SALMACIS

* the so-called Maccio Capatonda: Now I understand why you are so bitter and pretentious. I read and quote your comment on "Three Side Live" by Genesis: "You overestimate yourself too much and let yourself be carried away by your somewhat banal and pretentious personality and do not realize that you are embarrassing only yourself. Forgettable review. Album not recommended. Pathetic." But who are you to speak this way!
It's truly astonishing how you can pass unfounded judgments without any prior critical analysis. But your ignorance and arrogance go further: you even descend into the personal... What does "you manage to embarrass only yourself" mean? Look, the only one who should be embarrassed here is you, but the right term is ashamed. Have a little self-reflection, and instead of insulting and denigrating for free, why don't you post some of your own reviews? It's too easy to strike without exposing yourself...
No hard feelings, just seeking justice.

How come you find this review to be "embarrassing"?

So, preambling that I haven’t listened to Still Life and Deliverance yet, I have to say that I consider "April Ethereal" the most beautiful song by Opeth.
Here’s a little ranking:
1) April Ethereal
2) Drapery Falls
3) Ghost of Perdition
4) The Night and the Silent Water
5) Twilight is My Robe

I wrote "delicious digressions on piano and folk guitar of Silhouette and Requiem" in the sense that it's Piano* Silhouette and Folk Guitar for Requiem.
Thanks to everyone for the compliments. To Sfasciacarrozze, I reply... well, I don't think I'll be around in forty years, but if I'm right (that is, if Orchid will go down in history), remember me! Bye
p.s. I insist on High Tide: they are the true inventors of prog-metal. Their seminal albums are 2: 1) Sea Shanties from '69, more Hard than Prog, and 2) High Tide, 1970, more prog than hard. Both are masterpieces; reviews coming very soon.

Sorry
Errata Ad Opeth
Corrige Ad Orchid
..you're right, I really had an indigestible opethite... I need to detox... but not before December 14th, in Florence.
Hi W the Opeth

So, after a lot of criticism, a bit of self-apology. It might be true that I had an overdose of Opeth, but the ideas about Moningrise were the definitive ones; it’s no coincidence that I took more time for Orchid (review coming soon) and MAYH. I reiterate that the first three tracks are fantastic and deserving of 5 stars; my favorite? The night and the silent water. Fantastic, very well balanced between progressive insights and Metal energy. Next is Advent, closely followed by Nektar. Regarding the dark object of contention, the legendary "Black rose Immortal," I stand by my view that I can’t give it more than 4 stars. It's a nice piece but not a masterpiece. The track I like the least on the album remains "To bid you farewell" (3 stars). I reiterate that a more varied and descriptive use of the drums would, in my opinion, have had a greater impact; however, the whole piece seems a bit static to me, and I don't see the melodic genius that so many find in it. De gustibus.... So 5+5+5+4+3=22, 22/5=4.4. I can’t give five stars to an album that doesn’t even reach 4.5, even though in this case the limit has truly been grazed; it’s an ultra-abundant 4, on the edge of five stars. For Opeth, however, I assign 5, because although there are the same production flaws, like empty moments, overall it has a superior sound coherence and more ideas. Maybe Moningrise has higher peaks, especially the aforementioned "TNATSW," but overall I consider it a tiny bit inferior, and by one point Martin lost the cape…

It's probably no coincidence, because the piece you are referring to "The emperor in his war-room" is played by Fripp himself on acoustic guitar first and then electric.

Regarding the evaluation of the work of Gentle Giant, there are two interpretative lines.
The first considers that the most mature period is placed between "Octopus" and "Free Hand," with "In a Glass House" as its absolute peak. In my opinion, however, the band in this phase indulged in excessive baroque tendencies and complicated melodic-compositional structures that were already good in themselves.
The second line (to which I, incidentally, also belong) believes instead that Gentle Giant reached their peak in the first three albums, where spontaneity and richness of content prevailed over the band's natural tendency for embellishment and twisting of musical plots. The only doubt remains as to which is the magnum opus: "Gentle Giant" or the subsequent and splendid "Acquiring the Taste"? I slightly prefer the latter, where the creativity of the debut is complemented by a greater timbral-expressive maturity, but without going overboard. 5 STARS AND PRAISE! See you soon for the review. Bye.

I knew I would spark a heated discussion with this review! However, I stand by my judgment. A few clarifications are in order.
1) When I praise the "Opeth of recent works," I'm not referring so much to GHOST REVERIES (which only earns 'four' stars) but to masterpieces like DELIVERANCE and BLACKWATER PARK. In general, though, it is undeniable that the production and growl have significantly improved and refined, especially on the latest album.
2) My uncertainties about MORNINGRISE only partially involve (the same poor production) ORCHID, which I consider much more inspired and rich in content, as well as more "dramatic" and unsettling, to the point that my future review of the latter will give it (spoiler alert) a nice 5 stars!!
3) It's true, I am an expert in progressive, but I also delve into related and participating genres. It seems to me that Opeth are very much included in the area of investigation.
4) But hasn't anyone, really anyone, noticed the similarity, almost plagiarism, between the final arpeggio of Advent and that of "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" by Genesis on "Selling England by the Pound"??

Thank you, Hal, for the compliment; after all, this is my first review... the second one will come out in a few days, I believe... Very interesting, however, also Vol 1. After Third, Ratledge's jazz-oriented style prevailed (still good), and the Softs lost their pop-dadaist side, to the point that Wyatt formed a new band "Matching Molle" to reclaim that surreal side that had become unexpressed in the original group.