Opeth Albums: Best To Worst
My ranking of all Opeth's studio albums. I included ratings as well as the best songs (my personal favourites) of each album.
Here are links to the full albums (Grooveshark): 1. Opeth - Blackwater Park 2. Opeth - Morningrise 3. Opeth - Still Life 4. Opeth - Ghost Reveries 5. Opeth - Orchid 6. Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse 7. Opeth - Deliverance 8. Opeth - Watershed 9. Opeth - Damnation 10. Opeth - Pale Communion 11. Opeth - Heritage
Disclaimer: All top lists are unofficial and do not represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
[ More lists by Erik M. ] |
Comments page 2 / 3
Opethian |
17.06.2013 - 20:03 Written by Erik M. on 17.06.2013 at 15:38 I can see where your coming from on the Heritage being on top of Morningrise, to be honest with you its an 'OK' album for me and i must admit that it has never truly appealed to me
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Mr. Blonde |
13.08.2013 - 19:15
I will say this, ranking Opeth albums is a bold move, and E.Mols86's list has consistency, which is good. Like it would freak me out if someone had a list with say Orchid and Damnation as 1 and 2 and Morningrise and Heritage as 9 and 10 cause that just wouldn't be consistent. I'm surprised to see Ghost Reveries so low on many lists, I'd consider it my favorite. Personal bias just is what it is. I'm trying to figure out how much my reasoning for putting Ghost Rev as #1 stems from having an insatiable love for 3 tracks from it. Either way I'll willingly admit that BWP is Opeth's biggest crowning achievement (and this is a band with quite a few major triumphs). My tastes would be most closely aligned with Wes93 to the point in which I want to state that I swear I'm not copying you, just that great minds think alike. 1. Ghost Reveries 2. Blackwater Park 3. Still Life 4. My Hands, Your Purse 5. Deliverance 6. Watershed . . 7. Morningrise 8. Damnation . . 9. Heritage 10. Orchid
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Erik M. |
14.08.2013 - 01:11 Written by Mr. Blonde on 13.08.2013 at 19:15 Hehe, I'm glad you like my ranking. It wasn't extremely hard to do it although the top 4 albums are all very close to eachother in quality in my opinion. Despite the fact that Orchid is 5th on the list and has a bad production I still think it's a brilliant album (for already stated reasons). That's why I can never understand people ranking it dead last (even behind Heritage). Of course it's your opinion and all, but I'm still curious why you dislike it so much (or at least, less than all the other albums). Futhermore you seem to have Morningrise rather low as well, but I think everyone should put it above Orchid since in my opinion it's basically a better version of Orchid (by which I mean they pretty much improved in every way with Morningrise while still creating totally epic and brilliant tracks... with a good production (still far from the perfect production of Blackwater Park for example though)). Anyway, your ranking is a good one too, unlike quite a few rankings people have posted here. Like you said, (for example) putting Heritage at #1 and Blackwater Park at #10 could very well be someone's opinion, but then I won't take it seriously AT ALL. One last thing, your #4 made me laugh.
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Mr. Blonde |
15.08.2013 - 05:09 Written by Erik M. on 14.08.2013 at 01:11 Well, it's still a bold move because it's the #2 ranked band on here. Everyone here has heard of them and most have a strong opinion of them. Plus many of their albums are evenly matched, and they have a wealth of great material. Even with other known to be consistent bands, ranking stuff is considerably easier. Slayer for ex: Reign and Abyss go up top, and Diabolus in Musica and Undisputed Attitude sink to the very bottom... that's a cakewalk. Here is why I ranked Orchid last. Sort of to make a point. I don't hate that album. But I'm not nearly as fond of it as their other stuff. Firstly, I truly appreciate quality production values in metal. I know that isn't always a popular viewpoint. But I listen to a lot of prog (rock or metal) in general, and prog benefits greatly from a strong effort in the studio. I actually like Heritage... because I like prog... but I still want and expect more from Opeth. I understand the band getting bored trying to make the same type of dynamic album again and again and they wanted to pay respect to their influences. But even I as a prog rock fan... wanted more intensity out of that album. Back to Orchid... it almost seems a little try hard in a sense. Trying to be too much, too soon, but still an impressive debut none the less. You strike me as someone who appreciates production value too, but in this case is willing to give this band a pass since it really wasn't their fault, because they weren't established yet. I concur that it's hard to hold the production against them. But Orchid also lacks a maturity, especially in the themes and lyrics and such. Still the production issue does exist. I get why many metal fans love raw, gritty production on any band's early work. But as we know, Opeth isn't some grindcore garbage where shitty production is nearly always a bonus. Opeth is meant to be taken seriously, so increased production value was a necessity for them. That's why I have Morningrise listed higher. You're correct that it's like a better produced Orchid. But if they never evolved as a band beyond Morningrise in terms of production, composition, lyrics, themes, general song dynamics, etc... then Opeth would be lucky to crack the top 200 bands here, instead of sitting at #2 and giving the biggest metal band in the universe a run for their money. Akerfeldt has always surrounded himself with very talented players, and without taking anything away from the initial lineup... I really do think the band hit a whole new, brilliant level once they started adding a bunch of guys named Martin, and Peter Lindgren. No surprise that most of us have the albums from that period ranked in the top half of the list. About that last part. Believe it or not bro, that joke has a cool story. My hands, your purse... now one would think that joke promotes theft. But actually, what inspired that parody name (I first used it in a parody album name thread here at MS, some time ago) comes from the burden of being a dude... and being in a mall with your girlfriend... and having her want you to hold her purse for a minute (it's never just a minute ) C'mon we've all been there, and it's sort of emasculating. Standing outside the ladies room, holding a handbag... It's like the gayest way that proves that you're not gay. Not that I'm homophobic. Nobody ever intends on being that pussy whipped either, but sometimes it's better than listening to e...n...d...l...e....s....s nagging. Plus, it's cool to be a caring boyfriend :: But, I mean, ya don't want to be in the mall in the first place... you're missing some sort of game... you didn't think this could take that long... you don't want to sniff that damn Yankee candle... wait... is that lavender? And do I detect a hint of vanilla notes? Err... moving on... and you definitely don't want to hold her purse either... "But it's getting heavy"... No... "Please"... Dump some shit out of it then... "C'mon please" :... No wai... "wai" ... ... .... man she was right, this thing is heavy. Soooo, you do the one thing that you can to save what's left of your dignity. You let that purse swing low, holding it in your hand... not across your shoulder like some degenerate freak (nobody will believe it's a satchel, not even your wolfpack)... and you lean up against a wall, play it cool and act like you don't give a flying...
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Zap |
20.09.2013 - 20:54
Ok, this is one of your few lists that will not receive my +1, since I disagree with basically everything, haha Except Heritage at the last place, but that doesn't really count.
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Erik M. |
20.09.2013 - 22:17 Written by Zap on 20.09.2013 at 20:54 Hey, that's not fair. I've given 100% of your lists a +1. Just kidding of course. If you totally disagree with it then it's only logical to not thumb it up. So how would you rank them?
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Zap |
20.09.2013 - 23:11 Written by Erik M. on 20.09.2013 at 22:17 Err, let's see. 1. My Arms, Your Hearse 2. Still Life 3. Blackwater Park These are all excellent 4. Morningrise 5. Orchid 6. Damnation 7. Deliverance These are all still very great 8. Ghost Reveries 9. Watershed 10. Heritage These are OK More or less. I think I like more songs on Watershed than on Ghost Reveries, but the ones I like on Ghost Reveries, I absolutely love.
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Erik M. |
20.09.2013 - 23:36 Written by Zap on 20.09.2013 at 23:11 Well, we both have Still Life, Blackwater Park, Morningrise and Orchid in the top 5, so not that different at all I'd say. We also have Watershed and Heritage at/near the bottom. So the only big differences are My Arms, Your Hearse and Ghost Reveries.
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Zap |
20.09.2013 - 23:44 Written by Erik M. on 20.09.2013 at 23:36 You just want thumbs up. You're right though, it's actually very similar ... ... ... Okay then! Fine!
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Erik M. |
20.09.2013 - 23:47 Written by Zap on 20.09.2013 at 23:44 Haha! Thanks. And honestly I wasn't aiming for a thumbs up (not this time anyway ). Damn, I like having the "best" Opeth best to worst like on MS (there are quite a few of these to be found, if you weren't aware of that).
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Zap |
20.09.2013 - 23:50 Written by Erik M. on 20.09.2013 at 23:47 Trust me, I was aware of that I could make best-to-worst-of-band-x lists all day, but there are already so many of them here on MS that I just don't bother.
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Erik M. |
20.09.2013 - 23:53 Written by Zap on 20.09.2013 at 23:50 My two other best to worst lists are the only ones of those bands (My Dying Bride and Ayreon) as far as I know, so when you create one that isn't on MS yet, then it's not boring I'd say. And not to brag, but my best to worst lists are way less boring than the others since I have at least included ratings as well as the best (my favourite) tracks per album.
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Zap |
20.09.2013 - 23:58 Written by Erik M. on 20.09.2013 at 23:53 Hmm yeah, I'll have a look at bands that lack these lists.
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Constantine Account deleted |
16.03.2014 - 21:42 Constantine
Account deleted
Blackwater Park.. I just can't GET that album as much as everyone does, yeah it's a great album but it's just not worth the 10s It get's here. Not even a 9.5. If I dared to review it I'd probably give it a 9.0 or a 9.1
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Lit. Account deleted |
16.03.2014 - 23:59 Lit.
Account deleted Written by [user id=147752] on 16.03.2014 at 21:42 Odd. I find it the only good album Opeth ever did. ...And how exactly is a 9.1 different from a 9.5? You're still calling that album near perfect.
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Erik M. |
17.03.2014 - 17:38 Written by [user id=147752] on 16.03.2014 at 21:42 Your opinion on Blackwater Park seems to change a lot, doesn't it? A 9.0 is still very high so I don't see what your problem is with the high rating is to be honest. Say you found it worthy of a 5.0 or 6.0 (like some users here), then I'd understand why you find it overrated. I'm not going to complain when an album is slightly overrated. A more justified complaint is me complaining that The Gallery is overrated. Even though I know it's a ground-breaking classic in the genre, I don't get that album at all and I can only enjoy 3 songs a lot and would give it a 6.5-7.0, which is based on my own enjoyment. Anyway, Blackwater Park has arguably the most variety going on, out of all Opeth albums. Every song is excellent. Don't really know what to say about it honestly, it's just a masterpiece.
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Erik M. |
17.03.2014 - 17:38 Written by [user id=101272] on 16.03.2014 at 23:59 Well, in Constantine's defense, it is a difference for sure. For me anything equal to or higher than a 9.5 is near-perfect. Nothing is of course worthy of a 10.0 since no album ever is perfect. Yes, in these lists of mine I've added some 10/10 ratings, but those are just rounded up. It just indicates the score is equal to or higher than a 9.75, in my opinion. I can't be bothered with more exact ratings than 0.5 ratings. That is exact enough for me.
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Constantine Account deleted |
17.03.2014 - 17:55 Constantine
Account deleted Written by [user id=101272] on 16.03.2014 at 23:59 Okay, how the hell is a 4.5 out of 5 stars near-perfect? 9.0 isn't perfect. And yes I think a 9.5 is way different than a 9.0 or a 9.1, same as an 8.7 is different than an 8.2. You are like: It's Okay - 9.5/10 - IGN To Erik: It's overrated to me in the sense that it's the top album of all time in this site based on the ratings. It also has a couple of 10/10 reviews IIRC, and also people calling Blackwater Park the song perfect, the second half of that song is boring and bland at least if not outright bad. The first half of the song is a masterpiece to me, but every time I listen to the second half I almost puke at how they fucked up the entire song by that shitpile of continuation and boring riffs.
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Erik M. |
17.03.2014 - 18:14 Written by [user id=147752] on 17.03.2014 at 17:55 Well, if you look at it like that, many albums are overrated/underrated, in my opinion. In most cases I won't bother complaining, unless I really think otherwise. About Blackwater Park, it's a great song albeit too long for its own good. Not featuring clean vocals was a mistake if you ask me, because the combination between clean vocals and growls are one of the great aspects of their music. But I see where you're coming from, because it's hailed as pretty much the best song Opeth ever wrote while I also disagree with that entirely. Even on that album it's not the best song. Out of all their songs, I probably wouldn't even put it in the top 20. The Drapery Falls was the first Opeth song I listened to, almost 9 years ago, and it's still easily the best song on Blackwater Park for me.
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Constantine Account deleted |
17.03.2014 - 18:20 Constantine
Account deleted Written by Erik M. on 17.03.2014 at 18:14 'Bleak' is Imo the most diverse and most musically pleasing Opeth song, It's my favorite Opeth song. About the song 'Blackwater Park', the song up until 6:00 is PERFECT, it's like a fucking euphoria, but after that It's a shitfest of uninteresting riffs and overused riffs, also the vocals suck in that half while in the first they are spot on and don't tire your ears. By the way, what are your thoughts on 'Bleak' ? I never see anyone saying it's their favorite song from that album..
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Erik M. |
17.03.2014 - 18:28 Written by [user id=147752] on 17.03.2014 at 18:20 Disagree about Blackwater Park, the song is great. As I said, I only dislike the lack of clean vocals. Only growls is boring for Opeth, just like only clean vocals is boring as well (as many songs on Heritage show, but that's not Heritage's only problem). Bleak is my favourite song on the album after The Drapery Falls, indeed a brilliant and haunting song with insane atmosphere. Let's just say both of those songs are my favourites on the album. Btw, as I said before (in these comments), Still Life would've been my favourite album if it wasn't for two relatively boring songs (you know which ones I'm talking about, it's pretty obvious) that are on the album.
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telephonebear Account deleted |
14.04.2014 - 20:56 telephonebear
Account deleted
Totally agree with your top two, not seen many people rate morningrise that high-a lot of people seem to hate it. I guess it's their love or hate album.
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Erik M. |
15.04.2014 - 20:17 Written by [user id=147590] on 14.04.2014 at 20:56 You agree with only my top 2? Morningrise is definitely a masterpiece. As I've said more than once, I regard it basically as an improved Orchid, seeing as those two albums have a very similar style. But actually I never heard a lot of people hating/disliking that album. Ghost Reveries seems to be much more of love/hate kind of album. Opinions are way more divided in case of that one, I think.
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telephonebear Account deleted |
15.04.2014 - 21:00 telephonebear
Account deleted Written by Erik M. on 15.04.2014 at 20:17 i agree with more than the top two, but i commented on them specifically as i was to talk about morningrise. maybe the reviews ive seen have been the rare examples of people against it. maybe they just hate opeth in general as a lot of people really dont like them.
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LeKiwi High Fist Prog |
20.08.2014 - 10:10
You must have some emotional attachment to Orchid and Morningrise because the clean vocals and distorted guitar riffs sound amateur. The only great track out of both those albums is "To Bid You Farewell"...
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Erik M. |
25.08.2014 - 21:30 Written by [user id=142921] on 09.08.2014 at 17:13 Well, at least the bottom 2 is the same as my bottom 2. Which is where they belong. I can see why people like Orchid less. It's less consistent and the production isn't that good, but I still think all the songs are awesome. Morningrise is style-wise similar to Orchid, but better on all fronts, I'd say. Rarely have I seen someone rank Orchid above Morningrise, which to me makes sense (to not rank it above Orchid, that is). As I said multiple times already: Still Life would be #1 for me if it didn't have Benighted and Face of Melinda. Now don't think I only enjoy the heavier tracks, but I just like those (especially Benighted) much less than the other tracks on the album. Those are all brilliant. In the end almost everyone will have a different ranking of Opeth albums. You would say that it's logical, but in case of some bands there's a clear general consensus as to what the best to worst ranking looks like (roughly). It does definitely have something to do with the fact that everything Opeth did up until 2005 (in my opinion) was brilliant.
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Erik M. |
25.08.2014 - 21:37 Written by LeKiwi on 20.08.2014 at 10:10 Thanks for letting me and many others know those albums aren't actually totally amazing. I thought all the tracks were great, but you made me realize the only great track is To Bid You Farewell... Seriously though, if the only great track on both albums is To Bid You Farewell, then why have you rated both albums a 7? Pretty high rating for someone who only thinks 1 out of 12-14 tracks is great. Also, you kind of contradict yourself here by saying the following about Orchid: Written by LeKiwi on 16.10.2013 at 13:18 Anyway, Morningrise is highly consistent I'd say. All tracks are about equally good. Orchid is less consistent (and doesn't have a good production), but the long, epic tracks make up for that. Lots of variety to be found on there and the atmosphere they created is amazing. Overall a highly enjoyable album and a great debut album without a doubt.
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LeKiwi High Fist Prog |
25.08.2014 - 22:17 Written by Erik M. on 25.08.2014 at 21:37 In that context, great implies that something is worthy of a 9 or higher. It's pretty simple, allow me to explain: the acoustic passages from both albums are fantastic while the attempts at extreme prog riffing fell short. I can further explain the minute details which guided my rating, but for you to be overtly interested in that would be...worrying On average I believe both are worthy of a 7, especially considering their innovative nature. Where in my quote concerning Orchid is said contradiction? As far as I'm aware, a rating of 7 is synonymous with "good" on this website, is it not?
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Erik M. |
25.08.2014 - 22:54 Written by LeKiwi on 25.08.2014 at 22:17 For me "great" equals an 8, not a 9. A 9 would be excellent/amazing, while a 10 is brilliant/masterpiece. Of course those are my own definitions, so I don't expect everyone to use the same rating system. And yes, a 7 is indeed equal to "good", which makes me wonder what you would call an 8 since "very good" and "great" have almost the same meaning (to me, at least). It surprises especially that you're not very fond of Morningrise. To me it's a masterpiece without a doubt.
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LeKiwi High Fist Prog |
26.08.2014 - 02:56 Written by Erik M. on 25.08.2014 at 22:54 I suppose you're right, great would correlate with a 8 rather than a 9. I was simply complementing the track without thinking too much. As much as I tried to enjoy that album, the cleans and distorted riffs put me off
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