What you call the nonsensical bits are hit and miss for me, so I get why they'd be a turnoff for some.
Check out Ghost, Casualties of Cool, Accelerated Evolution and Ki. I don't think any of those albums will have those moments that will turn you off, and all are excellent from start to finish. And all are quite different as well.
I think there's some thematic reason for the scream at the end of Thing Beyond Things but yeah I don't like it either. You can just edit it out though once you get the mp3 - that's what I did.
I don't know if I'd call them "serious", but I suppose his more "straight-faced" albums would be Accelerated Evolution, Epicloud, Sky Blue and Transcendence. Of those Accelerated Evolution and Epicloud are definitely the best. There's also his quieter, more mellow albums like Ki, Ghost, and Casualties Of Cool, which are naturally more reserved - those would also be good to look into if you're okay with albums with a different sound. If you can't stand goofiness avoid Deconstruction and the Ziltoid albums like the plague, and his latest album (Empath) probably wouldn't be to your liking either. That said, goofiness is key part of Devin's identity and his musical personality. It's more exaggerated in some places than others, but I guess what I'm saying is if you want serious music Devin isn't exactly the artist I'd point you towards.
Thanks for the recommendations!
I don't find goofiness to be inherently bad, it just seems that I don't seem to really like Devin Townsend's sense of humor, based on what I've listened to so far. Like, I've heard about the Ziltoid albums and the concept of it sounds funny, but if it's like Deconstruction lyrically, then yeah, I'm definitely going to skip out on those. Musically, if it's weird in a BTBAM kind of way, I'd be all for that kind of silliness (for instance, I love that part in Augment of Rebirth where out of nowhere there's an accordion with a bunch of animals making noise). I just don't want to be listening to something that I'm really enjoying only for something annoying (musically or lyrically) to ruin it for me, like with Thing Beyond Things. As another example, I really enjoy Planet of the Apes musically, but there's a few instances where I find the lyrics to be... not good, I'll just say.
I can understand being off-put by the insane scream at the end of "Thing Beyond Things", but personally I didn't consider it something he was doing to be funny. I viewed it more of a massive -release- of these incredible feelings. I took it to be more serious than funny but I guess it could all be perspective.
That's something you may have to come to grips about Devin. He has mentioned many times he was diagnosed Bi-Polar at some point (while I think he has those issues under control currently) and I think to some degree that is why you get the back and forth nature within his music history. He's pretty genius musically and often he shows that off however he seems to realize he's taking the music or himself too seriously and he goes the complete opposite direction and just lets it hang out so to speak... but again it could just be how I've come to view it.
Regardless welcome to any new explorers of Devin's music. I can only hope you all enjoy it near as much as I have! 
Interesting... I guess I assumed it to be funny just because it seems like his sense of humor to do something like that. I can't say taking it in a more serious context would make me like its inclusion, but hey, at least there's some reason why it's there.
I hope I find a lot to enjoy with Devin's music, though! I do have some problems that I've been discussing, but there's a lot more about Devin's music that I do like, so I'm optimistic that I'll find that one album that really clicks with me! I should mention that aside from that scream at the very end, I did enjoy Ocean Machine: Biomech quite a bit.
I think there's some thematic reason for the scream at the end of Thing Beyond Things but yeah I don't like it either. You can just edit it out though once you get the mp3 - that's what I did.
I don't know if I'd call them "serious", but I suppose his more "straight-faced" albums would be Accelerated Evolution, Epicloud, Sky Blue and Transcendence. Of those Accelerated Evolution and Epicloud are definitely the best. There's also his quieter, more mellow albums like Ki, Ghost, and Casualties Of Cool, which are naturally more reserved - those would also be good to look into if you're okay with albums with a different sound. If you can't stand goofiness avoid Deconstruction and the Ziltoid albums like the plague, and his latest album (Empath) probably wouldn't be to your liking either. That said, goofiness is key part of Devin's identity and his musical personality. It's more exaggerated in some places than others, but I guess what I'm saying is if you want serious music Devin isn't exactly the artist I'd point you towards.
OMG...Like Devin Townsend coming out on stage in a tutu on Order of Magnitude, and dancing like Ballerina, before playing Why? 
Or this... 
Okay, I saw that ballerina thing just now, and that was pretty funny.
Topic: Devin Townsend v. Offer Your Posts (Read 228889 times)
