Devin Townsend

Finally have a copy of Devin's Unplugged cd on the way!!! Autographed by him as well!!

Eyesore wrote:

Honestly, I hope he moves on from the Ziltoid thing after this. As great as the first album is, he runs the chance of making it all a bit hokey if he takes it too far. It's a gimmick that has it's limits, I think.

The first album is so good, though.

From what I've heard about the concept of the second one, it was hard enough for him to figure out how to stretch the story out to be an album. I gathered he thought about scrapping it and that's also a huge chunk of why it's taken so long for this to get moving.

More likely than not, Ziltoid will make appearances in videos and the like as sort of a mascot, but probably no further albums for the Omniscient one.

Well according to RVP the Ziltoid & DTP albums are done dusted finished!

Now all we need is a release date.

In other news, I've just found out that the mighty Messenger will be supporting Casualties of Cool for their gig in London next week, but there is no chance of me getting the time off work to go!

I'm hoping to catch Dev live in December.  He was a blast last time and I don't expect it'll be any different this go-round.

Edit:

Hey, unrelated to the previous thread, what can you fine folks tell me about Strapping Young Lad? That probably sounds like a stupid question since most people seem to know Dev from that first and his solo stuff second, but I came at it the other way around.

I think I have City floating around in the collection somewhere, but it never really grabbed me when I picked it up. Any recommendations or favorites for digging into the "band" material?

Z2 is getting amazing reviews! Already got mine on order.

Runicen, If you didn't like City, it's unlikely that the rest will grab you either although, I would give it another go as it is an amazing record and probably SYL's standout.

Runicen wrote:

I'm hoping to catch Dev live in December.  He was a blast last time and I don't expect it'll be any different this go-round.

Edit:

Hey, unrelated to the previous thread, what can you fine folks tell me about Strapping Young Lad?  That probably sounds like a stupid question since most people seem to know Dev from that first and his solo stuff second, but I came at it the other way around.

I think I have City floating around in the collection somewhere, but it never really grabbed me when I picked it up.  Any recommendations or favorites for digging into the "band" material?

My favorite SYL album is The New Black, mainly because it sounds more like his solo stuff than SYL. Kind of like a hybrid, I guess.

I'm going into full assembly line mode in ripping and re-ripping music in lossless and I just took all of my Dev stuff off the shelves, including the two SYL discs I own. I'll give them a whirl while I eagerly anticipate Z2. The teasers he's uploading to Facebook with the new graphics and the like lead me to believe I'm going to love this as much as I did Epicloud. The guy can't put a foot wrong right now and that's friggin' awesome!

I'm just going to say it, very average



Still, I didn't like Lucky Animals either but I love Epicloud.

Boris2008 wrote:

I'm just going to say it, very average



Still, I didn't like Lucky Animals either but I love Epicloud.

Listened once last week and...wasn't blown away. =( I don't like that "Ziltoid" is singing. It just doesn't work for me. I also hate cheesy videos and that tends to make songs seem worse to me, so I'm just going to ignore this one until the album comes out. Maybe the non-Ziltoid version of the Ziltoid album will have Devin singing the parts.

So this leaked. I downloaded it...then deleted it after one listen. I usually do this when I download albums by my favorite bands, so as to not get burned out on it and not buy it when it's released. But I always listen more than once.

I was disappointed with this one, though. Or both, rather.

As of late, Devin seems to have lost his musical identity by gaining one. His stuff is sounding a bit "samey," even the mellower albums, Ki, Ghost, and Casualties of Cool. I love those albums, of course, as I loved Addicted and Epicloud. Those albums had that big grandiose sound that only Devin can do...but this new one has that sound, too, as does the Ziltoid album. Sky Blue was excellent if not a little disappointing in that regard; but the Ziltoid album left me seriously disappointed. It just doesn't sound like the first album. At all. It sounds like other albums I mentioned and that's maybe too many at this point.

I guess I just miss each album having its own unique identity, which was the case up through the first Ziltoid album. Yes, they all sounded like Devin, but now that sound is much more distinct and constant.

I don't know. Maybe I'm being too nitpicky. I've never been this disappointed with anything he's done, though. It also might be the dialogue, which is waaaaaaaay more prevalent here than on the first Ziltoid album and very distracting. The non-dialogue version (which did not leak) might change my mind.

I'll add that "Silent Mafia" is a fantastic tune and has a different kind of vibe for him, something I wish could be said about the rest of songs on Sky Blue. That's kind of what I hope for with his albums: distinctly Devin Townsend, but slightly different, unique.

And the only reason I was taken aback by the Ziltoid album is because that one should sound like the first one.

Okay I couldn't resist after seeing a couple of you guys were listening to it and well, on the one hand I kind of agree with everything that Eyesore has said, but where we do seem to differ is that I absolutely LOVE Sky Blue, it's not really a major departure from the other upbeat poppy albums, in fact it could well have been called Addicted 2, but the songs are great and the whole thing is beautiful from start to finish. Dark Matters? To much Ziltoid, to much of Devin's humour (which I enjoy in very small doses, not a f**king hour of it!!) I'll give the non dialogue version a chance, but the songs are nowhere near the standard set on Sky Blue.

No, I loved Sky Blue; I was just disappointed that it has that same Addicted/Epicloud sound. It's a minor complaint. Like I said, "Silent Mafia" really stood because it sounds like Devin, but also sounds unique to what he's done before. The same could be said about his earlier solo or non-SYL stuff. That's what I miss a bit.

Right, so I take it back. The "raw" version of Z2, without the dialogue and cheese, is FAR superior! It removed everything that was so distracting and I was able to hear the songs and not continuously be taken out of the moment by cheesy dialogue.

Eyesore wrote:

Right, so I take it back. The "raw" version of Z2, without the dialogue and cheese, is FAR superior! It removed everything that was so distracting and I was able to hear the songs and not continuously be taken out of the moment by cheesy dialogue.

My copy is now here but I only got the 2 disc version (included with the vinyl set)

I'll have to try to pick up the 3 disc at some point!

But I really do love Sky Blue. It's better than Epicloud to my ears (still not quite Addicted though)

I've only listened to the two songs posted to Youtube (I try to avoid hearing an album until I have it in hand), but I have to say I think this is going to be a great one.

And, as for the "samey" quality to his stuff, he has released... what? Three major albums in as many years, all of which with EXTRA songs? It's even sounding in interviews like he's a little burnt at the moment and Sky Blue was originally the only way his label would back the Z2 album at all, so it was a little "contractual obligation." Probably explains a lot of it.

I tried listening to Z2 on spotify and couldn't get through it. All the chatter was just annoying me.

Rex wrote:

I tried listening to Z2 on spotify and couldn't get through it. All the chatter was just annoying me.

It really is. It's a shame the version without the dialogue isn't the standard version.

Having given both records a few spins now, my initial slight disappointment has lifted. Like Eyesore says. Sky Blue feels a little samey - it's a shame the slightly more distinct tracks like 'Silent Militia' don't make up more of the album, because it does just sound like another continuation of the Addicted! sound (which I love, but don't want to burn out on). However, having listened to it a few more spins, it seems to have latched with me. Not a favourite, but still strong regardless.

Oddly enough, I actually preferred Dark Matters at first, dialogue and all. Devin always said it was meant to be like a musical version of those radio novels you used to get in the '70s, so the dialogue made sense. But after a listen or two, the dialogue does start to really grate - the raw version is definitely much better. I think 'March of the Poozers' is potentially one of the best songs Devin's done since DTP started. Sounds very Deconstruction to me. Of course, Dark Matters doesn't live up to the original Ziltoid, but it's good fun.

All in all, it's all good, if slightly underwhelming just because it doesn't feel as "new" as some of his other albums did. But then, Casualties of Cool also came out this year and that was just completely different. The guy must be utterly knackered at this point, I don't get how he can create so much.

Smindas wrote:

Having given both records a few spins now, my initial slight disappointment has lifted. Like Eyesore says. Sky Blue feels a little samey - it's a shame the slightly more distinct tracks like 'Silent Militia' don't make up more of the album, because it does just sound like another continuation of the Addicted! sound (which I love, but don't want to burn out on). However, having listened to it a few more spins, it seems to have latched with me. Not a favourite, but still strong regardless.

Oddly enough, I actually preferred Dark Matters at first, dialogue and all. Devin always said it was meant to be like a musical version of those radio novels you used to get in the '70s, so the dialogue made sense. But after a listen or two, the dialogue does start to really great - the raw version is definitely much better. I think 'March of the Poozers' is potentially one of the best songs Devin's done since DTP started. Sounds very Deconstruction to me. Of course, Dark Matters doesn't live up to the original Ziltoid, but it's good fun.

All in all, it's all good, if slightly underwhelming just because it doesn't feel as "new" as some of his other albums did. But then, Casualties of Cool also came out this year and that was just completely different. The guy must be utterly knackered at this point, I don't get how he can create so much.

There are some musicians who can barely manage an album's worth of tracks in 10 years, then there are people like Devin Townsend and Ginger. It's gotta be maddening to have so much creativity pouring out of you. Not that I'm complaining.

And I agree with all you said, of course. "March of the Poozers" is brilliant. Such a menacing riff. It sounds like a war (i.e. marching) song, you know.

Yeah, those two both just seem like they need to write constantly. I'd argue that Ginger's output is a bit less consistent than Dev's, though.

Also, I've only just realised that the version of 'Fallout' from the pre-release is different from the final. Devin seemingly replaced his vocals with Anneke... not sure it works as well, honestly.

Smindas wrote:

Yeah, those two both just seem like they need to write constantly. I'd argue that Ginger's output is a bit less consistent than Dev's, though.

Also, I've only just realised that the version of 'Fallout' from the pre-release is different from the final. Devin seemingly replaced his vocals with Anneke... not sure it works as well, honestly.

The intro to "Silent Militia" is also slightly different. Didn't notice anything else because I didn't give the leak much of a listen. Wonder if there are any other differences.

Ah, I didn't notice that. I'm sure there's probably a couple of others too. I think I listened to the leak twice, but someone mentioned the 'Fallout' thing so I had to go back and check it. I definitely prefer the version with Dev on vocals, seems like quite a major change to make at the last minute though.

After listening to both albums a few times through, I'm pretty happy. Sky Blue is really sort of a perfection of the poppy formula he's been working with for the past few years. In my opinion, it's his catchiest material yet.
As for Dark Matters, I don't have a qualm with it. If I recall, Devin had previously stated he sort of wanted it to be a "space opera" and that's just what it sounds like. I could describe the way it's put together as a musical without a stage act. It's not something I could listen to all the time, but I enjoy it none the less.

My only major disappointment between the two is that when I heard the vocal clip for Fallout on youtube it had me really psyched to hear the whole song. I probably wouldn't have been as let down by the song if I had known from the start that we were getting Anneke instead of Devin for the majority of the song.

Smindas wrote:

Ah, I didn't notice that. I'm sure there's probably a couple of others too. I think I listened to the leak twice, but someone mentioned the 'Fallout' thing so I had to go back and check it. I definitely prefer the version with Dev on vocals, seems like quite a major change to make at the last minute though.

A lot of songs seem to be longer on the leak, but it's just kind of ambient stuff in the beginning or end of the song. I think the mix is a bit different, too. I didn't compare any deeper than that so I don't know if there are any bigger differences, like on "Fallout."

Speaking of that, didn't Devin do the score or something for the game Fallout? Wonder if this song has any ties to that?