The Official Ghost Thread v. summer 2023 US tour

[twosuitsluke]

Impera is still their third best album in my eyes - I never got the appeal of the debut and Infestissumam is too spotty.

Buddy, I don't often fully get behind statements you make, but this is one I endorse. Prequelle is #1, Meliora is #2 and Impera is clear #3! I do enjoy the first two albums but they got so much better after that.

[Buddyhunter1]

Buddy, I don't often fully get behind statements you make, but this is one I endorse. Prequelle is #1, Meliora is #2 and Impera is clear #3! I do enjoy the first two albums but they got so much better after that.

I'd swap Meliora and Prequelle any day of the week, but other than that, yes.

[twosuitsluke]

I'd swap Meliora and Prequelle any day of the week, but other than that, yes.

Ohhhhh, we were so close.

[Buddyhunter1]

If you're into underground metal and classic rock, the debut is as good as it comes. That era was so incredible. People kept vigorously theorizing about who could be in the band. I was so confused when I first heard them and could not find any of their names. In fact, I didn't even know the band was a 6 piece so when I first saw them and Martin had to bail on the show because he was puking his guts out back stage, I was none the wiser that there was only five people. Papa I even remarked in a raspy voice they were one ghoul down. I didn't know what the hell it meant. He spent the times he was singing slowly prowling around the stage and when they played an instrumental, he just stood motionless at the back of the stage. So much better than the cha cha shit he does now. The place smelled of frankelincense and was kind of unsettling. Truly one of the best shows I've ever been to.

Sure, but I'm just talking about the albums themselves, not the live performances or context surrounding them. To me, the debut is too stripped back. It's also lacking in the great melodies and songwriting that appear on later albums and doesn't really make up for them with anything. If you like Ghost darker and heavier, Meliora surpasses the debut in both aspects, while also having better songwriting and production.

[Buddyhunter1]

(double post)

[Madman Shepherd]

Prequelle was hard to swallow at first but I came around. Yeah it's poppy, but there is still that darkness and some amazing melodies. My dog was having some health issues and Life Eternal helped me get in a place where I could maybe accept that he may not make it because the bond we forged was too strong to be broken by death. Spoiler alert: he's still alive and kicking.

I basically rank Opus, Meliora, and Prequelle on par with each other. Infestissumam a pretty distant second. Impera wouldn't even exist in my mind if it weren't for Little Sunshine.

Sure, but I'm just talking about the albums themselves, not the live performances or context surrounding them. To me, the debut is too stripped back. It's also lacking in the great melodies and songwriting that appear on later albums and doesn't really make up for them with anything. If you like Ghost darker and heavier, Meliora surpasses the debut in both aspects, while also having better songwriting and production.

I love the rawness of the first one. The melodies are Ghostly and the mystery adds to it. At first I honestly thought Ghost might have been a forgotten project from the late 70s. Right up my alley. Sometimes raw is just what the Papa ordered.

Edit: Quote function is being weird but the second part is in response to your last post buddy

[Buddyhunter1]

My dog was having some health issues and Life Eternal helped me get in a place where I could maybe accept that he may not make it because the bond we forged was too strong to be broken by death. Spoiler alert: he's still alive and kicking.

I was gonna say, Life Eternal might honestly be the best song Ghost has ever made. It was a pretty unassuming ballad the first time I heard it, but it just got more and more powerful the more listens I gave it. It's a simple song but the execution is basically perfect.

[Madman Shepherd]

I was gonna say, Life Eternal might honestly be the best song Ghost has ever made. It was a pretty unassuming ballad the first time I heard it, but it just got more and more powerful the more listens I gave it. It's a simple song but the execution is basically perfect.

Perfect album closer too except I have the Deluxe edition or whatever so I have some underwhelming songs that follow it. I always try to shut it off before those start playing.

[cramx3]

I remember I was road tripping with a friend who had a slight interest in Ghost so I played the entire Prequel album while driving, at the end for Life Eternal, my friend said "can you play that one again?"  and at that moment I realized how good that song was.

[nick_z]

Hard for me to rank Meliora, Prequelle and Impera. All three are fantastic.

I do remember when the debut came out. I, too, really enjoyed it. But I generally agree with Buddy on the improvements in the songwriting department that came with the later records. I've stated it more than once on these pages, but to me Ghost really went next level when they fully embraced the full gamut of their influences, including pop. In a way, some of that was there on the first album, but then all of these influences truly come together. And that resulted in something special, imo. Is it incredibly catchy? Yes. Not afraid to be POPular? Sure. But awesome. And it seems to me that Tobias has a genuine love for the classics of rock and metal too. Just listen to the guitar arrangements on Impera. There's so much nifty stuff going on under the surface.

Anyway- if I were to pick one record that is a more obvious step down, that would be Infestissumam...not bad by any means, but not quite as effective as the debut, and not quite "there" for what Ghost was becoming...

[cramx3]

New Ghost song, apparently runs during the credits of their new movie that's out this weekend

Ghost - The Future Is A Foreign Land (Rite Here Rite Now - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

I quite like it for what it is

[goo-goo]

Went to the showing last night and the music/setlist is fantastic. Would recommend this to any Ghost fan.

[cramx3]

Went to the showing last night and the music/setlist is fantastic. Would recommend this to any Ghost fan.

Whats the deal with it though?  Is it a live concert?

[Cool Chris]

Good song, just popped up on my YT feed yesterday. 

Papa IV also threw out the first pitch at a White Sox game recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufJFTs9fVoM

[Grappler]

Good song, just popped up on my YT feed yesterday. 

Papa IV also threw out the first pitch at a White Sox game recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufJFTs9fVoM

If by recently, you mean two years, ago, yes.   

[Cool Chris]

Haha! Yes, I rarely if ever read the descriptions of YT videos!

[Mladen]

That was a fun movie, it was amazing to get together with some Ghost fans and go to the cinema in order to see a metal concert. That's quite a unique experience. And getting a new song was just the icing on the cake. 

[goo-goo]

Whats the deal with it though?  Is it a live concert?

It is a live concert with a little bit of a story behind it. The story part itself is short, it's mostly a concert.

[cramx3]

It is a live concert with a little bit of a story behind it. The story part itself is short, it's mostly a concert.

I'll probably get it on blu ray

[MirrorMask]

Saw it list night, amazing show! I don't know if it was just a cinema thing but I hope the sound quality and clarity will translate well into the eventual live release, the backing vocals were amazing and were enriching the powerful sound in a great way.

I've seen them live so I knew what the show was, but seeing it on the big screen was a different and bombastic experience. I even took a picture with two Papas and a Sister Imperator 

I did not expect the story to go where it went, and I hope you all stayed until the very, very end. Now let's see what the future will bring and what the new era will look like!

------

Side musical note, I probably already said it but I miss a bit of the "darkness" in Ghost. Seeing stuff like Year Zero, Con Clavi Con Dio, Call Me Little Sunshine made me remember how cool it was when there was an antipope as a frontman, full regalia, the staff, the tiara..... I understand the need to evolve and that with more energetic songs you can't have the frontman standing sitll behind the mic looking Pope-y the all time, but it was cool to have a band that brought you the dark imaginery of black metal bands, without the harsh and extreme vocals that are inevitable with these genres. I mean, I'm all in as a Ghost fan, I enjoyed immensely seeing the disco lights during the catchy Dance Macabre, but flames, pyros and red menacing lights as the antipope in full regalia stands menacingly on stage? please give me more of that dark shit with the next album cycle.

[Podaar]

I saw it last Saturday. Good fun, well filmed, well performed, and damned hilarious at times. Tobias is such an odd duck, in the best way possible. 

My only complaint is the theater didn't play it loud enough!

[twosuitsluke]

Just posted in the albums thread, but damn this new live record is so damn good!

They sound incredible, and I have to wonder how much of this is original recordings. The setlist is one that is right up my street, as it's almost exclusively songs from Meliora onwards. 

The song that stopped me in my tracks was If You Have Ghosts. This version is so emotionally charged, and gave me real chills. The little speech Tobias gives about the hardships life throws our way, just wow. It hit me hard.

[Zydar]

Nice, I have to spin it tonight then! 

[twosuitsluke]

Nice, I have to spin it tonight then!

You're in for a treat.

[MirrorMask]

It's a pity they dropped all the older songs (that were already on Ceremony and Devotion anyway), but at least we got a fantastically beautiful version of If You Have Ghosts.

Kinda a waste to assemble those musicians and use them only for one song. They should have done two songs.

[twosuitsluke]

I read that the film included a few older songs, like 4 or 5 songs, but they cut them for the album. It's a shame, as now I want to hear them. Then again, from a marketing point of view it might get more people to buy the film when it comes out.

[Mladen]

The songs that were cut from the soundtrack are still in the movie. It's not that bad of a move, we've already had live versions of those tracks.

Oh, and it's a great soundtrack. The Future is a foreign land is also growing on me immensely. 

[MirrorMask]

Same here, the song is good! I like the bridges, for whatever reason "And in the blood of the Kennedys" flows away so nicely.

Also the ending with the choir singing 2024, backing "we could grow old together" etc is very nice.

[goo-goo]

I was bummed about cutting those 4-5 songs from the movie, which I watched. They should just have released the whole show digitally.

The mix of this live show reminds me of the Maiden live albums: a lot of crowd noise, some guitars get drowned because of this. I feel like the theater mix was more powerful than what they released and that's one of the things I enjoyed it a lot at the theater (and for the record, I'm not Glassdream  ). Nonetheless, it's a very fun live album. I keep playing it a lot during my gym time.

[Grappler]

I haven't listened to the whole album, but I've put on some of my favorite songs and I think the production sounds huge, especially the drums and vocals. 

[goo-goo]

I do wish they release the movie/full show on blu ray. One of the few movie music releases that I have fully enjoyed to the max.

[MirrorMask]

For those who follow the wacky storyline of the lore of the band... they wrote it on Facebook so I guess it's not a spoiler anymore, but still I'll write it in small: Sister Imperator passed away

This will have an impact on the next album, and the next chapter of the saga...

[Zydar]

I must admit I have zero knowledge about the lore and storyline. I just listen for the music 

Perhaps I'll read up on it some day.

[cramx3]

I must admit I have zero knowledge about the lore and storyline. I just listen for the music 

Perhaps I'll read up on it some day.

Same.  Although if they release the new movie on blu-ray and I get it, maybe that will make me read up on the lore?  I guess until I have a reason to, or desire to, Im probably not going to care.  The music is where it's at for me. (not dissing on those who do care though)

[MirrorMask]

Yeah the good thing of the lore it's that it's just a fun extra for those who care. It's not a Marvel or Star Wars situation where you are actively punished for not having watched each and every single movie, soow, spinoff or content, you can enjoy the albums just fine even if you don't care to find out what happened to the previous Papas