|
| Watershed | 
 enlarge | Artist: Opeth
Label: Roadrunner Records
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $9.79
You Save: $9.19 (48%)
New (48) Used (18) Collectible (1) from $5.03
Avg. Customer Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 2921
Format: Enhanced
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 179362
UPC: 016861793623
EAN: 0016861793623
ASIN: B0018CWWFK
Release Date: June 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 I keep expecting the wave to crash... June 20, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I've been a fan of Opeth's since "Still Life" -- though I've since bought all of their albums. I keep waiting for this band to peak -- for the wave to break on the beach and then pull back, never to return. I kind of thought the "Deliverance/Damnation" period was that point. The band seemed to me at their weakest during that time. But then "Ghost Reveries" comes out and melts my face, and now we have "Watershed".
Quite simply, this is -- in my opinion -- the finest work to come from Opeth. None of their prior albums, to me, are as clearly a declaration of exploring new territory while at the same time still making an Opeth record. I love their previous stuff, but it's been done -- you know? Honestly, I didn't know what to think of this record at first. I don't think it gelled until I'd listened to it 5-6 times. It's definitely a record that is made to be listened to from start to finish, and it hangs together very well.
If you're not an Opeth fan yet, I think this would be an excellent introduction. All the elements are there and it's so very fresh. Witness the power of a great band at the top of their game.
Love me some Opeth June 3, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I would suggest getting the album with the three extra covers, very well done on mike's part. This album has a ultimate opeth feel to it, way more clean vocals than the death growls but I have always loved mike for his emotional singing. This album does have a dark feel to it just like they said they would do. I'm very excited about this album I see alot of days listening to it, Opeth has 9 studio Albums and this is the great 9th one, all albums are equally creative and addictive. It's Opeth you have to get it.
Favirote song is "Hessian Peel"
 Waterlogged June 4, 2008
3 out of 15 found this review helpful
It had to happen sooner or later. Opeth, for eight straight albums, continued to release musical brilliance. However on the ninth attempt they came up way short. Watershed is very different from all other Opeth albums, but falls far shy of the typical mark in which their albums usually achieve.
All of the songs, except "Heir Apparent" and "The Locust Eater" sound like Mikael Akerfeldt was thinking of only himself and forgetting the rest of the band. Most of the sections of the album are accoustic, which Opeth typically transitions and builds the mood of the song/album but here are just plain and rather boring. The vocal performance is overproduced and doesn't hold a candle to the vocals on Ghost Reveries. The song "Hessian Peel" sounds like they were trying to recreate "The Drapery Falls" but doesn't come close.
A lot of the ideas on the album are simply okay at best and could be expected of a band trying to imitate Opeth. For instance, during the closing moments of "Burden" the accoustic guitar part is played as the guitar is gradually detuned and sounds absolutely terrible. I would expect a lot more from Opeth than a second-rate performance like this.
Absent from Watershed is the remarkable song writing of Blackwater Park and the beauty of Damnation. Previous to Watershed, My Arms Your Hearse was their least accessable album, but now Watershed has clearly taken that spot. As I said above, it had to happen at some point, Opeth has finally released an album that doesn't live up anywhere close to their reputation.
a watershed aural event... June 4, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
a step forward for the men from Sweden...with overt overtones of Scott Walker's "The drift", though less than i'd hoped, they once again prove themselves one of the most relevant bands on the planet...
"Porcelain Heart", "Burden", "Lotus Eater" and the brilliant "Hessian Peel" highlight their continued conjuration and assimilation of superior musicianship, lyrical prowess, technical skill and cascading vision...haunting and experimental but Opeth nonetheless...Akerfeldt has come into the height of his vocal powers and though the death vox is rather sparse in this edition, he is pitch perfect.
My only reservations are perhaps the over produced "Heir Apparent"...the live version sounds better in my opinion and maybe because i heard that version first. Still, it is vintage Opeth and is one of the better selections on the disc.
Finally, "Coil" is somewhat of a mystery to me, though Akerfeldt serves it up in a sublime manner. Maybe it's the female vocals that distract but it is so short as to be tolerable after repeated listens.
Overall, Opeth remains on the cutting edge while remaining true to its progressive bent. Well done.
Does no one understand!?! June 6, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The reviews over Opeth's Watershed are baffling me...especially the reviewer who complained about the out-of-tune ending to "Burden"--IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE THAT WAY BECAUSE THE MUSICIANS ARE SO GOOD AND ARE HAVING A JOKE!!
Otherwise, I see a very complex and fascinating album that I feel will take perhaps months to digest. Yes, the time signatures are confusing and the patterns of the tunes are unpredictable. Yes, there are less heavy parts, but it works because the album is supposed to be one long journey of emotions ("Coil" is deliberately soothing, the next two tracks are heavy, then there is a lull again, then the heaviness builds up again towards the end...it is a classic template for "progressive" albums). Yes, there are new members but they all seem to work towards the ultimate diversity of Opeth extremely well.
Dare I say the sounds here are far more interesting than the relative monotony of Blackwater Park, in retrospect???
Now I've done it...
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
