Still Life....your thoughts

BriGreentea

BriGreentea

Member
Oct 6, 2008
52
0
6
Fort Worth, TX
I've just got into this band this year...previously had Damnation and Blackwater Park. I really got into Blackwater Park which then made me years later appreciate Damnation. I guess Damnation would be the wrong album to start with this band but just happened that way. At the time it was the new album at the cd store (when those places existed).

I got Still Life and heard from many its the best. I really like parts of the songs but as the songs in whole they come together strange and it seems as I'm listening to it 5 mintues go by and can't remember how the song started much less what happened a minute ago. The story is interesting after reading in depth which helped get into the album. However, after the 20th listen it clicked and was really into it. I didn't ask for it but got the re-release with a 5.1 addition but don't have full surround sound so I can't really tell how much better the quality is. I'd rather do without it and just have the normal cd (not a fan of digipacks much less big ones).

Did you like this album right off the bat? Most of the albums for me have taken some listens to get the feel of it. However, Watershed I loved right away and think it's easily the best album despite what some think and got My Arms, Your Hearse and loved that right off the bat. I just ordered Morningrise then will get Orchid and my collection will be complete. I heard the song off of Morningrise at the concert (can't remember the title) but thought it was awesome live. Looking forward to getting it this week.
 
Different strokes I suppose. I did like it right off the bat but I don't consider it to be Opeth's magnum opus.
 
I liked it right off the bat, and listened to it way too many times once I first got it to the point where I almost got sick of it.
 
my drum teacher showed me opeth about 8 years ago when i was 10. he showed me parts of Still Life at one of my lessons, and i had never heard anything as heavy before. At that time in my life, i was listening to the shitty bands on the radio, so obviously, i knew nothing about music. anyway, he made me a copy of it, and i lost it for a few years. however, when i was 13, i found it, and decided to listen to it. it was still very heavy for my liking, but i forced myself to listen to the entire thing. something about it told me that there was more to it than i was listening to. after many repeated listens, i got past the growling, and really got into the magic of the music itself.

Still to this day, there is not an album that has grown on me more. Now i am a full fledged opeth fan.
 
Right after my first listen of The Moor I was amazed. First listen and I thought it was one of the best songs by Opeth. It was fast for me.

Morningrise is great you'll really like it. That record took me a while to really 'get' but it turned out to be my second favorite album from Opeth.
 
The first opeth song i heard was the ghost of perdition and i thought "hey this is pretty damn good", the second song i listened to was the moor and i thought "holy fuck, this shit is amazing!". I loved everything about it, the eerie intro, the brutality, the delicate parts. i had previously been listeninto melodic death metal bands like COB and In Flames, which i still like, but when i listened to the moor for the first time, it sent shivers down my spine, i identified with the music so strongly. This is probably the reason why i am particularly partial to still life, it's the album that got me hooked on opeth.
 
I'd only heard Deliverance (the song) by Opeth and wasn't blow away by it. I wasn't into growly metal at the time.

My friend bought me Still Life for xmas, and when the first big 3 chords kick in after the acoustic riffs.... I was sold. Completely and utterly fell in love with the Album and the band. The story, the emotion, the beauty and brutality of the record are incredable and it remains my favourite album by Opeth.
 
I started with Deliverance (and coming from a more extreme metal, this was probably my best introduction to Opeth and still is my favourite one) and then systematically bought all their albums (randomly, no recommendations). Each and every one took a couple of listens to get into but then blew me away completely and gave me goosebumps ... I think every album has been my favourite then at one point, but Still Life definitely competed with Deliverance the most.
 
Still Life is a grower.
It might sound weird at first, but it gets better with time. If it doesn't impress instantly, take it off and try again few months later.
 
Still Life is my favorite Opeth record. I can honestly say though, that it took me a while to really "get into it." But then again, I really don't think that there were ANY Opeth records that I just "got" right off the bat. I liked them, I thought they were examples of brilliant songwriting and musicianship...but it took a few listens to really have something click in my head and make me go "Holy CRAP! YEAH!" I don't know if that makes any sense whatsoever, but it's usually the best albums that I have that reaction to. If I totally fall in love with an album from the first listen, I'll usually just end up just growing tired of it and throwing it aside for something else. But if it takes me a while to sink my teeth into...then I can really appreciate it. And that's how I am with Opeth (Same with other bands that are more complex then your average radio fodder).

Still Life is awesome. It helps if you listen to the entire thing straight through and read the lyrics while you do. That way you can totally get into the story line. And hey....if it doesn't end up becoming one of your favorites, don't sweat it. Ask five different Opeth fans what their favorite Opeth album is and you'll probably get five different responses (and there are plenty of old threads around here to prove that). Maybe something else will connect with you better.

As someone else said earlier, Morningrise is a bit different then their other releases. You can tell how the band has progressed since then. BUT...it is still a killer album! I went through a period of several months where I listened to parts of Morningrise every day. BTW...I'm pretty sure that the song you heard in concert was The Night and the Silent Water. It's an amazing song (Check out their live version of it on the Roundhouse Tapes, if you haven't already) as are Black Rose Immortal and To Bid You Farewell. You'll have to post your thoughts on the album once you get it and have listened to it a few times.
 
To the OP, don't expect Morningrise and Orchid to sound like everything else. There is a HUGE difference in production and overall sound. MAYH marked a turning point for Opeth, no doubt.

As for Still Life - it was actually one of the last Opeth albums I bought, but quickly became my favorite. It has strong competition from BWP, but it is definitely my favorite. I can't explain what draws me to it, it just has a "feel" about it that's special. Once The Moor kicked in upon that very first listen, I knew this was a truly great album.
 
I started with one song,The Drapery Falls.It struck me with the transitions between acoustic and heavy,the great opening melody and the slow section with slides in the first minutes of song.Then I heard Harvest,Ending Credits and Demon of the Fall from a CD that a friend made for me.It was a collection of metal songs in mp3 format,there were many bands from Rammstein to Epica,Therion,Nightwish even to Cradle of Filth.The 3 tracks I heard from this cd dragged me even deeper into Opeth and after that a friend gave me MAYH songs, again in a mp3 format CD.The album wasnt complete so I had no idea that it is a concept album but the opening of April Ethereal " aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" and then when the riff kicks in,I was blown away and again this got me more into Opeth.Then my dad went to Holland and I told him to buy whatever he can find on Opeth.( this was around 2005 I think).He bought Damnation,Deliverance,Blackwater Park and Lamentations DVD.After watching the live and having the real copies of albums I considered myself as an Opeth fan.He also bought Ghost Reveries Special Edition with the Soldier of Fortune cover a year later.Today I am trying to find MAYH,Still Life,Morningrise and Orchid in where I live but thats close to impossible.The only albums I could find here are Deliverance and Watershed.I should pick Watershed some time before it gets sold out because there are like 5 copies in entire city ! And that city is Istanbul ! .

Well back to the topic,Still Life is an absolutely fantastic album.I didn't even heard a single track off it and I didn't even know that album existed before I started to be interested more in Opeth.Then I saw they have an album called Still Life and then I checked some peer to peer networks.( I tried to look for them where I live but you know when I told the guy " Opeth" the guy thought " Opet ? The oil company? " and I was /facepalm.And this was in a big shopping mall.).There I downloaded the songs and I listened to them:At first I didn't really like the songs except The Moor and Face of Melinda.Then I listened to it several times and then it became one of my favourite albums of Opeth.It can surely be considered as Opeth's best, since it alone is the major definition of Opeth's musical style,the most mixed version of "brutal+mellow".The albums like MAYH,Deliverance are closer to death metal and Ghost Reveries and Watershed are much more " progressive " style then others.But my favourite album will stay as either Blackwater Park or MAYH, it is Blackwater Park because it has the Opeth style feeling and very very good collection of songs.It is MAYH because I love the story the album is based on and I think that album can make you feel in the story with lyrics and melodies and riffs.This is also present in Still Life though.
 
I started about 3 years ago after a friend I played halo 2 with told me to try them out. I downloaded one song, listened to it; It was different for me, but i soon bought Ghost Reveries for my first album.

I remember the first time i went to listen to it, the beginning was soft so i turned up my volume in my car. Then the music hit and scared me half to death because it was so loud. Can't tell you how much i listened to it. The Grand Conjuration quickly became my favorite song along with Reverie/Harlequin Forest. Although I did love Ghost of Perdition. The sheeeerrrr beauty of how the music changes from hard to soft within seconds was just glorious.

I have no idea what albums I bought in which order, but GR was the album to get me into them. Although Blackwater Park set the stepping stone for me. I do have to agree with the others who say that you will not appreciate Damnation until you listen to Blackwater Park.

I am still to this day trying to get a better grabs of Still Life, My Arms, Your Hearse, and Orchid. I admit though, Demon of the Fall is one of my favorite songs. Damn it's easy to have multiple different favorite songs with this band...:loco: :kickass:

I recently saw Opeth for the first time in concert last week, BEST CONCERT I'VE EVER BEEN TO. Plus I got my best friend to be a Opeth fan also :kickass: :headbang:

Gonna work on getting my girlfriend to be a fan also. She's already into Gothic rock and some metal, shouldn't be too hard. :heh:
 
Don Corleone said:
still life is still my fave record...EVER
it's funny how i still picture the red cover when someone asks me what my fave album is...and im not a metalhead at all!
Click to expand...

Heh, I never thought of Still Life as the "red" album by Opeth, never knew that nickname. But when I saw them in Orlando recently he announced the next song as being on the "red" album. Of course I knew instantly it was Still Life and proceeded to shit my pants. I fucking love that album. Was my favorite for years but MAYH is closely contending nowadays.
 
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