Honest opinions on Watershed

[Greenwater_Pond]

It's been a while since I posted on here (June 12, 2005 was my last login to be exact ), but being done with my education and working full time at a guitar store, it's time to get back in touch with the metal community a little more like I used.

Watershed...where to start...I think for me the Opeth "sound" that I've gotten used to honestly almost required Lindgren's soulful single note guitars playing on the solos rather than the new shred-tastic licks from Akesson. Don't get me wrong he's a great player, but there's something definately different with his sound and I've still yet to get used to it. I find myself more often listening to Blackwater Park or Still Life than Watershed, and since it's release, I've listened to Watershed maybe a half dozen times tops.

I think I'm gonna throw on some headphones tonight and give it another spin though.

 

[SeViMeTaL]

i like watershed.it's not too perfect but it's good enough

 

[norvegian ghost]

obv their worst album, but still prty good

/thread

I think Opeth's first 3 albums were ok, promising and with good moments, but not extraordinary.
I think SL is really good. The lineup is great and the music "grown up". BP is GREAT, and Deliverance/Damnation and GR is fucking AWESOME.

Watershed is mediocre considering the band's previous releases. In it self it's and ok enough album, but there are a great many shallow and "easy shortcuts". A lot of the music has pop-music'ish turns and I also smell more traditional black metal, (especially from ax). The music is less versatile, more commerse.

don't get me wrong here, I have great respect for Axenrot's and Åkesson's skills, and replacing Lopez (especially) is not something I think anyone can be great at (he is a genius!), but as great as they are at playing (I just saw Opeth live, and they are really GREAT), they are maybe not as great at songwriting.
note that I think Opeth's music (BP-GR) are true masterpieces.

I see Opeth moving in a new direction and see nothing wrong with that. I hope Watershed is a step on the road to the next great album (GR being the last great as of now).

 

[The_Ivy]

Well i'll go as far as to call it an ALBUM. it IS an Opeth album, but not the Opeth i've become accustomed to over the years. Watershed is no BWP or Still Life (the latter definitely being one of my favorites, so im making a pretty drastic comparison here) but its good. by my standards, and apparently, opeth's. Honestly, i dont get why so many people bash it. probably for the same reason that i was a bit uncomfortable with listening to it at first. But after listening through the whole thing a few times, i began to appreciate it as the new opeth. so now, i think its a pretty decent piece.

 

[Sickman]

I can't remember the last time I had even the slightest urge to listen to it. It just doesn't do anything for me. So no, I don't like it.

 

[Fields Of Sorrow]

The first four songs are amazing. I've kind of gone off Hessian Peel but I'm not sure if that's because it's sandwiched between two awful songs.

 

[Snusgropen]

Hex Omega is terrible, the rest is brilliant.

 

[Nasty-Fire]

Hex Omega is brillant and the rest also. Opeth is brillant, dot.

 

[FJChaos]

They could have done better with this album, but still good.

 

[Chinese Whispers]

The only song that really doesn't do anything for me on Watershed is 'Pocelain Heart'. I really like the rest of the album though, particularly 'The Lotus Eater'.

 

[VaticanInFlames]

the only part of lotus eater i don't like is this part:

"And the pride of a mother
Drawn close in a mother's son,
And the love from a father
Was used by a father's son"

i just hate the note that the vocals end on for the word "son". although i like the drapery falls esque "aaahh" part right afterword

whatever. great album.

 

[Lateralus14]

Summary of Watershed imo:

The Lotus Eater is perfect and obviously the best song on the album unless you're just desperate but the heaviness of Heir Apparent (I'll just switch to The Fathomless Mastery half the time if that's the case); Heir Apparent is good metal with some sweet riffs and a solo that starts out really cool but devolves into disappointing pure shred; Hessian Peel starts off sounding a little too sweet but is badass at the start of the second half; Burden has really cheesy lyrics with all that "once upon a time" nonsense but has sweet solos and a cool outro; Hex Omega has a couple of cool riffs but is otherwise boring and to me looks like someone trying too hard to be "prog;" Coil has like one nice acoustic part but overall is pretty disappointing and is a step towards multiple musical gimmicks with the cheesy lyrics and the female singing, only reason I listen to Coil more than Porcelain Heart is as an intro to Heir Apparent; Porcelain Heart sucks.

I used to call it one of my favorite albums because the 4 good songs on it are...um...good, and at that time I wasn't as into Orchid, Deliverance, MAYH, and other gems as much as I am. But now I'd agree with the "obv their worst" statement just looking at the fact that it's the only Opeth album with not 1, not 2, but 3 mediocre/bad/disappointing/etc. full length tracks (Prologue/Madrigal/Epilogue don't count..)

 

[Nasty-Fire]

"And the pride of a mother
Drawn close in a mother's son,
And the love from a father
Was used by a father's son"

I like that part, not only musically but the way they seems to rely on a story. It's like a kind of.. summary. Still mysterious. And the chords are simple but so nice.

 

[Vega Skater]

I listened to Watershed today.

Such an underrated release, I love it dearly.

 

[Nasty-Fire]

^ When I think about Watershed, I feel like "oh well, that's a good album but other albums are such better", and I find myself listening to it like twice more. Just great.

 

[Antyman]

you are not a pro-fan if you like the bands latest album! (how it's always been with every damn band, even though the album sells better and gets higher rates!)
I'm not "Pr00w!" I guess, but Watershed is my favourite music-containing album, of all times. It's perfect to me. My second favourite is Still Life.
Watershed > Chuck Norris.

 

[Klämrisk]

Watershed's great. My only critisism is:

- Growls could have been mixed/produced much better (read: Unhealer)
- Porcelain Heart
- Compression. It's sad. Watershed was one of the first albums in which I really heard how compression destroys good music.

 

[Iki-ilkkuja]

^ That's quite true that last one.

 

[ZeDzEdZeD]

I've been fan for almost 10 years now and Watershed is't really anything special compared to all other Opeth albums... I'd say it first album that is feels worse than previous album... actually worse than almost all previous albums... saying that makes me really sad... the album has no flow, no style, no sound... just bunch of riffs thrown together... even worse and more uninteresting than Orchid...which turned me into Opeth and was favourite for years... on the other hand Morningrise - GR are beyond excellent... almost all band who have made so many albums have one or two "bad" albums... Watershed is actually listanable in 5.1 ... it sounds like it was ment to be 5.1!

the biggest loss which Opeth had is Lopez leaving Opeth... there is no other like him... his drumming was beyond anything imaginable... his drumming gave much of Opeth sound...

 

[Antyman]

is this thread about proving that you are the original and ultimate Opeth fan, cause you listened to them firzztt!!1, so you have to hate the latest record? :S:S:
FLAME ME