A little over two years ago, a song named Bleak introduced me to the world of Opeth. And shortly thereafter, in a contest which asked contestants to write about "What Opeth Means To Me", I was one of five people to win a signed copy of Blackwater Park. When I wrote my !contest !entry, I knew only two songs by Opeth - Bleak and Blackwater Park, but sometyhing was obviously there, enough to write with emotion. Since then, I have purchased the entire Opeth catalogue, and have seen them live twice (with the 3rd time coming next month).
I decided last week to truly re-evalute Opeth. I listened to every album in its entirety this week to/from work. I did not to listen to them cronologically, but randomly, so as not to get caught up in judging them by their progression over time. I wanted each album to stand on its own. But I also realized that albums are not the only judge of a good band, but individual songs are equally as important. So while listening to each album, I not only concentrated on the flow of the album, but judged each song individually on its own merit.
Well, the bottom line is this: at this stage of my 43 years in existance, Opeth is my favorite band of all time.
Since that is the most important thing, I can now break it down into judging albums and songs. I have a distinct order of my most to least favorite Opeth album, keeping in mind I really like my least favorite Opeth album, but I still needed a ranking, so here it is:
Blackwater Park
MAYH
Deliverance
Damnation
Orchid
Still Life
Morningrise
Here are my ten favorite Opeth tracks, in no particular order except for the #1 and #2 tracks, which are my favorite in the order. WHat is so difficult about this, is my next ten favorite tracks are right on the heels of the first ten. If 20 or so Opeth songs werre having a race for my favorite, it would be practically a photo finish for 3rd place with the other 18 tracks:
The Drapery Falls
Closure
The Funeral Portrait
The Apostle In Triumph
Deliverance
Bleak
Blackwater Park
Serenity Painted Death
Windowpane
The Demon of The Fall
Seeing that four BWP tracks are in my top ten, is why BWP is listed as my favorite album. Also, since I generally like heavy music, I find BWP to be their heaviest, even heavier than Deliverance. BUT, as an album, MAYH is probably the most amazing album of them all. It just flows from beginning to end. Which I guess says that BWP and MAYH are probably tied for #1.
What I found so great about listening to Opeth all week, was that I didn't get sick of them at all. I had no inclination to put some other songs in for a break. It was easy to hear all Opeth all week. They are truly an amazing band. It's easy to see why I consider them my personal #1 band of all time. They are a pleasure to my ear.
I decided last week to truly re-evalute Opeth. I listened to every album in its entirety this week to/from work. I did not to listen to them cronologically, but randomly, so as not to get caught up in judging them by their progression over time. I wanted each album to stand on its own. But I also realized that albums are not the only judge of a good band, but individual songs are equally as important. So while listening to each album, I not only concentrated on the flow of the album, but judged each song individually on its own merit.
Well, the bottom line is this: at this stage of my 43 years in existance, Opeth is my favorite band of all time.
Since that is the most important thing, I can now break it down into judging albums and songs. I have a distinct order of my most to least favorite Opeth album, keeping in mind I really like my least favorite Opeth album, but I still needed a ranking, so here it is:
Blackwater Park
MAYH
Deliverance
Damnation
Orchid
Still Life
Morningrise
Here are my ten favorite Opeth tracks, in no particular order except for the #1 and #2 tracks, which are my favorite in the order. WHat is so difficult about this, is my next ten favorite tracks are right on the heels of the first ten. If 20 or so Opeth songs werre having a race for my favorite, it would be practically a photo finish for 3rd place with the other 18 tracks:
The Drapery Falls
Closure
The Funeral Portrait
The Apostle In Triumph
Deliverance
Bleak
Blackwater Park
Serenity Painted Death
Windowpane
The Demon of The Fall
Seeing that four BWP tracks are in my top ten, is why BWP is listed as my favorite album. Also, since I generally like heavy music, I find BWP to be their heaviest, even heavier than Deliverance. BUT, as an album, MAYH is probably the most amazing album of them all. It just flows from beginning to end. Which I guess says that BWP and MAYH are probably tied for #1.
What I found so great about listening to Opeth all week, was that I didn't get sick of them at all. I had no inclination to put some other songs in for a break. It was easy to hear all Opeth all week. They are truly an amazing band. It's easy to see why I consider them my personal #1 band of all time. They are a pleasure to my ear.
