Pineapple Thief - Tightly Unwound
Mostly Autumn - Glass Shadows
Opeth - Watershed
Cynic - Traced in Air
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (well, the deluxe version is 2008, normal release 09)
No-man - Schoolyard Ghosts
Moonsorrow - Tulimyrsky
Ikuinen Kaamos - Closure
Ass - My Get Up and Go Just Got Up and Went
Enslaved - Vertebrae

Ok, that's 10 albums. But in fact some of the albums I was, in my mind, counting to be 08 releases turned out to be 07s, but yeah, I can honestly say that I enjoy 10 or more albums from 2008. Hah!

But yeah, 2009 may be better overall. Big thanks to Dev for it too, but I don't think 08 was really anything much worse than other recent years.

Hm. That's funny...because you just claimed that Watershed, Insurgentes and Schoolyard Ghosts were credible albums.

I'm sticking to my opinion, because you named 3 of the year's atrocities in albums which are "good".


However, I'll give you Traced in Air.

Pineapple Thief - Tightly Unwound
Mostly Autumn - Glass Shadows
Opeth - Watershed
Cynic - Traced in Air
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (well, the deluxe version is 2008, normal release 09)
No-man - Schoolyard Ghosts
Moonsorrow - Tulimyrsky
Ikuinen Kaamos - Closure
Ass - My Get Up and Go Just Got Up and Went
Enslaved - Vertebrae

Ok, that's 10 albums. But in fact some of the albums I was, in my mind, counting to be 08 releases turned out to be 07s, but yeah, I can honestly say that I enjoy 10 or more albums from 2008. Hah!

But yeah, 2009 may be better overall. Big thanks to Dev for it too, but I don't think 08 was really anything much worse than other recent years.

Hm. That's funny...because you just claimed that Watershed, Insurgentes and Schoolyard Ghosts were credible albums.

I'm sticking to my opinion, because you named 3 of the year's atrocities in albums which are "good".


However, I'll give you Traced in Air.

How can you say watershed wasn't "good"? Just curious, that was a great album. Just what made it an atrocity? and if you say "not as much growling" so help me...

Pineapple Thief - Tightly Unwound
Mostly Autumn - Glass Shadows
Opeth - Watershed
Cynic - Traced in Air
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (well, the deluxe version is 2008, normal release 09)
No-man - Schoolyard Ghosts
Moonsorrow - Tulimyrsky
Ikuinen Kaamos - Closure
Ass - My Get Up and Go Just Got Up and Went
Enslaved - Vertebrae

Ok, that's 10 albums. But in fact some of the albums I was, in my mind, counting to be 08 releases turned out to be 07s, but yeah, I can honestly say that I enjoy 10 or more albums from 2008. Hah!

But yeah, 2009 may be better overall. Big thanks to Dev for it too, but I don't think 08 was really anything much worse than other recent years.

Hm. That's funny...because you just claimed that Watershed, Insurgentes and Schoolyard Ghosts were credible albums.

I'm sticking to my opinion, because you named 3 of the year's atrocities in albums which are "good".


However, I'll give you Traced in Air.

How can you say watershed wasn't "good"? Just curious, that was a great album. Just what made it an atrocity? and if you say "not as much growling" so help me...

Dream Theater: Do you know what would be cool?

Mikael: What?

Dream Theater: If you worshipped us to the point of where you guys become another ever typical progressive band who copies our wankery and style.

Mikael: Will I become popular?

Dream Theater: Yep. Also, hire the shittiest drummer you can possibly find, and a guitarist who can noodle like a moron instead of creating innovative riffs which define your sound.

Mikael: I'll be so original!

Dream Theater: Yes you will!

Mikael: I'll be sure to listen to every one of your albums day in and day out to get all the influence I'll ever need!

Dream Theater: That's the spirit!





That conversation sums down one of the main reasons I hated Watershed. If I were to go on, I would be writing an essay on it.

Alright. So, you do realize Mike A. writes basically everything for Opeth correct? So it wouldn't matter if he got a guitarist who could noodle, it would be only on the solos which is what (some) solos are for. Granted, I don't enjoy wankery on the lvl of some of DTs stuff, but they are still great. Axe is a great drummer and does what he needs to do. I don't hear any DT in watershed. They are a progressive death metal band, they need to have that proggy sound, or it wouldn't be them. The only track on that album that I didn't really care for was porcelain hearts. It just didn't grab me the way the rest of their stuff has. Hex Omega, Heir Apparent, Burden, and The Lotus Eater are all absolutely fantastic. You would have to be looking beyond the songs to find something wrong with them. All my opinion of course, I don't dislike you for not enjoying their cd. I'm not gonna say "it's okay you don't 'get it'", because that is beyond condescending, different strokes eh?

LOL @ Watershed, Insurgentes, and Schoolyard Ghosts not being credible albums.

What in God's name?

Holographic Universe by Scar Symmetry for a 2008 album, anyone? Watershed has some good songs on it, I'm not much of an Opeth fan so I'm willing to say that I didn't really "get" it. But that doesn't make it a BAD album... Traced In Air though

[Octillus]

Nightshine has just lost his shit, is all.

Still however silly the opinion may be, it's still valid for the person to have it.

Honestly, 08 was a severely down year for me music wise. But I did like Watershed.

[swervedriver]

Instead of Nighshine's choice of albums for 2008, let's get back on-topic with some more Addicted reviews (although short):

http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpen ... 4/menuid/2

http://www.thrashhits.com/2009/11/album ... -addicted/

Hm. That's funny...because you just claimed that Watershed, Insurgentes and Schoolyard Ghosts were credible albums.

I'm sticking to my opinion, because you named 3 of the year's atrocities in albums which are "good".

I hated Wastershed too. It's a horrible, horrible album. My Arms Your Hears, Still Life and Blackwater Park are among my favourite albums of all time, but I think Opeth "lost it" since Deliverance. The quality of the songwriting has gone downhill IMO. I don't care how "prog" a band wants to be by including keyboards, dual vocals and weird ideas like the detuned guitars at the end of Lotus Eater (? I forgot which song), I want epic songwriting, build upon original guitar work. I don't find much of that on Watershed.

Music is subjective. All I am saying is that there are more than 10 albums from 2008 that I enjoy. Nothing more, nothing less. Yes, propably I can mention more from 07 and 09 (now that I start counting), but maybe that's simply because I haven't heard all the good stuff from 2008. It's really fucking hard to find all the good stuff that comes out every year. So Nightshine doesn't like all the albums I thought were good. That's fine. I still like Watershed, Insurgentes and even Schoolyard Ghosts although it propably isn't as good as the best No-man albums. Cool?


So guess we should get back to those addicted reviews like swervedriver suggested. Can't believe that the second reviewer there thought that the second half of the album loses the energy! WTF, I love especially the second half!

So guess we should get back to those addicted reviews like swervedriver suggested. Can't believe that the second reviewer there thought that the second half of the album loses the energy! WTF, I love especially the second half!

I actually agree with said reviewer.

WTF, I love especially the second half!

This.

The Way Home!
Numbered!
Awake!!

Nothing but energy.

Instead of Nighshine's choice of albums for 2008, let's get back on-topic with some more Addicted reviews (although short):

http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpen ... 4/menuid/2

http://www.thrashhits.com/2009/11/album ... -addicted/

Thanks for finding and posting these!

That review from Thrash Hits is very strange. They talk about the album being worth buying, then give it a 3/6? If it's really that bad, why recommend buying it?

Of course, I wouldn't expect a site called 'Thrash Hits' to give Addicted a good review

Instead of Nighshine's choice of albums for 2008, let's get back on-topic with some more Addicted reviews (although short):

http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpen ... 4/menuid/2

http://www.thrashhits.com/2009/11/album ... -addicted/

Thanks for finding and posting these!

That review from Thrash Hits is very strange. They talk about the album being worth buying, then give it a 3/6? If it's really that bad, why recommend buying it?

Of course, I wouldn't expect a site called 'Thrash Hits' to give Addicted a good review

I actually suspect that 0-6 rating system is pretty much a 0-5, but saving the 6th point for godlike albums (in the reviewers mind)

Pineapple Thief - Tightly Unwound
Mostly Autumn - Glass Shadows
Opeth - Watershed
Cynic - Traced in Air
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (well, the deluxe version is 2008, normal release 09)
No-man - Schoolyard Ghosts
Moonsorrow - Tulimyrsky
Ikuinen Kaamos - Closure
Ass - My Get Up and Go Just Got Up and Went
Enslaved - Vertebrae

Ok, that's 10 albums. But in fact some of the albums I was, in my mind, counting to be 08 releases turned out to be 07s, but yeah, I can honestly say that I enjoy 10 or more albums from 2008. Hah!

But yeah, 2009 may be better overall. Big thanks to Dev for it too, but I don't think 08 was really anything much worse than other recent years.

Hm. That's funny...because you just claimed that Watershed, Insurgentes and Schoolyard Ghosts were credible albums.

I'm sticking to my opinion, because you named 3 of the year's atrocities in albums which are "good".


However, I'll give you Traced in Air.

How can you say watershed wasn't "good"? Just curious, that was a great album. Just what made it an atrocity? and if you say "not as much growling" so help me...

Watershed was good by many standards, but not by Opeth standards. It was the weakest album they did in a long time. It had almost no continuity. There were very few songs, or even parts of songs that caught and stuck in my head. Nothing jumped out out and said, "Hey this part is AWESOME!" There were very few good transitions either. There was a lot of jumping back and forth from heavy to mellow and mellow to heavy. Many of the songs, just as I got into them, they dropped dead. I love Opeth, and I feel they could have done more with Watershed.