Watershed in perspective of other Opeth albums

Metamyr

Metamyr

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Feb 7, 2006
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Sorry if this thread feels unnecessary with all the other threads discussing the album, but this kind of stemmed from a conversation a friend and I were having. We both liked the album, but he rates it pretty low compared to other Opeth. Just kind of curious where you guys put watershed on the overall Opeth spectrum.

for me:
1. Still Life
2. Blackwater Park
3. Watershed
4. My Arms Your Hearse
5. Ghost Reveries
6. Deliverance

I haven't listened to Morningrise or Orchid enough to properly rate them in there. Those first 2 albums aren't really my style. Also, left out damnation since it's more "different" than better or worse.
 
Blackwater Park
Still Life
Morningrise
MAYH
Orchid
Watershed
Ghost Reveries
Damnation
Deliverance

At this point I'd put Orchid and Watershed as equals. So, for a ninth studio record with severe lineup changes.. this far exceeded expectations. I'm very pleased, it turned out excellent.
 
Still Life
Blackwater Park
Damnation
My Arms Your Hearse
Watershed
Ghost Reveries
Morningrise
Deliverance
Orchid

Maybe will it make its way up as the number of listenings increases.
 
1. Still Life
2. Deliverance
3. Watershed
4. Blackwater Park
5. Morningrise
6. My Arms Your Hearse
7. Ghost Reveries
8. Damnation
9. Orchid
 
I don't think I've given older albums, the early nineties stuff, a good enough listen. But Blackwater Park is probably at the top of my list anyways with Still Life following (I'm a sucker for concept albums). Watershed is somewhere after those, maybe third, or fourth in my list.
 
Lightbulb Sun said:
I don't think I've given older albums, the early nineties stuff, a good enough listen. But Blackwater Park is probably at the top of my list anyways with Still Life following (I'm a sucker for concept albums). Watershed is somewhere after those, maybe third, or fourth in my list.
Click to expand...

Watershed is their deepest album by far in terms of looking past the surface.

Trust me its there. If you don't have the album buy it and you'll see what I mean.
 
Whisper and Weep said:
Watershed is their deepest album in terms of looking past the surface.

Trust me its there. If you don't have the album buy it and you'll see what I mean.
Click to expand...

I have it, but I haven't given it much thought. I'm sure you're right. I mean how could an album with so much mystery not be deep in meaning? All in all, this album will move up in my list once I start thinking about the music (give it a couple days).

Music wise though, still Blackwater Park.
 
Lightbulb Sun said:
I have it, but I haven't given it much thought. I'm sure you're right. I mean how could an album with so much mystery not be deep in meaning? All in all, this album will move up in my list once I start thinking about the music (give it a couple days).

Music wise though, still Blackwater Park.
Click to expand...

Im right with you there on Blackwater Park.. still my favorite.

Let it grow on you. I decided to hold off on Watershed for a little while a couple weeks ago until it was a couple days away from its release so I started listening the older stuff for a while.

It was about 3 weeks later and I decided to give some songs another listen and it just consumed me. The vibe was stronger than ever. Today when I bought the album and I listened to it in 5.1 looking through the booklet I realized that indeed it is incredible, especially with its deep meaning.

So now its in the ol' top 3 of mine. :p
 
Whisper and Weep said:
Im right with you there on Blackwater Park.. still my favorite.

Let it grow on you. I decided to hold off on Watershed for a little while a couple weeks ago until it was a couple days away from its release so I started listening the older stuff for a while.

It was about 3 weeks later and I decided to give some songs another listen and it just consumed me. The vibe was stronger than ever. Today when I bought the album and I listened to it in 5.1 looking through the booklet I realized that indeed it is incredible, especially with its deep meaning.

So now its in the ol' top 3 of mine. :p
Click to expand...

I'll make sure to do that. I really love to understand albums.

My question to you is, how do you interpret its meaning? You always sense a connection between the songs, at least I have, almost as if they are all connected with one meaning....
 
Still Life
MAYH
Watershed
Blackwater Park
Ghost Reveries
Deliverance

Thats how I'd rank their post Morningrise albums. The reason I ranked SL, MAYH, and Watershed so high is because I pretty much always like listening to them straight through. While with BWP, GR, and Deliverance I usually pick and choose songs to listen to.
 
Watershed is amazing, it's incredible. Period. I can't understand how such an album came out from a band whose half lineup has changed. 5 years ago my favorite band used to be In Flames, now I can only laugh at what they're putting up, relative to what Opeth's putting up.

Currently, the Opeth album I most listen to is naturally Watershed, but to make an objective comparison, I'd say:

1. Blackwater Park
2. Watershed
3. Deliverance
4. Still Life
5. My Arms, Your Hearse
6. Morningrise
7. Ghost Reveries
8. Orchid
9. Damnation

I don't think I could be counted an "orthodox" Opeth listener (just look at where Deliverance and Morningrise are). I absolutely love Deliverance (when it first came out, for months I refused to listen to something else) because it's simply crisp, and mostly brutal. I love Opeth's completely brutal-vocal songs (Heir Apparent and Wreath being in my all time top 5), so I don't listen to Damnation that much.

Ghost Reveries - well, for some reason I couldn't get into that album very much, although I appreciated all of its songs individually, I somehow don't appreciate the album as being one of Opeth's best.

And Orchid and Morningrise - that form of twin-guitar melody metal is really too common for my taste, although I'll admit Opeth were one of the best who did it (though I'd prefer In Flames and Dark Tranquillity's earlier albums to those)

Still Life would be lower if it didn't have the most creative riff of all time in it (Face of Melinda's distortion riff).
 
I can't oversimplify it enough to rate it with the others. There are some times where I need some Blackwater Park, some when I need Ghost of Perdition. But Watershed, as a whole, as a cohesive flow... it's the best of THAT type of album since Still Life. In terms of song strength, Ghost Reveries is the best since Blackwater Park. And Still Life shows up My Arms, Your Hearse in the area of progressive-sounding music and concepts. Morningrise surpasses Orchid technically, but Orchid has the "fresh", energetic feel of a real breakthrough album. Where do Deliverance and Damnation fit? No idea, but they're good too.

It's like a really complicated set of rock-paper-scissors that changes with your mood.
.........
.............
Oh fuck you guys.

So ATM:

Watershed
Still Life and Ghost Reveries
Blackwater Park
Damnation
Deliverance and My Arms, Your Hearse
Orchid
Morningrise
EEEETERNALLL SOUUUULLL TORRRRRRTUREEEEEE

BTW I'd be really interested to see how Mikael rates them.
 
1.Orchid
2.Morningrise
2.MAYH
2.Still Life
2.BWP
2.Deliverance
2.Damnation
2.Ghost Reveries
2.Watershed

IMO I love Orchid just so good. But all the others are tied for #2.
 
It is almost impossible for me to sit here and come up with a list really fast. All I can say about Watershed is that it is so different from anything that they have ever done in my opinion. I love that. It is still Opeth, but it feels very fresh for them. It is probably in the middle for me.
 
I've always had trouble coming up with a definitive list ranking Opeth's discography. I agree with Illidan—certain albums click at certain times.

That being said, I adore Watershed. It really is a hallmark record, and I would rank it among my top three Opeth records. Since I can't formulate a list, here are my top three (not necessarily in this order):

My Arms, Your Hearse
Watershed
Ghost Reveries
 
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