Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts

[Dark Castle]

Kingdom kicks so much ass live.

Yes, yes it does
Super crush debt singing is the best live

[PolarizeMe]

I actually thought that Grace would've been the final song in the set when I saw him live last week tbh, but nevertheless Kingdom was such an awesome end to Dev's set IMO.

I don't think I'll ever get over the fact he shook my hand at the end of his set. 

[Metro]

I don't think I'll ever get over the fact he shook my hand at the end of his set. 

Same here. He almost remembered my name from the meet and greet when he shook my hand(He called me Joshua instead of Jacob)
Doesn't matter, met Dev.

[TioJorge]

 

[ZKX-2099]

I don't think I'll ever get over the fact he shook my hand at the end of his set. 

Same here. He almost remembered my name from the meet and greet when he shook my hand(He called me Joshua instead of Jacob)
Doesn't matter, met Dev.

Hey it starts with a J.

[Ben_Jamin]

Kingdom kicks so much ass live.

Tomorrow, hopefully I'll experience its majesticness.

[Ben_Jamin]

The Meet and Greet was awesome.  Talked mainly to Ryan and Mike though. Got my Teddy signed.

[KevShmev]

Mark me down as someone who hopes Devin puts the whole Ziltoid thing to rest now.  I never thought the first one was that great - it's good, but nearly every Devin solo/DTP/DTB album is better (except Physicist) - and Dark Matters isn't that great either.  It's unreal how much better Sky Blue is than Dark Matters.  Even the supposed best song on it, War Princess, is generally a freaking mess, but is somewhat saved by Anneke's recurring "You're part of me" line, which is pretty gorgeous.  If I separated Dark Matters and Sky Blue when ranking albums, which I'll probably do anyway, Dark Matters and Ziltoid would both rank above Physicist, but Ocean Machine, Infinity, Terria, AE, Synchestra, Ki, Addicted, Deconstruction, Ghost, Epicloud, Casualties of Cool and Sky Blue are all much, much better.  I'll even take Epiclouder and the CoC bonus disc over them.  Good night, Ziltoid.  Please sleep tight and for a long time.

[Buddyhunter1]

I'm not a huge fan of the first Ziltoid album either, but Dark Matters is the tits. Easily better than Sky Blue, and probably a top 5 solo album of his.

Also, I'm pretty sure all of the vocals on War Princess are Dominique, not Anneke.

[mikemangioy]

The first Ziltoid has a great few songs, but yeah, it's not that awesome overall, but Dark Matters is GNNNNNNH 

For me SB and DM are pretty balanced in ranking, I like Sky Blue more, but they're incredibly close.

[TioJorge]

^ That's how I feel. At first SB was leagues beyond DM with the massive exception of Poozers, but I've grown to like it a lot as a whole. The whole Z2 project is awesome in my earholes. It really gets my earwax flowing.

[Crow]

the original Ziltoid is one of my favorites from Devin, but Dark Matters isn't that great to me, just got completely overtaken by the not-that-funny-or-interesting story

[Metro]

I, for one, welcome our Poozonian overlords!


Personally I like Dark Matters a lot more Sky Blue. I can listen to DM multiple times in a row without getting bored. SB doesn't get that much replay value for me.

I've noticed there's essentially no musical reprises of anything from the original Ziltoid album. The only thing that comes close is the intro to Deathray. "Attention people of earth, we are your Poozonian overlords. Resistance is futile." It calls back to the intro to Ziltoidia Attaxx. Other than that, nothing.
Hell, it even sounds like Z² totally retcons the first album.
Ignore me

[TioJorge]

I kinda like that. Too many bands from my past (and consequently, to me, it seems, "a lot of bands") seem to have this masturbatory way of referencing their past albums and it's gotten to a point where it kind of skeevs me out and I'm pretty much over it. It's unnecessary...and I completely do not get how Z2 'retcons' the original... There's nothing indicating that in the album, to my knowledge.

Anyway, Ultimate Guitar had a small interview of Devy in which he says (and I'm pretty sure he's said it in the past and has been posted on here) that the next project will be "much less produced, more organic" and I really liked hearing that. For as much as I love Z2, I'd LOVE something just off-the-wall.

[Buddyhunter1]

I kinda like that. Too many bands from my past (and consequently, to me, it seems, "a lot of bands") seem to have this masturbatory way of referencing their past albums and it's gotten to a point where it kind of skeevs me out and I'm pretty much over it.

Interestingly enough, Devin is one of the artists who does this the most. Usually on each album there's a handful of callbacks hidden in the songs. I.E. Lucky Animals calling back to Monument, Radial Highway calling back to Bad Devil, and like three different songs that contain the "sooner or later the night..." line.

[TioJorge]

WELL GOD DAMN IT I'M NEVER LISTENING TO DEVIN AGAIN

[Mosh]

I kinda like that. Too many bands from my past (and consequently, to me, it seems, "a lot of bands") seem to have this masturbatory way of referencing their past albums and it's gotten to a point where it kind of skeevs me out and I'm pretty much over it.

Interestingly enough, Devin is one of the artists who does this the most. Usually on each album there's a handful of callbacks hidden in the songs. I.E. Lucky Animals calling back to Monument, Radial Highway calling back to Bad Devil, and like three different songs that contain the "sooner or later the night..." line.

Yea, I'm surprised to see this complaint when Devin does this a ton. Even musically he's been known to recycle ideas. Which is also I find it odd that Z2 features almost no references to the original Ziltoid. Of all albums, that's the one where it'd be most appropriate to do that. 

[TioJorge]

I suppose I simply didn't notice. All the songs mentioned are not so coincidentally songs in Devys repertoire that I never listen to, with the slight exception of Bad Devil once in a blue moon. My main thought was with another band I love, BTBAM. Doesn't mean I don't like the music but more of the self-referencing overload in itself. I could do without it, that's all I'm saying.

I appreciate Z2 more because it's more original and doesn't feel the need to latch onto the first to be what it is.

HOLY FUCK OPINIONS ERRYWHERE

[Mosh]

It's definitely good that it stands on its own, but it's still a sequel. There should be at least some connection to the original beyond just using the same character again. That's why it feels like retconning too. The Ziltoid in Z2 might as well be a completely different character, and maybe that was the intention. But it makes the story of ZTO seem irrelevant almost.

[Sacul]

Today I was thinking that SYL's All Hail the New Flesh sounded like a heavier version of the Accelerated Evolution album. Even when th last one was written like 6 years later than City .

[Ultimetalhead]

It's unnecessary...and I completely do not get how Z2 'retcons' the original... There's nothing indicating that in the album, to my knowledge.

Well, pretty early in the album the narrator says something about "when we last saw Ziltoid, it was thought that he existed in the mind of a coffeehouse worker, but it turns out, Ziltoid is VERY real." There's no way that's the exact quote, but it's in there somewhere. Then again, that might be another relic of the pre-release leak.

[TioJorge]

Yeah, it is; I had a conversation with someone (I think in this thread?) about that. It's nowhere to be found in the final release.

[Ultimetalhead]

Interesting. Very interesting indeed. I wonder if there's a Z³ if the pre-release leak will be different to the final as well. It's almost a tradition at this point. Ziltoid 1 had a few dialogue differences as well.

[Metro]

It says:

"Z². Zed Squared. Episode 2. When we last met Ziltoid, it was thought he was merely a figment of our fertile imaginations. As it turns out, he is VERY real. Welcome."

That's the quote you're thinking of. It's on the leaked version but absent on the official.

But I'm 99% sure I heard the sample played when he played Z²(the song) live.

[Ultimetalhead]

It says:

"Z². Zed Squared. Episode 2. When we last met Ziltoid, it was thought he was merely a figment of our fertile imaginations. As it turns out, he is VERY real. Welcome."

That's the quote you're thinking of. It's on the leaked version but absent on the official.

But I'm 99% sure I heard the sample played when he played Z²(the song) live.

Yes yes yes. That's the one. Odd that he took it out. Also odd that he took out his (fucking awesome) vocals on Fallout. Also also odd that he added a goofy "I'ma WARRIOR!" dialogue to Warrior. Also also also odd that he added an a capella section to Silent Militia.

Hell, I don't get it. The leaked version is better in every way if you ask me.

[Buddyhunter1]

I heard the original version of Fallout with the Dev vocals a while ago and I'll be honest, I can see why he dropped them. Not only does having Anneke do the verses make the choruses hit a lot harder, but his vocals during the verses sound pretty strained. Not his worst vocal performance, but not that great either.

As for the other differences in the leaks, aside from the different mixes, who cares? The additions in Warrior and Silent Militia are so miniscule that they don't add or detract in any way.

[Ultimetalhead]

Personally, I don't mind the Warrior thing, but I think Silent Militia takes way too long to get going. I also think Devin's vocals on Fallout are fantastic, but hey. Opinions and shit.

[TioJorge]

After a while, I can SEE why he used Anneke, but I too prefer the Devy version. At first I was flip flopping, but I just love his vocals too much, even if I can hear a slight bit of strain, it's not obvious enough to take away my boner. I LOVE the "I'm a WARRIOR!" part, even if I don't get it at all.

[Metro]

I remember Devin saying that he wrote the heaviest song he's ever written for this album. Any guesses on what song that could be?(Assuming it made it on to the album. Probably on DM if it did make it.) While the album certainly is heavy, nothing really stands out as the heaviest thing he's ever done. War Princess maybe?

[cramx3]

I got my Retinal Circus Blu Ray last week.  Still havent watched it all, but Im loving it so far about half way through.

[mikemangioy]

I remember Devin saying that he wrote the heaviest song he's ever written for this album. Any guesses on what song that could be?(Assuming it made it on to the album. Probably on DM if it did make it.) While the album certainly is heavy, nothing really stands out as the heaviest thing he's ever done. War Princess maybe?

I'd say Ziltoid Goes Home. But I think that it's hard to top how heavy he was in SYL and Deconstruction. It's hard to top that heaviness.

I got my Retinal Circus Blu Ray last week.  Still havent watched it all, but Im loving it so far about half way through.

Mine is coming soon too. I can't fucking wait.

[TioJorge]

I remember Devin saying that he wrote the heaviest song he's ever written for this album. Any guesses on what song that could be?(Assuming it made it on to the album. Probably on DM if it did make it.) While the album certainly is heavy, nothing really stands out as the heaviest thing he's ever done. War Princess maybe?

I'd say Ziltoid Goes Home. But I think that it's hard to top how heavy he was in SYL and Deconstruction. It's hard to top that heaviness.

That's what I'm thinking too, it's gotta be ZGH. I can see what he means, but yeah I'd say anything on Decon is heavier. Then again I also thought Thing was one of the heaviest things he's written till it sunk in a bit more; so I suppose it comes down to how you feel about the song itself and the general vibe, not the crushing guitars, bass and drums.

[Mosh]

Sounds like a similar thing to Mikael from Opeth. They have a different definition of "heavy" now.

[Scard]

I remember Devin saying that he wrote the heaviest song he's ever written for this album. Any guesses on what song that could be?(Assuming it made it on to the album. Probably on DM if it did make it.) While the album certainly is heavy, nothing really stands out as the heaviest thing he's ever done. War Princess maybe?

He recently said on Twitter that the "heaviest thing he ever wrote" was left off of Z2.

[TioJorge]

Oh daaayyum! I wanna hear that shit. NAO.