Ghost Reveries is the eighth full-length studio album release of Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth. It is their first album with their new record label, Roadrunner Records. This album is similar in style to Deliverance. However, it retains the atmospheric elements of Damnation with clean vocals that carry a more gothic quality than what was heard in previous efforts.
It is also the first album by Opeth to include Per Wiberg as a "permanent" member, although Wiberg contributed keyboard work to Opeth's live performances starting around the time of Deliverance.[10]
[edit] Background
Ghost Reveries was recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden. The album's artwork is by Travis Smith, who has contributed artwork to Opeth's previous releases. Ghost Reveries was released in Europe on August 29, 2005 and in North America on August 30, 2005 and peaked on the Billboard 200 at number 64.[11] The album was ranked number 54 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time, number 9 on Metal Storm's list of top 100 progressive metal albums of all time, number 42 on Decibel's Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums of the Decade, one of Classic Rock‘s 10 essential progressive rock albums of the decade.[12][13][14][15]
The album's lone single is "The Grand Conjuration". A music video of the song has been released, though about half the song was edited from the video due to the length of the song.
[edit] Special edition
A special edition of the album was released by Roadrunner Records on October 31, 2006. It is packaged in a large digipak and contains a CD and DVD, along with new cover art and an extended booklet featuring extra album artwork and a letter from Mikael Åkerfeldt. The CD contains the original tracks from the album as well as a bonus cover of "Soldier of Fortune" by Deep Purple, which was recorded as a live take with the band's new drummer, Martin Axenrot. The DVD contains a Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound mix (though does not include the bonus track), a 40-minute documentary, and the video for "The Grand Conjuration". This documentary details the making of Ghost Reveries, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the band's day-to-day life while recording and touring.[16]
[edit] Concept
Ghost Reveries was initially intended to be a concept album, with numerous tracks linking together a story of a man's turmoil after committing an unconscionable act, symbolised by killing his own mother. However, Mikael Åkerfeldt claims he wanted the track "Isolation Years" on the album despite its irrelevance to the plot. Thus, the album only partly portrays a concept, not fully arranged in the poetic manner as previous releases such as Still Life and My Arms, Your Hearse.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written and composed by Mikael Åkerfeldt, except where noted[17].
| Note |
| 1. |
"Ghost of Perdition" |
Note 1 |
10:29 |
| 2. |
"The Baying of the Hounds" |
Note 2 |
10:41 |
| 3. |
"Beneath the Mire" |
|
7:57 |
| 4. |
"Atonement" |
|
6:28 |
| 5. |
"Reverie/Harlequin Forest" |
Note 3 |
11:39 |
| 6. |
"Hours of Wealth" |
|
5:20 |
| 7. |
"The Grand Conjuration" |
|
10:21 |
| 8. |
"Isolation Years" |
|
3:51 |
- ^ "Ghost of Perdition" is included in the soundtrack for the video game Saint's Row 2 on the radio station Krunch 106.66.[18]
- ^ "The Baying of the Hounds" is partially inspired by lyrics from the song "Diana" from Comus's album First Utterance. The lyrics are "And she knows by the sound of the baying, by the baying of the hounds."[19][20]
- ^ "Reverie" is a pregap to "Harlequin Forest". In all modern CD players, the pregap to any track (except the first track) will be displayed as the end of the previous track. In this case, "Reverie" could be mistakenly seen as a "hidden track" to track four, "Atonement". If the listener "rewinds" from the beginning of track five on a modern CD player, a negative time will appear in the display, which is the "Reverie" pregap. "Reverie" should start playing at about 5:23 into "Atonement" or -1:05 before "Harlequin Forest".
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Additional personnel
- Co-produced, engineered, and mixed by Jens Bogren with Opeth
- Co-recorded with Rickard Bengtsson (coach!), Anders Alexandersson, and Niklas Källgren
- Mastered at Cutting Room/Stockholm by Thomas Eberger and Jens Bogren with Opeth
- Art Direction by Travis Smith with Opeth
- Illustration & Layout by Travis Smith for Seempieces
- Band Portraits by Anthony Sorrento
- "Soldier of Fortune" produced and recorded by Opeth, engineereed and mixed by Pontus Olsson, mastered by Thomas Eberger
- 5.1 remix by Jens Bogren
- Martin Axenrot − drums on "Soldier of Fortune"
[edit] Release history
| Date |
Release |
| August 29, 2005 |
Europe |
| August 30, 2005 |
United States |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.discogs.com/Opeth-Ghost-Reveries/release/507593
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r791460
- ^ "Alternative Press | Reviews". Altpress.com. http://altpress.com/reviews/93.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
- ^ "Blabbermouth.Net". Roadrunnerrecords.com. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/showreview.aspx?reviewID=415. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
- ^ "CoC : Opeth - Ghost Reveries : Review". Chroniclesofchaos.com. http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/reviews/albums/2-3908_opeth_ghost_reveries.aspx. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
- ^ a b [2][dead link]
- ^ Stosuy, Brandon. Ghost Reveries review 2007-01-02. Retrieved on 2010-11-26.
- ^ Begrand, Adrien. "Opeth: Ghost Reveries < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/o/opeth-ghostreveries.shtml. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
- ^ "Peter Lindgren and Martin Lopez quit Opeth". http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=727143. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "Ghost Reveries Number 64 on the Billboard". http://www.billboard.com/#/album/opeth/ghost-reveries/730787. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "Guitar World's greatest guitar albums of all time". http://www.chud.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91743. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "Metal Storm's Essential Progressive Metal Albums". http://www.metalstorm.net/bands/albums_top.php?album_style=Progressive. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "Decibel's Greatest Metal Albums of the Decade". http://newmusicexcess.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/decibel-the-top-100-greatest-metal-albums-of-the-decade/. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "Classic Rock's Top 10 Progressive Metal Albums of the Decade". http://newmusicexcess.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/classic-rock-10-essential-00s-prog-albums/. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "Ghost Reveries Special Edition". http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/newreleases/release.aspx?releaseID=186. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "Opeth official website discography". Opeth.com. http://www.opeth.com/home/discography/item/11-ghost-reveries. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
- ^ "Saints Row 2 Soundtrack". http://www.saintsrow.com/music.php. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "The Baying of the Hounds lyrics, by Opeth". http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Baying-of-the-Hounds-lyrics-Opeth/2890F0FE8D27A4FD4825707500088803. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "Diana lyrics, by Comus". http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/comus/diana-lyrics-1247468.html. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
[edit] External links
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