Still Life= overrated

[MasterOLightning]

Here are some of the reasons I'm not a big SL fan

-no bass
-Benighted is a rather weak song
-White Cluster feels like a rather haphazardly thrown together song. The solos are it's only redeeming quality. The ending is poor compared to say, Epilogue, or the final bit of BWP.
-first appearance of more traditional song structures.
-poor production. It's not dark at all.
-I don't like the album cover at all.
-The Moor intro is too long. The song has two pretty good heavy riffs, but I don't see what the fuss is.
-Moonlapse Vertigo and SPD are structurally identical for the most part.

 

[RiffBoy]

First:
-----
My only problem with SL is the sound. The bass can just faintly be heard
in the heavy/loud sections (most part of the album, really).

But the worst thing is that the sound is often panning from left to right
- which sounds like a mastering/tape issue! Like dropouts, but it's really like
the tape slides from left to right - it happens mostly in the first couple of
tracks, but later also.

I just got a brand new copy of the cd - and it hasn't been fixed by the
record company. That sucks! It would really win on being remastered.

Second:
-------
The music is great. I like all albums for different reasons - they are their
own realms... they differ in style and contents.

The albums show a progression of some kind. That is one of the reasons
why Opeth is truly a progressive band!

 

[N-MAYH]

Btw, Opeth is over rated. Opeth sucks!

Yah! Opeth sucks!

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

Here are some of the reasons I'm not a big SL fan

-no bass
-Benighted is a rather weak song
-White Cluster feels like a rather haphazardly thrown together song. The solos are it's only redeeming quality. The ending is poor compared to say, Epilogue, or the final bit of BWP.
-first appearance of more traditional song structures.
-poor production. It's not dark at all.
-I don't like the album cover at all.
-The Moor intro is too long. The song has two pretty good heavy riffs, but I don't see what the fuss is.
-Moonlapse Vertigo and SPD are structurally identical for the most part.

Good points, all of them.

 

[BastardSonOfGod]

Still life is awesome... and you can't probe your points because you aren't a musician... you didn't study music... this thread have no real fundaments.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

Still life is awesome... and you can't probe your points because you aren't a musician... you didn't study music... this thread have no real fundaments.

Who are you referring to? I study music, and have done for 12 years, so I hope you aren't referring to me.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

And anyway, that's possibly the worst argument I ever heard in my life! Jus because you can't draw, does that mean you can't have an opinion on art?

 

[BastardSonOfGod]

An opinion yes, but you can't judge without fundaments... and I read only the first page, so I didn't read your opinion... And if you are a musician... what do think about BENIGHTED????... good or bad????...

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

An opinion yes, but you can't judge without fundaments... and I read only the first page, so I didn't read your opinion... And if you are a musician... what do think about BENIGHTED????... good or bad????...

Hmm, well I totally disagree about not being able to judge without being a musician, but as far as Benighted is concerned:
My least favourite full scale Opeth song. Dull, by their standars.
I have a feeling our opinions are going to be somewhat opposed

 

[BastardSonOfGod]

Yes... hahaha, but that doesn't means that we have to start a fight... you like Opeth and me too, that's all.

And wich one is your favourite????

 

[BastardSonOfGod]

And about the judge... you can say... "I like it" or "I don't like it", but you can't judge techniques and all that things if you don't know what the hell are you talking about

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

Yes... hahaha, but that doesn't means that we have to start a fight... you like Opeth and me too, that's all.

And wich one is your favourite????

Exactly! At least somebody on here understands that!

(Btw, before anyone gets offended, yes, I do know that there are more of you who feel this way )

And do u mean my favourite Opeth album? Personally, I favour Blackwater Park.
And are you a Still Lifer?

 

[BastardSonOfGod]

No... My favourite is Deliverance... And the questions was about the... Acoustic-ballad style song... like benighted... harvest... wich one???? I think that benighted is a master piece... so I want to know wich one is your favourite Acoustic-ballad style song (sounds strange that damn name...) I'm studying music too.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

No... My favourite is Deliverance... And the questions was about the... Acoustic-ballad style song... like benighted... harvest... wich one???? I think that benighted is a master piece... so I want to know wich one is your favourite Acoustic-ballad style song (sounds strange that damn name...) I'm studying music too.

Cool, Deliverance is my second favourite. It seems to have a bad reputation round here, but I think it's damn near faultless.
Well, as a personal preference, I like the more prog-orientated ballads (Isolation Years, Hours Of Wealth, To Rid The Disease etc.)

For more acoustic based ballads...I like To Bid You Farewell, and the opening section of Dirge For November.

Given a straight choice between Harvest and Benighted, Harvest wins hands down.

 

[in limbow]

Liquid Diamonds, I was reading your track-by-track comparison of BWP to Still Life and I realized that BWP is a much stronger album, by far. The production is so much better, it's much more mature, and the worst full length song on there (I'd say Dirge) is still just as good if not better than the worst full length on Still Life (SPD)

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

Liquid Diamonds, I was reading your track-by-track comparison of BWP to Still Life and I realized that BWP is a much stronger album, by far. The production is so much better, it's much more mature, and the worst full length song on there (I'd say Dirge) is still just as good if not better than the worst full length on Still Life (SPD)

That's the thing, I always knew BWP was better, but until I actually thought about the two comparatively like that, I never realised how much better it was. Although I don't agree with you about which tracks on each album are the weakest .
Still, if we could all agree about everything, forums would be boring!!!!

 

[in limbow]

I don't know, I always thought SPD, while it has some great moments and is essential to the Still Life concept, seems VERY loose and some parts sound just kind of jumbled together. Dirge is a good song but for me can't compare to The Drapery Falls, Bleak, Leper Affinity, etc. The one thing that bugs me about Still Life is the production. In fact, I'd say it has hands down the worst production on any Opeth album.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

Well, see, at least with Orchind and Morningrise the production was consistent. I feel like I know where I stand with that production job, and I can appreciate the album as a whole much better. Still Life has a better production technically, but unlike the aformentioned records, it fails to achieve what it sets out to do. It doesn't have the depth it should have. It's inconsistent (all of the dropouts). It's less warm and more... sludgey. The clean vocals are better mixed than on the first 2 records, and stronger, but they are treated badly. They lack the warmth they had on MAYH. Not bad for a first attempt at full-scale self-production, but still not great. I praise them for trying to progress, but in trying and failing they actually took a step backwards. It's muddy.
And then along came Steven Wilson to save the day!!!

 

[in limbow]

Yeah, the production is very muddy and you can barely hear any bass.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

Well its simple. The Moor > April, and Godhead's Lament and Moonlapse vertigo are some of the best Opeth songs ever made. When is also up there, but that's just 1 song, hmm?

EDIT: How could you call Amen Corner equivalent with Moonlapse?

Anyways, look, When and DotF are amazing tracks, no doubt. Credence/Madrigal/The Amen Corner/April are IMO some of Opeth's weakest tracks (none the less very good). But The Moor/Moonlapse/SPD/Godheads Lament (easily one of Opeth's bests songs, IMO) destroy When and DotF.

It's all subjective but I think that Still Life is overall more interesting and better to listen to.

GHL is the best Opeth song and SL is the best album IMO.