I'm coming off of an "ehhh..." reaction to "Home." Van Giersbergen is still the best female vocalist in the business, but the songs just didn't grab me. "How to Measure a Planet" is one of those few albums that I think would have been better had it been trimmed back. It's just too freaking long and impenetrable for me, though I do rather like "Liberty Bell."
On the other hand, "Souvenirs" is a vastly VASTLY underrated album, "You Learn About It" contains some of the loveliest vocals I have ever heard. "If_Then_Else" was an album that had to gorw on me but I think it is also one of their better releases.
I've heard that The Gathering is (or at least was) big in Europe. They never got their just due in America, especially since that style they pioneered (even if they moved away from it) has been aped ever since.
But hey, album arguments aside, still glad to see someone on The Gathering's side. Sure there have been good female-fronted bands in their wake, but I still use the two albums I specified earlier as THE watermark of that whole style of "atmosphere metal with a female vocalist."* Van Giersbergan might not do some high-falutin' opera stuff or whatever (not to distract from the female vocalists who do that Sarah Brightman-metal thing well), but...I dunno. To me, it's just "pure singing." No vocal cartwheels. Just beautiful melodies and an excellent voice.
...and for the "kvlt" fans out there, just to go ahead and say it - their pre-Van Giersbergen material didn't appeal to me as much.
* along with Lacuna Coil's "Unleashed Memories"
