Watershed in perspective of other Opeth albums

[dddaaannn94]

For me, its:

1) Still Life - still the winner by far for me. GL, SPD, MV, and Moor have so many incredible parts, and all 4 are in my top 10 Opeth songs. I think I'm going to buy a 5.1 system just for this album (production is my only complaint with this album).

2) Ghost Reveries - Lots of great parts, and the looser, groovier feel reminds me a bit of Still Life.

3) Deliverance -my ranking is highly based on the incredibly brutal atmosphere. And the title track might be my favorite Opeth song

4) Blackwater Park - also quite brutal sounding in parts, but outdone by Deliverance in this dimension. Has better melodies than Deliverance though.

5) Watershed - Solid effort, but I'm not sure this will ever get into my top 4. I really like Lotus and Hessian, the rest hasn't gelled with me yet.

6) Damnation - This is the album that got me into Opeth. For some reason I like the mellow songs on this album better than the completely mellow songs on the other albums.

7) MAYH - Some good parts (I think b/c they remind me of Still Life!), but I've never loved the production.

8) Morningrise/Orchid - again, some good parts (particularly Morningrise), but I think these are far eclipsed by the later albums.

 

[Sinten]

1. Watershed
2. Still Life

i enjoy everything else enough to not differentiate them with arbitrary ranking


no one ever lists a band's new album as their favorite until there's been some years or a newer album is released

 

[Stimuli]

MAYH/ Still Life
Watershed
Deliverance
Ghost Reveries
Orchid
Blackwater Park
Morningrise
Damnation

 

[Gowron]

1. still life
2. blackwater park

3. mayh
4. ghost reveries
5. deliverance











6. watershed
7. morning rise
8. orchid
9. damnation

 

[Deliverance Apparent]

Watershed
Deliverance
Blackwater Park
Ghost Reveries
My Arms your hearse
Damnation
Morningrise
Still Life
Orchid

 

[Lightbulb Sun]

As much as I would love to give my opinion, I can't list the albums because they all have different attributes that make them better at different times. You can't listen to Damnation if you're pissed off and wanting to listen to something really metal. They all have their own sort of niche, in a sense, making them all good at times.

That and I can't bring myself to put any Opeth at the bottom of any list.

 

[staveoffzombies]

After listening to album extensively..I'm pretty sure I found the right spot for it.

1. Blackwater Park (not only my favorite Opeth album, but my favorite album of any band ever)

2. Still Life (I consider this their most atmospheric...it's absolutely chillingly beautiful)

3. Watershed (Again, this album is dripping with atmosphere..and I love the variety displayed. Opeth needed to break out of their "mold" for this one, and they did it brilliantly.)

4. Ghost Reveries (some songs hit, some songs miss...overall it has a nice cohesive feel to it...but there's enough weaker bits to keep it from the top three)

5. Deliverance (a great album, just a bit too one-sided for my taste. However Deliverance and Master's Apprentices are two of my absolute favorite Opeth tracks)

6. My Arms, Your Hearse (to me this album has the best flow of any Opeth album...to this day I still have trouble naming individual songs as I always have to listen to this album all the way through...it almost feels like one epic track...a very good transitional album for the band, and it's only because their other material is so fantastic that this one gets lower on the list)

7. Damnation (again, a bit too one-sided, and the final track is the weakest song in Opeth's catalogue...but I still very much enjoy the mellow, melancholy vibe of this album)

8. Morningrise (I'm in the minority, but I do feel that Opeth's first two records are their weakest. Morningrise is still a great album, with some stellar sections, but the songs still meander too much and seem a bit aimless)

9. Orchid (same deal as with Morningrise except I think the aimless quality of the songs is even more evident here. However I do still enjoy this album very much)

 

[Carl Hungus]

On Winamp I have all of my albums ranked on a scale from 1 to 5 stars and I only have 19 albums out of over 400 ranked as 5 star albums. 5 star albums are the absoluted best, reserved for all time greats (IMO) like Lightning, Puppets, and Justice.

Opeth takes 5 of those 5 star album spots, the most by one band by far, with Metallica 2nd with those 3 classic albums.

Here are my 5 star Opeth albums in chronological order but not order of preference:

Morningrise
My Arms Your Hearse
Still Life
Blackwater Park
Deliverance

Of these 5 masterpieces I cannot pick an order, or even my favorite. I agree with a previous poster who said it's like a big game of rock-paper-scissors. That is perfectly stated.

On Winamp I have Ghost Reveries, Orchid, and Damnation ranked as 4 out of 5 stars.

Ghost Reveries - I like it a lot, but a few of the songs are a little to repetitive for me. I still like them, but every once in awhile I'm not in the mood for Atonement.

Orchid - Great one too, but it doesn't hold my attention like the big 5. I wouldn't be surprised however if someday I appreciate and listen to this album a lot more than I do now.

Damnation - sounds amazing, but I'm not often in the mood for an all mellow album.

Watershed - way too early to call. I have a rule that I don't put an album in the 5 star category until it's at least 3 years old (yes, I'm a dork) so that's going to have to wait. My first impressions are better than Ghost Reveries which is a very good sign because my first impressions of that album were very very good.

 

[Depth Perception]

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.

I agree with this guy.

And from what I've heard from interviews I think Mike's preferences of albums would be in reverse chronilogical order. I believe it is that way with most artist, however because they have more of an emotional connection to what they have created most recently, but however they will always have certain peices of the past that will stick out for them.

 

[Labyrinth of Blindness]

The top three interchange, but heres my general opinion

1. Blackwater Park
2. Ghost Reveries
3. Watershed
4. Damnation
5. Deliverance
6. Still Life
7. MAYH
8. Orchid
9. Morningrise

I'm a big fan of the later-days of Opeth, though there is not a single album of theirs that I dislike. That's the beauty of Opeth. Every album has been solid since the first. I just prefer a more crisp production than the 90s stuff.
Sometimes I find Deliverance a bit repetitive, but I enjoy the heavy songs on it. But as far song writing and crisp production, the top three on my list are what do it for me.

 

[Depth Perception]

I also agree with Illidian it depends on your current mood and preferences. Whatever Opeth album I'm listening to is my favourite at the time.

 

[Korlich]

My list:

SL
Orchid: so underrated! Most atmosphere, best solos, killer songs, especially: Apostle and TTIMR...
MAYH
WS
BWP
GR
D1
D2
Morningrise: Worst prod. on any Opeth record, and the songs feel a little too long, still really good overall though.

 

[Rezard]

I agree with this guy.

And from what I've heard from interviews I think Mike's preferences of albums would be in reverse chronilogical order. I believe it is that way with most artist, however because they have more of an emotional connection to what they have created most recently, but however they will always have certain peices of the past that will stick out for them.

Well that makes sense, I mean, if he liked Still Life more than Watershed, I would go all "why the fuck didn't you write SL-like songs then ??" on him.
After all, he's the one who writes everything, so as long as he doesn't say that his songwriting has gotten worse, it seems pretty logical to me that he would prefer later records.
And honestly, I may be disappointed by the fact that for now, no record can stand on par with Still Life, but I think that's a fucking good thing that Akerfeldt still goes his own way and doesn't listen to everything that's being said here, or we would have had something like three more Still Life and two more Blackwater Park.
My opinion though.

 

[Whisper and Weep]

As much as I would love to give my opinion, I can't list the albums because they all have different attributes that make them better at different times. You can't listen to Damnation if you're pissed off and wanting to listen to something really metal. They all have their own sort of niche, in a sense, making them all good at times.

That and I can't bring myself to put any Opeth at the bottom of any list.

Good opinion.

Btw LS, I've been really into PT's Stupid Dream lately. I'm not sure how big a fan of them you are but I'm fascinated by it. Its probably one of my favorite albums ever. I was wondering where I should go from here, they have so much stuff so your opinion would be appreciated.

I know this isn't on topic so forgive me

 

[wut wut]

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

 

[Clat'Ha]

This is my taste, probably gonna get killed for it

Orchid/ Morningrise

MAYH/ Still Life

Blackwater Park

Damnation

Deliverence/ Ghost Reveries

Watershed

I love Opeth's work but this is my order as far as what I like best in order.

 

[Jester-Race]

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

I prefer to listen to those. This doesn't mean that I like any more of them than the other ones, it's just the ones I listen to the most and I fucking love them all, in truth.

 

[BlueSky]

Good opinion.

Btw LS, I've been really into PT's Stupid Dream lately. I'm not sure how big a fan of them you are but I'm fascinated by it. Its probably one of my favorite albums ever. I was wondering where I should go from here, they have so much stuff so your opinion would be appreciated.

I know this isn't on topic so forgive me

I'd say Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, and Fear of a Blank Planet are all musts. Lightbulb Sun is a lot closer to Stupid Dream though so I'd say that's your best bet next since after that their sound changed pretty drastically.

 

[Goodyear]

I'd say Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, and Fear of a Blank Planet are all musts. Lightbulb Sun is a lot closer to Stupid Dream though so I'd say that's your best bet next since after that their sound changed pretty drastically.

You missed Deadwing.

 

[BlueSky]

No I didn't.