Updated Live Version of Hope Leaves

[opeth8]

Prior to seeing Opeth live back in September I read that Freddie was playing a solo at the end of Hope Leaves. Modifying what was already IMO a perfect song & the best of Damnation worried me.

I've already seen them perform this during the Damnation Tour. It was great then. Shockingly the newer version w/the current lineup & the added solo by Freddie was even better. The guitar work was sweet & it fit the rhythm of the song perfectly. It certainly didn't sound like it was just thrown in to give Freddie another solo to play.

I wonder how the new ending came to be. Was this something that Freddie put together on his own & then presented to the band ? Did Mike ask him to come up with something for the song ? Did Mike & Freddie work on this together ? I'm just curious. Maybe I'm complicating the process. I'm not suggesting the band continue to add new licks & rearrange songs or anything like that.

Regardless, it was great & I thank them for it. I'm hoping this will be released on a live dvd or even added to a future release. I'd love to have a hi-quality version of the updated Hope Leaves. Til then I'll just continue checking out the many low-quality vids on youtube.

 

[opethpainter]

i found that ending solo as a great surprise, as in the last tour was actually the real only unpredictable thing out of a setlist that yo all know was predictable as hell. and opeth themselves know that, since they announced that they're gonna change it drastically in the next months.

in my opinion that solo was also added to demonstrate people that fredrik is not just a shredder axe-man, but is also able to make his guitar gently weep
can't guess whose was the idea of adding that solo, but that was just great anyway!

 

[hexwind]

ah and i think he or Mike added a solo in Master's apprentices, i watched the video that was posted last Friday or sth in Wacken 08. it sounded good.

 

[Taran]

After the gig in Stuttgart I spoke to Fredrik and asked him about that solo, because I enjoyed it a lot during this gig. He told me that it was not a fixed solo, but he's improvising at each gig a little bit.
A well-played, rather jazzy solo - you have to hear it!

 

[badabiing]

Heard it in Gothenburg. Absolutely loved it!

 

[Lenni]

Heard it in Cologne,
Was ok but I thought it was nothing special really. I can imagine they came up with the idea while rehearsing and jamming.

 

[Silent Dance With Death]

I don't remember them playing a new solo during Hope Leaves, but I know they lowered the key which I like a lot.

 

[To rid you disease]

hope leaves and especially åkessons solo was the peak of the stockholm gig I went to!

 

[EkstatikParataxis]

hope leaves and especially åkessons solo was the peak of the stockholm gig I went to!

same in munich for me... awesome solo.
Are there bootlegs out anywhere?

 

[Burden]

That's from Berlin

 

[Luann]

Obviously it's improvised, every youtube video of the song has a different solo.
And then the moron of arasmas come to say he is a shredder...

 

[Iki-ilkkuja]

i found that ending solo as a great surprise, as in the last tour was actually the real only unpredictable thing out of a setlist that yo all know was predictable as hell. and opeth themselves know that, since they announced that they're gonna change it drastically in the next months.

in my opinion that solo was also added to demonstrate people that fredrik is not just a shredder axe-man, but is also able to make his guitar gently weep
can't guess whose was the idea of adding that solo, but that was just great anyway!

Prior to this he's shown that he's more than capable of making his guitar gently sweep.