well, I guess I may aswell reply. The first 2 albums are more dissapointing for me than the rest, but I only say that because I do not own Morning Rise, or Orchid, and have only listened to them a couple of times, so that opinion doesn't hold a hell of a lot of validity. I am confident if I had both of them it wouldn't take a very long time before I was in love with them as much as the others. The other thing is, it's hard for me to reply with any conviction to something like this, cause Opeth are about the only band who when I am listening to a new album for the first time, I put it on, a song starts, it progresses a few minutes in, and I have no expectations of where it's going or how it is going to feel. I just put it on, and listen, and feel.
Opeth are also one of the only bands that I judge at the end of a song, I simply can not wade through a single song and ask myself whether I think that riff is the weak point of the song, or this one is the best point of the song. The music is simply too layered, and I feel each layer is designed to make you feel in a certain way over a period of time. Therefore, I judge them by how I feel by a whole song, how a particular piece makes me feel, not if there was a riff that seemed a bit weak or dissapointing. And I can Honestly say, I haven't really felt emotionless at the end of any song, some might make me feel things a bit stronger than others, but that doesn't make me think the others are weaker for that fact. Every one of their songs are designed to make you feel something different. I tend to feel with Opeth, that I judge them by how good of a story they have told with their music, the visual story that every Opeth fan gets when listening to them. So far I think they have all been very different and contrasting stories, and also very good. They are the only band I can honestly say I judge in this way. And all I have to say is it's been a pretty enjoyable experience so far.
