[Redcarmoose]

I first purchased Blackwater Park in 2001. I liked it but never really turned into an "Opeth Head". Well now it's eight years later and the band has become a favorite. I know they are really recorded well, that may be a factor. I'm 47 so I hear a lot of the 70's music in them. There is an amazing amount of LPs of Opeth out there too. The LPs are all 180 gram and sound better than almost any rock/metal LPs I have ever heard. OK, so I know that there is a lot of lists here that put all the Opeth output in order of best to least liked. Some people now just do not like Watershed. If you look at sales though Watershed seemed to be the best seller and reached the most people. I have made this thread in the hope of understanding the music better threw what people have to say. Somehow the Damnation album was the last one I purchased, maybe I'm mellowing out a bit but I love that album. So many people on Head-Fi placed it at the end of the list, I guess because it was out of form due to being so soft. So here is my list. I'm not going to list why because I never like those song by song reviews. I do not mind reading other peoples views of why one album is their favorite over another. Just a list in order is a way of studying music for me as I feel a lot just can not be put into words.




1..........STILL LIFE
2..........MORNINGRISE
3..........ORCHID
4..........WATERSHED
5..........BLACKWATER PARK
6..........DELIVERANCE
7..........MY ARMS, YOUR HEARSE
8..........DAMNATION
9..........GHOST REVERIES



I know, I know, The title says "Your Favorite Top Five" I just could not help myself.

 

[Meliboeus]

1 - Deliverance ( I know many would disagree on this choiche

)
2 - My Arms, your Hearse
3 - Morningrise
4 - Blackwater Park
5 - Damnation
6 - Orchid




I've not heard Still Life which could be a contender for top 5, only some bits of the last two but i doubt they'll make it to the top 5...

 

[Redcarmoose]

Yes, maybe Deliverance could start moving up my list too. It is so complex, I may not be used to it yet. Deliverance has been an underdog in many people's Opeth lists which maybe is why I like it. I was not expecting much from it, then when hearing it, I was like wow this is great. Still Life is classic Opeth. I guess if you get it, it will be the time and choice for you. I was only able to get it as the CD/ 5.1 DVD, not on LP. It comes up on E-Bay sometimes as LP, but it's a lot. Still Life is very mature.......no pun intended..........it's like they finally became fully formed in their sound. I think you would like it.

 

[Meliboeus]

That's the exact reason i've not bought it yet, it's too rare on vinyl, i've followed some auctions on ebay but it easily sold over 50 pounds...

About Deliverance, i think it is my favourite because it's the most cohesive overall, they made Damnation out of the more mellow ideas they had, thus Deliverance managed to have a more death-oriented approach while still mantaining the strenghts of the "Opeth sound", there's lot of fast double bass drumming, aggressive riffs and vocals.

However even the only quiet track on the album "A fair judgment" is well structured, i liked those abrupt transitions between acoustic and "heavy" parts and the killer guitar solo.

 

[DarkAngel]

Essential Masterworks
-MAYH
-Morningrise

Great Albums
-Blackwater Park
-Orchid
-Still Life

Very Good but flawed albums
-Deliverence
-Watershed
-Ghost Reveries

Weak Albums
-Damnation

 

[Gazza]

1. Blackwater Park (the magic of Steven Wilson)
2. Morningrise
3. Deliverance
4. Still Life
5. Damnation

Everything else they've released is pretty average. Thankfully the above five albums makes up for the mediocrity of the rest of their catalogue.

 

[scytheavatar]

For me it goes something like:

Essential Masterworks
-Blackwater Park
-MAYH
-Still Life

Great
-Damnations

Very Good but flawed albums
-Morningrise
-Watershed
-Ghost Reveries
-Orchid

Weak Albums
-Deliverence

The top tier are really flawless albums, with not a single weak song. I am not sure why DarkAngel doesn't rate Damnations because it's a solid prog-rock album. I have to say though that the only album from them that I dislike would be Deliverence, which pretty much has only 1 song worth giving a damn for (A Fair Judgment).

 

[moogoob]

1. Morningrise
2. Damnation
3. Ghost Reveries
4. My Arms Your Hearse
5. Watershed

Watershed sneaks the final place from Deliverance for "Burden", "Hessian Peel" and "Coil".

Morningrise gets first for being... well, surprisingly coherent for an album in which no track is shorter than ten minutes long. And containing "Black Rose Immortal". Mostly the former, though.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

Essential Masterworks
-MAYH
-Morningrise
-Still Life

Great Albums
-Blackwater Park
-Orchid
-Deliverence
-Damnation

Very Good but flawed albums
-Watershed

Weak Albums
-Ghost Reveries

 

[Bojamijams]

1. Orchid
2. MAYH
3. Damnation
4. Morningrise
5. Still Life

 

[PWilson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Essential Masterworks -MAYH -Morningrise Great Albums -Blackwater Park -Orchid -Still Life Very Good but flawed albums -Deliverence -Watershed -Ghost Reveries Weak Albums -Damnation

Can't argue too much with this, except that I still can't stand Watershed and would swap it with Damnation, and change the heading to Utter Tripe

 

[glanzman]

1. Ghost Reveries
2. Still Life
3. Blackwater Park
4. Damnation
5. Deliverance

As you can see I don't care for the older albums that much. I really wish they still had Lopez drumming.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

My list looks like this

1. Blackwater Park
2. Ghost Reveries
3. Morningrise
4.Still Life
5. Deliverance

Damnation is great, but thats not the reason I listen to opeth, while its a fantastic album and still ranks high if I have to compare to all the albums I like by other artists, it can't be on my list.

Watershed will not feature on my list at all, I would rate the album probably last or maybe just above Orchid (which I never seemed to get into for some reason). This thread has been quite timely infact as I've been listening to the top the albums on my top 5 list over the past two days so my memory is fresh.

The reason why Ghost Reveries holds a high position is because it holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first Opeth album I heard, and it was during a tough and hard phase in my life and it was a such a terrific vent of frustration and a beautiful and emotional trip during the slow parts.

 

[mattcalf]

I'm not prepared to lay down a top five yet, but you Watershed haters... listen to The Lotus Eater.

Clean vocals and blasting at the same time? Awesome.

 

[PWilson]

^ Too much pseudo-prog, not enough death metal