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Devin Townsend

I love his music too. He's got a great voice, and always some tasty songwriting. I nearly soiled myself when he appeared on "The human equation" by Ayreon. One of my favourite musicians on this planet, with one of the greatest singers.. that's almost too much, even for a guy like me.
 
The Latest album "Ki" is absolutely brilliant.

Very different from his previous sound(s), but a real masterpiece nonetheless.

+1. I liked Strapping Young Lad, too, but the mix was too, well, awful. I love Ki, though. Very different.
 
hardcore fan here! Have loved all the hardest SYL stuff but more melodic songs like "Almost Again" and it's intense video make you forget how brutal and fast they are (Gene Hoglan is easily one of the greatest drummers in existence), and are dripping with emotion. His solo stuff is a testiment to an artist's burst of creative freedom once out from a record company's thumb... brilliant... and also displays how he is perhaps one of the funniest guys ("Vampyra") in the biz. i miss the 'skullet', though!
 
+1. I liked Strapping Young Lad, too, but the mix was too, well, awful. .

I love the SYL production, I think of Devin as the Phil Spector of metal, only without the murder. I loved how the emphasis of SYL wasn't always on the guitars, it was more a 'cathedral of sound'.

City is my joint fave Dev effort, along with Ocean Machine.
But Infinity, Terria, Physicist, Alien and Synchestra are pretty incredible too.:bassist:
 
I love the SYL production, I think of Devin as the Phil Spector of metal, only without the murder. I loved how the emphasis of SYL wasn't always on the guitars, it was more a 'cathedral of sound'.

I suppose that's part of my problem...I like Steely Dan type mixes where everything is audible, rather than the wall-o'-sound type mix. Alien was definitely wall-o'-sound.

I was referring to the mastering, more than the mix, actually. Slammed and overcompressed. I'd love to hear some remastered SYL. I suspect, after listening to Becoming the Archetype (Devin produced their second album, and it shows) and Devin's solo stuff, that a good mix and interesting orchestration got hosed in the mastering process on the SYL albums.
 
I was referring to the mastering, more than the mix, actually. Slammed and overcompressed. I'd love to hear some remastered SYL. I suspect, after listening to Becoming the Archetype (Devin produced their second album, and it shows) and Devin's solo stuff, that a good mix and interesting orchestration got hosed in the mastering process on the SYL albums.

Actually, knowing Dev and the SYL albums, I'd say that the mastering was intentional as he was going for the brutal, pummelling wall of sound.

The one conversation I had with them was that he was looking to leave the listeners exhausted, confused and spent after listening to them. I think he executed that aim perfectly with the SYL stuff...

For stuff that's a little more varied and dynamic - try the Devin Townsend Band albums or his solo work. If you want sheer weirdness in a concept album, you can always try Ziltoid...