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| single 1 = [[Porcelain Heart]]
| single 1 = [[Porcelain Heart]]
| single 1 date = April 19, 2008
| single 1 date = April 19, 2008
| single 2 = [[Porcelain Heart#Mellotron Heart|Mellotron Heart]]
| single 2 = [[Mellotron Heart]]
| single 2 date = June 3, 2008
| single 2 date = June 3, 2008
| single 3 = [[Burden (song)|Burden]]
| single 3 = [[Burden (song)|Burden]]

Revision as of 03:50, 22 February 2010

Untitled

Watershed is the ninth full-length studio album by the Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth. Published by Roadrunner Records, the album was first released as a music download on the European iTunes Stores on May 19, 2008,[12] and released physically on May 30, 2008 in continental Europe,[13] June 2, 2008 in the United Kingdom,[14] and June 3, 2008 in North America[15] to universal acclaim. The album was recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden between November 1, 2007 and December 13, 2007.[3] Watershed is the first studio album by Opeth to feature drummer Martin Axenrot and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson as well as the first not to feature longtime guitarist Peter Lindgren. The artwork for the album was made by Travis Smith (who has done the artwork for eight previous Opeth releases) in collaboration with Mikael Åkerfeldt and has been publicly available as of March 30.[16]

It was released in standard, 180 gram vinyl, and special edition versions. The special edition version includes three bonus tracks, a bonus DVD with a 5.1 surround sound mix of the entire album (not including bonus tracks), video content featuring rehearsals, and studio footage as well as expanded artwork. The vinyl release came in cardboard gatefold packaging and contained the album on two vinyl discs as well as a CD copy of the album (both included the bonus track "Derelict Herds") and a poster.

History

The first song to be heard by the public was "Heir Apparent," which was performed in concert and recorded on video by fans who uploaded the low-quality videos onto YouTube. Later many of the tracks were leaked onto YouTube several weeks prior to the album's launch.

A cover of the Alice in Chains song "Would?" was recorded for the album. "Would?" has since been released on the single for "Burden" on December 9, 2008.

The first single is "Porcelain Heart," which contains the tracks "Porcelain Heart" and "The Lotus Eater". The single was officially released to the public on April 19, 2008. The music video directed by Lasse Hoile (famous for his work for bands such as Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater and more recently The Pineapple Thief) that was shot for the track "Porcelain Heart" was made available from Roadrunner Records on April 24, 2008. As of May 26, 2008, the tracks 'The Lotus Eater' and 'Porcelain Heart' were made available to the public on Opeth's official MySpace page.[17]

The second single to be released off of Watershed was "Burden." A video for the song was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at the famous Vogue Theater. This was announced during Opeth's October 3rd show at the Commodore Ballroom in the same city. Directed again by Lasse Hoile, the music video was released on November 4, 2008 to owners of the CD via Opendisc.

Track listing

All songs written by Mikael Åkerfeldt except where noted. All songs published by Imagem Music.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Coil" 3:10
2."Heir Apparent" 8:50
3."The Lotus Eater" 8:50
4."Burden" 7:41
5."Porcelain Heart"Åkerfeldt, Åkesson8:00
6."Hessian Peel" 11:25
7."Hex Omega" 7:02

Special edition

The special edition of the album includes a bonus DVD featuring a rehearsal session 'making of' documentary, a 5.1 mix of the album, and three bonus tracks:

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Derelict Herds"Åkerfeldt, Wiberg6:28
9."Bridge of Sighs"Robin Trower5:55
10."Den ständiga resan"Marie Fredriksson4:09

These bonus tracks are mixed in stereo, not 5.1.

Mellotron Heart

A track entitled "Mellotron Heart" (5:14) was included on a separate promotional CD with a limited number of copies of the album. "Mellotron Heart" is an alternate recording of album track and single "Porcelain Heart" performed on mellotron and mini-Moog synthesizers. The cover for the CD is the standard album artwork with the figure and writing desk replaced by a mellotron. The track is also available as a free digital download exclusively for those who pre-ordered the album from The End Records and to people who insert the CD into the computer via Opendisc.[18]

B-Side

A cover of the Alice in Chains song "Would?" was recorded for the album, but was not originally released. [19] The song was released on the Burden single.

Reception

On Metal Hammer's Critic's Choice Top 50, Watershed was named as the second-best album of 2008 (behind only Metallica's Death Magnetic).[20] In the January/February 2009 issue of Metal Edge, Watershed was voted the #1 album of 2008.

Chart positions

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Swedish Albums Chart[21] 7
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[22] 7
Austrian Albums Chart[23] 53
Canadian Albums Chart[24] 17
Danish Albums Chart[25] 84
Dutch Albums Chart[26] 14
French Albums Chart[27] 47
Finnish Albums Chart[28] 1
German Albums Chart[29] 23
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[25] 15
New Zealand Albums Chart[30] 26
Norwegian Albums Chart[31] 7
Swiss Albums Chart[32] 24
UK Albums Chart[25] 34
US Billboard 200[24] 23

Personnel

Opeth

Additional Musicians

  • Nathalie Lorichs: guest vocals on “Coil”[3]
  • Lisa Almberg: English horn, oboe
  • Christoffer Wadensten: flute
  • Karin Svensson: violin
  • Andreas Tengberg: cello

Production

  • Produced By Mikael Akerfeldt & Jens Bogren
  • Engineered By Jens Bogren & David Castillo
  • Mixed & Mastered By Jens Bogren

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
Continental Europe May 30, 2008 Roadrunner CD RR 7962-2
United Kingdom June 2, 2008 Roadrunner CD RR 7962-2
United States June 3, 2008 Roadrunner Enhanced R 1384409
Australia June 3, 2008 Roadrunner Records (Australia) Enhanced RR 7962-8

References

  1. ^ "Opeth: Mainman Ready to Rock the Boat". Blabbermouth.net. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  2. ^ "Opeth: Frontman Says New Songs are 'A Bit More Energetic'". Blabbermouth.net. 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  3. ^ a b c "Opeth – New Album Title, Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  4. ^ True, Christopher M. Watershed review allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2009-10-13.
  5. ^ Florino, Rick. Watershed review artistdirect.com. Retrieved on 2009-10-13.
  6. ^ Watershed review blender.com. Rertrieved on 2009-10-13.
  7. ^ Ramirez, Carlos. Watershed review music.ign.com. Retrieved on 2009-10-13.
  8. ^ Ratliff, Ben. Playlist nytimes.com. Retrieved on 2009-10-13.
  9. ^ Lee, Cosmo. Watershed review 2008-06-04. Retrieved on 2009-10-13.
  10. ^ Begrand, Adrien Watershed review 2008-06-05. Retrieved on 2009-10-13.
  11. ^ Stagno, Mike. Watershed review Retrieved on 2009-10-13.
  12. ^ iTunes Store: Opeth – Watershed (opens iTunes)
  13. ^ Amazon.de: Opeth – Watershed
  14. ^ Amazon.co.uk: Opeth – Watershed
  15. ^ "Opeth – Roadrunner Records". Roadrunnerrecords.com. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
  16. ^ ""Watershed Artwork Revealed"". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  17. ^ Opeth's official myspace
  18. ^ "Mellotron Heart: Exclusive Digital Delivery for Opeth Pre-Order". RoadrunnerRecords.com. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  19. ^ "OPETH Covers ALICE IN CHAINS, ROBIN TROWER During New Album Sessions". blabbermouth.net. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  20. ^ Metal Hammer critics’ top 50 albums of 2008: 3-1 metalhammer.co.uk. 2008-12-23. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
  21. ^ "Watershed in Swedish Charts" (in Swedish). swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  22. ^ "Watershed in Australian Charts". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  23. ^ "Watershed in Der Österreichischen Hitparade" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  24. ^ a b "Watershed > Charts & Awards". allmusic. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  25. ^ a b c "Opeth's Watershed Tops Finnish Album Chart". blabbermouth.net. 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  26. ^ "Watershed in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  27. ^ "Watershed dans Les Charts Français" (in French). lescharts.com. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  28. ^ "Watershed in Finnish Charts" (in Finnish). finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  29. ^ "Chartverfolgung - Opeth - Watershed" (in German). Musicline.de. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  30. ^ "Watershed in New Zealand Charts". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  31. ^ "Watershed in Norwegian Charts" (in Norwegian). norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  32. ^ "Watershed in Der Schweizer Hitparade" (in German). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
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