ILX METAL ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2008 RESULTS (NOW COUNTING DOWN THE TOP TEN, BTW)

"We're knights of the round circle..."

"the knights who say Pi"

Anyway a clue for album no 5?

It's NOT Dragonforce OR Guns N Roses it's....

http://www.fraterslibertas.com/Images/Separated/pythonits.jpg

Bonnie Prince Billy wasn't nominated

Sorry, the Python references and the "it's..." made me think of that.

yeah I know

5
http://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/8/9/5/189598.jpg
Opeth – Watershed (Roadrunner) 212 Points (1 Number One Album)

Interesting - lots of people (me included) liked it but only one person loved it.

how many voted for it?

I continue to be of the opinion that Opeth just keeps getting better. The current incarnation of the band is really starting to gel, the keyboards playing a bigger role, Axenrot proving the naysayers wrong, and Akerfeldt's singing voice stronger than ever. Although I will admit that "Porcelain Heart" is the most ordinary Opeth song since the Deliverance album...

Opeth: 13 voters here, 9 in P&J. None of those from me.

seems strange that it didn't do better P&J wise. did pitchfork diss it or something?

dis, even.

It got mild praise from P-Fork, a polite 7.5.

Corny Pop Fuxors clearly didn't vote for it as their token metal album?

I think Watershed is a very slight step back from the heights of Ghost Reveries. It just doesn't feel quite as thrilling, despite treading very much in similar waters. Still a fantastic album though.

A band I just never got into. Best place to start?

I only got into them around the release of Ghost Reveries, then started working backwards through the catalog. I'd recommend starting with Damnation and Deliverance, two albums that really show off the bands talents and hint at the directions they'd head with the later albums. That's just me, I'll let the more long-time Opeth fans toss in their two cents.

Blackwater Park, Still Life, and My Arms, Your Hearse are good starting-off points, but you can't go wrong with any of their albums, really. Damnation is particularly great if you prefer the clean singing only.

I think Watershed was my number one album, but I don't remember. I agree that it's slightly distancing, but man, what a record. I think what did it for me is that it sounds like, for lack of a better word, "Art" to me, but it's something I can actually listen to as opposed to appreciate (unlike Philip Glass or something).

>I think Watershed is a very slight step back from the heights of Ghost Reveries. It just doesn't feel quite as thrilling, despite treading very much in similar waters.

I couldn't disagree more. I think Watershed is not only a huge improvement over Ghost Reveries (which I thought was basically a culmination of the sound they'd pursued on Blackwater Park and Deliverance, and kind of a place-holder at the same time), but it's also a major left turn - acoustic stuff, female duet vocals, jazz-funk breakdowns...I love this album. I think it's Opeth's best record, and exactly the record they needed to make in 2008. And I'm not just saying all that because Roadrunner flew me to Sweden to hear it, I swear.

As I said in my review: "After rocking out with the crushingly heavy Deep Purple-meets-death prog of Ghost Reveries, they've gone with what can only be described as a natural progression in a totally unexpected direction."

hmmm

Anyone want to know what no4 is?

give us a clue

http://tv.cream.org/images2/gaclue1.jpg

I think I have worked out the top 4, but will be offline for the rest of the night. So I will guess the order is B, T, E and HM.

And there you go. I guess I'm just holding Ghost Reveries in high regard because it was my entry point and the Opeth album I've lived with the longest.

harvey milk? earth? torche? bloodbath?

Bragonforce?

Buns N Roses?

Am I the only one that voted for Dragonforce?

Also, don't get me wrong, Ghost Reveries is freaking awesome. Watershed is just freaking awesome in a different way.

I cannot say. I'm not giving anything away or giving clues to what is up next anymore. People like suspense and not being told what might be next.

pfunkboy your like a rock chick tease

http://www.scotweb.co.uk/club_images/largeitems/sr_hotch_bra_pants_suspenders.jpg

Final four: She & Him, Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes and, of course, U2.

this isn't spin

That isn't a rawk chick

the question is, will Torche or Harvey Milk take the coveted #1 spot?

I voted for DragonForce, too.

well i couldn't find roxymuzak in suspenders on the interweb

The question is, are you over or underestimating any albums?

4
http://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/8/3/1/183173.jpg http://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/1/9/3/219358.gif
Boris - Smile (Diwphalanx Records/Southern Lord) 227 Points

ahhhh i just want to see #1 before 5:00 when i leave the computer!

oh wow.

this was the first boris album that did nothing for me.

what time is it for you just now?

Yeah, definitely my least favorite Boris album so far. But the Japanese version is quite a bit better than the Southern Lord one.

4:40