Scorpion's Top 50 Albums, the 2nd v. All Going Away Now

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I've been meaning to get into Sentenced, but I haven't gotten around to it yet, apart from a few songs.

[?]

TCWL rules! You're probably the first person to have a Sentenced album in their top 50

I own Crimson, and there is some great stuff on it, but also waaaay to much filler

Crimson is easily their weakest album besides the death metal debut IMO. Try TCWL or Down, they're much stronger records.

[aprilethereal]

TCWL rules! You're probably the first person to have a Sentenced album in their top 50

I own Crimson, and there is some great stuff on it, but also waaaay to much filler

Crimson is easily their weakest album besides the death metal debut IMO. Try TCWL or Down, they're much stronger records.

I will, because the "good" songs on Crimson are pretty awesome

[?]

Oh yes indeed - Fragile, Broken and Killing Me, Killing You (to mention a few) are great BTW, Broken was covered by Dark Tranquillity in 2008. I don't think the song works with screams though (sorry Mikael!).

[MoraWintersoul]

Oh yes indeed - Fragile, Broken and Killing Me, Killing You (to mention a few) are great BTW, Broken was covered by Dark Tranquillity in 2008. I don't think the song works with screams though (sorry Mikael!).

Hey I quite like that cover!

My fave Sentenced album is The Funeral Album but this one deffo floats near the top as well.

[Nefarius]

I own the albums Crimson and The Cold White Light. Got into them through the song "No More Beating As One". Didn't listen to any Sentenced in a long time. Maybe it's time to give those albums a spin again.

Greetings...
Nef

[?]

Hey I quite like that cover!

It was the first thing by DT I ever heard (weird, I know!) and didn't leave the best possible taste in my mouth, which may be part of the reason I didn't check them out properly until this year. But yeah, I still think the chorus loses its power without the melody and they didn't even make the song instrumentally different from the original with the exception of the guitar tuning and the exclusion of the intro, which happens to be my favorite part of the song.

(sorry about the OT and rambling )

[Scorpion]

Glad to see some Sentenced appreciation - I wouldn't have thought that they'd be the most-discussed entry of this list.

31. Portishead – Dummy (1994)




Trip-hop is one of the most recent genres that I've started to explore. I don't remember what initially sparked my interest in the genre, but when I started looking into it, there are two names that you simply can't not encounter: Portishead and Massive Attack. Since I remembered the name Portishead from my dad's music library, that was were I decided to start my trip-hop journey. And the rest, as they say, is history. Let's talk about the music though – if I had to use one word to describe this album, it'd be “mesmerizing”. Everything about this album just sucks you in, from the hypnotic beats over the mysterious keys and sound effects to Beth Gibbons' voice. This album is also very relaxing and his quickly become my favourite chill-out album there is. As a whole, the album is very consistent, but also quite varied, making it feel like one album, without making it sound samey. If I had to pick a favourite, it'd probably be Roads for its ethereal calm, but none of the other tracks are very far behind.

Favourite tracks: Mysterons, Sour Times, Wandering Star, It's a Fire, Roads, Pedestal, Glory Box

[kirksnosehair]

I tried really, really hard to get into Agalloch with "The Mantle" but it just didn't work for me, despite repeated effort.  Oh well.

Did you, per chance, ever give AAtG a try? Obviously not liking the Mantle doesn't help your chances of liking AAtG, but the two are quite different and you might find it more to your liking. It's less on the folk side of things, generally heavier, and gives much more bang for buck imo.

I'll give it a shot, thanks 

[?]

Dummy is great, albeit a tad dated, which may be why I like Third more. Also, Mezzanine is an album - the band (or "band") is Massive Attack.

[Scorpion]

Also, Mezzanine is an album - the band (or "band") is Massive Attack.

That's the second fail of mine on this list! I should really proofread my entries a little more closely.

[Scorpion]

That didn't get too many comments. I wonder why? I know there's some Portishead fans here...

30. Pain of Salvation – The Perfect Element, Pt. 1 (2000)



If I had to pick one band as the biggest musical discovery of the past year, it'd probably be Pain of Salvation. In the space of three months, they have climbed to my #5 spot of my Last.fm charts, which should be a good indicator towards how much I love them. The Perfect Element, Pt. 1 is often regarded as one of their best albums, and it's easy to see why – it tells an interesting and cohesive story, which is held together by several musical themes that are reprised frequently, yet always fit naturally into a song – see the Used reprise in King of Loss – all of the band members deliver amazing performances, without ever becoming technical for the sake of being technical, and Daniel Gildenlöw's vocals are some of the best that I have ever heard, no matter which genre – his diversity is amazing, be it his crooning singing, his screams or whatever he does in between the two. This is, quite simply, one of the best concept albums that I know.

Favourite tracks: Used, Ashes, Idioglossia, Her Voices, King of Loss, Song for the Innocent, The Perfect Element

[Lolzeez]

Dummy is great, albeit a tad dated, which may be why I like Third more.

I disagree. I was quite disappointed with Third. I don't know why,it's not because of the change in genre. It just lacks highlights.
Also,TPE is awesome indeed.

[aprilethereal]

I bought TPE a couple of months ago and never listened to it
It's probably time to change that.

[?]

Dummy is great, albeit a tad dated, which may be why I like Third more.

I disagree. I was quite disappointed with Third. I don't know why,it's not because of the change in genre. It just lacks highlights.

I find Third more consistent and Silence, We Carry On and Machine Gun are definitely highlights for me.

[wolfking]

POS is one of my greatest discoveries over the last couple of years, amazing band.

[kirksnosehair]

You really can't go wrong with any of Pain of Salvation's first 4 albums.  My two personal favorites are "The Perfect Element" and "Remedy Lane," but the others are great too.


I was (and still am) kinda lukewarm on "Be"    The idea was cool, but the implementation of that idea is a little bit...spotty.


I was never able to connect with any of their other material.

[Elite]

[Scorpion]

29. The Ocean – Precambrian (2007)



The Ocean are, again, a recent discovery. I checked them out because I was supposed to see them open for Mastodon, a show which was cancelled due to flooding in our area, but the sole existence of this gig introduced me to one of my biggest discoveries of the past year. Precambrian was my first album by the band, and that's why it's my favourite, but this band is incredibly consistent and the others are not far behind – in fact, their most recent, Pelagial, could just as well be in this place on another day. What I like about this album is the structure – it starts out with rocking, straightforward songs, but as the album goes on, the songs become more brooding, more meandering and more unusual in structure, making the second half feel like an evolution of the first half, yet the album still manages to maintain a sense of unity within, which makes it an amazing listen. Musically, what The Ocean are doing here could best be classified as progressive post metal, but even that is a very insufficient description. If you like post metal, progressive metal, long, atmospheric passages and aren't averse to harsh vocals, then you should definitely give this a try.

Favourite tracks: Paleoarchaean, Neoarchaean, Rhyacian, Statherian, Ectasian, Stenian, Tonian

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Awesome album, but does this mean Pelagial will not be making an appearance?

[Scorpion]

That is correct.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

[Onno]

The Precambrian did not start in 2007 though 

[Elite]

I think Pelagial is their best, but nice pick nonetheless.

[?]

The new thread title made me think of Katatonia's Viva Emptiness, but I knew it's not about that album, because I vaguely remember you said you weren't that impressed with the songs you heard from Dead End Kings.

[aprilethereal]

The new thread title made me think of Katatonia's Viva Emptiness

Same here

[Big Hath]

The new thread title made me think of Katatonia's Viva Emptiness

Same here

ditto

[WindMaster]

Nice pick. I haven't listened to Precambrian much, but I love The Ocean. Pelagial is their best album, followed by Heliocentric.

[Scorpion]

28. Amorphis – Elegy (1996)



While the Tomi Joutsen era was my introduction to Amorphis, I've come to prefer their earlier stuff, mainly because most of the tracks of the Joutsen era are quite good on their own, but too samey for one album to be amazing – which Elegy is. Many tracks here feature what would become the classic Amorphis sound, but there are quite a few tracks here that are unusual enough to add enough variety to make this my favourite Amorphis album, like the eastern sounds on Better Unborn or the unusual structuring of the title track. Pasi Koskinen isn't quite as strong in the vocal department as Tomi Joutsen, but he performs admirably here. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to get into Amorphis' earlier stuff.

Favourite tracks: Better Unborn, Of Rich and Poor, My Kantele, Weeper on the Shore, Elegy

[?]

Great album

[Big Hath]

fyi, you used the "bold" tag instead of the img tag for the artwork

[aprilethereal]

Great amazing album

[Scorpion]

27. Fates Warning - Disconnected (2000)



Alright, recent developments have forced me to revise my list a little, and this is one of them. After quite some deliberation, I have decided that A Pleasant Shade of Gray isn't actually my favourite Fates Warning album - Disconnected is. Like APSOG, it's some of their more atmospheric work, which is by a large part Kevin Moore's contribution, I think - at least, FW's work with him does turn out a fair bit more atmospheric than those albums that he doesn't play on. Anyway, the album is short, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't pack a punch - it does. Especially the longer tracks - Something From Nothing and Still Remains - here are executed so perfectly that you rarely feel their length. Alder delivers a great performance here - not quite as good as on APSOG - but the music here is just better, making me place this one higher than APSOG. I'm not sure if this would be a good album for something trying to get into Fates Warning, as it is far from their most accessible album - I'd give that to Parallels or Inside Out - but repeated listens really reveal the genius of this album and elevate this record far above most of their other records.

Favourite tracks: So, Something From Nothing, Still Remains, Disconnected Pt 2.

[jjrock88]

fantastic Fates Warning album!!

[?]

One of the numerous albums that are on my to-buy list