »
1. Blackwater Park
2. Still Life
3. Ghost Reveries
4. My Arms, Your Hearse
5. Morningrise
6. Orchid
7. Watershed
8. Damnation
9. Deliverance
10. Heritage

Love all of them though.

Offline MK_Ultra

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #64 on: August 10, 2012, 04:00:36 AM »
Blackwater Park
Ghost Reveries
Deliverance
Watershed
Damnation
Orchid
My Arms, Your Hearse
Still Life
Morningrise
Heritage

Deliverance would be higher if not for the closing track. I like Wreath and the title track and MA and AFJ are top ten songs but BTPISIO just drags the album down and is why I don't listen to the album more. GR would be better if it didn't have the slow songs - I know most people love them but I find them dull save for the first half of Hours Of Wealth. It has higher highs than BP (especially with the addition of keys) but lacks the consistency, even in the best songs there are moments I'd cut. And I've never understood the love for Still Life. To me it's one incredible song (The Moor), two decent - by Opeth standards - songs - (SPD/FOM) and five that are forgettable.

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #65 on: August 10, 2012, 04:06:41 AM »
So... question, floydie - is your list in any particular order?

Sorta.

Top tier:

Basically has MAYH as the #5 slot. It's a gorgeous album but I bought it impulsively when Barnes and Noble didn't have BWP and I wore the grooves out on that fucker until I could afford BWP and all the while it was just the Splenda tiding me over when I was pining for a diabetic dosage of some BWP shoogah. In time MAYH has gotten even better than it initially was but I guess I prematurely made it "old" to my ears before it could be seen as anything more than a poor man's BWP to my heart.

The other 4 albums in this tier can change not only by the day but even by the hour for me since I'm so thoroughly in love with them.

BWP will likely never be any worse than tied for #1 as far as my Opeth rankings go. Although Demon of the Fall was the first Opeth song I ever heard, and I loved it instantly, it was Bleak and TLA and Harvest that really won the war early on for Opeth becoming my favorite band since early '04.

Orchid and Morningrise are absolute gems imo and have a fragile wintery beauty to both of them that makes them stand out in the Opeth discography far more than any of their other works. They're so different in the way they have such epic buildups and how Mike's screams are so blood-curdling and emphasized to great effect with the heavy reverb.

I understand why folks generally don't like these two all that much on first listen because I didn't either. I used to just listen to them as full albums while playing San Andreas or some other game I could get lost in for a few hours and eventually I'd hear a riff or section I really liked...then another...and yet another until the walls came crashing down and I wondered why I ever had any reservations in the first place.

Still Life was actually the last Opeth album I got into theoretically since I got into it in mid '06 and the last two albums had yet to come out. After some cheech and chong recreation, songs like The Moor, Godhead's Lament, Moonlapse Vertigo, and Face of Melinda were instant successes. In very little time, this album passed up Deliverance and Ghost Reveries. Damnation was bottom of the barrel for me at this time anyway.

Middle tier:

Deliverance has never crawled out of the lower ranks for me. It just has an uninvitingly cold and sterile vibe to it compared to the way that other efforts manage to have a tenderness and comforting nuance to their mayhem. The songs are fun to play on guitar and lack nothing in the area of kicking ass but something just seems missing. I do adore AFJ though and BtPISIO has an intro and verse 1-2 punch that I find to be the finest in Opeth's entire discography in terms of being unique and awesome. Certain things like the droning repetition of parts of Wreath and Master's Apprentices as well as the 4-minute outro of Deliverance really tank it for me and FAF is beautiful yet tedious at the same time.

Damnation is a very close second for worst first impression I've ever had with an Opeth album behind Heritage. It's grown very nicely in time though which is why I put it ahead of Deliverance in that post.

Ghost Reveries is my fave of the middle tier but it has my least fave Opeth track in Atonement (although I have to commend Marrow of the Earth for it's impressive effort to win that crown.) That track really destroys the album's flow for me and I think Hours of Wealth would tie BtM to R/HF a whole lot better. I basically see GR as a very good album that gets weighed down by Atonement, R/HF's overly-long/boring outro, and the over-simplicity of an otherwise good track, TGC. HoW is phenomenal though as is R/HF up until about the halfway part of the outro,

Bottom tier:

Watershed was basically just one and a half songs to me for the first few months I owned it, TLE and half credit to HA. HA soon reached full-quality status to me as did Burden and PH. Coil has reached a point where I like it for what it is, a quasi-ballad marking a definitive shift from being a band that's death-metal-first to one finding its way in this previously unexplored arena of prog metal that leans heavily toward prog rather than being a death metal band with folk and prog tinges. As an Opeth song, however, I still find Coil to be a little lacking. Hessian Peel is quite pretty and the heavy second half tickles my scrote gleefully but I just have never looked forward to listening to it since it just seems a bit awkward overall and I still can't properly articulate why I feel that way. Hex Omega is just boredom incarnate for me and I really hope that changes one day.

As for Heritage, I despised it thoroughly when I first got it but it's warmed up enough to where it's passed Watershed for #9. I still like The Lotus Eater and Heir Apparent way more than anything on it but Watershed's weaker tracks make it fall short of the more consistent Heritage. Famine's heaviness and woodwindcore, Folklore's energetic outro, and the many off-kilter yet beautiful melodies strewn throughout the remainder of the album have helped it really crawl out the shitter for me.
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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #66 on: August 10, 2012, 04:41:18 AM »
Wow, wasn't expecting a War and Peace post.  Excellently done! :tup

Damnation is a very close second for worst first impression I've ever had with an Opeth album behind Heritage. It's grown very nicely in time though which is why I put it ahead of Deliverance in that post.

I most definitely agree with this.  I listened to Damnation once, really only liked Windowpane and then shelved it for a while.  During a particularly bad day, I cued Damnation up on my MP3 player and didn't stop/change songs after Windowpane - REALLY liked what I heard then.  I wouldn't rank it above what I agreed with Xanthul on as the best them, but it has some really decent songs on there if you're not having the best of days.  To Rid The Disease is just amazing, and I can belt out Death Whispered a Lullaby with great ease.  In My Time Of Need is also quite pleasing - "summer is miles and miles away".  Ooof.  LOVE that passage.  Hits me juuuust so.

Still Life was actually the last Opeth album I got into theoretically since I got into it in mid '06 and the last two albums had yet to come out. After some cheech and chong recreation, songs like The Moor, Godhead's Lament, Moonlapse Vertigo, and Face of Melinda were instant successes. In very little time, this album passed up Deliverance and Ghost Reveries. Damnation was bottom of the barrel for me at this time anyway.

Still Life was definitely a grower for me, but it's lodged in my grey matter quite nicely.  Moonlapse Vertigo is nothing short of pure musical sex, and so's White Cluster.  Shit... the whole album is MINT.  LOVE it.

Ghost Reveries is my fave of the middle tier but it has my least fave Opeth track in Atonement (although I have to commend Marrow of the Earth for it's impressive effort to win that crown.) That track really destroys the album's flow for me and I think Hours of Wealth would tie BtM to R/HF a whole lot better. I basically see GR as a very good album that gets weighed down by Atonement, R/HF's overly-long/boring outro, and the over-simplicity of an otherwise good track, TGC. HoW is phenomenal though as is R/HF up until about the halfway part of the outro,

See... here's where our opinions kind of diverge.  But that's all good in the hood.  I happen to think that GR is part of the best them, but I can can climb on board for Atonement, even though I do like that one.  Just not as much of Ghost of Perdition or what I think is my favorite from GR, The Baying of the Hounds (having a MAJOR affair with that one :heart ).  I can also climb on board for the gripe about R/HF's outro, but it's still got more good parts than bad.  TOTALLY agreed on Hours of Wealth though - another fine example of musical sex.  Wow.

Watershed was basically just one and a half songs to me for the first few months I owned it, TLE and half credit to HA. HA soon reached full-quality status to me as did Burden and PH. Coil has reached a point where I like it for what it is, a quasi-ballad marking a definitive shift from being a band that's death-metal-first to one finding its way in this previously unexplored arena of prog metal that leans heavily toward prog rather than being a death metal band with folk and prog tinges. As an Opeth song, however, I still find Coil to be a little lacking. Hessian Peel is quite pretty and the heavy second half tickles my scrote gleefully but I just have never looked forward to listening to it since it just seems a bit awkward overall and I still can't properly articulate why I feel that way. Hex Omega is just boredom incarnate for me and I really hope that changes one day.

I skip Hex more often than not, but there's just something about the bass line in the song that grabs me tightly and doesn't let go.  Hessian Peel is outstanding, too - agreed on the awkwardness though.  But I love its disjointedness (if that's not a real word it should be).  Burden reminds me of someone I know, and it happened that she tried to kill herself (she wasn't successful) during the time I was getting into this song - it reminds me of her, because even though she's on her way to becoming a good person she's a real drama magnet ("the burden of sorrow is you").  The Lotus Eater is the best them on this album, fo sho.

That's all I can really comment on now, I think.

Offline Perpetual Change

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #67 on: August 10, 2012, 05:52:55 AM »
I like Watershed but it's just so dense. Opeth albums usually are but that one in particular is just tough to get into. Aesthetically it is awesome, though.

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #68 on: August 10, 2012, 06:03:23 AM »
1. MAYH (excellent concept and flow)
2. Watershed (very diverse yet the songs work well together)
3. Ghost Reveries (many strong top 10 Opeth songs)
4. Orchid (excellent atmosphere despite some rough transitions)
5. Heritage (fresh, unique album)
6. Damnation (mellow yet not too monotonous)
7. Morningrise (good album but they did this style better on Orchid)
8. Still Life (some excellent stuff but also some skippable songs)
9. BWP (first half is awesome, second half is meh)
10. Deliverance (overlong, repetitive, monotonous songs with the exceptions of title-track and MA)

Offline Lynxo

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Re: The official Opeth thread v. Lost Control
« Reply #69 on: August 10, 2012, 07:24:26 AM »
My favorite albums are Ghost Reveries, Blackwater Park and Watershed. I love every single song on them.

With that being said...I think that Damnation holds up better for me than any of those albums. There's just something magical about the simplicity of it all. The strong melodies, Mikael's beautiful voice, Steven Wilson's harmonies, the never-ending Mellotron... To me, it feels like the most personal album Mikael has ever written. I love listening to it with headphones, with a glass of wine and the raining pooring outside. Most Opeth albums are like rides, like taking a trip to your favorite place. Damnation is like taking a trip inside the mind of a very tormented but still beautiful individual.

That might be my most pretentious post ever. I'll just stop now.
Lynxo cured my bad breath with his penis.