Devin Townsend

[WalterBush]

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...

Yeah, exhausted was generally how I felt after listening to Strapping Young Lad, but in a good way. If that was the intent, than he succeeded. I just couldn't listen through more than once without my ears starting to hurt a bit, even at low volume. My only complaint, really.

I like Ziltoid. All the density, none of the ear fatigue. And his solo albums are all well-done, all around. I think his newer stuff is much better than his older. I like hearing artists continue to grow when conventional wisdom says they should be losing their creativity after decades in the music biz.

 

[Kink Rimson]

I truly love Dev's stuff, but I thought Ziltoid was pretty bad.
I love some of the music, particularly the 'Ocean Machine' excerpt and the Planet Smasher, but I felt the narrative and characterisation were painful.

 

[velvetkevorkian]

I think he is one of the few true geniuses at work today (did my username give it away?).
City is in my top two or three albums of all time, and his solo stuff is mostly great. Ocean Machine and Terria both do it for me in particular