Introducing a friend to Opeth

[thesundayoflife]

Tonight I'm hanging out with a friend, and he's never really listened to Opeth before. He likes King Crimson, Rush, Yes, and Porcupine Tree, among others. He also likes some "hardcore" music - Genghis Tron for example.

What should be the first Opeth album he hears - Ghost Reveries or Watershed?

(sorry, no Blackwater Park - I forgot that album at home)

 

[isolation_years]

well id say damnation, but ghostreveries is what i got into them on(it just happened to be the first one i heard) but thats a tough one, im actually gonna say watershed, just cause it seems more "prog" to me, not that you can really measure it, but theres a lot of oddities in it, but i tink ghost reveries is closer to their other stuff, so this person might just be disappointed by the rest if hes expecting a bunch of watersheds......in conclusion im not really sure, hope this helps though

 

[Lothlorien]

MAYH

 

[magicelf]

Ghost Reveries or Blackwater Park.

 

[Necropeth]

If that's all you have, show him GR.

 

[sundance]

GR. It sounds more like what Opeth did primarily. Watershed is already too much ahead (in a good way, but for a beginner...he should know tunes which are closer to the roots).

 

[pyr0rrzzz]

If you have to choose between these two I'd say WS since it has some songs that might be more like what he's used to. Yet GR might blow him away because he might not have heard anything similar.

 

[antiface]

If you can play "Face of Melinda" and your friend isn't hooked, you may have to break all ties with that person.

I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

 

[ReverieUnfold]

I think GR's more progressive and non-metal elements are closer to the mentioned likes of your friend than WS', though "Coil" and "Burden" are 'proggier' yet more accessible than much of GR. I'd say go with with GR, as it came first and is a bit more upbeat (along the lines of most KC, Rush, Yes, etc.) than WS.

 

[Ben_jamin]

have him listen to both.

 

[Wander]

have him listen to both.

Seconded.

Try a variety of tracks of different kinds too if he doesn't like the first song you play or something.

 

[Ben_jamin]

heh i don't know he might be turned off by the growls. I know that some people who listen to prog. are turned off by the growls.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

If he listens to hardcore and is turned off by growls he needs to stop listening to hardcore and start listening to growls. Yes I know that made no sense.

 

[Kristopher]

Well the fact that he likes prog music is a good start.I go ahead with the theory that you should play a bit of both,he can listen how some of the styles from each album contrast.

 

[demon of the moor]

Just Give him ghost revries tell him to listen to it, all through in one big hit and he will be amazed and instantly in love, if not dont force it, coz he will only not listen to them tio be spiteful. just be subtle and slip it in whenevr you can

 

[osmosis2259]

if he liked porcupine tree, then I say Damnation and then Watershed or Ghost Reveries. I say all 3 though, thats what i did and then i heard Deliverance, Blackwater park etc.

 

[joshthesquash]

Given your constraints: play him Ghost of Perdition, the Baying of the Hounds, and Isolation Years. Then switch to Watershed and run through the Lotus Eater, Burden, and Hessian Peel.

6 of the best!

 

[ramses]

Well, if he truly is a King Crimson fan, he'd recognize the influence (acoustics) just in Heir Apparent alone. The song Cirkus off of the Lizard (1971) album pops up sort of subtlely in that song.

 

[AlexGuinness]

Or just have the DVD playing in the background, Lamentations is a fantastic introduction for a Porcupine Tree fan.