Opeth 96-08 is my favorite band of all time, so I’m always happy to write walls of text about them. I consider 2011 on as a different entity. To an extent you can mark Opeth as pre and post Peter Lindgren which would lump watershed in with the later era

Album Rating: 5.0

MAYH is their best overall I would say. Beautiful blend of distortion and acoustics, cleans and harsh, beautiful atmosphere and tight songwriting.

I prefer SL and especially BWP. Better transitions, melodies, harmonies, production, bass playing, clean vocals. Only lose to MAYH on aggression and tight/focused songwriting if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s split hairs though because all 3 are amazing in their own right. When Bleak comes back in heavy from the soft midsection and then collapses into an atmospheric section with high sustained notes on the guitars and Mendez driving the passage with a subtle bass melody, that kind of layering and atmosphere for me is peak Opeth.

Album Rating: 5.0

I preferred BWP when I first got into them but I nowadays feel it lacks some personality, whereas this has personality in spades. Additionally, Steven Wilson's voice, which features on some BWP tracks (Bleak for instance), I just cannot handle.

Never have been the biggest Still Life fan to be honest. I mean, it's still excellent of course, but Moonlapse has never clicked with me like their other work has for some reason, and I've overplayed Face Of Melinda.

But it's all a matter of opinion of course!

Album Rating: 4.5

I started with this and Morningrise, then discovered MAYH, and then got into the albums as they were released from there. When BWP came out I thought it was their masterpiece, now it hardly gets much play from me these days. I think it wore off me the most out of all of their albums. Still a classic though cause Opeth is the best band ever

Album Rating: 5.0

"best band ever" ♥

Album Rating: 5.0

Anyone been with these from the beginning? DungBoy alludes to it.

Album Rating: 5.0

I haven't, hopped on board when GR was just out.

Album Rating: 5.0

Double post >:-(

BWP and GR are the sound of a band that’s polished and mastered their craft including sound design and production whereas everything before that is some degree of a band discovering their craft. To me both sensations are enjoyable as a listener, because hearing someone working on the edge of their ability and discovering new ground can transmit a sense of discovery to the listener. To me BWP is just a perfect start to finish composition and there’s almost nothing I would put up against it. Maybe 4 or 5 other albums

Album Rating: 5.0

Still Life, Morningrise and GR are my faves, guess that doesn’t put me in any one ‘category’ as far as enjoyment goes. I agree that although they did become more refined as song-writers after this initial era, perhaps something was lost, or at least altered in some way. I openly admit the transitions aren’t perfect here, but bizarrely it’s part of the charm. I just love early Opeth. I’d rather spin this than Blackwater, often do.

I do think there’s a difference between best and most enjoyable as well, because Everything is Fire is one of my hardest 5s but I definitely listen to it a lot less often than many albums I rank lower.

Album Rating: 5.0

Sure. Same here as well re EiF, I don’t feel like hearing it often, but when I do nothing else compares.

Album Rating: 4.0

They had kind of a magical sound/atmosphere on the first two albums that they didnt really capture after. The reverb on the guitars kind of gave it that nature-y walking through a field kind of feel. And yeah, I'm aware of how lame and pretentious that sounds

Album Rating: 5.0

Thinking of forests always when jamming the first two (three...), so I totally get it.

My faves chronologically are Morningrise, MAYH, GR and Heritage. Cannot ever pick between those.

There’s a serious charm to these old low budget productions. It’s the same kind of thing that gives Brave Murder Day or Storm of the Light’s Bane or Bergtatt so much character. They almost feel like music being remembered from another time and it’s mostly a production accident. If you hear modern Swano productions they’re ‘better’ than this but sound sterile and lifeless

Album Rating: 5.0

I think the production on this is quality. I’ve never really had an ear for that sort of thing but this ticks all the boxes for me.

Album Rating: 4.0

Well, it's all about preference but I definitely wouldnt say the production is bad here but its not very high budget. It definitely wasnt one of those studio set ups where they have like 50 mics on the drums but as others have said overproduction can have a sterilizing effect. Also, production capabilities have come a long way since 1995. It's pretty rare to find albums without a ton of samples and editing applied to drums

Since production is just a musical tool there’s no truly good or bad if the end product complements the music. There are some clear cut cases where it does not though (see: Death magnetic’s mastering job). This is “bad” in the sense that it’s more or less a happy accident resulting from lack of budget, equipment, and Dan Swano and the band’s inexperience. It’s good in the sense that it has a raw charm that you’ll never hear on a modern Swano or Fredman album since now they have money, equipment, and expertise which don’t always help you catch lightning in a bottle

Money obviously in relative terms since both are running very modest businesses but hifi recording gear has never been cheaper