Author Topic: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The End  (Read 25990 times)

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Offline Metro

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Synchestra
« Reply #210 on: May 09, 2023, 08:54:30 AM »
Huh. I thought Synchestra was more popular around here. Guess not.

Next update coming tomorrow.

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Synchestra
« Reply #211 on: May 09, 2023, 12:28:45 PM »
I definitely love it, and some people be surprised at some of Devin's other work I rate lower.

As I said in my post about the album, it's just got a section in the middle that's a bit of a slog, but other than that, great stuff. I do feel it gets fairly overshadowed by so many other Devy albums, and I don't think it gets that live it deserves personally. I'd take it over Ki and Ghost for instance.

Offline Ben_Jamin

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Synchestra
« Reply #212 on: May 09, 2023, 09:47:50 PM »
OK, I really quite enjoy Synchestra. It's quality does rise and fall in places, but it's the great thing about Devy, you never know where his albums are going to go. I'll start by saying I love how this album starts and ends!

I might be in the minority here but the bookend songs on this record are my favourites. Let it Roll starts things off beautifully, and although it's short, I listen to it on it's own fairly often. Hypergeek serves as a bit of an intro to Triumph but it continues the album on a high. Triumph is a pretty good song, nothing too flashy or different but i dig it. I love the little instrumental breakdown around the 3 minute mark.

I don't hate Babysong, but I get why it wouldn't be for everyone. Anyway, onto the great Vampolka! I love it's weirdness, and for those familiar with the Final Fantasy series, parts of it are very reminiscent of different Chocobo themes from various games. Then we have it's second part, Vampira. Also great, if slightly more serious than the first part. It's the third real highlight of the album and another song I can spin anytime, anywhere.

Mental Tan reminds me of parts of the Ziltoid records, and I could imagine this bring used as an interlude with the story being narrated over the top.

Gaia feels like classic Devy, and a pretty cool song all told. This section of the album, going into Pixillate>Judgement>A Simple Lullaby, does drag though.

The album brings it back at the end though, and I personally love Sunset>Notes from Africa>Sunshine and Happiness. Is there a more aptly named song in his catalogue than Sunshine and Happiness? It puts me in such a good mood. I'd take a whole album in this style honestly (you could chuck Canucklehead on the same album too).

So yea, my main takeaway is the album drags in the middle, some of the songs could've been shortened and Let it Roll/Sunshine and Happiness are the best songs on the album.


I wholeheartedly share the same feelings about Synchestra as you do. While the album does seem to drag in the middle, each song individually is awesome. I will also say that Sunshine and Happiness is one of my favorite Dev songs. This is the first Devin Townsend album I had bought and was glad I did. Let it Roll is an amazing intro to an album. I was glad hearing some of these played on the live albums he released since I heard this album.
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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The New Black
« Reply #213 on: May 09, 2023, 10:00:00 PM »
Strapping Young Lad - The New Black
Released July 11, 2006



Tracklisting:

1. Decimator
2. You Suck
3. Antiproduct
4. Monument
5. Wrong Side
6. Hope
7. Far Beyond Metal
8. Fucker
9. Almost Again
10. Polyphony
11. The New Black

Bonus Tracks:
12. The Long Pig (European Bonus Track)
13. Zodiac (European Bonus Track)
14. C:enter:### (Japanese Bonus Track)


Personnel:
Devin Townsend - Vocals, Guitar
Jed Simon - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Byron Stroud - Bass, Backing Vocals
Gene Hoglan - Drums

Additional Personnel:
Will Campagna - Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Chris Valagao - Backing Vocals
Cam Kroetsch - Vocals (You Suck)
Oderus Urungus - Vocals (Far Beyond Metal)
Bif Naked - Vocals (Fucker)



Dev never intended for Strapping Young Lad to be his main project, and after the chaos that was Alien, he was ready for it to be over. But, he still owed Century Media one more album to complete their contract. Shortly after finishing the Devin Townsend Band album Synchestra, he began work on the final SYL album. He wanted to make this album more commercial than past SYL records, while still being true to what SYL was. The result is an album that is more melodic than any past album, and brings back some of the humor from the early early days of SYL.

SYL was slated to play on the Ozzfest tour in 2006, and Century Media told Dev that the album had to be done before the tour began. The New Black was recorded at Profile Studios in Vancouver, with additional recording done at Armoury Studios. The New Black features appearances from Cam Kroetsch on You Suck, fellow Canadian artist Bif Naked on the song Fucker, and the late great Oderus Urungus from GWAR on Far Beyond Metal. TNB was recorded quickly, and was a more collaborative effort than previous album, with Jed and Byron playing a bigger role after not being involved with the writing of Alien.

Decimator contains a callback to Depth Charge from Accelerated Evolution.
Monument would later be referenced in the song Lucky Animals from Epicloud.
Wrong Side as released as a single and a music video was made for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXfnr0pxQQI
Far Beyond Metal was written back during the City era.
Fucker was reworked into an instrumental called Catwalk, included in the Contain Us Boxset.
The highlight of the album is the ending trilogy of Almost Again, Polyphony, and The New Black.
A music video was made for Almost Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwuReRw23_0
Polyphony references Judgement from Synchestra.

The New Black was released July 11, 2006, a couple weeks into the Ozzfest tour. As jokey and immature as it is at times, I find The New Black to be a decent album overall. I’d rank it in 4th place in the SYL discography. The anger is there, like on every SYL album, but this time it’s intentionally played up and exaggerated. The way I see it, with every previous SYL album, Dev had something to be angry about. Whether that anger came from past experiences in the music industry, 9/11, fear, paranoia, psychosis, etc. With this album, I see it as him getting over the anger and those past experiences and looking back on it and laughing. It doesn’t bother him anymore. There’s nothing to be angry about anymore.
That’s just my take. It’s up to you whether or not TNB is a satisfying conclusion to Strapping Young Lad or not.

The band played some headlining shows and other festivals in addition to Ozzfest in 2006.

Dev backstage at Ozzfest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4GpEN71obo
Download Festival June 9, 2006: https://youtu.be/pa1r1WZtYcc
Live at Hultsfredsfestivalen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8Ba7kOlCE4

In the midst of the Ozzfest tour, Century Media offered Dev the option to renew his record contract, but he was truly done with the band. Strapping Young Lad played their final show August 13th, 2006 in West Palm Beach, Florida, the final show of the Ozzfest tour. Dev had repeated throughout this time that after this album and tour, he was done with SYL. This came as a surprise and a disappointment to the other members. Initially no one else in the band or management took his claims seriously, instead just chalking it up to Dev “crying wolf”. They didn’t believe he would actually end this band that, at the time, was the biggest they had ever been. But Dev had had enough of the mental anguish that went into writing this music and portraying this exaggerated heavy metal frontman night after night after night for years and was ready to move on to the next chapter. His decision to end the band resulted in his estrangement from Jed, Gene, and Byron for some time, but these relationships would eventually heal.

In May of 2007, Dev held a press conference where he debuted his new puppet, “Ziltoid the Omniscient”. (More on that later…)
At this press conference, he announced the end of Strapping Young Lad as well as the Devin Townsend Band, and his intention to retreat from the public eye to spend more time with his wife and new born son. He still planned to produce other people’s albums, and to write and release music recorded at his home studio, but he had no plans to get back on the road anytime soon. With this announcement, SYL was officially over.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Strapping Young Lad released one last EP before officially calling it quits…

Strapping Young Lad - C:enter:### EP
Released April 19, 2007



Tracklisting:

1. C:enter:###
2. Zodiac (Melvins Cover)
3. In the Rainy Season (Live)
4. Underneath the Waves (Live)


C:enter:### was released in April of 2007 as a 7” single limited to 500 copies. It contains the titular song, which was a bonus track on some versions of The New Black, as well as their cover of the Melvins’ song Zodiac, and two live tracks. The title track is a solid instrumental song. The rest of the songs we’ve heard before.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

But wait, there's more...

Strapping Young Lad - 1994-2006: Chaos Years
Released March 31, 2008



Tracklisting:

1. S.Y.L.
2. In the Rainy Season
3. Velvet Kevorkian
4. All Hail the New Flesh
5. Oh My Fucking God
6. Detox
7. Relentless
8. Rape Song
9. Aftermath
10. Imperial
11. Skeksis
12. Shitstorm
13. Love?
14. You Suck
15. Wrong Side
16. Almost Again
17. Satan’s Ice Cream Truck


Hey, I said I was covering EVERYTHING, right? That includes the one "Best Of" compilation in Dev's discography.

Chaos Years was released by Century Media in March of 2008. It contains songs chosen by the band members that have been remastered by Dev. It also came with a DVD that contains live footage of the band, including their complete set at Download Festival 2006, and all of the music videos from their career.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2024, 07:39:10 PM by Metro »

Offline Buddyhunter1

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The New Black
« Reply #214 on: May 10, 2023, 07:31:15 AM »
I can understand this being someone's favorite SYL album if they don't really like SYL. It is heavier than his solo material but not by that much, and the humorous tone definitely makes some of the more extreme elements more palatable. For me though, it doesn't have the same appeal as the other SYL records. Far Beyond Metal is an excellent song, the jazz breakdown in Antiproduct is fun, Decimator and Hope are... pretty good... and that's basically it. For an album that's more melodic and catchy than all the previous SYL albums, the songwriting could have been a lot better in my opinion. But for an album that was conceived more as an obligation than anything else, it could have been a lot worse, and it's definitely better than Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing.
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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The New Black
« Reply #215 on: May 10, 2023, 11:42:50 AM »
The New Black is decent. I'd put it on par with the self-titled but not as great as City or Alien. In the bigger picture of his catalogue it's not really that interesting or memorable but it's also far from his weakest stuff.

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The New Black
« Reply #216 on: May 10, 2023, 12:44:36 PM »
Hey, I'm finally caught up!

The New Black is not my favorite SYL album, but it has its moments.

Synchestra, of course, is pretty fucking awesome.  One of the first things I think of when I think of Devin.
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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The New Black
« Reply #217 on: May 10, 2023, 04:08:12 PM »
I dig Synchestra. Solid. Better than much of what comes after but not as good as Terria/AE, imo.

I love TNB and is the SYL I reach for most. Summed up by the "... and I don't fucking care!" at the end of the Fucker chorus, I tend to feel.  ;D

The immature silliness is actually funny on this one, and chimes with my annoyance at endlessly po-faced metal, so a win afaic.



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Offline Buddyhunter1

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The New Black
« Reply #218 on: May 10, 2023, 06:54:59 PM »
All the SYLs ranked:

1: Alien
2: City
3: Strapping Young Lad
4: The New Black
5: Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing
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Offline Metro

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The New Black
« Reply #219 on: May 10, 2023, 07:04:28 PM »
1. City
2. Alien
3. SYL
4. The New Black
5. Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing

And the DTB albums too since that’s done

1. Accelerated Evolution
2. Synchestra

Offline calamitycrush

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The New Black
« Reply #220 on: May 11, 2023, 12:26:01 AM »
It took me way too long to spot the joke in C;Enter:###'s title - in my defence I'd never heard '#' referred to as a pound sign where I am (UK), I'm wondering if it's a Canadian thing.

Offline Cruithne

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The New Black
« Reply #221 on: May 11, 2023, 05:16:53 AM »
It took me way too long to spot the joke in C;Enter:###'s title - in my defence I'd never heard '#' referred to as a pound sign where I am (UK), I'm wondering if it's a Canadian thing.

I'd heard American programmers discuss "pound defines" so I had a head's up what it was meant to mean but in Britain they're "hash defines" and the # symbol is often used to indicate a number.

So yeah, "see colon, enter colon, hash hash hash" makes no sense.

Offline Kwyjibo

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The New Black
« Reply #222 on: May 12, 2023, 02:06:44 AM »
Catching up.

I love Synchestra. It's not as good as Ocean Machine or Accelerated Evolution but on par with Terria imo.

It starts great with Let It Roll/Hypergeek/Triumph and it's the only record I know with a frog on it.  ;D

I could do without Baby Song but then Vampolka/Vampira is silly fun but catchy as hell, and before the record loses steam in the middle comes Pixillate, another highlight for and with Sunshine And Happinessit it ends in such an uplifting way.

I can understand this being someone's favorite SYL album if they don't really like SYL.

Well, I don't really like SYL but I also don't really like The New Black. It's the only SYL record I own, mainly because I got it cheap back in the day. But like with all other SYL records, I just can't connect with the music. The heavyness here seems forced and most of the songs just aren't good enough.
Must've been Kwyji sending all the wrong songs.   ;D

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The Hummer
« Reply #223 on: May 15, 2023, 10:11:18 PM »
The Hummer
Released November 15, 2006



Tracklisting:

1. The Hummer
2. Arc
3. Consciousness Causes Collapse
4. Equation
5. The Abacus
6. Cosmic Surf


Personnel:
Devin Townsend - noises

The Hummer is another ambient record that Dev recorded in his spare time on tour and at home. It came from experiments he performed where he would play sub bass frequencies using a Nord synthesizer and look for what objects around the room were vibrating.

Arc is the the longest track released by Dev up to this point (I hesitate to call it a song).
Consciousness Causes Collapse contains a sample of Leonard Cohen reading from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It also features Jeff Feinstein on flute.

The Hummer was released November 15, 2006 exclusively through his HevyDevy Records label. The Hummer is much more calm and a much easier listen than Devlab. Dev says he showed this album to a friend, and they said it sounded like a weapon. I can definitely understand this album making people uncomfortable. Some of these low frequencies are enough to make your brain rattle. If you’re not into ambient music, this won’t change your mind. It’s an interesting listen to say the least. Unlike Devlab, I have listened to this album all the way through once. Probably won't do it again unless I need a brain massage.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

And while we're here, let's do another one of these...

Guest Appearances and Other Stuff 3 (2004-2008)

Guest Appearances:

Ayreon - The Human Equation (2004)
The Human Equation is a concept album by Ayreon featuring many guest vocalists as different characters, including Dev, James LaBrie, and Mikael Åkerfeldt among others. Dev plays the character “Rage”, and wrote his own lyrics for his sections. He sings on the songs Day Three: Pain, Day Eight: School, and Day Sixteen: Loser.

How to Sell the Whole F#@!ing Universe to Everybody…Once and for All! - Sir Milliard Mulch (2005)
I’m not sure what in the goddamn hell this album is and I’m not that curious. Dev does some spoken word on the track:
“The Great Strength of Our Professional Affiliations / How to Spend Music Industry Currency”
He talks about places he worked at when he was younger: An industrial bakery, a stainless steel factory, an industrial plumbing supply store, an A&W, and other restaurant jobs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2PQ8q81k0k

Removal - If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say, Start a Band (2007)
Dev sang on the song Layers of the Union
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km3UO0arYbc

A Life Once Lost - Iron Gag (2007)
Dev played a guitar solo on the song Detest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4suIG-OGfg

Production:

The Heavils - Heavilution (2004)
Heavy metal band from Illinois. Kinda SYL-inspired. Dev produced their 2nd and final album.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nn5IPRlOOFHeiTuxd7OjxNDEu7mqboo50

Ten Ways From Sunday - Ten Ways From Sunday (2004)
TWFS is a band from Vancouver featuring Mike and Dave Young, and Ryan Van Poederooyen from the DTB. Pretty run-of-the-mill early 2000’s alt rock.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mwkcrH7Tw3m_sOWYfMVurIVetREzc9qls

Misery Signals - Of Malice and the Magnum Heart (2004), and Controller (2008)
A metalcore band from Alberta, Canada. Dev produced their 1st and 3rd albums, and sang on the song A Victim, A Target from Of Malice and the Magnum Heart.
While producing Of Maline and the Magnum Heart, Dev’s basement flooded when a water main broke, destroying gear, master tapes, and merchandise. The guys in Misery Signals helped Dev salvage whatever they could from the flood.
Of Malice and the Magnum Heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijonm_cjfzA
Controller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-BlS2yr8b4

Savannah - Hate Found Love Lost (2004), and The Road To... (2007)
Savannah is a Canadian metalcore band featuring Dev's friend Cam Kroetsch.
Hate Found Love Lost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCZbcwRFJVE
The Road To...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeBQkSZ-ghY

Darkest Hour - Undoing Ruin (2005), and Deliver Us (2007)
Dev produced the 4th and 5th albums from this metalcore band. Also played guitar on the song Full Imperial Collapse from Deliver Us.
Undoing Ruin: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcQfM4LCpP5ryNSl88C1LRquGSehDbJzS
Deliver Us: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcQfM4LCpP5q52629wsFB6l6m1zE6JB9F 
Dev in the studio with Darkest Hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8DhgEVEtA0

GWAR - Beyond Hell (2006)
Dev produced GWAR’s tenth album at their home studio in Richmond, VA. He also sang on the song Tormentor.
Full album: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLezi_F-5-vaSS_9zHo9EQVYWsEnX2AbOg
Dev sings Tormentor live with GWAR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNbz14G1duw
GWAR hands out with Dev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJvsMVo5XJg

Soilwork - Sworn to a Great Divide (2007)
Dev only produced the vocals for this album
Full album: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF0yIDuA63HXGGUXTD0jyvYTOoMewydfT
Dev recording Björn Strid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxjGMcqU2xY

Himsa - Summon in Thunder (2007)
Dev also only produced the vocals for this album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NlKG-nu9GA

Zimmer's Hole - While You were Shouting at the Devil…We Were in League with Satan (2008)
Third album from Zimmer’s Hole featuring Jed, Gene, and Byron from SYL and frequent SYL backup vocalist Chris Valagao.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DktTX6bV3fM

Bleeding Through - Declaration (2008)
Full album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhznh_mo_YE

Becoming the Archetype - Dichotomy (2008)
Dev also sings on the track Mountain of Souls (The Ghost)
Dev in the studio with BTA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfZ578MX13k
Full Album: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB875405EC4F078FA

Terror Syndrome - Terror Syndrome (2008)
Terror Syndrome is a metal side project from Mike and Dave Young, and Ryan Van Poederooyen from the DTB. Dev only mixed this one and played guitar on the song Spinning Backwards. The album was produced by RVP.
Spinning Backwards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InBm6GCXdWk
« Last Edit: September 17, 2023, 02:37:29 PM by Metropolaris »

Offline Buddyhunter1

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The Hummer
« Reply #224 on: May 16, 2023, 07:34:51 AM »
Quote
Consciousness Causes Collapse contains a sample of Leonard Cohen reading from the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

I immediately recognized that excerpt from Gojira's The Way Of All Flesh and I was wondering where it was from! That's literally the only thing I can remember about this album from the one time I skimmed through it. :lol
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Offline cramx3

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The Hummer
« Reply #225 on: May 16, 2023, 09:35:48 AM »
GWAR - Beyond Hell (2006)
Dev produced GWAR’s tenth album at their home studio in Richmond, VA. He also sang on the song Tormentor.
Full album: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLezi_F-5-vaSS_9zHo9EQVYWsEnX2AbOg
Dev sings Tormentor live with GWAR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNbz14G1duw
GWAR hands out with Dev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJvsMVo5XJg

I'm not familiar with this album nor Devin's involvement in it  :metal I'd love to see more Dev and Gwar collabs.

Offline Kwyjibo

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The Hummer
« Reply #226 on: May 16, 2023, 10:05:05 AM »
I never listened to The Hummer.

I became a fan of Ayreon shortly before THE was released and when Arjen revealed that Devin was one of the vocalists I was really excited. And I wasn't disappointed, Devin's contributions are great, as are all contributions from all the other singers. The Human Equation is an all time top 10 record.
Must've been Kwyji sending all the wrong songs.   ;D

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The Hummer
« Reply #227 on: May 20, 2023, 03:59:25 PM »
Anybody want some coffee?

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The Hummer
« Reply #228 on: May 20, 2023, 04:01:48 PM »
aka Puppies_On_Acid
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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The Hummer
« Reply #229 on: May 20, 2023, 06:20:30 PM »
FETID
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Offline Metro

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The Hummer
« Reply #230 on: May 20, 2023, 09:38:02 PM »
GWAR - Beyond Hell (2006)
Dev produced GWAR’s tenth album at their home studio in Richmond, VA. He also sang on the song Tormentor.
Full album: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLezi_F-5-vaSS_9zHo9EQVYWsEnX2AbOg
Dev sings Tormentor live with GWAR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNbz14G1duw
GWAR hands out with Dev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJvsMVo5XJg

I'm not familiar with this album nor Devin's involvement in it  :metal I'd love to see more Dev and Gwar collabs.

Speaking of GWAR, they actually have a bar here in Richmond, cleverly named the GWARbar. If you look at it on street view on Google Maps, you see this, which perfectly embodies the spirit of Richmond.

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #231 on: May 20, 2023, 10:00:28 PM »
Ziltoid the Omniscient
Released May 21, 2007



Tracklisting:

1. ZTO
2. By Your Command
3. Ziltoidia Attaxx!!!
4. Solar Winds
5. Hyperdrive
6. N9
7. Planet Smasher
8. Omnidimensional Creator
9. Color Your World
10. The Greys
11. Tall Latte

Special Edition Bonus Tracks:
12. Don’t Know Why (Messages from Ziltoid)
13. Traveling Salesman
14. Another Road



Personnel:

Devin Townsend - Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Keyboards, Drum Programming

Additional Personnel:
Dave Young - Voices (Omnidimensional Creator)
Brian “Beav” Waddell - Narration

At a press conference in May of 2007, Dev announced the end of Strapping Young Lad and the Devin Townsend Band. He also announced his intention to take a break from touring to spend more time with his wife and newborn son. He still planned to write and record music and to produce other people’s albums. At this press conference he debuted his new puppet, named “Ziltoid the Omniscient”. Ziltoid was to be the main character of a new concept album he was working on.

So who or what is Ziltoid the Omniscient?

In concept:
Ziltoid is a fourth-dimensional alien from the planet Ziltoidia. He comes to Earth in search of their ultimate cup of coffee. On Earth, coffee is just coffee. But on Ziltoidia, coffee is an extremely valuable resource, similar to the spice from Dune. Ziltoid is the greatest guitar player ever to have lived.
And to be clear, it’s pronounced “Omniscient”, NOT “Omniscient”.

In reality:
In addition to quitting SYL, Dev also quit drinking and smoking. Initially he found it hard to write without those things, and wasn’t sure what the next step was for himself musically. Dev wanted to leave the SYL era of his life behind, but realized he couldn’t just ignore that side of his personality forever. This where Ziltoid comes in. Ziltoid began as a simple sock puppet Dev made while hanging out with Beav. Inspired by the movie “The Dark Crystal”, he started working on a more elaborate Ziltoid puppet and came up with a whole backstory and theme song for him. The puppet even featured Dev’s actual “Skullet” that he had cut off after quitting SYL. Ziltoid started off as just something fun and goofy Dev would work on in his spare time, but evolved into something more. Ziltoid became a personification of the side of him that he believed was rooted in insecurity and repressed adolescence. He eventually decided to make a concept album about Ziltoid.

The album was originally titled “The Mighty Masturbator”, but eventually changed to Ziltoid the Omniscient. ZTO was written, recorded, and mixed entirely by Dev alone at his home studio. All the vocals, guitars, bass, and keyboards were done by him, and drums were programmed using Drum Kit from Hell, a plug-in that uses samples from Meshuggah drummer Tomas Haake’s drum kit. Fredrik Thordendal, also from Meshuggah, helped Dev with programming the the drums. Dev once again primarily used his 7-string for most of the album. However, Ziltoid is the greatest guitar player ever to have lived. Brian “Beav” Waddell voices the narrator of the album, and Dave Young voices the Omnidimensional Creator. Musically, this is the album where SYL and DTB collide. It’s got the heavy, aggressive, chaotic nature of SYL, but combined with the more progressive and emotive nature of DTB and Dev’s past solo work.

ZTO was the first song written, back when Ziltoid was just a sock puppet.
By Your Command and Hyperdrive have become two of Dev’s most popular songs and concert staples.
Ziltoidia Attaxx!!! reminds us that Ziltoid is the greatest guitar player ever to have lived.
The climax of Color Your World features the same “———   ——“ (OM) rhythm previously heard in Info Dump, from Alien. Color Your World also contains a lyrical callback to Voices in the Fan, from Ocean Machine.

The special edition of the album came with three bonus tracks.
Don’t Know Why (a.k.a. Messages from Ziltoid) is mostly just a Ziltoid rant, if that’s something you need in your life. At one point he recites lyrics from the Soilwork song Sick Heart River.
Traveling Salesman is a Johnny Cash-esque tune that is very out of place. No idea why this was included, even as a bonus track.
Another Road is just Dev jamming along to a click track. It contains parts of Canada, from Terria.

No music videos were made the album, but Dev did upload 3 “Messages from Ziltoid” to MySpace.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_AGVF5YuSPKMDSiz11ujG-zfnVfJOsVk

Ziltoid the Omniscient was released May 21, 2007. 16 years ago today. I totally planned that, and did not realize that just now. Reviews were fairly positive, if a little confused about the album. Ziltoid has since gone on to become Dev’s mascot, basically. His Eddie. His Vic Rattlehead. He’s been featured on various types of merchandise, including a felt hand puppet. Ziltoid is the greatest guitar player ever to have lived. Ziltoid would eventually get a sequel album, entitled Z2, released in 2014.



The album is playable on the game Rock Band, and features additional dialogue recorded by Dev that is exclusive to this version.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdIP3XROaYWs1J8IlAU_j5rwMbrl0NXGI&si=T8yPXv6DdV1Vue3e

Dev obviously didn’t tour for ZTO, but songs from the album would be incorporated into his setlist when he eventually started touring again.

Ziltoid was my introduction to Dev. Back in 2010, I saw the artwork for the album on some forum page (Not DTF) and Googled it out of curiosity, thinking it was a poster for some cheesy sci-fi movie. I read about the album on Wikipedia and was intrigued at the idea of a solo album that was done truly solo. Listening to the album, I was hooked immediately. Prog metal music combined with cheesy sci-fi? Sign me up. ZILTOID was even the license plate on my first car. I gave that license plate to Dev at a show in Atlanta in early 2020.

« Last Edit: February 07, 2024, 01:13:50 PM by Metro »

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #232 on: May 21, 2023, 01:16:48 AM »
Don't have too much to say about The Hummer. It's fine for what it is but I haven't listened to it a ton. Even as a fan of ambient music there's just other artists doing that style better that I will go to before I will go to Devin doing ambient (since Devin also does other things better) but I don't hate it or anything. It's just a bit unremarkable and down there among his albums.

Ziltoid is an album I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with. There's definitely some good music on there but it goes maybe too far into comedic joke territory for my taste. As much as I love Devin's sense of humor, there's moments in some of his songs where it gets a bit into cringe territory for me. I haven't listened to Ziltoid in a while so I should listen to it with fresh ears, but I listened to it quite a lot initially when I got into Devin. It's fun, it has a silly concept and it's one of those albums I can see people either fully loving, or being on the fence with.

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #233 on: May 21, 2023, 07:08:56 AM »
I remember after starting to dig Vampira, I went to a local record store to see what they had of his and I saw Ziltoid. I just said nope! Looked silly and I liked my music serious. Eventually I caved and it’s a fantastic album. Don’t love the sequel, but that’s a different discussion. Love this album though. I think planet smasher is probably one that really stands out to me.
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Offline Buddyhunter1

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #234 on: May 21, 2023, 10:26:54 AM »
Ziltoid is a mixed bag for me. I like it more than Synchestra or The New Black, and in some ways it's classic Devin, but as an album experience I find it to overall be a bit weak.

The pros:
- Ziltoid as a character is very fun (in a very stupid way, but still), and I'm happy that this album introduced him into the Devin universe.
- This album is extremely quotable. All of the spoken word bits from By Your Command, the quips during the greatest guitar solo ever in Ziltoidia Attaxx, and maybe my favorite, "I'M ZILTOID! I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! I LIVE ABOVE EARTH IN A BIG ROCKET SHIP!"
- By Your Command is such a big highlight and probably one of Devin's best songs. Lots of great riffs in the first half, and I'm still impressed at how smoothly the build-up in the second half was executed.
- I think what gives a this album a lot of its appeal is that it has a very whimsical atmosphere at times, and a surprisingly evocative emotional core. That whole middle section of Color Your World, especially. That's some of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching music Devin has ever written, and the fact that it's on a dumb concept album about aliens in coffee is something to be appreciated. Many have criticized the next Ziltoid album for not capturing this strength at all, which I'm inclined to agree with.

The cons:
- The whole middle stretch of this album does very little for me. I know Solar Winds has its fans, and it does have some really beautiful parts, but on the whole it's too drawn out for me and the narrative bits drag it down. Hyperdrive is just, infinitely better on Addicted so I never listen to this version of it. N9 is completely uninteresting to me, and Planet Smasher I also find pretty boring. That's a big percentage of the album that I could do without, so I never really listen to it in its entirety.
- I like Ziltoidia Attaxx and The Greys, but they're also pretty low-impact compared to Devin's best stuff. Really, By Your Command and Color Your World are the only songs on this album that feel essential to me.
- This definitely sounds like an album that Devin made all by himself, in terms of production. It's not bad or unpleasant by any means, but it does sound pretty amateurish. I actually use Drumkit From Hell too for my own music, and listening back to this album I can't help but feel I've been able to get better-sounding drums from it than what Devin manged to get here. :lol
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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #235 on: May 21, 2023, 11:02:01 AM »
- This definitely sounds like an album that Devin made all by himself, in terms of production. It's not bad or unpleasant by any means, but it does sound pretty amateurish. I actually use Drumkit From Hell too for my own music, and listening back to this album I can't help but feel I've been able to get better-sounding drums from it than what Devin manged to get here. :lol
You gotta remember that Drumkit from Hell has come a long way in the last 15 years. Plus there are tons more plugins for different kits now as well.
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Offline Buddyhunter1

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #236 on: May 21, 2023, 11:46:45 AM »
- This definitely sounds like an album that Devin made all by himself, in terms of production. It's not bad or unpleasant by any means, but it does sound pretty amateurish. I actually use Drumkit From Hell too for my own music, and listening back to this album I can't help but feel I've been able to get better-sounding drums from it than what Devin manged to get here. :lol
You gotta remember that Drumkit from Hell has come a long way in the last 15 years. Plus there are tons more plugins for different kits now as well.

I'm pretty sure the samples are the same cuz I recognize them all (I bought it in 2012 and haven't upgraded since then :lol). The way they're mixed on this album just isn't very good. Mine aren't either right now, in all fairness, but they sound closer to the sound I'd want to get out of that kit.

Drumkit From Hell is also used on Meshuggah's Catchy ThirtyThree and the Nothing remaster and they sound better there, too.
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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #237 on: May 21, 2023, 01:15:01 PM »
- This definitely sounds like an album that Devin made all by himself, in terms of production. It's not bad or unpleasant by any means, but it does sound pretty amateurish. I actually use Drumkit From Hell too for my own music, and listening back to this album I can't help but feel I've been able to get better-sounding drums from it than what Devin manged to get here. :lol
You gotta remember that Drumkit from Hell has come a long way in the last 15 years. Plus there are tons more plugins for different kits now as well.

I'm pretty sure the samples are the same cuz I recognize them all (I bought it in 2012 and haven't upgraded since then :lol). The way they're mixed on this album just isn't very good. Mine aren't either right now, in all fairness, but they sound closer to the sound I'd want to get out of that kit.

Drumkit From Hell is also used on Meshuggah's Catchy ThirtyThree and the Nothing remaster and they sound better there, too.
Well, yeah, the way drums are mixed can make all the difference in the world, no matter what software you use.
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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #238 on: May 21, 2023, 07:36:50 PM »
Been spinning Infinity lately. I love the songs but the production is so awful it gets tough to listen to.

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #239 on: May 22, 2023, 05:04:22 AM »
Listened to ZTO when it came out and enjoyed it but it wore off quickly for me. Sort of fun but ultimately found it too long and dull after repeated listens. If it he'd trimmed it to an EP it might have suited me better. I can't stay engaged with the mighty Ziltoid for an hour.  :lol
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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #240 on: May 22, 2023, 07:11:12 AM »
I'm a big fan of ZtO. N9 and Planet Smasher are relatively middling, and still very good. The Greys is very powerful emotionally for me.

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: The Hummer
« Reply #241 on: May 22, 2023, 08:14:32 AM »
GWAR - Beyond Hell (2006)
Dev produced GWAR’s tenth album at their home studio in Richmond, VA. He also sang on the song Tormentor.
Full album: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLezi_F-5-vaSS_9zHo9EQVYWsEnX2AbOg
Dev sings Tormentor live with GWAR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNbz14G1duw
GWAR hands out with Dev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJvsMVo5XJg

I'm not familiar with this album nor Devin's involvement in it  :metal I'd love to see more Dev and Gwar collabs.

Speaking of GWAR, they actually have a bar here in Richmond, cleverly named the GWARbar. If you look at it on street view on Google Maps, you see this, which perfectly embodies the spirit of Richmond.

 :lol that is great!

ALso, awesome license plater  :metal

I'm a big fan of ZTO.  It's just a really good albeit stupid prog (conceptual/lyrically) metal album.  Personally, always loved the song Ziltoidia Attaxx!!!

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #242 on: May 24, 2023, 06:19:51 AM »
Been spinning Infinity lately. I love the songs but the production is so awful it gets tough to listen to.

Nooooooooooooooooo!!! The production of Infinity is awesome.  It sounds like a Broadway musical on crack.  I wouldn't want all of his CDs to sound like that, but the charm of that record is in the sound (as well as the many great songs).

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #243 on: May 24, 2023, 06:50:47 AM »
I love Ziltoid, probably my third favorite record by Devin after Ocean Machine and Accelerated Evolution.

A lot of Devin's humor falls flat for me, it's either too stupid or too childish, but here he hits a sweet spot. Right from the beginning, when those videos of Ziltoid surfaced, I was hyped for this record. And it didn't disappoint. The only song I don't care about is N9 but all of you, that don't like Planet Smasher, you are simply wrong  ;) That's just an awesome metal tune. And by the way, the name's Herman... And I hate musicals!  :metal :metal :metal

The concept is cheesy and silly, but from the design of the sock pupptet, the videos of Ziltoid, the packaging of the record to the music and the lyrics, everything fits and is in line with the concept.

And if you want, you can even see a meta level in Colour Your World (The creator confesses that you are a puppet, we are all puppets) or is all of this just a dream of a slacker working in a coffee shop?

Yeah, I love this record.

PS: Very cool license plate, sadly you can't have this in Germany.
Must've been Kwyji sending all the wrong songs.   ;D

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Re: The Devin Townsend Discography Thread v2: Ziltoid the Omniscient
« Reply #244 on: May 24, 2023, 02:24:18 PM »
Been spinning Infinity lately. I love the songs but the production is so awful it gets tough to listen to.

Nooooooooooooooooo!!! The production of Infinity is awesome.  It sounds like a Broadway musical on crack.  I wouldn't want all of his CDs to sound like that, but the charm of that record is in the sound (as well as the many great songs).

Kev, dont get me wrong, I love the album but I wish it was mixed and mastered warmer and clearer. That's just my ears.