Also about the record, tobias made it while being my colleague at work and under a very strained budget. He plays most of the instruments himself aside from the drums. Since ghost was 100% anonymous up until a few years ago, so he had the vinyls delivered to our work place instead of his home adress😂 btw, it was a tech support job at a call center, hed pause the calls whenever he had an idea for the album and made customers wait😂
That's very cool! I've known a few struggling musicians/artists doing more or less the same, so who knows? Maybe one of them will see their work pay off big like Tobias has, as long as they keep it up.
Yes Tobias said in an interview that he was on a call with a client and was drawing the logo for Ghost . He paused them to say he needed to look up for some help for them and went to the photo copier and copied his logo in colour . But the image moved slightly and that’s why now we have the logo we do 😂 Then he went back to the customer and carried on the call .
You wanted more information about Opus Eponymous. I tell you. Opus Eponymous is latin for self titled work. Elizabeth was the first single released from the album. The song is about Elizabeth Bathory. An evil countess that murdered young virgin women to bath in their blood convinced it would make her live forever. Opus Eponymous is solely written by Tobias Forge. When he wrote the songs he was just an ordinary guy that had tried his luck for over ten years in the industry. He played in bands like Repugnant, Subvision, Crashdiët, and Magna Carta Cartel but didn't make it. Opus Eponymous is recorded in a basement studio in Tobias hometown Linköping. The only musicians besides Tobias is Ludvig Kennberg on drums and Gustav Lindström on bass. Tobias never wanted to be the singer just play guitar and do Backup singing but everyone he asked turned him down. At the time he had an ordinary boring job in a call center which he hated. But he and Boel his wife just had baby twins and he had to work like everyone else to pay the rent and put food on the table. So he recorded the album after work and in the weekend and then got home and changed some diapers. The kids are now in their teens and if you watch chapter 1 you can see them. His daughter Minou also sings on Ashes and Twenties. Tobias had just like you no money at all to spend but always had the vision of something else and the band you see live today 12 years later with 8 musicians on stage is his dream. A big difference since the first shows when he and his wife made the clothes themselves of clothes bought at a Halloween costume shop in Sweden. Stitching and sewing them together to wear onstage. And he only could afford four musicians so the keyboard was a backing track. So keep on fighting and maybe in ten years we be looking at you. 😀
Great contribution - and it is funny as all hell to imagine Papa in his velvet gloves (of the "Opus Eponymous" period) changing some diapers after the dark mass was over. :]] Even though it is realistic, still hilarious to conflate the two in one's mind! Thank you for the story!
Thanks for that . I knew every thing apart from him and Boel making the clothes for Papa 1 ! I know Boel found the mask for Papa 1 online but I didn’t know they made the clothes that’s so cool to hear .
Elizabeth is definitely one that grows on you, but that's most tracks on the first two albums. As someone who discovered Ghost almost 10 years ago, Elizabeth will always be a classic favorite of mine. As far as Ghost's music, I love the old and new. I totally miss the underground feel of the early days though, especially the concert experience.
I agree, Tim. I love the new stuff, but there is a certain rawness to the early albums that I miss. All that said, I'm not aware of another modern rock band in the same plane of existence as Ghost. Tobias is a gift to us all from the rock gods and I'm just thankful for all of it at the end of the day.
When you get into the next album, PLEASE listen to Infestissumam and Per Aspera Ad Inferi in the same video, the transition into Per Aspera is incredible!!
This is a track that for the longest time I simply skipped over when it started playing. Until one time I started listening to it, then again… then again. I had been such a fool, it’s absolutely one of my favorite tracks of ghost it just took some time to grow on me.
There are a few Ghost tracks that I had the same experience with. It's funny and interesting how that happens, and I just chalk it up to the genius of Tobias Forge. Once my brain gets calibrated, things "click" and it just never gets old to me.
It's almost cliché to say at this point, but there's no denying it. Not to sound sensationalist, but Ritual is just one of the best rock songs of all time. I put it up there with some of Led Zeppelin's finest work.
I am right now on a fresh GHOST "kick", so I have been checking the reactions again. :) As someone who found out about the band right after their first album, I think I can relate to what some older fans mean when they voice preference for the initial two albums. Of course the sound on both "Opus Eponymous" and "Infestissumam" was much more lo-fi, but that made it quite involving and in line with GHOST's "back story of a Satanic band created in late 60s to try and win souls through playing Rock, then having gone underground". The sound and style united to form a perfect backdrop for Papa Emeritus' characteristic soothing delivery against the backdrop of hard riffs interspersed with Gothic and Psychedelic overtones driven by classic Hammond organ sound. This was the perfect impression of dark sermons delivered just faintly tongue-in-cheek, with a lot of replay/re-watch value. What GHOST is today with a full-fledged production and money undoubtedly well invested into creating elaborate visual and aural experience, is, however, closer to a musical with dance elements and various guest characters, almost a reality show on the road. Very well put together and seamlessly developing their fictional story line to be sure, but it is a change from the initial immersive experience to a crowd-pleasing stadium show. Still good vibes, just different! And surely, the gradual but noticeable change in style of actual songs (while retaining the unique GHOST stylistic) adds to the distinction. While I can see how new fans are absolutely enthralled by newly released stuff - and, in a twist, the band blowing up big with the latest changes seems to really fit the story-arc of it getting "more souls"! - it is natural that the people who imprinted on the initial sound find it more appealing, more singular, arguably - more Metal. (It was always Rock, but the concept behind the music allowed GHOST to straddle the line). Today the irony would be GHOST finally becoming MTV (should I say TikTok) darlings thus rendering their "mission" a resounding success. \m/ But I am intrigued what their self-fulfilling prophecy will bring next?
Hahaha! I never really pictured "goblins crab dancing", but I will never *not* see it now 🤣. Thanks for the awesome reaction! I personally enjoy the chat format - some people get too hyped up and fake for the camera, and it's not necessary. You pretty much nailed exactly how I feel about the older albums versus the newer ones and why. I enjoy all of their songs, I just enjoy the fullness and production value of the newer albums more. At the same time, Tobias said he has always written his songs with consideration of how they would be performed live, and naturally, the older songs were written for smaller venues with more personal settings, and the newer things are written for arena performances. So I can understand why he might even have wanted them to be as they are - exactly what they needed to be for the phase of Ghost's growth they were made in.
Man, love the way you articulated the value in a band being able to create their artistic vision without money being an obstacle that tarnishes it. Damn good point. When I consider it that way, maybe Ghost as they currently are is the band they always were, just with the obstacle of $ stripped away.
ALL the intros are under 2 minutes long. NONE of the songs are under 2 minutes long. So, if you see a track under 2 minutes, it's an intro to the next track.
Okay, so this is purely supplemental but as a musician I think you'd really like this. This is Trey Xavier when the channel was still Gear Gods, "How Ghost Writes a Song." It's absolutely hysterical, made with love, and ends with a song some fans wish Tobias would actually cover. But I really think you'd appreciate the composition talk along with the jokes. "And nooooo shredding. You shred, you're dead." ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-A9Uz9xkBoxs.html
Let me tell you, man. I live off of watching other people’s reactions to things I’ve already seen and can not relive for the first time. Your videos are badass and I always look forward to everything you post. Love your work, brother!
i would say that ghost in particular benefits from not only playing one very specific genre. versatility is one of their strengths rather than a weakness. I think there is a misconception that they are simply a metal band
There are a few reasons why people don't like new ghost. The original Ghouls left after the third album. People picked sides, some went to MCC or Priest. Other hated all the ghouls who left and stuck with Tobias. Musically the Albums changed as well. The biggest reason I think is the band began to blow up. Gatekeeping. "It's my band not yours. If I can't have them then I hope they fail." Also some people think TF is a dick. I personally don't give a shit about any of that, I wish them all well. Still hope Omega makes an appearance one day with Ghost again but I don't think it will happen.
I've been a Ghost fan for a long, long time, and my opinion is fuck the drama and fuck the gatekeeping. I actually *want* the world to enjoy this band along with me! And MCC's cool, too. Good music's good music.
The first song that got me into Ghost. Still a favourite song. Very simple and basic. Would love to hear it with better production. They've come a long way from this.
This is a top 3 for me! Its about Elizabeth bathory, the countess who abducted maidens to slay in her castle and bathe in their virgin blood to remain her youthful appearance! Shes the worst female serial killer in history, we are talking hundreds of virgin village maidens
pls remember she was 1. a woman 2. powerful 3. wealthy and thus she had many enemies ... some of her lore could be propaganda (just sayin' -- grain of salt an all that)
@@Em013L Oh, it's totally interesting in the "serial killer/vampire" kind of way to think that she killed over 600 girls to bathe in their blood. It's also interesting in a "Game of Thrones" sort of way to consider that she was the richest woman in Hungary, with ties to the royal family and was a widow (thus single), AND was planning to marry her cousin (who was a powerful lord with a massive army) as part of a move for them to jointly grab the crown, just before she was accused of all those awful murders. And she was tried by the guy who would be next in line for the throne if her and her cousin's plan didn't happen. Maybe things were a little biased? Still, I love a good vampire/serial killer story as much as the next ghoul! You're still alive, Elizabeth.
@@Em013L absolutely! no argument here, and let me just say, every time he sings "Bathory" I have both arms raised high with horns as I sing along as loud as I dare!
I'm hungarian, she lived in castle füzér in northeast hungary. I visited the castle last summer, not that spooky place nowadays but it was nice to think about her story and the song while there
By the way, the last album called Impera won at the AMA (American Music Awards) this past Sunday for Favorite Rock album :))) Since I'm talking about the Impera album, why don't you check out the song Watcher in the Sky :)
Yeah, this album is definitely lower on production value (simply due to being a debut album) but the tracks still dominate. I dont necessarily blame fans who dont like the newer stuff, as the sound and vibe has evolved. And a decent chunk of that new sound is infringing on pop territory, which can be off-putting to metal fans haha... But at the same time, you cant ever expect a band/artist to just keep doing the same thing over and over. And even then, every album still comes with metal tracks to balance out the pop ones. It makes it fun, always gotta be on your toes when a new song drops because its impossible to know whats coming.
I feel like Opus will be a challenge from here, because for me it’s a steep descent album. Best tracks are Con Clavi, Ritual and Elizabeth. Stand by Him is ok. Satan Prayer and Prime Mover are pretty dull. But it does close on a fucking ripper instrumental in Genesis. But yeah those next couple tracks are some of their least distinctive and filler-y songs, for me. Thankfully Infestisummam is fucking killer all the way through. Even though I prefer Opus just for how much I fuckin love those first three tracks. When you get to Monstrance Clock (closer on the next album) you should definitely do the version from the live album ‘Ceremony and Devotion’ instead. But make sure you listen to the part where Papa talks before the track to introduce it, which is actually at the end of the previous track. The studio version is fantastic but that is one song that is defined by its live version.
Earlier Ghost is a bit more hit and miss for me personally. Meliora, Prequelle, and Impera are 3 albums that are just titans across the board though. Those are the reactions I'm looking forward to the most. Good videos, keep it up
Sounds like you need to (re)listen to some of Ghost's later music. While the style has evolved, the music has only gotten better. On Impera, Fredrik Åkesson's guitar work alone is absolutely seismic and pushes Ghost into the realm of legends.
Come to think about, you never covered "Secular Haze" from the infestissumam album which indeed has an official clip. Reaction WITH the video is mandatory! Shot in VHS tape found footage style, it looks as evil as it sounds. It's a masterpiece! Check it out ASAP! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vyQZ13jobIY.html
If you don’t listen to them I recommend Sabaton! My fav songs they’ve made are “stormtroopers” “Christmas truce” “the last stand” and “the unkillable soldier”
