Devin Townsend

[The Dissident]

Devin announced on his socials that they have re-released Terria on Vinyl for those interested.

 

[Mosh]

I have been really enjoying these Wheel Of Prog videos:

Curious what people think of their ratings, I'll come back with my opinions.

Also it sounds like his next album, Power Nerd, is finished.

 

[chaosapiant]

I'm excited about whatever Devin does next. Lightwork was fantastic, with tunes as smooth as his head.

 

[Mosh]

Man their list is awful.

Their list:

Spoiler

S - Empath, Deconstruction, Terria, Ki
A - Ziltoid, Ghost, Synchestra
B - Accelerated Evolution, Infinity, Z2
C - Ocean Machine, Addicted, Epicloud (seriously WTF)
D - Transcendence, Lightwork, Physicist

Adhering to 3 per tier with one tier getting a fourth, I would go:
S - Ocean Machine, Deconstruction, Terria, Addicted
A - Epicloud, Ghost, Ki
B - Ziltoid, Synchestra, Transcendence (this one borders on C tier, but I think it's stronger than all the below albums)
C - Infinity, Empath, Accelerated Evolution
D - Z2, Lightwork, Physicist

I strongly disagreed with most of that video. A lot of what they said just seemed way off from what I thought was maybe common consensus. Empath as a universally beloved album? Maybe I am an outlier but I thought it was a real mixed bag and definitely not for everyone. Ocean Machine has filler? No way. It also felt like Addicted lost points for being poppy, but it's basically the template for almost every album he has made since (Epicloud, Lightwork, Transcendence, Sky Blue) and is still the best version of that sound. Just some bizarre takes. I also feel like Devin has a big cult audience that is afraid to criticize him, but he does have some weak material and albums with a lot of filler. Z2 is a mess and Dark Matters is by far the worst thing he has put on record.

IMO the 4 original DTP albums are his best work and if you mixed it on to one big album it would be his best album and S tier easily. After that, only Ocean Machine and Terria come close. Everything else is one big step below the A tier I would say.

I am excited for what he does next but I have to say it feels like he has been in a creative rut since Epicloud. It feels like there are albums he actually wants to make and then there are albums that he actually makes because they sell better or his label prefers that he makes those. He keeps talking about making stuff like Casualties 2 or this orchestral thing but then you end up with this kind of mid wall of sound Foo Fighters thing like Lightwork. It's not bad but I miss the variety and adventurous sound of the original DTP. I will say that Empath kinda falls into that category and I would enjoy more albums like that even if I didn't totally dig it, it at least felt like he was breaking some new ground. I thought Casualties of Cool was his last really interesting album.

 

[Shmoolikipod]

I just listened too. Let's see...

S - Deconstruction, Ziltoid, Empath, Synchestra
A - Ocean Machine, Addicted, Ki
B - Epicloud, Accelerated Evolution, Terria
C - Ghost, Transcendence, Infinity, Sky Blue,
D - Physicist, Lightwork, Dark Matters

First of all - I have no idea why they ranked Z2 as one album. Like, I know it's technically one album, but the two discs couldn't be more different.

Their C tier is just so, so bad. Epicloud I can kind of understand, except for the part where Sky Blue aka Epicloud-but-worse is above it, but hearing them pile on Ocean Machine was bizarre. I only have it in A because I'm not always in the headspace for the first part of it (until Sister). Likewise Addicted has one average song in Resolve and the rest of it is gold.

Empath as a universally beloved album? Maybe I am an outlier but I thought it was a real mixed bag and definitely not for everyone.

I think that's you, I've seen nothing but praise for it. It's like a combination of Deconstruction and Epicloud with a tinge of Terria (Borderlands) and kicks ass all the way. If anything it would've made sense if it came out after Epicloud, it was the break in his creative rut.

IMO the 4 original DTP albums are his best work and if you mixed it on to one big album it would be his best album and S tier easily.

I agree, he explored so much space in those four, even if I'm not the biggest fan of Ghost (#hummergang). Ki is very unique too, there isn't much like it.

I am excited for what he does next but I have to say it feels like he has been in a creative rut since Epicloud. It feels like there are albums he actually wants to make and then there are albums that he actually makes because they sell better or his label prefers that he makes those. He keeps talking about making stuff like Casualties 2 or this orchestral thing but then you end up with this kind of mid wall of sound Foo Fighters thing like Lightwork. It's not bad but I miss the variety and adventurous sound of the original DTP. I will say that Empath kinda falls into that category and I would enjoy more albums like that even if I didn't totally dig it, it at least felt like he was breaking some new ground. I thought Casualties of Cool was his last really interesting album.

Don't forget The Puzzle, which whatever it is, Foo Fighters it is not, and also Dreampeace(?) which I've never heard. I don't entirely disagree though considering Lightwork. We'll see what Powernerd is like.

 

[karljant]

Here's my rank... It's rare to see a band with six albums at near perfection echelon in my book but then again... This is Devin.

S- Infinity, Physicist, Terria, Addicted, Epicloud, Empath.
A- Ocean Machine, Sky Blue, Synchestra.
B- Accelerated Evolution, Ki, Deconstruction, Lightwork.
C- Ghost, Transcendence.
D- Ziltoid, Dark Matters

So yeah... Apart from the Ziltoid saga, I consider everything else spanning from Ok (C) to utter masterpieces (S).

 

[Mosh]

First of all - I have no idea why they ranked Z2 as one album. Like, I know it's technically one album, but the two discs couldn't be more different.

Their C tier is just so, so bad. Epicloud I can kind of understand, except for the part where Sky Blue aka Epicloud-but-worse is above it, but hearing them pile on Ocean Machine was bizarre. I only have it in A because I'm not always in the headspace for the first part of it (until Sister). Likewise Addicted has one average song in Resolve and the rest of it is gold.

I also didn't really get some of their decisions there. I'm not even sure you can still buy Z2 as a package, I always see the two albums sold separately in stores. They are clearly two different albums and even at the time I feel the marketing was clear on that. If you broke them up I would leave Dark Matters in the D tier and bump Sky Blue up to C.

I think that's you, I've seen nothing but praise for it. It's like a combination of Deconstruction and Epicloud with a tinge of Terria (Borderlands) and kicks ass all the way. If anything it would've made sense if it came out after Epicloud, it was the break in his creative rut.

I'll have to spend more time with the album. I don't remember a lot of excitement around it when it was new, but maybe the pandemic messed that up. My stop on the tour was the first one that got canceled because of COVID, so I kinda missed out on the Empath cycle. Still, I find it surprising that such an offbeat album is so highly praised.

Don't forget The Puzzle, which whatever it is, Foo Fighters it is not, and also Dreampeace(?) which I've never heard. I don't entirely disagree though considering Lightwork. We'll see what Powernerd is like.

For sure, I guess I wasn't counting the ambient albums or anything like that since they weren't included in this video and were treated more like side projects. I think the general trajectory of "main" albums is Epicloud -> Transcendence -> Sky Blue -> Empath -> Lightwork -> Power Nerd, where all of those albums (other than Empath) are kinda in this wall of sound poppy metal framework. I don't mean Foo Fighters in a negative way, but I feel like you see a tendency for big anthemic rock songs on those Devin albums that is characteristic of the Foos.

Also, one more thing on the video. My least favorite common comparison in all of music is probably Devin Townsend/Frank Zappa. They are really nothing alike. I feel like comparing the two does a huge disservice to both artists.

 

[The Dissident]

I haven't revisited most of the albums since my first listen through but when I watched it I was blown away that Ocean Machines was so low. To me it was the undisputed best. Epicloud and Accelerated Evolution to me should have been higher as well. I was also surprised at how high Empath was.

I agree with the statement about combining and making a S tier album from the DTP albums.

Maybe I'll add him to my vacation album re-listen list.

 

[Shmoolikipod]

First single from Powernerd! It's pretty good imo. Very deep sound is the most noticeable thing, the song itself is Epicloudish (I'm thinking about Liberation specifically) but has some Empath-like elements, in the vocals mostly. Not much of a curveball. I swear there's another Devin song that's even more similar to this than Liberation, that also has double kick, but no names come to mind...

 

[matic22]

The Powernerd single is exactly what I thought it will be when I read the title.

Some Punky Bruster vibes there mixed with a lot of Alien->DTP era Devy. Love it.

I call the solo section Motördevy.

 

[Mosh]

I also hear the Epicloud connection. There are a few songs throughout his discography with this kind of upbeat anthemic Metal feel, maybe a few on Physicist, I'm too lazy to look now. It's not bad. I definitely hear a bit of age in Devin's voice, particularly his screams, but it's not a bad thing. I feel like almost every Devin album since Epicloud has been some flavor of "upbeat catchy metal" so I hope there's at least a little bit more variety here but overall it's a solid lead single. Looking forward to the album!