Author Topic: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Only once in a lifetime (#1)  (Read 30602 times)

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Online Evermind

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Welcome to my second Top 50 albums thread! Apparently there's quite a bit of interest in this thing, according to the Tracker thread, so here we go.

I ran one of those nearly four years ago, and while my tastes have changed a bit since then, I’m not simply doing another definitive Top 50 albums of all time—if I did, there would’ve been a lot of repeats, as I still love Kamelot, Ayreon, Avantasia, Beyond the Bridge and other artists I included in my list back then. So, long story short, that first list is still somewhat representative of my overall preferences in music.

For this list, I’d like to include only albums I discovered via DTF, so it’s basically going to be a list of albums you guys introduced me to. You know how it goes, perhaps someone sent me a song in my roulettes, and I liked it so much I ended up checking out the album or the whole artist’s discography, or perhaps the band has been discussed on DTF a lot and I decided to check it out. I won’t include any bands I’ve already featured in my previous Top 50—I don’t want any repeats, and, besides, if I did that, Beyond the Bridge would’ve been Top 1 here. There are going to be very well-known bands on this list, and there will be some bands that aren’t widely discussed—though you probably saw me sending them in roulettes once or twice.

I’m planning to run a roulette next year, with the intention to start in January or February, depending on how soon my turn comes. This list is a fair representation of my current tastes, so if you’re planning on participating, it might be useful to check this thread out.

For each album in the list, I’ll try to mention the person responsible for getting me into the album. So if anyone’s interested, you can tally these up and determine who has introduced me to the biggest amount of music I enjoy. I will also include two or three favourite songs from each album, so you would be able to check them out and perhaps discover some awesome music along the way. I’m also prone to ramble. Which means, well, some write-ups won’t even talk about the music at all. And the more I love the album—so the higher we go in the actual Top 50—the more I will have to say about it… or, well, perhaps not really about it, but instead tell you a stupid story of how I discovered this band, what it really reminds me of, you know.

With that, I’m going to reserve the next post for the actual list (well done, me), and then fire up some honourable mentions. The whole thing is pre-written, so I should be able to finish this by Christmas. One or two updates a day, one album per one update. Like the artist and the album? Let everyone know in the thread! Like the artist, but think I picked a shitty album? There will be almost no repeats on the list, so chances are, your favourite album by that band isn't going to appear at all, so pour all your frustration into your post! Have an interesting story regarding your own experience with the album or the artist, be that a live show, how you ran into the artist in your local grocery store, or whatever? Share it!

Ready? Let's make it fun. Honorable mentions are coming up in a few hours, and the actual #50 will be posted tomorrow.

I forgot to reserve the next post, so I guess I'll just update this very post!



1. Vanden Plas - Chronicles of the Immortals: Netherworld
2. Haken - Aquarius
3. Headspace - I Am Anonymous
4. Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain
5. Redemption - Snowfall on Judgment Day
6. Galahad - Empires Never Last
7. Primal Fear - Delivering the Black
8. Fates Warning - Theories of Flight
9. Phideaux - Number Seven
10. Evergrey - Hymns for the Broken

11. Árstíðir - Árstíðir
12. Leprous - Bilateral
13. Leprous - The Congregation
14. Dimension Act - Manifestation of Progress
15. Haken - The Mountain
16. Karmakanic - Who's the Boss in the Factory?
17. W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol
18. Sieges Even - The Art of Navigating by the Stars
19. Anathema - Alternative 4
20. Anathema - Weather Systems

21. Need - Orvam: A Song for Home
22. Arion - Last of Us
23. Insomnium - Shadows of the Dying Sun
24. Flaming Row - Mirage: A Portrayal of Figures
25. Wolverine - Communication Lost
26. Amadeus Awad - Death Is Just a Feeling
27. Riverside - Love, Fear and the Time Machine
28. Mystery - The World Is a Game
29. Amorphis - Skyforger
30. While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose

31. Jørn Lande / Trond Holter - Dracula: Swing of Death
32. Katatonia - Dead End Kings
33. Trail of Murder - Shades of Art
34. Soen - Lykaia
35. Circus Maximus - Nine
36. Echoes - Nature | Existence
37. Phantasma - The Deviant Hearts
38. The Dear Hunter - Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading
39. Myrath - Tales of the Sands
40. Wintersun - Time I

41. Big Big Train - Grimspound
42. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
43. Be'lakor - Stone's Reach
44. Artificial Language - The Observer
45. Markéta Irglová - Muna
46. Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I
47. Bent Knee - Shiny Eyed Babies
48. Sunburst - Fragments of Creation
49. Thrice - The Alchemy Index, Vol. 3 & 4: Air & Earth
50. Devin Townsend - Terria

Honourable mentions
« Last Edit: December 31, 2018, 02:18:29 AM by Evermind »
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Your wallet is never safe with DTF
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2018, 08:46:30 AM »
Following this thread like nobody's business. Can't wait to see you gush over some Paramacore. :metal
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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Your wallet is never safe with DTF
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2018, 08:58:09 AM »
SECOND!
That's a word salad - and take it from me, I know word salad
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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Your wallet is never safe with DTF
« Reply #3 on: November 25, 2018, 09:42:35 AM »
#1: Beyond the Bridge - The Old Man and the Spirit

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Your wallet is never safe with DTF
« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2018, 09:53:24 AM »
Following  :metal

Online Evermind

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Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2018, 09:57:04 AM »
#1: Beyond the Bridge - The Old Man and the Spirit

No band repeats from my previous list to make this more interesting. :P

Scorp, Chad and Sacul, glad to have you guys on board!

Let's do the honourable mentions then, to keep the discussion going.



Honourable mentions:

April Rain
Delain
Genre: symphonic metal
2009
Recommended to me by: DTF band thread


A somewhat unpopular pick from Delain, I’m sure, this album was the first one I checked out from this band, and so it holds a special place in my heart. While it could be argued The Human Contradiction is more polished and has better songwriting, I still enjoy April Rain more than anything else the band has done. Not every song on this record is brilliant, but most of them are of simple verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus structure, with the choruses that end up in your head for weeks after you’ve listened to this record. Charlotte’s voice is pleasant as usual, and there’s also Marco Hietala singing on two tracks, which is never a bad thing.

I checked Delain out after seeing the activity in the official band thread during the Moonbathers promo cycle. I’ve heard good things about the band, but never actually bothered to listen to their material, even though female-fronted symphonic metal is something I tend to enjoy. That was a good decision, and even though I ended up missing them on tour for Moonbathers, I’ll try to catch them next time they’re in my city.

Favourite songs: Stay Forever (YouTube, Spotify), Control the Storm (YouTube, Spotify)


A Certain Feeling
Bodies of Water
Genre: indie rock
2008
Recommended to me by: Parama


This is one of the few “happy” non-metal albums thrown at me during my time on DTF that managed to stick with me. I don’t think I have another album in my audio library like this one. Full of memorable melodies that are so difficult not to sing along to, this record exudes joy and triumph. For every slow or mysterious song on it, like Only You or Even in a Cave, there is a fabulous uplifting song that just oozes fun, like Gold, Tan, Peach and Gray or If I Were a Bell.

As far as I remember, Parama sent me this in my first roulette, and now that four years have passed, this album is still in my rotation. An enjoyable listen, and an excellent album to cheer you up during the bleak autumn days.

Favourite songs: Gold, Tan, Peach and Gray (YouTube / Spotify), Under the Pines (YouTube, Spotify)


Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
Coheed and Cambria
Genre: progressive metal
2005
Recommended to me by: 425


This album with the title that’s nearly impossible to remember if you’re not a huge fan of the band—if you wake me up at 2 A.M. and ask what it’s called, I’ll tell you either to fuck off, or that it’s Sons of Apollo I’m Burning Eyes of Madness 4. Well, it’s a concept album, as are pretty much all albums by these guys, so that would explain the title. However, I asked around on DTF and no one could actually explain the concept to me. Still, the album contains a hefty amount of exquisite musicianship, with adventurous rhythms, skillful guitar solos and well-painted musical landscapes. The only huge drawback for me here—and yes, I know that fans of this band heard this complaint literally hundreds of times by now—is Claudio’s voice, which is about as annoying as it gets. Vocal melodies are fantastic here, and the instrumentation is excellent, but I just can’t get past the singer’s voice. Otherwise, this would’ve been somewhere in the Top 30.

There is another potential drawback in the lyrics, which doesn’t bother me—I think it’s actually kind of hilarious. The music on the album has a mostly positive vibe, but the lyrics are angry as heck, some good examples of that being “So cry on, bitch, why aren't you laughing, now?” or “Jesse, bad boy, just come look at what your brother did to that girl's precious little whore of a body”. This, actually, makes me wonder even more about this album’s story—from what I’ve been able to gather, I guess the protagonist just hates everyone.

425 is a big fan of Coheed—he sent me something from them in my second roulette—so one day I saw this album in store and bought it on a whim. It’s not something I come back often, but it’s always a fun ride when I do.

Favourite songs: Welcome Home (YouTube, Spotify), The Willing Well III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth (YouTube, Spotify)


Arktis.
Ihsahn
Genre: progressive black metal
2016
Recommended to me by: Train of Naught or Tomislav


A rare appearance of an album full of growls on my list—well, not exactly on my list, but close enough—by Ihsahn. I found this album, like a lot of Ihsahn work, to be quite inconsistent in quality. There are excellent songs, there are good songs, and then there are songs that I’m itching to skip. There is no denying this album has a lot of potential, and were I bigger fan of black metal, I might’ve enjoyed this more. Still, this albums has enough variety to stay interesting, drawing influences from a lot of genres, including 80s happy metal in Until I Too Dissolve, and features Einar Solberg from Leprous on one of the tracks.

I was curious about Ihsahn when I learned he’s coming to my country on Arktis tour, and as far as I remember, either Train or Tomislav helped me get into his music. I ended up going to the show and enjoying it a lot, I think I’ve posted a small review in his official thread here.

Favourite songs: Until I Too Dissolve (YouTube, Spotify), Celestial Violence (YouTube, Spotify)


As Daylight Breaks
Serious Black
Genre: hard rock / power metal
2015
Recommended to me by: Hard rock / Classic metal thread in GMD


While the straightforward albums like this are more likely to be a miss than a hit for me these days, there is something about songwriting on this particular record that stands out for me. Despite the music being your usual run of the mill hard rock and power metal, somehow the band managed to capture the spark of metal in the songs here, and while they didn’t introduce anything new here, the album is just an easy and very solid listen. While the band continued to release records after this one—I think they have three albums out now—they didn’t top this one so far.

2015 was a good year for metal, and also a good year for discovering music on my end—if this had come out now, I most likely would’ve missed it—and perhaps next year will be equally good.

Favourite songs: I Seek No Other Life (YouTube, Spotify), Akhenaton (YouTube, Spotify)


Avatarium
Avatarium
Genre: doom metal
2013
Recommended to me by: Big Hath


I’ve never heard a doom metal album before, and this one was a welcome surprise for me. Sludgy riffs combined with a lovely female voice, this record featured exactly what I wanted from a doom metal record, and while it gets too heavy for my tastes sometimes, the calm moments easily make the whole experience worthwhile. There are a few tracks I don’t really care about, such as the title track, but then there are songs I absolutely adore, like Moonhorse—which prompted me to buy the actual album—and the gorgeous Lady in the Lamp.

Jon sent this to me in my second roulette for a round which had a “female-fronted song” theme, and while I don’t remember if he won that round in question, he definitely scored big with this song. I’m glad I discovered this.

Favourite songs: Moonhorse (YouTube, Spotify), Lady in the Lamp (YouTube, Spotify)

Discuss away, and the actual list starts tomorrow!
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Your wallet is never safe with DTF
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2018, 09:57:41 AM »
All up in this  :hat

I'll be surprised if there is anything in here that I specifically introduced you to, unless I, Vigilante has left such an impact it's crept in here (I know it hasn't  :lol )

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #7 on: November 25, 2018, 10:04:07 AM »
I only know the Ihsahn album (I thought I had sent you Celestial Violence sometime? Apparently not.) and that Avatarium album (to which you introduced me, via Moonhorse on Plug).

The Ihsahn album is great. One of my favourites in his discography, might even take the top spot on a couple of days (After and Das Seelenbrechen are other contenders, but I find them very hard to compare so my Top 3 changes quite a bit from day to day). Until I Too Dissolve is an awesome tune, and Celestial Violence is just sublime. Good choice on the recommended songs as well.

The Avatarium album I have not listened to in a long time. I should do something about that. I think it's getting a spin tonight. Thanks for reminding me of how great that disc is. :tup

Out of the others, only the Bodies of Water sounds really interesting. I don't have a lot of happy music, but when I next feel like listening to some, I'll definitely give it a spin.
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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #8 on: November 25, 2018, 10:05:46 AM »
Fuck yes! I mean I consider Coheed and Cambria my number one band of all time at this point (they've surpassed Metallica). I would like to see Good Apollo I higher up but I can appreciate your gripes with it. As to the concept, I can try to explain it but it's pretty weird and hard to follow. Also, yes, the protagonist hates everyone. The protagonist is basically Claudio and he wrote this album when his girlfriend (now wife) broke up with him. He was in a pretty messed up place and this was his hate letter to Chondra. Damn.

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #9 on: November 25, 2018, 10:10:57 AM »
Bodies of  :metal

i will say, that's only like my 4th or 5th favorite coheed album at best, as much as i love welcome home and the willing well suite  :lol

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2018, 10:25:02 AM »
Following this. 30% for the music, 70% because I'm a fan of your focking excellent writing.  :tup

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #11 on: November 25, 2018, 10:42:26 AM »
As Daylight Breaks is a fantastic album.  Love Urban breed's voice.  I'm so-so with Delain.  I mostly enjoy their music, but it doesn't wow me.
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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #12 on: November 25, 2018, 10:48:37 AM »
Following.  I feel like you can open me up to new bands!
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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #13 on: November 25, 2018, 11:38:14 AM »
Definitely following. I'm always looking for new music, even while running a roulette.  :lol
Some great honorable mentions so far  :tup
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Online Evermind

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Your wallet is never safe with DTF
« Reply #14 on: November 25, 2018, 12:11:33 PM »
I'll be surprised if there is anything in here that I specifically introduced you to, unless I, Vigilante has left such an impact it's crept in here (I know it hasn't  :lol )

I don't think so, yeah. We didn't interact that much, which I hope we'll rectify when 2019 rolls around.

I only know the Ihsahn album (I thought I had sent you Celestial Violence sometime? Apparently not.) and that Avatarium album (to which you introduced me, via Moonhorse on Plug).

I don't think it was you introduced me to Ihsahn, but I could be misremembering that. In any case, it's a great album indeed. Bodies of Water is a lot of fun, too, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it.

As Daylight Breaks is a fantastic album.  Love Urban breed's voice.  I'm so-so with Delain.  I mostly enjoy their music, but it doesn't wow me.

I wish the next two albums were as good as As Daylight Breaks. I had an opportunity to see them last year, but I would have had to extend my vacation for two days—Serious Black somewhere near Koln at the end of September, I think—but the following albums weren't as exciting as that one, and my friends and I decided to pass on that.

I also thought you liked Delain, because you liked Phantasma, but apparently I was wrong!

Bodies of  :metal

i will say, that's only like my 4th or 5th favorite coheed album at best, as much as i love welcome home and the willing well suite  :lol

As I said, that's the only one I have from them. :biggrin:

Following this. 30% for the music, 70% because I'm a fan of your focking excellent writing.  :tup

I wrote most of these after work, so there are some derp-infused write-ups coming soon enough.

Following.  I feel like you can open me up to new bands!

I always thought you were more like a prog-rock guy, sending Karmakanic and Enchant and all, and sure, there are some prog rock releases on the list.

Definitely following. I'm always looking for new music, even while running a roulette.  :lol
Some great honorable mentions so far  :tup

Your banned list is so extensive, I think there are only a few albums on the list that you haven't heard. I could be wrong though, I couldn't be bothered to search for them all on your RYM page.
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #15 on: November 25, 2018, 12:13:26 PM »
hey ev go get the afterman you'd probably like that one the most out of all their albums

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #16 on: November 25, 2018, 02:20:59 PM »
Following.
Everyone else, except Wolfking is wrong.

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #17 on: November 25, 2018, 03:55:34 PM »
That first Serious Black is pretty good.


Following.  I feel like you can open me up to new bands!

Quit being so close minded! :P
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #18 on: November 25, 2018, 04:45:58 PM »
That first Serious Black is pretty good.

It's actually really excellent IMO.  I can't believe how shit everything since has been.  Obviously Roland was the brains behind the first one.
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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #19 on: November 26, 2018, 12:40:21 AM »
I probably didn't directly show you the album but I played and showed the shit out of Celestial Violence when it came out as a single, I could have been the one that showed that song to you in plug or something.

Ihsahns latest album really disappointed me, I don't like this overly proggy and sappy direction. This one was still great but I would put it behind After and probably Seelenbrechen as well.
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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #20 on: November 26, 2018, 01:00:35 AM »
i listened to the new ihsahn twice and found it reeeeally boring, tbh

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. The still anticipation of a scream
« Reply #21 on: November 26, 2018, 01:30:38 AM »
Following this for sure. Let's see where it goes.  :metal
Must've been Kwyji sending all the wrong songs.   ;D

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Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Come in, can I offer you a beer? (#50)
« Reply #22 on: November 26, 2018, 10:26:10 AM »
That first Serious Black is pretty good.

It's actually really excellent IMO.  I can't believe how shit everything since has been.  Obviously Roland was the brains behind the first one.

That's something I read quite often in the Frontiers thread.

I probably didn't directly show you the album but I played and showed the shit out of Celestial Violence when it came out as a single, I could have been the one that showed that song to you in plug or something.

I think that was it, yes.

Ihsahns latest album really disappointed me, I don't like this overly proggy and sappy direction. This one was still great but I would put it behind After and probably Seelenbrechen as well.

i listened to the new ihsahn twice and found it reeeeally boring, tbh

I think I quit after the first track. I intended to come back to it, but I guess I'll pass now.



Remember when I said there will be some well-known artists? This is the update for tonight, only one because it's Monday and I'm not quite fond of those.

#50
Terria
Devin Townsend
Genre: progressive metal
2001
Recommended to me by: DTF band thread


One of the most prolific and popular artists on DTF, Devin Townsend was on my radar even before I created an account here. Along with Rush, Steven Wilson and Haken, Devin Townsend is the musician that’s always being discussed on this board. While I don’t religiously buy everything he does, and while some of the material he releases falls flat for me, I can certainly say the attention he gets around these parts is well-deserved.

One of the biggest turnoffs in Devin’s music for me is his signature wall-of-sound approach to the songs. Even if you only heard a few songs by Devin, you can recognize most of his material whenever it comes up in your playlist by how massive it sounds. Which is great, otherwise you probably wouldn’t be able to recognize it at all, given how diverse his output is, from Ghost to Deconstruction. I tried to get into his music several times during my five years on DTF, and I discovered that I tend to enjoy his softer side way more—I seriously considered Casualties of Cool for this list, for example. Songs like Ih-Ah or Deep Peace are the ones that I kept coming back to, and while I enjoyed an occasional heavy number—Failure and Stormbending from the latest album instantly come to mind—my opinion was that albums like Ki and Ghost are where it’s at.

Until one day I saw Terria in the record store, and thought, hey, I already like Deep Peace, so why don’t I buy this record and see if I can get into it.

Well, don’t get me wrong, I know that Terria is still pretty chill by Devin’s standards. However, for me, it has just the right balance between calm, introspective sections and balls to the wall metal parts. The contrast is there, and the way these elements are interwoven with each other is tasteful and never excessive. Terria became a gateway into the rest of Devin’s music for me, and while I still haven’t fully come to terms with Devin’s signature sound, I’ve become way more tolerant towards it. I saw him on tour for Transcendence and got that record signed.  For some reason, it never occurred to me to bring Terria booklet for him to sign instead. Well, maybe next time I’ll bring it, as this is the album that made me appreciate Devin’s music on a different level.

Favourite songs: Earth Day (YouTube, Spotify), Deep Peace (YouTube, Spotify)
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

Offline Crow

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Casualties of Cool is his best album so you should've stuck with that tbh
Terria is great though yeah

Offline Scorpion

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Best Devin album. Maybe my favourite album of all time.

Needless to say, much to low, but I'm glad that it made the list at all. :P

Deep Peace is stunning. Nothing else that I know is quite like the way that guitar solo builds up into the full band coming in and Devin singing "It's all going away now". No matter how often I hear it, it always gives me goosebumps. If I could only listen to one Devin song for the rest of my life, this would be it, no questions asked.

Tiny Tears is a song that I love nearly as much though, and I find that it is often overlooked among Deep Peace and Earth Day. Especially the guitar solo into the Kyrie eleison section is some of the best music Devin has ever recorded.
« Last Edit: November 26, 2018, 11:44:14 AM by Scorpion »
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Offline wolfking

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Not a massive Devin fan, but that's a great album.
Everyone else, except Wolfking is wrong.

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Can't argue with Terria, it's easily in my top 5 Devy albums. I can agree with what Scorpion says about Deep Peace as well, I would choose that song if I could only pick one to listen to for the rest of my life. It's just otherworldly!

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Wow, I made the honorable mentions section! And that's as high as I'll go! :lol

Glad to see that GAIBSIV:FFTtEoM at least made it his high. As Parama said, the Afterman albums may be the way to go, though In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3 is probably their proggiest release.

Definitely following the rest. I keep meaning to check this Townsend album out.
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Then it's only a matter of time

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Devin Townsend is a very mixed bag for me. I first heard of him on Steve Vai's Sex & Religion and the subsequent tour. He was great on vocals and guitar but moved on stage like a lunatic.

Then I bought Ocean Machine and was completely hooked. That, for me, is one of the best records of all times, although the song everyone raves about - The Death Of Music - is not really my cup of tea. Since then I'm waiting for him to come close to Ocean Machine, but he never did so, imo.

There are a few other great records by Devin, but stuff like Ghost or Casualties Of Cool is just too laid back (not to say boring) for me. And his wall of sound can be tiresome.

But Terria is definitely one of his better achievements.
Must've been Kwyji sending all the wrong songs.   ;D

Offline Elite

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Terria is Devin’s best, and would be a top 10 ever album for me.
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Online Evermind

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Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Woke up to a brand new skyline (#49)
« Reply #30 on: November 27, 2018, 12:57:45 PM »
To everyone who's saying Terria is too low: I'm not the biggest fan of Devin, admittedly, so yes, from your perspective some of the upcoming albums are going to be wtf-choices; but the fact that Devin even is in this Top 50 shows how much I warmed up to his music. There's not a single album in this list that I don't love or at least like a lot.

Sorry for not delivering two updates today, I had some health issues and ended up coming home way later then I intended. Hopefully nothing serious will come out of it, we'll see. With that, let's move ahead to the next record. I did this writeup before Indiscipline kicked me out of his roulette, so there's no mention of that, unfortunately.



#49
The Alchemy Index, Vol. 3 & 4: Air & Earth
Thrice
Genre: alternative rock, art rock
2008
Recommended to me by: senecadawg2


I’ve never considered myself to be a fan of any music genre with the word “alternative” included in the name, but this beautiful gem of an album changed my views pretty quickly. And honestly, this side of The Alchemy Index is way more into “art” aspect of rock than into “alternative” one, and while sometimes it gets heavy and erupts into screams, like on Broken Lungs or Daedalus, it never gets annoyingly heavy to the point where it simply devolves into noise.

As should be obvious from the title, this album is a part of concept the band decided to put together, recording songs related to each of the four elements: fire, water, air and earth. While initially the band intended to release one album with four CDs, eventually they decided to split it into two separate releases. The record titled The Alchemy Index, Vol. 1 & 2: Fire & Water was released a year before this one, and, understandably, featured some heavy goodness on the Fire CD; and while the songs there are decent, I rarely come back to that one. Perhaps I’m just not too fond of how Thrice approach the heavy aspects of their songs, or perhaps I’m just sentimental—my introduction to Thrice was two songs off this very album sent by Nelson in a brilliant EP he created for me.

I discovered a lot of metal albums here on DTF of different sub-genres, be that power metal, progressive metal, black metal or some classic heavy metal, and I’m glad for those, as they constitute the main bulk of my listening to music on my commute. However, every once in a while someone introduces me to a unique album that avoids a lot of the rock and metal tropes, and does its own thing instead with a flourish. This album is one of those rare, beautiful discoveries. Be that the cozy atmosphere in Come All You Weary, the heartbreaking story of Daedalus, or the grim fatalistic mood of Child of Dust, this album shines with its spectacular range of emotions. I’ll be hard-pressed to name another record like this one.

Favourite songs: Daedalus (YouTube, Spotify), Come All You Weary (YouTube, Spotify)
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

Offline Crow

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Woke up to a brand new skyline (#49)
« Reply #31 on: November 27, 2018, 01:00:30 PM »
The Alchemy Index is prob only my third favorite thrice album (a bit inconsistent and I probably prefer Fire/Water to these two overall even if Daedalus and Child of Dust are the two best tracks by far)

But heck yeah thrice

Online Indiscipline

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Woke up to a brand new skyline (#49)
« Reply #32 on: November 27, 2018, 01:00:51 PM »
Word from the kicker: Daedalus and Child of Dust are amazing.

Offline Crow

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Woke up to a brand new skyline (#49)
« Reply #33 on: November 27, 2018, 01:02:30 PM »
Actually I guess The Flame Deluge is awesome too but neither of you would like that one :P

Offline Scorpion

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Re: Evermind's v2 Top 50 Albums Thread v. Woke up to a brand new skyline (#49)
« Reply #34 on: November 27, 2018, 01:04:37 PM »
Excellent album. I'd find it hard to decide between Fire/Water and Air/Earth as my favourite part of The Alchemy Index, so my solution is to just listen to them all together all the time. :P Yes, Fire is a little more one-dimensional than the other three, but Water is probably my favourite of the four elements and Air/Earth has The Earth Isn't Humming, which I'm don't like much. But that's complaining on a very high level - it's still a fabulous concept double album/quadruple EP. Definitely among my favourite DTF discoveries as well.

I have to say, I absolutely love the final tracks on each disc. Those four tracks really nail the respective elements from a musical point of view and considering that they are structured very similar and even share a melody in the final part, it's very interesting different they are from each other. I know very few songs that are as punishingly and unrelentingly heavy while still being superb as The Flame Deluge. :hefdaddy
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