Which Would You Rather? A Re-recorded Debut Album or Another Album Like PL & IC?

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

Absolutely. On the topic of Opeth, I find Damnation and its quality songwriting to be a much stronger album than Heritage and its overly "progressive" unconventional structures.

Although I definitely prefer unconventional song structures, I actually agree with you. I like Heritage a lot, but while the structures of the songs are nice, the way they flow isn't - a lot of it feels disjointed. A lot of the segues between sections just don't seem to fit, and parts seem like they were written just to be obscure.

Damnation mostly has conventional song structures, but there's a few exceptions (Windowpane and Closure come to mind; neither have choruses). Damnation just flowed much better as an album in my opinion. Each song had a specific mood to it that was completely different from the last; I don't get that sense with Heritage.

 

[Postulate]

I like song structures that use conventional elements without being cliched or blocked in. They mostly come in the form of songs that tell stories - not avant garde or try-hard crap, just does what it needs to do based on the story it's trying to tell. Good examples I've been playing a lot recently would be Genesis' Musical Box, Marillion's The Web, Pendagon's Indigo, Twelfth Night's We Are Sane, Sieges Even's These Empty Places, etc. That's probably my favorite form of songwriting.

IMO all of Opeth's songwriting is rather disjointed, not just Heritage. It seems like you could just swap out most of their stuff with other stuff from the same album and you wouldn't be able to notice.

 

[LavagesOfTime]

voted for the re-recordings, but with Disillusioned instead of Taunting The Notorious (he chorus is WAY much better)

 

[AsoTamaki]

Haha, Disillusioned. I always did think Mr. Tyler sounded better on the Disillusioned chorus. Too bad they changed it. That's the only part of the song that was better though. They'd definitely also need a new section in place of the Witching Hour solo.

Russ would make the Taunting the Notorious chorus sound great. It just needed a bit more power and aggression.

A lot of the segues between sections just don't seem to fit, and parts seem like they were written just to be obscure.

Yeah, for sure. It's clear that's exactly what Akerfeldt wanted the album to sound like from the beginning and the songs suffered because of it. The difference between "Pyre," "Face in the Snow" and what made it onto the actual album really tells the story.

IMO all of Opeth's songwriting is rather disjointed, not just Heritage. It seems like you could just swap out most of their stuff with other stuff from the same album and you wouldn't be able to notice.

Come on, now. That's quite the exaggeration. Even back on Orchid, most of it evolved naturally. There'd be a jarring transition here and there, but that's acceptable in progressive music.

 

[maestro41]

As much as I find Paradise Lost and ESPECIALLY Iconoclast to be average, I would rather hear them write new music than re-record songs they wrote during the band's infancy.

yeah I would definitely +1 on this one. Let them grow and write new and fresh stuff. Do the re production of past stuff as a side.

 

[_Gentleman of_the Snow_]

Here is a simple, but great song-structure; it follows a somewhat basic pattern, but it is done in a way that differentiates itself because it feels like it is growing from start to finish.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ-ILGBypQo&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL74384752B05EC7DC[/ame]

This song can be a tear-jerker. One of my favourites.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

Yeah, for sure. It's clear that's exactly what Akerfeldt wanted the album to sound like from the beginning and the songs suffered because of it. The difference between "Pyre," "Face in the Snow" and what made it onto the actual album really tells the story.

I really like Face, but am not too crazy about Pyre. Still, both of them have rather conventional song structures when compared to, say, Häxprocess, Famine, or the majority of the normal album. I find Famine to be the worst offender - some of the transitions simply don't work! The ethnic percussion intro followed by the quiet piano part is a great example. They've done heavy-to-light stuff like this before (A Fair Judgment and Drapery Falls come to mind), but they usually worked.

 

[ElvenShadow]

Pretty much the whole Juggling 9 album is great stuff, aside from maybe 1 or 2 songs. I really wish Enchant would put out a new album, even though their last one was probably their weakest, though it still had some good songs.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Enchant is kind of hit and miss with me, but I think it's production related. Everything is so glossy that it ends up getting drowned in a wave of hazy background music.

 

[Postulate]

Hmm. I don't actually own any Enchant albums. They seem like the kind of band where there's no point in having more than one. Is that right?

 

[ElvenShadow]

I actually own 5 of their albums and they all get regular spins in my car. I can see why people might not like them though. You have to be in the right mood to enjoy them but I think they are a really great band with some very unique and well written songs overall.

 

[Kenneth R.]

IMO, it's worth owning Juggling 9 or Dropping 10, and Tug of War

 

[ElvenShadow]

I have Tug of War but I actually think it's one of their weaker albums. Break and Blueprint are excellent IMO