Album for Album

[Hell Awaits Us All]

How does it sound anything like Camel? Camel is upbeat, jazzy (or pop-ish in their later albums), and not to mention full of synths. Also, does Camel have any of the minimalistic acoustic work that is all over Damnation? The intro to "Never Let Go", by the way, doesn't qualify.

I haven't heard camel's work in a while but I do remember some similarities between them and opeth's later work. I will have to listen again to be sure though

Already heard it. Again, great album, don't get me wrong - but it's not Opeth. It has neither the consistency nor the lack of pretentiousness that I like about Damnation. I don't see how you can draw such a stylistic parallel to Opeth here.

never drew a parallel, I just said that KC is a great band

I'm not sure how you can deny that "damnation" is strongly prog rock influenced however, watch interviews of mike and he himself will tell you that it's a 70s rock worship album

 

[LuminousAether]

In the Court of the Crimson King is one of my favorite albums of all time. King Crimson is basically my favorite band though. I think Red is equally as awesome, except John Wetton isn't nearly as good a vocalist as Greg Lake.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

never drew a parallel, I just said that KC is a great band

listen to king crimson buddy, that will change your opinion.

I'm not sure how you can deny that "damnation" is strongly prog rock influenced however, watch interviews of mike and he himself will tell you that it's a 70s rock worship album

I don't understand why people shit on Damnation so much for its '70s prog influence.

Watch your contradictions there, buddy.

 

[LuminousAether]

You are taking quotes out of context. He mentioned King Crimson as if they would change your opinion on 70s prog, not on what prog influenced Opeth.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

You are taking quotes out of context. He mentioned King Crimson as if they would change your opinion on 70s prog, not on what prog influenced Opeth.

Okay, never mind the first ones. The bottom two still stand, though.

 

[Hell Awaits Us All]

I'm confused as to what point you are trying to convey now. Are you saying that damnation is more consistent/solid than 70s prog??

 

[zabu of nΩd]

I'm confused as to what point you are trying to convey now. Are you saying that damnation is more consistent/solid than 70s prog??

That was essentially it, yeah. I know better than to praise Damnation for being as 'revolutionary' or 'epic' as the work of Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and the like. I'm just saying that I find Damnation much more enjoyable on average because it isn't so pretentious or emotionally-intense. To me it has most of the benefits of '70s prog, and few of the shortcomings.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Er, I guess I should keep on topic with the thread...

Opeth, being perhaps my favorite band of all time, probably gets my top album-for-album award. Even their first two albums, primitive as they are, contain plenty of great material. Each Opeth album is an adventure all its own, each one full of power, depth, and creativity. ...Well, not so much 'power' on Damnation, but that's beside the point.

I find it amusing that so many death/black metal bands are showing up in the thread, given that these genres practically define themselves through consistency. I'm nowhere near the death/black connoisseur that most people here seem to be, but of the bands I've listened to, Morbid Angel is the only one which has managed to amaze me with every single one of their releases. Each album differs enough from the others in speed, production, and mood to sound unique in my ears, yet they are all undoubtably morbid. Besides some of their retarded two-minute instrumentals, I love everything they've done.

Bathory would almost certainly get an album-for-album award if it weren't for the ridiculous pseudo-thrash they did on Requiem, Octagon, and Destroyer of Worlds. Everything else they did was gold. Rest in peace, Quorthon...

 

[LuminousAether]

That was essentially it, yeah. I know better than to praise Damnation for being as 'revolutionary' or 'epic' as the work of Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and the like. I'm just saying that I find Damnation much more enjoyable on average because it isn't so pretentious or emotionally-intense. To me it has most of the benefits of '70s prog, and few of the shortcomings.

Dude. DUDE. Emotionally-intense is a GOOD thing. A very good thing. I would never compare Opeth to King Crimson because they don't compare. Listen to Discipline for example. That album is a true masterpiece. The complexity married with the pop-minded approach married with the inventive spectacle... brilliance. Opeth is good, don't get me wrong, but King Crimson is LEGENDARY. Then again, 70s prog is some of my favorite music around. Have you heard any old Genesis like Selling England by the Pound? Incredible. I love that kind of thing.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Dude. DUDE. Emotionally-intense is a GOOD thing. A very good thing. I would never compare Opeth to King Crimson because they don't compare. Listen to Discipline for example. That album is a true masterpiece. The complexity married with the pop-minded approach married with the inventive spectacle... brilliance. Opeth is good, don't get me wrong, but King Crimson is LEGENDARY. Then again, 70s prog is some of my favorite music around. Have you heard any old Genesis like Selling England by the Pound? Incredible. I love that kind of thing.

See, I always feel like there are two kinds of 'good' one can speak of when evaluating music. There's good in the sense of epic, revolutionary, moving, etc. - and then there's good in the sense of consistent, listenable, relaxing, reflective, etc. I've heard a lot of albums which simply blew me away on the first listen - the kind of albums which fit your standards of 'good'. But I don't seek to be 'blown away' on a regular basis. I have to be in the right mood for that. I more often seek out the unpretentious and laid-back music, as I can more easily relate to this. That's where the other 'good' comes in.

I don't know how many others feel this way about music (I imagine someone does), but to me it's critical to recognize these two separate qualities in music - the 'exciting' quality versus the 'laid-back' quality, I guess. Sometimes these can overlap, but more often they do not.

 

[entanglement]

Besides, how on fucking earth can you even attemp to flame someone when you can't even spell the word genius

Wow, you really got him there didn't you

The hatefulness I see in this thread is hilarious

Hatefullness? Amarantus is the drunk standing on the table yelling curses at everyone at the party, and if it weren't for teh 'intarwebz', in his own words, he'd have been 'pwwned' pretty hard by now.

Sticking to the discussion. To me, every single Opeth song is worth the worship. I can't put a finger on anything but the last album and say that they've faltered there. The Ghost Reveries didn't do it for me. They basically just overdid the keyboards for me. They were brilliant on Damnation and Deliverance when Steve Wilson wrote those parts, but this new guy.. meh. I haven't listened to much Spiritual Beggers to be a Wilson expert but GR left me disappointed.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

By the way, I appreciate V.V.V.V.V.'s efforts to steer the thread back on-topic instead of just outright closing it like certain unnamed persons tend to do. The heavy-handedness of some of the moderators here is fucking irritating.

I hate to break it to you, but I'm the only moderator who closes anything on this board, for the most part.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

I hate to break it to you, but I'm the only moderator who closes anything on this board, for the most part.

When I said this, I mainly had in mind MetalAges' closing of the hate thread. The thread had been highly active for a year, everyone loved it, and one day MetalAges comes by, sees an off-topic argument, and shuts it down with no warning.

There was also a thread I was participating in on the Opeth sub-forum which got closed down in the midst of some off-topic debate. Not as uncalled-for as with the hate thread, but still without prior notice.

The main thing that annoys me is the utter lack of communication involved in either of these cases. What's wrong with simply deleting a few bad posts and giving everyone a warning first?

 

[Hell Awaits Us All]

I don't see prog rock as being pretentious. The music sounds very genuine to me even if it melodramatic

anyways, my list goes

Opeth
Death
Immolation
Suffocation
Mastodon
Neuraxis
Pagan's mind
symphony x
atheist

all of these bands have been consistently excellent

 

[I-Oblivion-I]

I don't see prog rock as being pretentious. The music sounds very genuine to me even if it melodramatic

anyways, my list goes

Opeth
Death
Immolation
Suffocation
Mastodon
Neuraxis
Pagan's mind
symphony x
atheist

all of these bands have been consistently excellent

Great list except I really didn't like athiests elements album at all and suffocation's souls to deny and breeding the spawn aren't good at all either.

 

[Mort Divine]

I don't see prog rock as being pretentious.

BWWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[LuminousAether]

If you don't see prog rock as pretentious, just listen to Yes and ELP man. I love prog rock but I'm not in denial.

 

[skeptik]

Almost any prog rock band from the 70s is better than Damnation. What the fuck.

 

[Hell Awaits Us All]

BWWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

alright alright it is pretentious it is still kickass though

Great list except I really didn't like athiests elements album at all and suffocation's souls to deny and breeding the spawn aren't good at all either.

I liked souls to deny. breeding the spawn was marred by shit production that will be fixed somewhere along the line (when suffo decides to remaster the album)

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Almost any prog rock band from the 70s is better than Damnation. What the fuck.

Damn, I never considered that argument. I guess I can't like Damnation better than most '70s prog anymore...