Haken Albums

The all equally do not appeal to me. I don't get the fuss about Haken! Soulless music played on a high level of technicality, has its moments here and there, but overall does not impress. And the vocalists style is the final ingredient that makes this band absolutely unlistenable to me.

I heard The Mountain first and absolutely fell in love with it. I remember being a bit depressed at the same time as what they were doing was similar in style and tone to what I have been aiming for in my own music.

I've since digested Aquarious and was initially surprised by the difference in tone. I really like it though. Celestial Elixir in particular is a great track. They remind me of The Flower Kings in their use of humour, but I think they are maybe better in their execution of it, especially with structure. That's just my taste though.

ole-the-first wrote: 'Aquarius'. I love it for its eclectism, and I can't say that I'm any fond on direction band took after it. 'Aquarius' was very interesting for me because of its unique mix of symphonic and jazzy elements with death metal growls, and melodies were very beautiful and exciting. On the other hand, I find Dream Theater influences on that album a weaker point, so it was a huge dissapointment for me to see that on the second album Haken conituned to explore their weaker (for my ears) side, instead of immersing into more eclectic direction.

Have you heard The Mountain yet?  I agree that Visions has a bit too much DT sound (though I still love it).  The Mountain does not.  I think Mountain is more in the style of Aquarius, though admittedly I've only heard Aquarius once!  (Have to buy it some day for sure.)

For me too, The Mountain is their best. I find it a bit too high rated on PA, but it's clearly one of the best release of this year imo. I love Visions too, Aquarious a bit less...

Aquarius for me; The Mountain, although I do still really like it, is actually my least favourite.

I prefer The Mountain.

I have not heard Aquarius yet. Visions was quite good, but just missed the 4-star level imho. All their albums were hailed as masterpieces by many listeners, and The Mountain is a real one.

Aquarius is the only one I really like.

I'm just getting into this band, and have been enjoying them a lot. Just got The Mountain last week. Still, I need to listen to it much more, and listen to the other two a few more times. I was gladly surprised by how effective the Genle Giant - like vocals sound on this album. Of course, I had read about them on reviews before listening to them, but didn't picture how they would work within the sound of the band... and indeed it was very well. I might actually enjoy them even more than with Gentle Giant themselves.