Devin’s got it right….

This Devin guy… was he in a band back in the days and then went solo (the standard thing kinda)… school me.. never heard of him but did a quick scroll on Youtube and this amazing solo live performance thing showed up. That voice/singing is way cool… and very technical dude. He must have been into digital and such for very long. Then i saw this super explosive and dramatic ”band” live show clip, very cool… dramatic!
 
JiveTurkey said:
Have you guys ever heard the James Murphy solo album with him on it? I was trying to remember if I heard City first or this? He's on a few tracks and this one especially is :satan
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I never knew this was even a thing!

One of my buddies played some Murphy stuff for me before, I think Murphy was singing and it sounded a LOT like AIC with the vocals.
 
DrewJD82 said:
I never knew this was even a thing!

One of my buddies played some Murphy stuff for me before, I think Murphy was singing and it sounded a LOT like AIC with the vocals.
Click to expand...
The first song on the album has Devin on it as well:

James Murphy was SO KILLER in all those bands he dropped in and made you crap your pants on with his :chef level of lead playing
 
the swede said:
This Devin guy… was he in a band back in the days and then went solo (the standard thing kinda)… school me.. never heard of him but did a quick scroll on Youtube and this amazing solo live performance thing showed up. That voice/singing is way cool… and very technical dude. He must have been into digital and such for very long. Then i saw this super explosive and dramatic ”band” live show clip, very cool… dramatic!
Click to expand...

So Dev got his start on Vai’s Sex And Religion album. Even though he had been playing guitar before he started singing, he sent a demo to Relativity and Relativity knew Vai was looking for a singer, they sent the demo to Vai and Vai snatched him up when Dev was all of 19. Google “Devin Townsend Jay Leno Phone” and YouTube “Devin Townsend Steve Vai story” to get an idea for how that all worked out. :rofl

I can’t remember the exact chronology, but after Vai, Dev moved from Vancouver to L.A. and absolutely hated L.A. and everything he had experienced in the music business and that became the bed for Strapping Young Lad, which is just brutal, crazy metal. He started gaining a personality as being ‘the crazy guy’ and ended up playing that role for a long time, trying to maintain it.

In between SYL albums he was doing solo stuff, while SYL was crazy metal, the solo stuff was, as he put it “Metallica meets Enya” and that’s fair. It’s the exact mix of heavy and chill that I love the most. Definitely check out the Ocean Machine album, the live versions or studio because they’re all GREAT. The production of his older albums is a bit meh, which is why the live stuff is so great because it sounds like it ”should”.

Around 2006 or so he was sick of SYL and disbanded it, he kind of quit the music business around this time and started producing albums. He’s done some great stuff with Soilwork, Stuck Mojo and Lamb Of God. Around 2010 or so, Peavey hit him up and was like “Yo, you’re Devin Townsend, you need to be writing and recording music….can we maybe get a guitar in your hands to see if that invigorates you?” and they did a short-lived signature model, but ultimately, it brought him out of ‘retirement’.

Since 2011 he’s been going pretty hard, recording and touring nonstop. I can’t even count the albums he’s done in the last decade. There’s a ton of variation, from super, super chill to super f*cking crazy to “WTF IS THIS?” (Puzzle…..it’s literally just chaos and not like metal chaos, just audio chaos….)

Seems like the upcoming album is going to be a bit more chill and catchy, which is right up my alley!

When I have some more time later today I’ll dump in some of my favorite Dev songs.
 
DrewJD82 said:
So Dev got his start on Vai’s Sex And Religion album. Even though he had been playing guitar before he started singing, he sent a demo to Relativity and Relativity knew Vai was looking for a singer, they sent the demo to Vai and Vai snatched him up when Dev was all of 19. Google “Devin Townsend Jay Leno Phone” and YouTube “Devin Townsend Steve Vai story” to get an idea for how that all worked out. :rofl

I can’t remember the exact chronology, but after Vai, Dev moved from Vancouver to L.A. and absolutely hated L.A. and everything he had experienced in the music business and that became the bed for Strapping Young Lad, which is just brutal, crazy metal. He started gaining a personality as being ‘the crazy guy’ and ended up playing that role for a long time, trying to maintain it.

In between SYL albums he was doing solo stuff, while SYL was crazy metal, the solo stuff was, as he put it “Metallica meets Enya” and that’s fair. It’s the exact mix of heavy and chill that I love the most. Definitely check out the Ocean Machine album, the live versions or studio because they’re all GREAT. The production of his older albums is a bit meh, which is why the live stuff is so great because it sounds like it ”should”.

Around 2006 or so he was sick of SYL and disbanded it, he kind of quit the music business around this time and started producing albums. He’s done some great stuff with Soilwork, Stuck Mojo and Lamb Of God. Around 2010 or so, Peavey hit him up and was like “Yo, you’re Devin Townsend, you need to be writing and recording music….can we maybe get a guitar in your hands to see if that invigorates you?” and they did a short-lived signature model, but ultimately, it brought him out of ‘retirement’.

Since 2011 he’s been going pretty hard, recording and touring nonstop. I can’t even count the albums he’s done in the last decade. There’s a ton of variation, from super, super chill to super f*cking crazy to “WTF IS THIS?” (Puzzle…..it’s literally just chaos and not like metal chaos, just audio chaos….)

Seems like the upcoming album is going to be a bit more chill and catchy, which is right up my alley!

When I have some more time later today I’ll dump in some of my favorite Dev songs.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'll have a go at Ocean Machine in the week.

I also asked a dude at work and he said "Go listen to "Deadhead" and "Kingdom" on YouTube and that's a good example of Devin stuff".
The dramatic tendencies appeals to me.... cool stuff!
 
the swede said:
Thanks! I'll have a go at Ocean Machine in the week.

I also asked a dude at work and he said "Go listen to "Deadhead" and "Kingdom" on YouTube and that's a good example of Devin stuff".
The dramatic tendencies appeals to me.... cool stuff!
Click to expand...

Can’t go wrong with either of those tunes!

The EMG performance of “Kingdom” went viral just because the second he opens his mouth, anyone who doesn’t know Devin opens their mouths equally as wide as he does when their jaw drops on the floor. And “Deadhead”…..perfectly example of chill metal.
 
I think my timeline of Dev discovery was the James Murphy track, then Detox on a Century Media Promo vid, then solo stuff below

The first solo song I heard from him and I LOVED it


They didn't have his solo albums locally and I never was good at ordering albums when I could just go pick up something metal at the local record shop. The second tune I heard was from Ocean Machine:
Such a VIBE and feeling I get from this when I listen. Still.

The second track on that album would be a perfect example of Dev's ability to go from dark to happy but keep it with that bombastic melancholy he brings. Loud but also quiet and moody and ethereal :chef :satan :chef
 
The album came out yesterday and the one benefit of covid was that I got to sit on my couch and take it in the way I prefer, no distractions and on some good speakers. It's a welcome return after Puzzle and Snuggle, even Empath. It's quite a bit easier to digest and man there's some earworms on here. Technically, it's a double album; Lightwork and Nightwork, 20 songs total. I can definitely some people tapping out a couple songs into Nightwork, he definitely gets more proggy and dense on this one. Most of the songs don't end where they started and while Lightwork is dense with layers, Nightwork is dense with layers and moods.

I can't get this one out of my head-


And some classic Dev-


This is another one I'm digging a lot....almost like a uh...country soul EDM thing going on, or something...


There's definitely something for all Dev's fans on here, I still need to hear it a LOT more to let it sink in, but so far I give it an 8 out of 10.
 
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I really love this!

I have to admit that for a moment, when I saw the video cover image, I got excited because I thought that it was a new ✨ NeoN Fortress ✨ video 😄
 
Somehow. I always get the feeling this is some kind of superhuman… not only does the few things i heard sound absolutely awesome… I saw an interview… dude seems super smart also. I mean… there are adults, grownups and generally smart and good people. He seems to be above and beyond that. I want to know about his parents :ROFLMAO:
 
The wife and I both love Dev, watched all his live streams during the lockdowns. He is such a unique talent.
At least once a week I go watch his live show @ Plovdiv. Watching the orchestra members' reaction to him and his band is a total hoot!

 
SymphonicDischord said:


He’s got his livestream for the album today as well. Unfortunately I can’t catch it live but I’ll definitely be taking it in tonight. So far I’ve made it through Lightworks and there’s some great stuff there. Like you said @DrewJD82 some real ear worms.
Click to expand...


Watching this now, while I change strings on a guitar. :headbang
 
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