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The amazing music of Devin Townsend! Unwind and discover a new musician.

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H

Harmen

Member
He is one of those musicians I really want to like musically, but generally just don't.

I will always be thankful for his performance on Ayreon's Human Equation though, and I love this fact about Devin (and Arjen, who wrote the album): Devin didn't feel like singing the lines of another person, so initially declined contributing his vocals to the Human Equation album. Then Arjen just said that he could write/compose his own lines and music and so he did. Arjen then got a shitton of vocals, including many different layers.

The song Pain from that album, featuring Devin (and many other vocalists):

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

(other vocalists on this album include Mikeal Akerfelt and James Labrie)
 
Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Member
Actually saw him when "Down Deep Into the Pain" was first released, and felt that he was the most interesting thing in that video. He was only there for vocal duties at the time too.

Anyway, can't say I'm a huge fan of most of his releases, although I do think he's a fantastic vocalist and very inventive (if not a bit over the top in his goofiness at times). My favorite SYL album by far is City, and I just recently learned of Biomech: Ocean Machine a few months ago.

If you've never heard that album before, it's fucking fantastic. Probably the best thing I've ever heard from him.

Ocean Machine

SwolBro said:
he's a talented guy, a great producer, and his live performances are fun and entertaining yet i have never liked any of his music. ever.
Click to expand...

I almost entirely agree with this sentiment. Although I highly suggest you listen to the link above. It's an outlier IMO.
 
M

MistaBowaa

Member
My wife and I had the fortune of seeing him in LA a few years back. We had VIP passes and got to meet him and the band, and we stood front and center beneath his feet during the concert.

His music has had a significant impact on both my personal character and my creative output over the past decade. One of a kind and truly a visionary.

EAT YOUR BEETS! RECYCLE!
 
EYEL1NER

EYEL1NER

Member
teruterubozu said:
lol, yeah it's been almost ten years now since he went all-shaved. I prefer Skullet Heavy Devy, but he purged that demon.

Skullet Devin in full force:

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

He's so nuts that a huge snot gets tangled into his hair then into his beard but he keeps going.
Click to expand...
I've liked DT since first hearing "Love?" when it started getting radio/video play but I haven't seen a picture or watched footage of him in years. I was surprised as hell when I opened the thread and saw a hairless Townsend, but he looks so much better without the skullet.
 
M

Metalmarc

Member
Fahzgoolin said:
Thank you!

It's not what I expected from Devy, but I like it...It's fun to see him do different things.

It honestly sounded like Satriani during the solo. This song feels smooth, airy, and a bit sad to me.
Click to expand...

I bet it was a reflection of how he was feeling when he wrote it, hence the title, but damn it's a good song.
 
S

Shamrock7r

Member
Got around to checking out more of the songs from the OP and just want to say thanks for introducing Townsend to me. I'm hooked on a bunch of his songs now.
 
T

TerminalDogma

Member
City by Strapping Young Lad was one of the first albums to get me into metal, loved it. Actually got to see them live for the Alien tour, it was awesome. Never have seen him for the solo stuff, but I probably love most of that even more. Kind of fell off, though. Haven't really heard anything he's released since Addiction (wasn't insanely impressed with Addiction. Felt kind of like more of the same from him, unlike Ki.) I did check out Epicloud a little bit ago and dug it. Also checked out Z2 and found it ok, think I liked the Sky Blue portion way more than the Ziltoid portion, but Ziltoid stuff always kinda felt like a way tamed down SYL project to me. Rather just go back and listen to City and Alien. Still love his early solo stuff the most, Ocean Machine, Infinity, TERRIA! Man, I've got a real hankering to go and just chill to some Terria right now. Thanks for making this topic, OP. Though I stopped following most metal bands, Devin was one of the few that I still enjoy listening to frequently and I think today is a great day to re-visit some of his catalog. But first....

kruis said:
BTW If you really want to have your mind expanded and want to hear a band play circus music, psychedelia, britpop, punk and prog (including a familiar wall of guitars sounda on numerous occasions), listen to "Sing to God" by The Cardiacs. Released 20 years and 1 month ago. I bet that DT knows this album inside and out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax9yT3t1jSI
Click to expand...

Been listening to this whilst reading through this thread, about 20 minutes into it now. It's pretty cool stuff, and yeah I can definitely see Devin being influenced by these guys.
 
A

Altazor

Member
I approve of this thread. Love Devin's music, and can't wait for the new album.

Strapping Young Lad's City is fucking incredible. It's the sound of hatred in modern life.
 
D

Dolobill

Member
Saw him live last year at Heavy Montreal. Will be seeing him again in September here in Edmonton. He puts on a great show. He has a ton of personality and stage presence, plus his audio quality live is immaculate.
 
F

Fahzgoolin

Banned
Omikron said:
As a very long time Devin fan. This is wonderful.
Click to expand...

Considering that Devin himself said this is a very "simple" song and that the rest of his record is very heavy and complex, I'm actually pretty stoked. After several listens, this new song is easy to listen to.
 
S

Shredderi

Member
Devin is a revelation to myself who absolutely loves the wall of sound production technique. I love his City album from SYL days but I gotta say I've learned to like his solo stuff more. He's kinda my idol in terms of production. I'd love to be able to produce stuff as thick and dense as him. I mean is it some kind of play with reverbs or how does he achieve that?
 
mhayes86

mhayes86

Member
I was at ProgPower last year when the Devin Townsend Project was confirmed to be headlining the show for 2016. Unfortunately, he and Green Carnation were the only bands I would have been interested in, so I wasn't compelled to go. Not to mention the tickets sold out within 24 hours or so, I think.
 
F

Fahzgoolin

Banned
Shredderi said:
Devin is a revelation to myself who absolutely loves the wall of sound production technique. I love his City album from SYL days but I gotta say I've learned to like his solo stuff more. He's kinda my idol in terms of production. I'd love to be able to produce stuff as thick and dense as him. I mean is it some kind of play with reverbs or how does he achieve that?
Click to expand...

It's a mixture of tone and layering. He has stated that in the past he would use 5 guitars or more to create a super heavy wall of sound, but recently is scaling it back to about 3 guitars. He thinks it sounds heavier with only 3.

Watch the Toontrack stream of Devin creating and producing a song to get a feel for it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bxzr9n_HK8

edit:
And yes, he uses reverb and some delay as well. Steve Vai does something similar, but it's not as "huge" sounding.
 
S

Shredderi

Member
Fahzgoolin said:
It's a mixture of tone and layering. He has stated that in the past he would use 5 guitars or more to create a super heavy wall of sound, but recently is scaling it back to about 3 guitars. He thinks it sounds heavier with only 3.

Watch the Toontrack stream of Devin creating and producing a song to get a feel for it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bxzr9n_HK8

edit:
And yes, he uses reverb and some delay as well. Steve Vai does something similar, but it's not as "huge" sounding.
Click to expand...

Agreed on 3 guitars sounding heavier. No matter how tightly a player plays the attacks seems to lose some definition and power the more a riff is multitracked.

Edit: Loving the new single by the way.
 
M

Metalmarc

Member
Fahzgoolin said:
Thank you so much!

Edit:
Man, I really don't know what to think about that song Metalmarc. I mean...production is amazing on this one, but I am not feeling the melody at all. This album is going to be harder for me to digest I can tell. It feels very different, which isn't a bad thing.
Click to expand...

I know, took me a few listens to get into it too, it really made me go hmmm at first listen, i like it more now after about the third time, though it's still different. As you said thats a good thing.
 
F

Fahzgoolin

Banned
Metalmarc said:
I know, took me a few listens to get into it too, it really made me go hmmm at first listen, i like it more now after about the third time, though it's still different. As you said thats a good thing.
Click to expand...

Yeah I just listened to it a few more times. I now really like it quite a lot. This song has quite a lot of variety to it, so re-listening is pretty rewarding.
 
A

Axiology

Member
Thank you for this thread. I had always heard his name being thrown around, but I never got around to checking him out until now. I ended up liking pretty much all the songs in the OP. He's the closest thing to Tool that I've heard that I actually like.

Earth Day in particular reminds me of Rosetta Stoned off of 10,000 Days, though that might just be because they're both long, complex, epic, tongue-in-cheek songs.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
I'd love to see this thread turn into an album ranking thread like so many other artist focused threads do... mostly because it's so fucking hard to actually rank his stuff it'd be interesting to see how other people see it.

No idea how I'd do it.

As of now I'd probably have Terria, Accelerated Evolution, and Sky Blue as my top 3.
 
J

johnvr

Member
Terria, Ki, Z2, and Causalities of Cool are my favorites.

Although I've heard Transcendence and it seems pretty great so far.

Been following him since the early SYL days and his musical direction grew pretty much in line with my tastes which has been amazing. Easily the longest I've liked a musical artist without fading away from them.
 
SturokBGD

SturokBGD

Member
Love the new tracks. The production is unreal. Those drums!

RDreamer said:
I'd love to see this thread turn into an album ranking thread like so many other artist focused threads do... mostly because it's so fucking hard to actually rank his stuff it'd be interesting to see how other people see it.
Click to expand...
Can't do it! I guess I'd say Infinity / Terraria / Addicted / Deconstruction / Epicloud most represent what I'd say draws me to Devin - the man has remarkable pop sensibilities for someone who doesn't make pop music - but I couldn't say they should be ranked higher than something like Casualties or some of the SYL stuff.

I wish he'd go back and remix Physicist, there's a lot in there to love if it didn't sound like mud. The re-recorded DTP version of Kingdom blows my nuts off every time.
 
J

johnvr

Member
stuminus3 said:
Love the new tracks. The production is unreal. Those drums!


Can't do it! I guess I'd say Infinity / Terraria / Addicted / Deconstruction / Epicloud most represent what I'd say draws me to Devin - the man has remarkable pop sensibilities for someone who doesn't make pop music - but I couldn't say they should be ranked higher than something like Casualties or some of the SYL stuff.

I wish he'd go back and remix Physicist, there's a lot in there to love if it didn't sound like mud. The re-recorded DTP version of Kingdom blows my nuts off every time.
Click to expand...

Physicist is extremely underrated, especially by Devin himself. There are a lot of problems with it (production/mixing like you said), but a lot of hidden gems. Planet Rain and Irish Maiden never get old.
 
F

Fahzgoolin

Banned
RDreamer said:
I'd love to see this thread turn into an album ranking thread like so many other artist focused threads do... mostly because it's so fucking hard to actually rank his stuff it'd be interesting to see how other people see it.

No idea how I'd do it.

As of now I'd probably have Terria, Accelerated Evolution, and Sky Blue as my top 3.
Click to expand...

Oh man that's so hard to do. That would be like ranking Porcupine Tree albums. It depends on my mood and season of life on which albums I prefer.

I would have to say right now it would be...

Deconstruction (cuz it's new for me), Ghost, Ki, Ocean Machine, and Z2. I'm sure that might change a month from now.

Axiology said:
Thank you for this thread. I had always heard his name being thrown around, but I never got around to checking him out until now. I ended up liking pretty much all the songs in the OP. He's the closest thing to Tool that I've heard that I actually like.

Earth Day in particular reminds me of Rosetta Stoned off of 10,000 Days, though that might just be because they're both long, complex, epic, tongue-in-cheek songs.
Click to expand...

Very cool! Glad to hear you are finding enjoyment from it. That was the goal of this thread =)
 
F

Fahzgoolin

Banned
Gotta say, that after listening to the new album (leaked online...shame really) I really don't care for it. I don't like Nolly's production with Devin's style. It feels cold and distant. I'm sure some of the album will grow on me, but unfortunately it seems like this might be my least favorite release in many years. I'm surprised it's taken me this long to find something of his that doesn't comply with my tastes.

*Shrug*

Still gonna buy it to support mah boi Devy. Looking forward to it regardless.
 
obin_gam

obin_gam

Member
Ghost has to be #1. I went into a trance hearing it for the first time. It's pure an unadulterated beauty, in music form.

The rest of the albums can be discussed though, for me Addicted! packs the biggest punch in terms of amount of hit songs on an album. Ocean Machine feels the most complete, with clear distinctive styles for each song.
 
S

StanleyPalmtree

Banned
just discovered this guys music last week thanks to a friend o mine. been loving going through as much as i can since.
genuinely great metal that continues to surprise.
 
A

Always-honest

Banned
He's a great musician but i don't like the way he or his guitar sounds.
I have that with all those hardrock/metal guitars. They sound the same with distortion and have zero character when clean.

But yes, obviously a very talented guy.
 
T

theLusitanian

Neo Member
Going to a concert of his soon, I wonder how much of the music played will be from the album that is about to get released. I have been watching the mini-documentary on youtube and am curious to see how much the band member's input affects the overall tone of the album.
 
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