Is Orchid the best Opeth Album?

[BlackenedDawn]

Orchid was the perfect introduction to the metal world Opeth could've possibly given us. No one was prepared for an album like this, being so equally brutal and beautiful in such a unique way. Not to mention being one of the only BM albums to get away with such brutality hidden behind such a beautiful album cover. How many bands have come out with such a strong and mature first record right from the beginning?

 

[Manbient]

Wolff... long time no see...

I'd run while you can though. This place is not what it once was. Hasn't been for a good 2 years at least.

 

[FuzzyWuzzy]

Still Life Is their best IMO, that CD means a LOT to me...
Orchid is a beautiful album, In The Mist She Was Standing is a Masterpiece...
-Fuzzy

 

[Dev]

After 4 years of Opeth , it is their only album which give me chills . So yes I guess .

 

[Hypnos]

no, but it's their second best after MAYH.

 

[Dev]

Think like that sometimes too ..

 

[Stilgar]

Orchid was the first Opeth album I heard and it's still my favorite.

 

[Julian Zembrowski]

It had some very atmospheric moments but I dare say it isn't their 'best work'.

 

[opethoid]

After 4 years of Opeth , it is their only album which give me chills . So yes I guess .

They all give me chills...

 

[xXBraveMurderDay]

Orchid was a pretty awesome album. I liked it more than Morningrise. It wasn't the best though. But as for their best album, I'd think it'd be Black Water Park. Its the first album I Heard by them, and still the best to my ears.

 

[Babetee1]

not in my opinion. I think My Arms, Your Hearse is the best.

 

[Reveries]

I can't really say which is their best album to be honest. But all of them kick ass.

 

[ViCyniC]

Better than Damnation.

 

[For My Sweetheart the Drunk]

I think it is, but it could easily be the first five on any given day....

 

[soundave]

Orchid didn't have the members who have become what Opeth is today, and it shows. While Mikael is brilliant, the Martins add something really special.

Don't get me wrong, Orchid is still a great album. Also, the production is a bit rough for my tastes. I created a playlist that had The Twilight is My Robe precede Ghost of Perdition, and the difference in sonic quality was staggering. Orchid by itself, as a unit, sounds okay, but when compared to the other discs, it sounds like a first disc. There's no harm in that. But it's not the best.

 

[Manbient]

Orchid didn't have the members who have become what Opeth is today, and it shows. While Mikael is brilliant, the Martins add something really special.

Don't get me wrong, Orchid is still a great album. Also, the production is a bit rough for my tastes. I created a playlist that had The Twilight is My Robe precede Ghost of Perdition, and the difference in sonic quality was staggering. Orchid by itself, as a unit, sounds okay, but when compared to the other discs, it sounds like a first disc. There's no harm in that. But it's not the best.

I disagree. I don't think Bass Player Martin does ANYTHING for the band at all, i mean i never even hear him, and from watching the documentary on the DVD, he just doubles what the root note of the guitars do. On orchid and Morningrise, the bass was INTERESTING and did it's own thing. Granted, i think Lopez might be a better drummer than Anders, but overall, i don't think Orchid sounds so much like a "first disc", just an underproduced slice of metal awesomeness.

 

[Autumnal]

I disagree. I don't think Bass Player Martin does ANYTHING for the band at all, i mean i never even hear him, and from watching the documentary on the DVD, he just doubles what the root note of the guitars do.

Umm, I understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But man, you're wrong.

Mendez doesn't just double the root, sometimes yes, but there is effect in that if used sparingly, which it is. Actually his bass lines are some of the key elements for me in some sections of Opeth songs. The bass lines underneath the first (which later repeats) section of The Drapery Falls are wonderful, perfectly adding to the atmosphere and furthering that swirling, falling feeling. I love his lines in the instrumental climax of Bleak right before the 'chorus' thing comes back. Try listening underneatht he guitars, he adds an incredible amount of atmosphere and emotional/tonal shifts very subtly. He very much affects the flavor and texture of many of Opeth's sections. In any event, I am not petitioning for Mendez as the best bassist ever b/c he clearly isn't. However, I do feel he adds a significant and integral element to Opeth.

As for DeFarfalla, only occasionally did I feel his more 'pronounced' sections to actually fit it, much less add that much. In many cases I felt it detracted or at least distracted. I'm used to it now and it doesn't hit me that way as much, but still sometimes it gets to me.

 

[soundave]

I disagree. I don't think Bass Player Martin does ANYTHING for the band at all, i mean i never even hear him, and from watching the documentary on the DVD, he just doubles what the root note of the guitars do. On orchid and Morningrise, the bass was INTERESTING and did it's own thing. Granted, i think Lopez might be a better drummer than Anders, but overall, i don't think Orchid sounds so much like a "first disc", just an underproduced slice of metal awesomeness.

Interesting, Mumblefood... I think the bass on Orchid and Morningrise basically (ha) sounds like a guitarist playing bass. It WAS interesting in a sort of renaissance music sort of way (I don't know... the early stuff sounds very "minstrely" to me...), but I think it doesn't groove the way that Martin does. There's a lot of sweet bass work on Ghost Reveries. It's more about the groove and less about noodling, in my mind, if that makes any sense.

Agreed that it is "underproduced awesomeness", and not a typical first disc. But...play all of the Opeth catalog for a newbie (maybe through a filter to crappicize the production of post morningrise work), and I would be shocked if they couldn't guess that Orchid was the first disc. I'm NOT saying it's by any means "bad". If you read my other posts, you'll find that I like all of their work for different reasons. But I find it hard to imagine that you wouldn't think that Orchid SOUNDS like Opeth's first disc. A non-metal example would be Led Zeppelin's first album. Sure it's great, but it isn't anything like, say, Physical Graffiti (not to say that's the pinnacle of their career, either). It sounds like a band that's beginning to discover what it can do. That is Orchid, to me. Opeth begins to discover what it can do.

Orchid doesn't sound like "a first disc", but "their first disc". Huge difference. And for me, because the sound isn't fully realized, it doesn't top my list. Of course, it's all a matter of semantics, and I've probably overexplained this. Besides, Mumblefood, I know you have good taste in music.

And get a subwoofer, dude! You'll hear the bass more and it'll make Penderecki's Threnody extra good...

btw, I realize that in my original post I wrote that it sounded like "a first disc". My bad, and you were right to find fault with it!

 

[soundave]

As for DeFarfalla, only occasionally did I feel his more 'pronounced' sections to actually fit it, much less add that much. In many cases I felt it detracted or at least distracted. I'm used to it now and it doesn't hit me that way as much, but still sometimes it gets to me.

Thank you for saying what I couldn't put into words: distracting. Interesting at times, but largely distracting. Also, that may be a result of mixing...

 

[T-Rat]

no, not for me...
and mendez (aka bass player, cousin it) is great!