Author Topic: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts  (Read 226634 times)

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Offline goo-goo

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2030 on: March 31, 2019, 08:47:36 PM »
Very dense album...somewhat chaotic. Production is top notch but it's not an easy album to digest. Might take a while to "get it".

Offline abydos

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2031 on: April 01, 2019, 05:02:05 AM »
Checked the album out on Spotify. Couldn't sit through 1 song from start to finish. To me, this album is a total mess - it's like each song was composed by 3 different people or something like that. Hope I'm in the minority on this one, but this is not made for me for sure.

Offline jcmoorehead

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2032 on: April 01, 2019, 05:22:55 AM »
I haven't had the chance to sit down with the full album yet. I did like what I heard but I do find that with Devin I do like some of his stuff, but I tend to find the overall dense/chaotic nature of his material means I can't listen to an album in one go and I do get fatigued by it.

Offline NunoTenniscourt

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2033 on: April 01, 2019, 05:49:19 AM »

I think Dev is the type of musician (like Neal Morse and Steven Wilson) where is fans honestly don't care about quality and deem every thing he does as a masterpiece just because he's a cool, approachable guy. I ran through the first disc and there is literally nothing that screams masterpiece and most of it sounds like a hot pile of mishmashed garbage. I don't know how anyone can listen to this and feel any kind of emotional connection or affinity towards it. I know it's tough to critique and album after only one listen so maybe I'll rethink it after more listens (if I'm able to even make it through another play-through), but seriously, do the hardcore Devin fans really honestly like this album or does he get leeway because he's an awesome dude?

I definitely don't fall under this category. I think Devin is a musical genius in every sense of the word, in a genre all his own, in fact, but this "Empath" stuff?? I keep asking myself "he ended DTP for THIS???" I am very disappointed in the album. So far, out of all the releases I was looking forward to this year, the new Dream Theater is the best, and I did not predict that at all.

Offline TL

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2034 on: April 01, 2019, 07:11:08 AM »
I wonder how much of the 'goofiness' some people have mentioned is just Canadian-ness. Personally, I find those elements refreshing. It's certainly subjective though.

Offline ThatOneGuy2112

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2035 on: April 01, 2019, 08:52:06 AM »
I haven't really cared for a Devin album in quite a while, but this new one here is pretty solid all around. Really dense and maximal with a hundred things going on at once. I can see where some are saying it's a mess, but I really don't see how this is such a huge departure from some of the stuff he's done in the past or that this album is "too weird" as some people are suggesting. Will have to give it more time, but I think my take away with this album is that it's simply Devin at a full 100, throwing everything he's got in the pot. Is it a bit unfocused? Sure. But it's honestly quite a lot of fun.

Offline cramx3

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2036 on: April 01, 2019, 10:17:09 AM »
I think the problem with people saying they can't sit through the album or even a full song, I think the album almost needs to be digested as a whole.  Gave another listen this morning and really enjoy it more and more with each full listen, I know that's asking a lot for people who can't even take a song and sure, at that point the album probably is not for you, but this thing needs a lot of time to digest.  Having said all that, it's not like I love it, it's alright.  I feel like the parts I enjoy the most are the parts that sound like DTP which then leads me to also ask myself

I keep asking myself "he ended DTP for THIS???"

Yea, I knew this might be a mixed bag for me and I want him to succeed on a personal level, but the feedback has been poor and my own experience is that mixed bag so I am kind of hoping once his tour cycle completes (and I hope to see him when he tours for this with a band, the acoustic date he is doing locally is my gf's graduation so I don't think I can make it) he feels refreshed and maybe comes back to DTP and does what he does best IMO (of course without sacrificing his own art).

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2037 on: April 01, 2019, 10:23:21 AM »
Totally forgot this came out... Heard the two songs for which he's done videos. Not bad, but not anywhere close to 'Failure' on Transcendence, or hell, most of the songs on that album. Epicloud and Transcendence are the two albums that made me a Devy fan, and I'm nervous this new album won't have what made me a fan. I'll check it out tonight.
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Offline goo-goo

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2038 on: April 01, 2019, 10:47:51 AM »
I keep asking myself "he ended DTP for THIS???"
Quote
Yea, I knew this might be a mixed bag for me and I want him to succeed on a personal level, but the feedback has been poor and my own experience is that mixed bag so I am kind of hoping once his tour cycle completes (and I hope to see him when he tours for this with a band, the acoustic date he is doing locally is my gf's graduation so I don't think I can make it) he feels refreshed and maybe comes back to DTP and does what he does best IMO (of course without sacrificing his own art).

I don't think he will come back or reform DTP after one or two years. I think that was the pressure that was getting to him: that others depended on him to make a living. Maybe something like Steven Wilson, where he changes the lineup every once in a while and just hire "hired guns". I think if DTP reforms, it would be that way where they would be hired on a tour by tour basis and not make them full time members (for financial pressure and creativity reasons). That way he can do whatever he wants and the band plays what Devin says. The DTP sound was already burnt out in my opinion and Devin new/felt that.

I had the same feeling when I heard Empath for the 1st time. It has grown on me, but I believe this music could have been played by the rest of the DTP guys.
« Last Edit: April 01, 2019, 11:55:35 AM by goo-goo »

Offline Ben_Jamin

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2039 on: April 01, 2019, 11:17:24 AM »
I'm finding Empath way better than Transcendence.

It feels refreshing, energetic and overall passionate. Transcendence felt like Devin being bored and doing something because he has too...

Gonna listen again.
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Offline ChuckSteak

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2040 on: April 01, 2019, 11:22:34 AM »
The first listen was a lot to digest.

I only listened now to Spirit Will Colide, Why and Adrift. I love all three. I will take time to relisten the rest.

Offline ChuckSteak

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2041 on: April 01, 2019, 11:23:07 AM »
It feels refreshing, energetic and overall passionate. Transcendence felt like Devin being bored and doing something because he has too...
Nah that was Sky Blue.

Offline Ben_Jamin

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2042 on: April 01, 2019, 11:25:52 AM »
It feels refreshing, energetic and overall passionate. Transcendence felt like Devin being bored and doing something because he has too...
Nah that was Sky Blue.

But it was still energetic.

Transcendence is just dull for me.
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Offline Buddyhunter1

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2043 on: April 01, 2019, 12:10:11 PM »
Neither Sky Blue nor Transcendence were bad albums, but they felt pretty uninspired and like Devin was just going through the motions. Especially Sky Blue, which was seemingly created solely so that newer fans who only enjoyed his more "straightforward" albums weren't completely turned off by the weirdness of the new Ziltoid album. With that in mind, it makes total sense that he'd feel the need to disband the DTP. He wants to write what he wants to write, limitations be damned, and at that point the expectations of what a DTP album "should" sound like were just creating limitations for him. That's why Empath is so all over the place. He's letting loose after he's broken himself off of those limitations and expectations. How that reflects in the music is clearly a mixed bag from a quality standpoint, but hey, I'm happy that he made the album he wanted to make, and I think the decision to end the DTP will, in the end, be a net positive for his creative output.

So no, I don't think he's going to bring back the DTP. That said, the DTP (after the original four albums) was pretty much a rebranding of the Devin Townsend Band, was it not? So it could totally happen a third time, under a different name. And it's totally a possibility that he'll go back to writing more straightforward albums, when he feels like it. I would be shocked if he kept making albums that sound like Empath going forward. So I don't think anyone should be worried about that, even if they don't like the new album. Unlike the last couple DTP albums, there's no telling where he'll go next now, and that makes me pretty excited.
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Offline King Puppies and the Acid Guppies

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2044 on: April 01, 2019, 06:23:41 PM »
Here's a video of Samus doing his playthrough of the drums for Hear Me  :metal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQaETtF_dzQ
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Offline TL

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2045 on: April 01, 2019, 08:00:50 PM »
but the feedback has been poor
Has it? While it's not everyone's cup of tea, I've seen a lot of very positive reactions to the record around.

Offline Buddyhunter1

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2046 on: April 01, 2019, 09:22:16 PM »
Well. Uh... that was... an album.

First impressions after one listen: it's a mess.

After repeated listens my opinion has changed from "it's a mess" to "it's decent".

Okay this album might actually be amazing. I can't stop listening to it.

Devin you fucking madman how the fuck did you do this.
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Offline cramx3

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2047 on: April 01, 2019, 09:23:51 PM »
but the feedback has been poor
Has it? While it's not everyone's cup of tea, I've seen a lot of very positive reactions to the record around.

I saw a lot of positive feedback pre release, like MP loving it, but since then it seemed very mixed at best.  Just read this thread. 

Offline Crow

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2048 on: April 01, 2019, 10:50:31 PM »
Well. Uh... that was... an album.

First impressions after one listen: it's a mess.

After repeated listens my opinion has changed from "it's a mess" to "it's decent".

Okay this album might actually be amazing. I can't stop listening to it.

Devin you fucking madman how the fuck did you do this.
:lol

i didn't "love" it on first listen but i did like it, myself. only two spins deep but i'm gonna have it on regular rotation for the next few weeks so we'll see where i end up. don't think it'll be my absolutely favorite thing from him but it's ambitious in the way i tend to enjoy, which is something that had been missing from his last few releases

Offline ariich

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2049 on: April 02, 2019, 05:15:21 AM »
Yeah this album is definitely a grower. as with others, I liked it on first listen but didn't love it, too much to take in and hard to get my head around. It's especially unusual that this time he's not focused on one or two sides of his music but thrown absolutely everything in.

I'm onto I think my 6th listen now, and it gets better with every listen. I don't see it being one of my favourites, but it's hugely ambitious, very enjoyable and really quite impressive and I'm digging it.

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Offline TL

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2050 on: April 02, 2019, 06:56:01 AM »
but the feedback has been poor
Has it? While it's not everyone's cup of tea, I've seen a lot of very positive reactions to the record around.

I saw a lot of positive feedback pre release, like MP loving it, but since then it seemed very mixed at best.  Just read this thread.

This thread is probably the most mixed reaction I've seen to the album so far. Other places I've seen, whether it's fans or reviewers, the reaction has generally been to some degree on the positive side. Though it really does come down to where one looks.
Time will tell I suppose.

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2051 on: April 02, 2019, 07:01:37 AM »
Okay this album might actually be amazing. I can't stop listening to it.

Devin you fucking madman how the fuck did you do this.

You may be on to something here.

Offline jcmoorehead

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2052 on: April 02, 2019, 07:21:06 AM »
Yeah this album is definitely a grower. as with others, I liked it on first listen but didn't love it, too much to take in and hard to get my head around. It's especially unusual that this time he's not focused on one or two sides of his music but thrown absolutely everything in.

I'm onto I think my 6th listen now, and it gets better with every listen. I don't see it being one of my favourites, but it's hugely ambitious, very enjoyable and really quite impressive and I'm digging it.

This ^

Managed to give it a full listen this morning, and with each listen you do start to get a handle on things and see the beauty of it through the chaos of the music. It's definitely an album that grows on you and rewards multiple listens.

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2053 on: April 02, 2019, 07:53:09 AM »
Listening to it a few songs at a time. Aside from Genesis, I really liked Sprite, Hear Me, and Why?

Left off on Why? so I'll keep listening later. Spirits Will Collide is okay, and Evermore didn't resonate much with me. Maybe on future listens. But those two, thus far, are the most typical modern Devin that I'm not huge into.
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Offline Pettor

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2054 on: April 02, 2019, 07:59:18 AM »
I am not a big Devin fan. He is a fun guy that seems very creative and awesome, but to me everything sounds pretty much similar even if he does country, pop, atmospheric or whatever. It's Devin's voice and super over the top dense production where no detail can be layered enough. That is usually my issue with it. And it's like everything, maybe you like the sound or maybe you don't. Usually artists have a similar sound no matter what genre they are doing and at least for me that is true with Devin as well. Ziltoid is so far my favorite album as a whole and then some songs here and there. Failure is a fantastic song etc.

Anyway, this album is quite much similar up until Why?. Then suddenly I am actually liking this more than usual! The goofy parts are refreshing and fun. Still the production is a bit too much for me … which is strange since I many times can like that as well. But the "Disney" stuff works well with what Devin is doing imo. It's not just heavy epic with layered stuff, it's nice symphonic with varied epic and soft elements. It doesn't always sound like what I expect from Devin which is fun. Nice!

I need to spin it more and I don't think I will fall in love, but let's see. I am hoping for that of course :D

Offline cramx3

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2055 on: April 02, 2019, 08:39:54 AM »
I read through the lyrics on my listen up until Singularity and really enjoyed it.  Almost feels like a self discovery type of album, kind of makes sense when you think about what Dev has been saying through the making of it.  Feels like you are in his head with all the crazy music and reading his words.  I gained a lot more appreciation for it by doing that. 

Offline ariich

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2056 on: April 02, 2019, 09:53:27 AM »
Well. Uh... that was... an album.

First impressions after one listen: it's a mess.

After repeated listens my opinion has changed from "it's a mess" to "it's decent".

Okay this album might actually be amazing. I can't stop listening to it.

Devin you fucking madman how the fuck did you do this.
You've been on quite the journey with this one. :lol

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Offline ariich

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2057 on: April 02, 2019, 09:54:21 AM »
Left off on Why? so I'll keep listening later. Spirits Will Collide is okay, and Evermore didn't resonate much with me. Maybe on future listens. But those two, thus far, are the most typical modern Devin that I'm not huge into.
Spirits Will Collide is pretty standard Devy but I absolutely love it. A whole album of it would get boring, but it's got such a wonderful warmth to it. I think it might be my favourite of that type of song of his.

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2058 on: April 02, 2019, 09:55:22 AM »
Left off on Why? so I'll keep listening later. Spirits Will Collide is okay, and Evermore didn't resonate much with me. Maybe on future listens. But those two, thus far, are the most typical modern Devin that I'm not huge into.
Spirits Will Collide is pretty standard Devy but I absolutely love it. A whole album of it would get boring, but it's got such a wonderful warmth to it. I think it might be my favourite of that type of song of his.

I enjoyed it, for sure. It just didn't really impress me, but I really loved parts of it. The choir, for instance, REALLY worked. Plus the video is just great.
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Offline cramx3

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2059 on: April 02, 2019, 09:58:10 AM »
Left off on Why? so I'll keep listening later. Spirits Will Collide is okay, and Evermore didn't resonate much with me. Maybe on future listens. But those two, thus far, are the most typical modern Devin that I'm not huge into.
Spirits Will Collide is pretty standard Devy but I absolutely love it. A whole album of it would get boring, but it's got such a wonderful warmth to it. I think it might be my favourite of that type of song of his.

Yea, it's maybe the most standard Devy track and maybe that's why it stands out a bit and I enjoy it.  It's not my favorite, but it's a good song.  I really enjoy the music video too.  I'm really not too sure what song is my favorite yet though.

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2060 on: April 02, 2019, 08:54:54 PM »
Still trying to fully digest this album, but a couple of thoughts.

Hear Me has got to be one of the hardest songs I've ever tried to learn on the drums. Samus really brings it on the drums here. It's also a beast of a track.

The ending of Singularity is possibly one of the most majestic things Devin has ever done....possibly...
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Offline cramx3

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2061 on: April 05, 2019, 09:32:54 AM »
I think I only enjoy the beginning and end of Singularity, that song is a bit too much of all over the place for me.  It starts and ends nicely though.  I think the rest of the album is pretty strong overall now.  Songs like Evermore actually have me coming back "I AM I AM!" because of licks I didn't really get or enjoy the first times listening.  Why is an awesome song, so bombastic.  Sprite is cool as hell, such awesome music and feel to that song.  Borderlands is a but much too, it has awesome parts but feels a bit disjointed.  Anyway, since I actually have the CD wiht the bonus disk this time, I am listening to the other CD for the first time now, there's some good stuff here.  King is an awesome song  :metal

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2062 on: April 05, 2019, 10:25:30 AM »
I agree with the previous post to an uncanny degree. Especially about how Singularity and Borderlands are a bit too unfocused but still great.
I understand but don't agree with the criticism about Spirits. Devin did overuse this blueprint in the past, but it's a single short song on a 75min album and one of his best executions of this formula.

Devin's train-of-thought albums are my favourite side of his and this one is a winner.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2019, 10:32:55 AM by me7 »

Offline MrBoom_shack-a-lack

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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2063 on: April 05, 2019, 10:30:23 AM »
Still trying to fully digest this album, but a couple of thoughts.

Hear Me has got to be one of the hardest songs I've ever tried to learn on the drums. Samus really brings it on the drums here. It's also a beast of a track.

The ending of Singularity is possibly one of the most majestic things Devin has ever done....possibly...
Did you see his playthrough?

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

That gravityblast or one handed roll has to be impossible to do clean in a live context without using triggers. Eitherway it's an insane track!
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Re: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts
« Reply #2064 on: April 05, 2019, 11:35:50 AM »
Can we all agree that Hear Me is fucking amazing and ridiculously insane at the same time!? This is really one of the best songs he’s ever done. Wow!
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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