devin townsend c/d

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i've been hearing alot about this guy for years. i am not familiar with his music but i know he's in like 60 bands. judging from his bin at the music store, his release rate makes mike patton look like he graduated from whidney high. so what's his deal? i heard he's producing the new gwar album and he's a good guitar player.

Supercalifragilisticexpiala Brosius (chaki), Sunday, 30 July 2006 02:31 (seventeen years ago) link

dude rocks the skullet. he is canada's idea of a super-genius. yoo might dig strapping young lad, chaki. lotz of big metal moves. he's a good producer.

scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 30 July 2006 02:47 (seventeen years ago) link

thanks scott! do you have any specific album suggestions? i always seem to like stuff you like.

Supercalifragilisticexpiala Brosius (chaki), Sunday, 30 July 2006 17:04 (seventeen years ago) link

kinda like the first few songs on Strapping Young Lad's City

milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 31 July 2006 17:15 (seventeen years ago) link

three months pass...
wasnt he in the Wildhearts for five minutes (who wasnt?) back in the early 90s?

Humphrey Plugg (The Amorous Humphrey Plugg), Saturday, 18 November 2006 12:54 (seventeen years ago) link

the video - i think from a solo album - of him dancing like a retard in his skullet and a lycra devil suit, anyone seen that?

i laughed.

GOD PUNCH TO HAWKWIND (yournullfame), Saturday, 18 November 2006 12:59 (seventeen years ago) link

six months pass...

dude has just released concept album about ALIEN OVERLORD who has come to Earth to GET OUR COFFEE.

awes

Just got offed, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 22:44 (sixteen years ago) link

I have it. It's awesome.

Jeff Treppel, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 23:58 (sixteen years ago) link

five months pass...

OCEAN MACHINE, people. BIOMECH. We're talking near-genius here.

Just got offed, Tuesday, 4 December 2007 00:04 (sixteen years ago) link

The only thing that ever grabbed me was SYL City. But obviously I haven't heard the majority of his work.

Nate Carson, Tuesday, 4 December 2007 02:29 (sixteen years ago) link

With repeat listenings I'm actually slipping towards love. GET Ocean Machine: Biomech. It's absolutely masterful. Enormous. Heavy as fuck while not being at all noisy. Emotionally crushing. "The Death Of Music" has to be heard to be believed. It's like listening to a Cure epic unfold into an entire movie, no, an entire life. "Bastard" is pretty much just as good. The rest is all deep, soulful, tuneful, assured brilliance. I've got Terria and it's never had too much of an effect on me, aside from a few songs, but this stuff is staggering.

Just got offed, Tuesday, 4 December 2007 02:35 (sixteen years ago) link

My mates swear by him (even the alien coffee concept weirdness) but I hated <i>City</i> (it sounds to me like St Anger sounds to everyone) so I've avoided him ever since.

MacDara, Tuesday, 4 December 2007 16:25 (sixteen years ago) link

Ocean Machine--Biomech: Classic. Especially "Bastard" and "Hide Nowhere".

Devin Townsend--Infinity: Classic. Especially "Bad Devil" and "Christeen".

Strapping Young Lad--City: Classic. Especially "Detox" and "All Hail the New Flesh".

Strapping Young Lad--Alien: Dud. Especially 80% OF THE FUCKING ALBUM.

Strapping Young Lad--The New Black: Not really 'classic' but really good. Especially "You Suck" and "Fucker".

haven't heard the rest.

Bo Jackson Overdrive, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 03:39 (sixteen years ago) link

Especially "Bastard" and "Hide Nowhere".

These two, Seventh Wave and The Death of Music are insanely good.

Just got offed, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 03:41 (sixteen years ago) link

yea, the album had a very peaceful effect on me when I first started listening to it afew years ago....

Bo Jackson Overdrive, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 03:43 (sixteen years ago) link

Life, Funeral, Regulator and that whole medley in the middle are awesome too.

Just got offed, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 03:55 (sixteen years ago) link

two years pass...

Ridiculous love for Biomech emanating from my room here, I'm thinking of collapsing all this energy into a brand new star.

Unfortunately, when I play "Life" for my friends, they laugh. When did everyone become so averse to cheese in their music, especially when it is also: a) beautiful; and b) life-affirming?

Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Saturday, 20 March 2010 18:59 (fourteen years ago) link

"Hide Nowhere" is the slightly better of the cheesy torch-songs IMO, but what a fucking album. Closing triptych (bonus track aside) is as epic as epic can be

LiveJournal (acoleuthic), Saturday, 20 March 2010 21:35 (fourteen years ago) link

I ain't the Devin expert, but.....

Classic - Infinity, Ocean Machine, and two Strapping Young Lad albums - "City" and "The New Black"

Dud - SYL's Alien (I don't buy into those who thought it was his best post-City)...haven't really heard much else.

Cattle Grind, Saturday, 20 March 2010 21:37 (fourteen years ago) link

Biomech is awesome. "Bastard" is my favorite.

your friends are insecure fools.

Cattle Grind, Saturday, 20 March 2010 21:37 (fourteen years ago) link

four years pass...

The Mighty Masturbator is how I wish all music was, sometimes

imago, Thursday, 20 March 2014 00:23 (ten years ago) link

This guy is just the best.

IKEA metaballs (Spottie), Thursday, 20 March 2014 04:09 (ten years ago) link

two months pass...

kinda wanna poll devin vs ginger wildheart. it'd be one of the most apt polls in ilm history. but it'd get about 4 votes

they're both songwriting/recording heroes operating in a hyper-maximalist hyper-melodic prog-metal-pop realm; they both have a massive cardiacs fetish (i think) and they've both been involved in about 424892298 different projects each, INCLUDING each other, right at the outset. but how their paths have diverged!

not so much, in fact - they're both doing the poppiest work of their careers right now (amongst the chaos), and they've both recruited a honey-voiced female vocalist to help them

idk. i can't choose between them. if pressed, devin probably wins, but shit, not by much, and only because he wrote the album 'deconstruction'. but then i remember that ginger masterminded 'mutation' and that fucken enormous 'albion' record last year alone. they're both attempting to explode the sun. i wish them luck.

Who whom kissed? (imago), Friday, 6 June 2014 01:22 (nine years ago) link

one year passes...

Never listened to ginger but love devin. Would I like him? Entry point?

Spottie, Thursday, 13 August 2015 03:58 (eight years ago) link

same here lemme know imago

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 August 2015 06:32 (eight years ago) link

right, so

ginger's songwriting is much, much more british than devin's - more focus on knotty melodies, more 'bits', more attitude - this might not endear him to you so much! he's much more of an acquired taste imo - devin can probably snare fans from a much broader cross-section of music tastes. certainly devin townsend is much better at creating dreampop and states of sheer sonic bliss out of treated guitar (and voice).

nevertheless, and knowing you two a little bit as i do, i'd say:

the song 'sky babies' - this will tell you if you will like his proggier stuff (skip to the last five minutes if you get bored):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuHVrh3NL6w

ahhh but he's developed some since the wildhearts' heyday. 'sky babies' is twenty years old! it is to him what early SYL is to devin. but the album it's on, 'fishing for luckies', is absolutely fucking incredible. here's another wonderful track from it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scvmD41UJWg

let's leap a little more into the present. ah fine let's have one more wildhearts. from the astonishing album 'endless nameless' where they basically decided to create, deliberately, the most atrociously-mastered record of all time. it's glorious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK_trE9qdfY

one more coz of

the riff

the SNARE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR3-TtFU-YM

RIGHT, that's enough wildhearts. let's have a look at his more contemporary stuff, which I think you will like MORE!

Hey! Hello! is the single project of his I'd most recommend to you two. In which Ginger teams up with a (ridiculously enthusiastic) female vocalist (not unlike Devin's recent accomplice) and transcends his metier! Here's a selection from the album! Get the album!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jN040ErUqc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNga2vAZQew

^I fucking love this, trenchant music biz commentary & all, mostly for the chorus, when it finally arrives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Sf4ryFP7w

^have another video! as pure pop as Ginger gets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju-azNSoJNo

^^^this one really is reminiscent of Devin at points. amazing album closer

...and then there's his recent 'solo' stuff, much of which is pitched part way between Hey! Hello! and The Wildhearts, and involves many of the same personnel. IMO, his most Devin-esque solo album has been the most recent - Albion, which I think is now on general iTunes release after initially being a pledgemusic-only deal - I got it at the time and some days it's like absolute crack to me. Pop-metal bliss from start to finish. I can only pick one? OK...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z1hIly1r_o

^THE OUTRO

then there's his earlier solo stuff - the 555% album especially, which is enormous. i haven't heard all of it. i'll throw one in almost at random:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HycWF_kEvE

^everyone seems to love this one. listening to it now, it goes to some wonderful, wonderful places

And now...I'd probably not be able to end this post without something by Mutation. But you're not required to like it ;)

Ironically, Mutation is probably the closest he's gotten to certain Devin projects. Probably the wrong ones as far as you're concerned, though.

If you don't like all of the above, well, at least I tried, hey?

imago, Thursday, 13 August 2015 16:06 (eight years ago) link

Maxed out my Youtube allowance! Here's the Mutation track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_7gk8PlTVI

So yeah. ELEVEN songs. Although I do think that both of you should start with Hey! Hello! and only go back in time if you feel like it.

imago, Thursday, 13 August 2015 16:07 (eight years ago) link

thanks for your efforts imago!

I liked plenty of what you posted. The early stuff sounds great but I really loved Deep In the Arms of Morpheus and a couple of the Hey Hello tracks. Not so much the badly recorded tracks although the grooves are there, just can't get with the recording technique.

I hear the similarities but feel like maybe where ginger leans pop devin leans to either metal or ambient? idk i like how both just do whatever they like and seem to be able to pull it off.

Spottie, Thursday, 13 August 2015 23:30 (eight years ago) link

also started to dive into 'deconstruction' and man alive...

Spottie, Thursday, 13 August 2015 23:31 (eight years ago) link

yeah that shit is properly crazy. 'the mighty masturbator' somehow hangs together as this monstrous & brilliant treatise on artistic existentialism while being a dance-metal-prog-tech freakout with fart noises and a big-top climax. it's so ambitious it's funny.

'addicted' might still be his best single album - it's between that, 'ocean machine' and 'terria' probz

glad you liked some of the ginger stuff! your likings essentially square with what i thought they would

imago, Thursday, 13 August 2015 23:44 (eight years ago) link

lol spottie you inspired me to finally listen to deconstruction. i'm not really into the concept of complex devin at the expense of pop devin, but now i realize that's not really what's going on here.

i think i like it better than addicted, but then i think epicloud and sky blue are basically better versions of addicted

Ocean Machine: Biomech and Terria are both classics to me, particularly the former. Ziltoid is great for entertainment value!

whoa have you all heard the casualties of cool record? it's like what if devin was folk sade

was not expecting this. gorgeous. need to check this record now. so much devin the last couple weeks.

Spottie, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 16:59 (eight years ago) link

Listening to Terria now. The middle section from Deep Peace - Down Under is great.

Spottie, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 17:37 (eight years ago) link

terria's an unimpeachable masterpiece and i only like it slightly better than biomech

the closing three tracks might be better than those middle three. The guitar break right in the middle of tiny tears! beautiful track.

Spottie, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 20:11 (eight years ago) link

anyone else out there that makes swing metal like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rokLH-YRZ1g

Spottie, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 20:29 (eight years ago) link

I think this my favourite from Ocean Machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj2EzOurU7Y

The funny slowed down voice on Olive from Terria still pops into my head once a month, 'stiiiiiir your driiiiink'

MaresNest, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 20:46 (eight years ago) link

that is a lovely ocean machine choice, would be mine but for that closing triptych (the final final track doesn't count)

Yul Brynner playing table tennis with a deviled kidney (imago), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 20:50 (eight years ago) link

i also get 'oooollliiivvveesss' regularly in my head, although terria as a whole is best experienced in one go

Yul Brynner playing table tennis with a deviled kidney (imago), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 20:50 (eight years ago) link

"funeral" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It's also the perfect track to have on your headphones when on a cross trainer.

There's a peculiar production trick that DT employed a lot that I really love, tricks actually. He'll feed vocals (I think) through extremely long and smeary reverbs creating these wonderful, hazy sounding drone tracks that will often play out for the whole song, very cool, similarly there's often a lot of multitracked TV babble or vocal samples that seem to run in the background of some songs for their duration.

MaresNest, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 20:55 (eight years ago) link

Not sure I could decide between Funeral and Bastard but yeah Hide Nowhere is great as well.

Spottie, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 20:56 (eight years ago) link

yeah he does some fun stuff with his production xp that makes everything he does sound like his own genre.

Spottie, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:02 (eight years ago) link

listening to 'the fluke' right now...like, fucking hell this is extraordinary music

he really does have his own kitchen-sink approach to pop-metal - it's kind of transcendent - has the zeal and brightness of a superchurch sermon but it's all on the side of good

Yul Brynner playing table tennis with a deviled kidney (imago), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:06 (eight years ago) link

def gonna be buying the live at royal albert hall blu ray when it comes out (soon)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5_-Ky_bqgc
seems like a massive production. here he brings a ton of people and his kid on stage for the last triumphant finale.

Spottie, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:07 (eight years ago) link

ginger wildheart simply has his own northern-england-renegade echo of this ;)

xp

whoa, yeah. saw some of his live show on youtube - he writes unique ziltoid scripts tailored to the people of the uk! what a gent

Yul Brynner playing table tennis with a deviled kidney (imago), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:08 (eight years ago) link

his guitar tone is often so bodiless and so filled out by synths that there's this total airy and atmospheric quality to his stuff that's pretty singular. my college girlfriend got me into him and i just remember thinking i'd never heard anything seem simultaneously so calm and so constantly moving

kudos to my college girlfriend for being a total devy head and also being a generally awesome person

yeah it's kind of like shoegaze but more ecstatic, more skyborne - it is the light of beatification transmitted via the medium of heavy metal

it probably works in similar ways, emotionally, to pop music - albeit pop music surfing a sonic tsunami

Yul Brynner playing table tennis with a deviled kidney (imago), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:12 (eight years ago) link

so very otm

Spottie, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:14 (eight years ago) link

ALSO, he's a genuinely unreal vocalist. might be even more talented a vocalist than a guitarist even. although producer and arranger above all.

Yul Brynner playing table tennis with a deviled kidney (imago), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:16 (eight years ago) link

his vocal range is unreal. can't believe he's still letting those blood boiling screams out at his age

Spottie, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:23 (eight years ago) link

brad's college gf sounds cool

Spottie, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:24 (eight years ago) link

I'm old enough to recall the music press when he was Steve Vai's young kōhai for an album and tour. Not that I gave a shit about Vai's music, but i had a lot of guitarist mates.

MaresNest, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:26 (eight years ago) link

I remember a pre-Terria intie Devin did for Lamentations of the Flame Princess zine (my copy of which disintegrated long ago) where he went on and on about how Terria was the result of all these new sounds he was hearing in his head and capturing on instruments thanks to some anti-dep or anti-bipolar meds he had begun taking in the preceding months. I think sobriety was a factor too iirc. You can tell his headspace is light years away from the relentlessness of the prior 3 albums.

Terria's def my 2nd fav behind Ocean Machine.

Also good to know I'm not the only mutterer of the "olives" stuff.

Devilock, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 22:11 (eight years ago) link

spending the morning listening to accelerated evolution which is just the best

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Wednesday, 19 August 2015 15:00 (eight years ago) link

wish we had enough people to do a devin trax poll.

Spottie, Wednesday, 19 August 2015 16:06 (eight years ago) link

imo we should all just compile ten-song ballots and post them here or something

Yul Brynner playing table tennis with a deviled kidney (imago), Wednesday, 19 August 2015 16:08 (eight years ago) link

Will yoooou saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave meeeeeeeeeeeee? *decending riff* ...baaaabe...baaaaaaaaaabe...baaaaaaaaaaaaaabe..

Spottie, Wednesday, 19 August 2015 16:12 (eight years ago) link

lets do it. might take me some time to decide my ten but its been fun w people calling out gems in the discography so far.

Spottie, Wednesday, 19 August 2015 16:13 (eight years ago) link

I will need to listen to about 7 albums - the only certainty is a #1 for The Mighty Masturbator, because it is everything I am

Yul Brynner playing table tennis with a deviled kidney (imago), Wednesday, 19 August 2015 16:32 (eight years ago) link

yeah i think if we're including syl and casualties of cool then i uh need to revisit several records

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Wednesday, 19 August 2015 17:04 (eight years ago) link

me 2. but looking forward to it.

Spottie, Wednesday, 19 August 2015 17:05 (eight years ago) link

honestly this is impossible. no. 1 would prob be "earth day" though

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 21:28 (eight years ago) link

like earth day, funeral, kingdom, sunday afternoon, hyperdrive, the fluke, tiny tears uhhhh

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 21:31 (eight years ago) link

jesus christ i forgot how much i loved alien

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Wednesday, 2 September 2015 20:38 (eight years ago) link

boo @ the ppl who hate alien upthread

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Wednesday, 2 September 2015 20:39 (eight years ago) link

i always want to like ki when i revisit it but it's just.... strange and unavailable. i think townsend was trying to make an expansive record like terria but in a different way. unfortunately it mostly sounds like a stoner metal record without distortion

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Wednesday, 9 September 2015 00:05 (eight years ago) link

i like "gato" still

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Wednesday, 9 September 2015 00:05 (eight years ago) link

actually i meant "heaven send" which is a better "gato." what a weird record

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Wednesday, 9 September 2015 00:20 (eight years ago) link

Ki's the only DT record I could probably stomach any more, tbh. Far as I remember the title track's pretty great.

I'm not going to badmouth the guy but a couple of years ago very suddenly I simply stopped enjoying his music. It's weird. Unfortunately though the way my tastes have shifted I've increasingly found some major aspects of his whole "thing" unpalatable (overly compressed shiny production, goofy attempts at humour...)

Not going to rule out coming back round to him in time though.

ultros ultros-ghali, Wednesday, 9 September 2015 13:08 (eight years ago) link

the title track of ki is great!

probably the best thing i've discovered in exhaustively listening to his discography this time around is epiclouder, the bonus disc for epicloud. those uh demos are amazing!

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Wednesday, 9 September 2015 14:11 (eight years ago) link

Ki's the only DT record I could probably stomach any more, tbh. Far as I remember the title track's pretty great.

I'm not going to badmouth the guy but a couple of years ago very suddenly I simply stopped enjoying his music. It's weird. Unfortunately though the way my tastes have shifted I've increasingly found some major aspects of his whole "thing" unpalatable (overly compressed shiny production, goofy attempts at humour...)

Not going to rule out coming back round to him in time though.

― ultros ultros-ghali, Wednesday, September 9, 2015 6:08 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Feel like I could see this happening with me every few years with him, but it hasn't happened yet. Ive always kinda stayed at arms length from his music with only a true deep dive over the last few months.

Spottie, Wednesday, 9 September 2015 20:10 (eight years ago) link

i think this is my top ten

Earth Day
Kingdom
Funeral
Hyperdrive
Shine
The Fluke
Zen
Slow Me Down
Planet Rain
Tiny Tears

and bc that feels really cruel here's the following ten

Regulator
Storm
Happy Birthday
Ki
Bastard
Far Beyond Metal
Midnight Sun
Stagnant
The Mighty Masturbator
Vampira

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Friday, 11 September 2015 04:16 (eight years ago) link

two weeks pass...

Not ignoring your post! Just still working on mine, had a few albums I still needed to get through. Physicist isn't really very good is it, Kingdom is def the standout.

Spottie, Friday, 25 September 2015 18:30 (eight years ago) link

physicist has kingdom, material, planet rain, all top 20 devy material but it's def one of his lesser albums

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Friday, 25 September 2015 19:08 (eight years ago) link

Something seems off on the production of that album.

Spottie, Friday, 25 September 2015 19:32 (eight years ago) link

My list atm consists of basically every song on Accelerated Evolution

Spottie, Friday, 25 September 2015 19:37 (eight years ago) link

Something seems off on the production of that album.

oh yeah, definitely, his heaviest solo record and there's basically no bottom end, so it's just flying past you

insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Friday, 25 September 2015 19:44 (eight years ago) link

yeah def having a hard time getting into it cos of that.

Gotta say the acoustic version of Funeral is hypnotic and heartbreaking. Crazy how reg version sounds so transcendent and uplifting in comparison.

Spottie, Friday, 25 September 2015 19:48 (eight years ago) link

eleven months pass...

new one's out next week but is also out there rn. the theme this time around is positivity! he rerecorded "truth" (and it sounds great and works surprisingly well tbh) and there's a ween cover

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Saturday, 3 September 2016 15:25 (seven years ago) link

it's his longest dtp record since deconstruction/ghost fwiw

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Saturday, 3 September 2016 15:27 (seven years ago) link

love this guy but i've only ever really listened to Terria and Addicted, maybe its time to go deeper

ciderpress, Saturday, 3 September 2016 16:01 (seven years ago) link

ocean machine!!!!

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Saturday, 3 September 2016 16:05 (seven years ago) link

It is... the best album ever recorded

Spottie, Saturday, 3 September 2016 19:39 (seven years ago) link

omg

ciderpress, Saturday, 3 September 2016 20:22 (seven years ago) link

yeah it's like the perfect dreampop-metal album, and he did it more or less on the first throw

imago, Saturday, 3 September 2016 20:45 (seven years ago) link

when you get to the chorus of 'hide nowhere' your ability to deny, is gone, forever

imago, Saturday, 3 September 2016 20:48 (seven years ago) link

and then when you get to the bridge your ability to do anything is p much gone as well

imago, Saturday, 3 September 2016 20:51 (seven years ago) link

olive?

the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Saturday, 3 September 2016 21:33 (seven years ago) link

Just awful music. Reminds me of Invader Zim and Richard Dawkins.

punksishippies, Sunday, 4 September 2016 21:02 (seven years ago) link

good

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Sunday, 4 September 2016 21:04 (seven years ago) link

I mean I hate both dawkins and vasquez but I feel like you could dismiss all prog metal in the same way

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Sunday, 4 September 2016 21:07 (seven years ago) link

i didnt like ocean machine as much as terria but its good

ciderpress, Sunday, 4 September 2016 21:31 (seven years ago) link

Don't get the Dawkins and Zim comparison.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 4 September 2016 22:07 (seven years ago) link

Cider I didn't love ocean machine right away. Liked it fine. But it'll grow on you.

Spottie, Sunday, 4 September 2016 22:18 (seven years ago) link

yeah in a lot of ways it's his deepest record besides terria. lot of rewarding pockets

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Sunday, 4 September 2016 22:18 (seven years ago) link

he's suspiciously good at the hamfisted arena rockers that he slips in once per album or so ("life","stagnant","slow me down")

ciderpress, Monday, 5 September 2016 16:37 (seven years ago) link

Yeah he's mastered that

Spottie, Monday, 5 September 2016 16:43 (seven years ago) link

Don't get the Dawkins and Zim comparison.

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, September 4, 2016 6:07 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

neither does punkishippies, don't worry

Neanderthal, Monday, 5 September 2016 18:42 (seven years ago) link

accelerated evolution is greattttt

ciderpress, Tuesday, 6 September 2016 03:37 (seven years ago) link

yeah 2nd best alb ever recorded B-)

Spottie, Tuesday, 6 September 2016 05:12 (seven years ago) link

yeah this is my favorite one now

ciderpress, Tuesday, 6 September 2016 22:10 (seven years ago) link

really fell for the new one tonight. feel like the devin townsend "project" has been building toward something like this, that exists in a kind of hybrid space between deconstruction and addicted. it's way less direct and more discursive than epicloud or sky blue, which are prob the two most similar albums he's made in a row. "higher" is amazing, with different production it could be on accelerated evolution

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Thursday, 8 September 2016 07:37 (seven years ago) link

have y'all see this? omfg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oJEBGHCdBQ

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 12 September 2016 17:52 (seven years ago) link

Yesss its so gr8

Spottie, Monday, 12 September 2016 17:55 (seven years ago) link

That whole show is perfect but that three-song stretch of the three best songs on Ocean Machine (and maybe this three best overall?) is bliss

Spottie, Monday, 12 September 2016 18:02 (seven years ago) link

Any downsides to Original Album Collection: Discovering Devin Townsend Box? Looks like a good set.

http://www.insideoutshop.de/Item/Devin_Townsend_-_Original_Album_Collection-_Discovering_DEVIN_TOWNSEND_-Ltd-_5CD_Edition-/16278

Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 21 September 2016 21:39 (seven years ago) link

looks like five great albums

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Wednesday, 21 September 2016 21:41 (seven years ago) link

Looks ideal for me. Bless all these box sets coming out, they're making things easier.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 21 September 2016 21:44 (seven years ago) link

three weeks pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-iLIozUrHs

Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 12 October 2016 13:44 (seven years ago) link

he's a great interview.

Spottie, Wednesday, 12 October 2016 20:04 (seven years ago) link

really fell for the new one tonight. feel like the devin townsend "project" has been building toward something like this, that exists in a kind of hybrid space between deconstruction and addicted. it's way less direct and more discursive than epicloud or sky blue, which are prob the two most similar albums he's made in a row. "higher" is amazing, with different production it could be on accelerated evolution

― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Thursday, September 8, 2016 12:37 AM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

checking the new one now. HIGHER! takes like five left turns.

Transcendence through From The Heart is prob my favorite stretch. Back half of From the Heart molds into a beautiful Califone-esque song.

That Ween cover is perfect

Spottie, Wednesday, 12 October 2016 21:18 (seven years ago) link

one month passes...

Really not my scene all this Jaggerprog, but I am watching 90's Wildhearts live shit and seriously this guy is awesome

Jonathan Hellion Mumble, Friday, 18 November 2016 00:40 (seven years ago) link

five months pass...

In my early 20s, Biomech was the album that I used to "reset" when my mood was spiraling.

Listening to it now for the same reason and it's having the same serene effect on me.

Charles "Butt" Stanton (Neanderthal), Sunday, 7 May 2017 13:12 (six years ago) link

BASTARRRRRD
MOTHER FATHER
NOOOOO

Charles "Butt" Stanton (Neanderthal), Sunday, 7 May 2017 13:50 (six years ago) link

album has that affect yeah

Spottie, Saturday, 13 May 2017 03:23 (six years ago) link

Where to start with this dude? Saw him open a bit for Gojira and Opeth, and he was ... OK!

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 13 May 2017 19:52 (six years ago) link

Either Ocean Machine: Biomech or Terria ... it feels to me that those are generally good places to start rather than something like, say, Ziltoid.

The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Saturday, 13 May 2017 20:32 (six years ago) link

City

Charles "Butt" Stanton (Neanderthal), Saturday, 13 May 2017 22:18 (six years ago) link

bpth those answers are probably right, just depends if you want your head smashed in (City) or your soul lifted to the heavens (Ocean Machine, Terria). I would add Accelerated Evolution to the latter.

Spottie, Monday, 15 May 2017 16:37 (six years ago) link

with Deconstruction, you can have both ;)

imago, Monday, 15 May 2017 16:48 (six years ago) link

n.b. don't listen to Deconstruction first

imago, Monday, 15 May 2017 16:49 (six years ago) link

lol yeah dont

Spottie, Monday, 15 May 2017 16:56 (six years ago) link

two months pass...

I should have jumped on that box set earlier. I tried to buy it from two sellers recently and it's sold out.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 7 August 2017 14:17 (six years ago) link

I like SYL, but the Project stuff I've checked out struck me as over-earnest... Maybe I didn't give it a fair hearing.

chap, Monday, 7 August 2017 17:26 (six years ago) link

eight months pass...

happy belated earth day

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 23 April 2018 16:44 (six years ago) link

yes i need to listen to dt today

they call me melo gelo (Spottie), Monday, 23 April 2018 16:46 (six years ago) link

one month passes...

"Ocean Machine - Live At The Ancient Roman Theatre Plovdiv", out July 6th, 2018.

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

flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Thursday, 24 May 2018 19:27 (five years ago) link

a lesson on how can you make something that's already way over the top even way more over the top, in the best way possible

they call me melo gelo (Spottie), Thursday, 24 May 2018 21:36 (five years ago) link

three months pass...

scored a copy of the Casualties of Cool 3-disc set this weekend (2 cds + 1 dvd) and I've just been luxuriating in it ever since.

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 4 September 2018 14:53 (five years ago) link

Man, the live version of Hide Nowhere from that Plovdiv concert is so lush.

MaresNest, Tuesday, 4 September 2018 15:09 (five years ago) link

one month passes...

thinking of treating myself, trying to decide whether I should pull the trigger on a copy of Eras II ("Ocean Machine", "Infinity", "Terria", "Physicist" and "Synchestra" on LP).

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Sunday, 21 October 2018 01:33 (five years ago) link

do it! didnt know you were a fan, welcome to the thread.

Machine Gunk Jelly (Spottie), Monday, 22 October 2018 06:27 (five years ago) link

two months pass...

lol at chad kroeger being one of the guest musicians on it

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 16 January 2019 18:27 (five years ago) link

Chad Kroeger and Anneke Van Giersbergen, together at last

resident hack (Simon H.), Wednesday, 16 January 2019 18:35 (five years ago) link

lol count me in

marcos smart (Spottie), Wednesday, 16 January 2019 18:49 (five years ago) link

excited!

imago, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 19:14 (five years ago) link

one month passes...

don't question, just accept

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n7uvokARQ4

imago, Saturday, 23 February 2019 22:30 (five years ago) link

Blimey, how *does* he do it?

MaresNest, Saturday, 23 February 2019 22:38 (five years ago) link

hahah oh man

but I can't let Trae do it I got Huerter on my mind (Spottie), Monday, 25 February 2019 17:33 (five years ago) link

huh that might be better than anything on transcendence. way to go devy

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Monday, 25 February 2019 19:36 (five years ago) link

berserk omnigenre prog-metal electro verses, enormous pop chorus. works for me!

imago, Monday, 25 February 2019 20:12 (five years ago) link

two weeks pass...

yeah this album is shaping up to be transcendence but way more fun and awesome

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 15 March 2019 16:13 (five years ago) link

something for everyone! literally everyone! all in five minutes!

PPL+AI=NS (imago), Friday, 15 March 2019 16:14 (five years ago) link

I was going to make a comment like 'but what if I don't like brickwalled pseudo-prog' but there's a space cat so you're actually right.

I even like the song a little bit, maybe it's time I let this corny mf back into my life

yeah for all that it's garish it is kind of undeniable

PPL+AI=NS (imago), Friday, 15 March 2019 19:09 (five years ago) link

Impressed by these two preview videos. I might jump on here.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 16 March 2019 12:11 (five years ago) link

this is out btw

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 13:32 (five years ago) link

i have heard it in full and i have no idea what to make of it

PPL+AI=NS (imago), Friday, 29 March 2019 13:33 (five years ago) link

i have yet to hear it but someone else described it as his most bonkers record since infinity

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 13:35 (five years ago) link

I'm a Townsend neophyte but I love it a lot

Simon H., Friday, 29 March 2019 13:36 (five years ago) link

simon pls listen to ocean machine and terria

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 13:39 (five years ago) link

i mean...yeah

PPL+AI=NS (imago), Friday, 29 March 2019 13:41 (five years ago) link

and addicted

PPL+AI=NS (imago), Friday, 29 March 2019 13:42 (five years ago) link

and ziltoid tbh

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 13:47 (five years ago) link

and accelerated evolution

but really ocean machine and terria

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 13:47 (five years ago) link

"sprite" is wonderful, i'm already ready to call this his best work since the first ziltoid, feels like the finish line for the style he's been evolving over the devin townsend project records

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 14:01 (five years ago) link

(i've never loved addicted! as much as most but i do love it)

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 14:01 (five years ago) link

prob for the best that i can't figure out where chad kroeger's voice sits in the mix of "hear me" the effect of which is sorta like if deconstruction were a pile of hooks

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 14:07 (five years ago) link

first ziltoid def feels like his sleeper album yeah

PPL+AI=NS (imago), Friday, 29 March 2019 14:08 (five years ago) link

oh my god @ "why?"

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 14:10 (five years ago) link

i love most of the dtp records but this is the first time his work has felt *effortlessly* dense and gorgeous in a very long time

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 14:17 (five years ago) link

"borderlands" is just blowing my mind (sorry 2 liveblog)

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 29 March 2019 14:18 (five years ago) link

i'm much higher than i was this morning and this album is brilliant

jolene club remix (BradNelson), Saturday, 30 March 2019 04:08 (five years ago) link

Board description

Buttigieg comes right from the source (Neanderthal), Saturday, 30 March 2019 04:18 (five years ago) link

In just two songs i have heard traces of

Beach Boys
Mr Bungle
Enya
High School Musical
Toe Jam and Earl

I love it

Buttigieg comes right from the source (Neanderthal), Saturday, 30 March 2019 16:46 (five years ago) link

why? is incredible had a big smile the whole way through it... devi is one of a kind truly.

but I can't let Trae do it I got Huerter on my mind (Spottie), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 08:16 (five years ago) link

simon h get on ocean machine!
devin townsend: ocean machine

but I can't let Trae do it I got Huerter on my mind (Spottie), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 08:19 (five years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LrTB9JFBME

MaresNest, Tuesday, 9 April 2019 13:42 (five years ago) link

four months pass...

Every once in a while I throw on both discs of Casualties of Cool and it ends up being all I play for days on end

Simon H., Friday, 30 August 2019 02:12 (four years ago) link

Hasn’t hit for me like that maybe I should try again

big city slam (Spottie), Friday, 30 August 2019 04:48 (four years ago) link

I treat them like ambient/background records with occasional rushes of overwhelming beauty that seize my attention

Simon H., Friday, 30 August 2019 04:50 (four years ago) link

six months pass...

Why? is his greatest song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT-uWOVP5q0

Thybulle on the Dash (Spottie), Monday, 9 March 2020 06:53 (four years ago) link

listened to empath a few times over the last week and its really special. up there with his best.

Thybulle on the Dash (Spottie), Thursday, 12 March 2020 18:06 (four years ago) link

<3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb935JynuhQ

Thybulle on the Dash (Spottie), Thursday, 12 March 2020 23:55 (four years ago) link

two weeks pass...

he's posting a new song every day mon-fri during all this and calling it the quarantine project:

I will be releasing all the Quarantine Project songs on an album when all this calms down... until then, I’ll just keep posting stuff Monday to Friday. I hope it helps.

— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2020

i think theres 9 so far and its the usual mix of what you'd expect from him.

Spottie, Sunday, 29 March 2020 04:19 (four years ago) link

i was supposed to see him here in phx last week.

Spottie, Sunday, 29 March 2020 04:20 (four years ago) link

two months pass...

fao brad
https://youtu.be/wpjS7m6X4h4

Spottie, Sunday, 14 June 2020 07:29 (three years ago) link

lmao thank you

mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Sunday, 14 June 2020 14:50 (three years ago) link

ten months pass...

alright been trying to put my top ten together for a few years lol. decided to go with a top 25 instead cos why only ten anyway? in no order

deep peace
why?
suicide
stand
borderlands
kingdom
march of the poozers
funeral
bastard
spirits will collide
earth day
tiny tears
deadhead
failure
higher
from the heart
universal flame
regulator
singularity
seventh wave
dsiruptr
canada
terminal
depth charge
let it roll

i was too much listening to your accent (Spottie), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 22:50 (three years ago) link

you fuckin rule for this imo

J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Thursday, 15 April 2021 00:43 (three years ago) link

it's fuckin' insane how much Devy I've heard which is still less than 50% of his catalog.

this thread might finally inspire me to fill in the gaps

Empath was the best satanic pop album the Beach Boys never made

P-Zunit (Neanderthal), Thursday, 15 April 2021 00:46 (three years ago) link

i just keep playing the solo in deep peace over and over
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq-S9FzmcyI

i was too much listening to your accent (Spottie), Friday, 16 April 2021 16:32 (three years ago) link

one year passes...

not sure why i never posted in this thread. was massively into SYL and Devin's solo stuff up until around the self titled SYL and then just fell off the bus completely, not really sure why other than attention shifting. been going through ALL my cds from A-Z and have re-realised how much I love City, Ocean Machine and Infinity. travelled up to his show at the Astoria 2/Mean Fiddler in around 2003 and it was incredibly, notably due to Gene Hoglan drumming for all three bands that night - Zimmers Hole / Strapping Young Lad / Devin Townsend Project. amazing night.

so yes, i guess i'll carry on listening through the discography...and hoping I don't suddenly realise he got cancelled at some time in the last 19 years?

Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Thursday, 12 January 2023 21:38 (one year ago) link

not to my knowledge he hasn't been. feel free to live review albums in here!

fentanyl young (Neanderthal), Thursday, 12 January 2023 21:41 (one year ago) link

also occurred to me he's basically the metal Todd Rundgren?

Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Thursday, 12 January 2023 21:43 (one year ago) link

yeah he seems like good people.

thought this might be a bump for his new album lightwork, which im still trying to figure out my feelings on.

im a beacon of light (Spottie), Thursday, 12 January 2023 21:45 (one year ago) link

rundgren comparison is good i think

im a beacon of light (Spottie), Thursday, 12 January 2023 21:45 (one year ago) link

I could also imagine a Devin/Andrew WK album that would be....very good indeed.

Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Thursday, 12 January 2023 21:47 (one year ago) link

two weeks pass...

anyone dive into litghtwork yet?

four square ups... no punches thrown (Spottie), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 23:03 (one year ago) link

it didn't do much for me the one time i heard it! some bangers obv. bonus disc far more unhinged

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 23:41 (one year ago) link

yeah disc 2 way more experimental. kinda hard not to think hes done better versions of each of these songs on past releases.

enjoyed dimensions, call of the void and equinox.

four square ups... no punches thrown (Spottie), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 23:50 (one year ago) link

i don't think i could hear all this dude's music if I did nothing but listen to it for a year.

his quality control is pretty good though.

how does it compare to Empath?

I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THE DIAPER GOT LOOSE (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 23:52 (one year ago) link

it's considerably more mellow imo

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 23:52 (one year ago) link

I like mellow Devy tbh , i'll have to give it a listen

I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THE DIAPER GOT LOOSE (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 23:55 (one year ago) link

if i could like convince the guy to do a tour and perform Ocean Machine-Biomech in its entirety though i'd die happy

I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THE DIAPER GOT LOOSE (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 23:56 (one year ago) link

opening track super nice imo

J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Wednesday, 1 February 2023 02:23 (one year ago) link

Yah it’s frontloaded

four square ups... no punches thrown (Spottie), Wednesday, 1 February 2023 02:38 (one year ago) link

off the back of relistening to everything/listening to the ones i didnt get to, i've been listening to the podcasts he did during lockdown, which are basically a chronological and very in depth look at each album. So far just up to terria but it's probably some of the most honest and self exposing autobio work i've heard from a musician. well worth checking out. first one here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2vpT_8zKp4

Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Wednesday, 1 February 2023 09:47 (one year ago) link

yeah those pods are very good... long tho.

four square ups... no punches thrown (Spottie), Wednesday, 1 February 2023 15:33 (one year ago) link

I like the whole of Lightwork! really a great listen

J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Thursday, 2 February 2023 12:22 (one year ago) link

if i could like convince the guy to do a tour and perform Ocean Machine-Biomech in its entirety though i'd die happy

https://www.discogs.com/master/1389963-Devin-Townsend-Project-Ocean-Machine-Live-At-The-Ancient-Roman-Theatre-Plovdiv

Haven't seen it myself, sort of took a Devin break for a few years, but I'm feeling the twitching. I'll have to check it out.
(And the end of the Live at the Royal Albert Hall show, the Ocean Machine triptych finale as it were, is mind blowing. I've never seen him live but I need to.)

Devilock, Friday, 3 February 2023 06:53 (one year ago) link

I saw him on the metal cruise in 2020 and he played a wiiiide range of material but he stunned us with "All Hail the New Flesh" and "Detox" from City.

sanguisug boggy bogg (Neanderthal), Friday, 3 February 2023 13:48 (one year ago) link


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