So, I did a little digging and here is a post from a while back when I was first digging into Haken:Alright, after spending a couple of weeks listening to nothing but Haken, I humbily submit my 'prisoner-of-the-moment' rankings:
1. The Mountain — A conceptual masterpiece that resonates with me on multiple levels.
2. Virus — A tight, technical assault that reminds me of DT's 'Train of Thought'
3. Affinity — An incredibly diverse set of songs; just wish I liked the epic more
4. Visions — Definitely the most DT-esque offering. Stellar songs occasionally bogged down by derivative sections.
5. Vector — Obviously cut from the same cloth as Virus. Love the production, but the record feels incomplete.
6. Aquarious — Love the epic, but boy am I happy they decided to drop the death growls after this record.
It's also worth mentioning that the E.P. contains what I feel is the band's best epic.So, after a dozen or so listens, I decided to run back through the catalog this week and reflect on how my thoughts have evolved.
First and foremost, I still consider "Crystalized" the band's best epic, and not unlike DT, think it elevates the
Restoration EP to essential listening.
Along with that, this is how I would rank their catalog today, a week or so after the release of
Fauna:
1.
The Mountain — Each and every listen only reaffirms that this is one of the best albums I've ever heard.
2.
Aquarius — From last to 'almost' first, I seriously am in awe of how 'fully formed' Haken was from the onset.
3.
Fauna — Yep, even "Alphabet..." is beginning to grow on me...unlike everything else below, there isn't a glaring flaw here, and the album is 'nearly' a perfect listen from cover to cover.
4.
Vector — Not a huge fan of "Nil by Mouth," which essentially leaves me with 5 stellar tracks...it's a damn good collection of songs, but I wish this was a bit more fleshed out. I sincerely think that had the band opted to compile the best moments from this and Virus into a single album, the project would be in contention for their best work.
5.
Visions — It's everything I love about Aquarius with better production. Unfortunately, I find the majority of the record's front half to be a bit unmemorable (the title track is genius though).
6.
Virus—See my comments about
Vector...I love the opening salvo, but 'epic' is easily my least favorite 'long' by Haken. It's, well, I suppose 'it's a mess' pretty much sums up my thoughts.
7.
Affinity — Another huge surprise here...I initially considered this to be near peak-Haken, but repeated listens have not been kind. Honestly, I think I like the idea of
Affinity way more than the execution. "1985" and "The Architect" are borderline slogs and other than a few moments here and there, I find the songs really lack the memorable melodies that seem to permeate their other releases. That all said, I do enjoy the 'vibe,' especially on the back half.
So, yeah,
Fauna is a great addition—well done, lads!