What was their Magnum Opus?

DaftChemicalPunk · Sep 24, 2016, 12:11

This will probably turn into a rivalry between DYOH and Surrender but there's plenty of other who believe albums such as Exit and Further are the finest work that they have ever created!

What do you think is their best and most important album they ever made and why do you think so?

Explud · Sep 24, 2016, 18:33 #1

Come With Us. It's just is.

Bendy1001 · Sep 25, 2016, 04:23 #2

I put CWU at the top of of my list in the 'How do you rank their albums' thread, but I would say Further is probably a better piece of work. I think CWU is funkier and they both go to a lot of different places, but Further is a more unified experience because it has a sort of theme going on. If I were listening to both of them for the first time just now, Further would be the one that blew my mind the most.

whirlygirl · Sep 30, 2016, 08:09 #3

For me... We Are The Night is my favorite album. Its soundscape is vast, oceanic, with the whole spectrum of emotion that rides to the highest peaks and lowest valleys. Like a jagged heart rate line on an electrocardiograph machine. In some ways it is a bittersweet album for me. It saw me through some amazing times as well as a time when I was at a rather painful crossroads in my life, For a while there, the emotions were too raw to listen to it, so it was shelved. When We Are The Night and I crossed paths again later on, it felt so comforting and familiar. Like a good book I've read before that I can lose myself in, and know I'll read again. I just love it.

That's not to say I haven't enjoyed their other albums just as much, or even more at times. All of their albums hold a place unique in my own timelines. We Are The Night has aged well for me and has managed to resonate the most.

But that's a personal thing, if we're talking favorites.

From a critical viewpoint, Dig Your Own Hole was a total game changer, arguably so. It came out at the right time and place. It manages to command the listener's undivided attention. Its noisy, complex, busy, bombastic yet there's an order to its chaos. It's not an easy listen, nor is it a very comfortable one. But there's a beauty in all of that noise and chaos. It's such an intriguing album. And then there's The Private Psychedelic Reel, which is the splendid end result, the sum of all parts. I could go on...

androidgeoff · Oct 01, 2016, 03:01 #4

For me, DYOH or WATN. DYOH is the album that they will always be defined by. WATN was much like Surrender in that it was the end of a Chems arc. It was the culmination of all they had learned from CWU through WATN.

satur8 · Oct 04, 2016, 13:19 #5

I'll be the one. I think Dig Your Own Hole has to be considered their Magnum Opus. Not only did it put their name on the international charts, but it also helped usher in a genre of underground music to the mainstream. And as Whirly hinted, they did this with a dark and (at the time) experimental vibe.

I'm not saying it's their best album (although some days I love it most), nor am I implying we should measure importance by success. Also, I dislike choosing such early work when reviewing a 20+ year catalog of fine choices. However, in this case, Setting Sun, Block Rockin' Beats and the Private Psychedelic Reel laid a strong foundation for everything that would come after. Surrender came close, but I don't think any of their releases were as impactful as DYOH.