Customer Reviews

Roundhouse Tapes

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While Lamentations is a great live album/DVD concert, its focus on the Damnation CD makes it rather uneven, and, considering Opeth's catalog as a whole, a little misleading. The Roundhouse Tapes corrects any illusions one might have with an exciting and masterful concert that demonstrates the true power of Opeth. The recording is excellent and the choice of material is superb, broadly ranging from their debut, Orchid, to their most recent album, Ghost Reveries. The performance is impeccable of course. Their attention to the finest detail isn't limited to the studio, nor is their passion for this incredible music. Opeth continue to explore the limits of their talent, if there are any, in a live setting guaranteed to please the most critical fan. Enjoy!

The Roundhouse Tapes is a phenomenal example of what Opeth can do live. Production is great, the audience is great, and the keyboards manage to fit in just perfectly with the older songs. Best of all, this live album spans nearly their entire catalogue (would have been nice if something from Deliverence was included... the it would have been even better!). Lamentations was a strong live DVD, but it focused mostly on their last 3 albums at the time, and I've never been a fan of the "entire album live" idea. But this balances everything out perfectly.

Martin Lopez's replacement, Martin (wow... ANOTHER Martin? That makes 3 now) "Axe" Axenrot is a very good replacemet drummer and doesn't miss a beat, although I'll miss Lopez. Martin Mendez and Peter Lindgren do a great job at laying down rythm guitar and bass (I'm gonna miss Peter too...), and Mikael does an excellent job at playing lead guitar, vocals, and interacting with the audience to lighten the mood. I was afraid that keyboardist Per Wiberg, who first appeared on Ghost Reveries, wouldn't work well with the early songs... yeah, I was wrong. Per makes the keyboard sound right at home with early classics like When and The Night And the Silent Water.

Besides the awesome setlist, and Opeth's ability to play all of the songs flawlessly, Mikael manages to have some fun and lighten the mood, like when he's introducing all of the band members. It makes the band more human. I mean, how many times have you watched a metal band perform live and they try to look like the most serious, angriest mofos on the planet instead of having a little fun? I think Opeth doesn't deserve credit just because of their ability to compose mind-blowing songs that integrate between death metal and progressive rock at the drop of a hat, but also for not alienating their fans until we can't even tell if they're for real.

I guess the point of all my rambling praise is that you absolutely must buy this album if you're a fan of Opeth. It's that simple. Can't wait for the DVD release!

This is a very good live cd, and I would give it over 4 stars, but I don't think that it is quite a 5-star cd.

Since I recommend this cd, let me first focus on the positives:
- Under the Weeping Moon and Night and the Silent Water sound excellent with new production, and they're worth the purchase alone.
- The energy is awesome - you can feel that this was a great and intense performance. Mikael sounds great!
- The song choice was very nice as well - little bit of everything for everyone. There are always people who would prefer one song over another, but I am quite happy with the choices here.
- This point would only concern the rabid collectors, but the artwork is great. There are some nice "artsy" photos of the band.

Negatives:
- Mikael's banter sounds juvenile. It's weird, I get the sense that he is a really nice guy who tries so hard to sound like an 80s hair-metal frontman when he is talking to the audience. I could really do without the stuff about "Windowpane helping them get chicks backstage" and all the "evil" references, as well as the discussion about different types of intercourse. Yes, I know that he is a married guy with children, and I know that he is joking, but I just think that this band should move past that.
- As another reviewer noticed, more improvisation would have been good. Also, there is a tad bit too much crowd noise on Melinda.

Overall though, I recommend this cd to any Opeth fan. If you are new to the band, you may want to read some Blackwater Park, Morningrise or Damnation reviews and choose where to start. Also, currently, the band has full-blown versions of some of these songs on their myspace page, so you may want to listen to them there. (11/28/2007)

This in an interesting and excelent live work of the legendary black/death - progressve metal band named Opeth. The material included in this 2-cd package (the artwork is very good) shows very important songs of different works from the carreer of the band, played live with an exclelent quality of sound, and of course, the quality of the performance. For the Opeth fan: another great piece of collection. For the metal and progressive fans: a great compilation of live songs of the band. Highly recommended.

Yes i am a fan, so i might be somewhat biased. But this album really sheds some light on how great these guys are. Mikael has an amazing voice. 'Under The Weeping Moon' is just plain sick! A lot of people think that Iron Maiden's "Live After Death" is the best live album, but i will disagree. This is the best live album i have ever heard!!

Perhaps I shouldnt be comparing Opeths two live albums together. They both are extremely good, and I own both. If someone asked me which I would reccomend buying though, I would say Royal Albert Hall. I felt like the sound on that album was more crisp. Anyway, not much to say about this one, its Opeth. This is one of my favorite Bands, and I like this record. The only complaint was it felt a little too short compaired to the Royal Albert Hall Recording. I dont honestly think I can say there was even one song I didnt like. I would reccomend this album if you like Opeth, and if you are new to them, I would also suggest buying this to get aquanted with their older records, so you can understand the progression, and changes that Opeth makes every record they produce. Overall-I loved it, I would reccomend it.

Probably my all-time favorite live metal album. I think this album represents a better effort than Opeth's more recent live at the Royal Albert Hall album. In my opinion, the set list here is better than Royal Albert.

I am not sure how "live" these Roundhouse Tapes are (they've definitely spent some time remixing in the studio), but I do dig the album (and DVD). I particularly like the live versions of Ghost, Bleak, Weeping Moon, Melinda, Night & Silent Water, Demon of the Fall. Play these tracks over and over.

Only drawback - Mikael, like usual, comes off as a little too smug & arrogant when he does any sort of talking between the songs. He tries to be funny and self-deprecating, but he succeeds at sounding the exact opposite....he needs to knock off the public speaking. Mikael, we get it, you are a bad-ass, but follow David Gilmour's lead and say as little as possible when cutting a live album. Just play, man, just play.

This CD has something that I can't stop hearing it!! Blackwater Park sounds here like hell!! Highly recommended!!!

I'm a sucker for live albums and was looking forward to spending a lot of time with this one. The sound is great and the song selection is good as well, but would have liked to see it a bit longer. Granted, a lot of Opeth songs are in the 10-11 minute range (with many longer) but thought they coulda squeezed at least 2-3 more songs in there (Grand Conjuration, Baying of the Hounds, The Amen Corner, anything from Deliverance, etc.). That's just a small complaint though (and me being a bit greedy) as the songs selected are flawlessly played.

I have never been disappointed by an Opeth album and this is no exception. A lot of my favorites are on this one and the sound quality is great. Kudos gentleman.