Talk:Still Life (Opeth album)

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Contents

[edit] Source

- When the album was released the band received several death threats on account of "Face Of Melinda"..

Anyone got a source for this?

I have looked and can't find anything, so I'm removing it --Nosmo 01:00, 6 February 2006 (UTC)


"Face Of Melinda" had been played before the 2004 US tour. They played it when I saw them live in Sweden 2003. 81.216.34.170 21:52, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Concept - White Cluster

I think the last paragraph of the concept section concerning White Cluster is wrong. I don't think the protagonist has any sort of religious experience, and I don't think he embraces Christianity. The people in white are members of the crowd at the execution, probably wearing white as some sort of religious symbolism. These people in white are "seemingly jaded and lost" perhaps because they are no longer passionate about their religion, or perhaps because they can see how it's being taken too far in this instance (namely the exile of an Atheist, followed by execution of Melinda due to unfaithfulness and the execution of the main character). He says "I forge myself into your dreams" as he's awaiting execution, perhaps begging the crowd not to forget what religion is capable of and asking them to reconsider the merits of such zealous dedication to a religion.

The phrase "I will come for you" could mean the character wishes to believe in the presence of some sort of afterlife just as he's about to be executed, or could be interpreted as being from the point of view of the hangman "hangman clutching at his tools, I will come for you" although I think the prior is the more likely.

I think the "touch" he feels at the very end is the imaginary touch of Melinda - a hallucination just prior to death.

Just another possible interpretation.

58.110.90.92 01:24, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Most technical Opeth album?

- Still Life is often considered Opeth's most technical album from a guitar standpoint, especially with its many complicated acoustic guitar passages.

Doesn't this seem like a completely baseless statement? I don't see how you could arrive at the absolute conclusion that Still Life
surpasses Ghost Reveries and Deliverance as far as technicality goes. I think this statement ought to be removed unless someone points out something I may be missing. Obtsu 03:59, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

You are correct, there is nothing in Still Life which surpasses more recent albums greatly. The past few months I have been listening to the album intensely, and also studied the tabulatures which I could find intensely. While the acoustic parts of Still Life generally are "complicated" - for example "Face of Melinda" as a whole, and the 7/8 length bar before the jazzy solo in Benighted, then there are many examples of other acoustic fingerpicked Opeth songs that are equally complicated to play, and fingerpicked: The backing for the verse on "Isolation Years", the bridge in "A Fair Judgement" (~3:30), and the acoustic part of "Harlequin Forest". "A Fair Judgement" also has a pretty rythmically complex clean solo, same goes for "Ghost of Perdition" and most more recent Opeth solos. One thing that might have explained this statement might have been, that Opeth's sound and focus has developed towards a more progressive soundscape, for example with the inclusion of synths in the acoustic parts, and a "thicker" guitar sound. The sound on Still Life was more dry, and this left more room for the individual note to be heard, which could have an impact on complexity-judgement. - Jacob Kjær 04:43, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Incorrect placement

Don't think that goes there but I saved it here until we can decide where it goes.

During this track a significant lapse in volume can be heard from right to left ear (in traditional earphone sets). This is the technical difficulty Mikael Akerfeldt speeks of in Still Life diary/bio section on Opeth.com. Akerfeldt went on to say no one could figuere out how to prevent the problem (since it had been occuring multiple times) so they ended up just leaving it on the album.

--CircafuciX (talk) 07:48, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Main Character

The main character appears to actually be an albino. "Wearing my death-mask at birth" would imply that he was born with whatever would afflict him and cause his fate - one is not born with "atheism". Also, in a pre-science culture (or a strong religious one) being an albino might be considered an illness (of the devil?) - "labelled a Jonah, with fevered blood, ungodly freak, defiler".

He also refers in one track to "red-eyes prowl the scene", and it seems odd that as part of his initial exile there would be "damp mud, burning in my eyes" - eyes being a particularly obvious feature of being an albino that might be targetted by the ignorant. He also refers to himself as a "pale touch"...

194.75.171.33 (talk) 09:27, 12 May 2008 (UTC)