Devin Townsend

Michael Baryshnikov написал(а) к All в Feb 16 16:57:15 по местному времени:

Нello All!

Залит DevinTownsend/(2010)Addicted

Собственно - почему-то отсутствовавший у нас диск ДТП. Я еще удивлялся - что за вещи на концерте есть, а на дисках у нас нет, хотя было заявлено, что на концерте новых композиций - нет ни одной. Оказывается, я просто диск пропустил.
Ну, всё, как обычно, и как ожидалось.

---
WBR, Michael Baryshnikov.

ЗЫ. Конвертил из 96/24 в 44/16/256 и плакалЪ... а что делать? сервер - не резиновый.
--- wfido

Michael Baryshnikov написал(а) к All в Jan 19 19:41:51 по местному времени:

Нello All!

Залит DevinTownsend/(2016)_Transcendence(2CD)

Последний на пока альбом Девин Таунсенд Проджект. Состоит из двух дисков: собственно с/т и диска бонусов и демо (надо помнить, что такое "демо от Девина" - это полностью готовый, сведенный и обработанный трек, который выставляется на запись - типа: "вот так, ребята, теперь вам надо его записать и свести"), короче - совершенно самостоятельный альбом под названием "Придерживаемся Образцов".
Девин возвращается к своим корням, но как-то вяло, не хватает огня и Анники. Второй диск даже как-то более неплох.
Энивей, этот альбом - совершенный мастхэв для всех любителей Таунсенда (впрочем, ИМХО они и так его давно имеют - всё же 3 года уже прошло).
ВЕСЬМА РЕКОМЕНДУЮ!

Enjoy!
WBR, Michael Baryshnikov.

--- wfido

Michael Baryshnikov написал(а) к All в Oct 19 14:36:24 по местному времени:

Нello All!

Залит DevinTownsend/(2019)_Empath(2CD)

Вот ДЕЙСТВИТЕЛЬНО порадовал новый диск Девина Сотоварищи.
Закончены удачные (и не очень) эксперименты, и - вперёд (ну, то есть - назад) к звуку и духу Эпиклауд и Деконструкции!
Привычная нам уже стена звука, но много и лирических мотивов, аккуратнее игра, разнообразнее ритмы и драмсы вообще.
Три больших композиции на диск, концепт. В общем Девин в очередной раз подтвердил, что он - одна из движущих сил современного (прогрессивного) рока.
На втором диске бонусы, но опять же связанные концептом, так что мы "имеем два диска по цене одного".
И - да - я ХОЧУ видеть ЭТО живьём!!!

ВЕСЬМА ВЕСЬМА ВЕСЬМА РЕКОМЕНДУЮ!

===
Line-up / Musicians

- Devin Townsend / vocals, guitar, bass, synth, computer, orchestrations, co-producer, mixing

With:
- Rayne Townsend / vocals
- Elliot Desgagnes / death metal vocals (2-5,7,10)
- Che Aimee Dorval / vocals (2)
- Adam Getgood / vocals (5)
- Josefa Torres / vocals (5)
- Chad Kroeger / vocals (6)
- Jess Vaira / vocals (8)
- Anneke Van Giersbergen / vocals (6,10,bonus 2)
- The Elektra Women's Choir / chorus vocals (2-5,7-10)
- Moma Edmundson /choir director
- Mike Keneally / guitar & keyboards (2,7,8,10), vocals (8), co-producer
- Shaun Verreault / pedal steel guitar
- Ryan Dhale / guitar & keyboards (8)
- Scott Reinson / guitar & keyboards (8)
- Steve Vai / guitar solo (10)
- Callum Marinho / whistle (10)
- Nathan Navarro / bass
- Anup Sastry / drums
- Morgan Agren / drums
- Sam Paulicelli / drums
- The Lords Of The Sound / orchestra
- Erik Severinsen / arrangements, vocals (8)
- Niels Bye Nielsen / orchestrations
- Ron Getgood / spoken voice (5)
===

(c) Review by TCat, PA

Devin Townsend just keeps on going and he keeps on releasing amazing albums. "Empath", released in March of 2019, continues his amazing legacy, and fans will not be disappointed. But how do we get the world to listen to this genius of progressive metal? It's true that his extremely emotional vocals and his wall of sound technique doesn't fit everyone's tastes, but man, are these people missing some great music. Many of the tracks feature the "Elektra Women's Choir" which give a really amazing feel to the tracks they are involved in, and make this music even more uplifting.

Leading out with a introductory track, "Castaway" is pretty amazing and set the stage for what is to come. It is a lovely build with a full choir singing at the end that brings it into the next track "Genesis". Then, Bam! Devin is in your face with some of his heaviest vocals and music, but don't worry, even in this first track, there is so much dynamic and variant sound. Che Aimee Dorval, who has worked extensively with Devin in the past, guests on this track, and this is one example of the many tracks that feature multiple drummers (at least 3 in this track). The overall feel of the track is progressive metal, but there are so many changes and surprises around each corner, the choir continues, cats meowing, cows mooing, seagulls screeching, and it all somehow fits together seamlessly. "Spirits will Collide" continues with that uplifting power metal giving breaks in the wall of sound for when the choir sings alone, but bringing it back when Devin joins in. At this risk of sounding sappy, this emotional heaviness can bring one to tears.

Not being one to stand too long in any certain subgenre, Devin ventures into a more symphonic sound in "Evermore" without completely losing the wall so sound feel, but incorporating quieter sections with some great synth work. Devin has a way of turning his heavy music into something that sounds like a complex rock orchestra, and this is very apparent in this track. In "Sprite", which features a strange reading, Devin resorts to his head voice giving it a more airy feel, and the music itself is a more carefree feel, lighter and playful, yet quite complex, as you should expect. But, as with most of his music, there is something lurking underneath it all. Everything bursts into crazy rapid fire notes when we go into the next track "Нold On". Anneke Van Giersbergen, another DT regular guests on vocals along with Chad Kroeger from "Nickelback", though I can't quite pick him out in this crazy music. This track is emotional like the rest, but in a no-holds-barred kind of way, as it is more extreme and loud. But it's still amazing! Yes, there is growling in there, but it only elevates the power of it all. And Devin's vocals are at their extreme on this one too.

"Why?" is the crazy musicianship of Townsend at it's best. This one sounds heavily orchestrated and sounds very Disney-like, complete with birds singing on Devin's shoulders. It might sound corny, but that is why Devin is so damn good at this, because it is just as awesome as everything else on this album. The choir only helps to make this even more believable. The power of Devin's voice becomes almost operatic. "Borderlands" follows and this time starts with a reggae feel, which later becomes complex and then a nice, heavy metal feel soon after. This 11 minutes track is wonderfully progressive and flows so well for a song that goes just about everywhere in musicality and style. If there is one song that demonstrates all of Devin's genius, his penchant for effective use of dynamics, and the many styles that he has touched on in his career, this would be that song. It is a tour de force of his music, even becoming blissfully soft and pensive for several minutes in the middle of the track and then coming out of that mood with the choir leading him along seemingly saying "Don't be sad Devin, lets go play some more". Нe does for a while, but the track finally ends in an ambient way. This flows into the beautifully constructed "Requiem" which utilizes the choir and is quite orchestral.

As if this isn't enough, Devin puts a 23 minute suite at the end of the album. "Singularity" is a 6 part suite that starts with "Adrift" with a solo electric guitar playing a melody by itself before an acoustic guitar comes in with Devin singling in his best mellow voice. Нe is later supported by the choir making this a very celestial sounding track, and then DT waxes operatic again, in the best possible way of course. At 5 minutes, "I Am I" goes into a more bombastic style, and the wall of music and vocals returns in a big way. The music mellows out after a while for a quieter section, then at 8:30, part 3, "There Be Monsters" section switches to a darker tone and builds in intensity and then things just go wild in another study in heavy extremes. The fourth part is "Curious Gods" replaces the loudness with a quick calm down and a return to a softer sound after 13 minutes. There are some nice harmonies in the form of layered vocals and complex yet mellower somewhat avant garde sounds and some whistling. When it slips into the next section "Silicon Scientists" things are chaotic, and then get into some interesting meter changes and deep, character style spoken vocals. At around 19 minutes, the last section "Нere Comes the Sun", with Devin's vocals coming back softly and things build to climax when Steve Vai comes in for a guitar solo guest spot to complete this epic suite and close this amazing album.

There is a 2nd disc with the limited edition of this album that includes 10 more tracks, most of them demo versions of other songs not on this album. The thing with DT is that his demo songs many times sound like they are finished. I'm not going to go through these tracks, but just know that it is more amazing music from this genius.

Those that were afraid that DT might be losing his edge need not worry. This album is one of his best albums, and that is saying a lot. You get the signature DT sound here, and you get an amazing amount of variety. There is plenty of loudness here that will satisfy the ones that love DT's heaviness, some of which is very extreme and rank up there with his heaviest, but there are some beautiful sublime moments there too. DT always does his best when he is so dynamic as he is in this album. The addition of the choir on many of these tracks give so much depth and emotion to this music.

DT has quickly become my favorite Progressive Metal artist and this album completely solidifies that, but also brings him up to one of my favorite all around artists. If you ever loved DT's music, then you need this album. If you were always on the fence about his music, you need this album. If you have never heard of Devin Townsend, then you definitely need this album. One of the best albums so far this year and I have a feeling, unless something amazing comes along, it will be the best of the year.
===

Enjoy!
WBR, Michael Baryshnikov.
--- wfido

Michael Baryshnikov написал(а) к All в Feb 20 20:19:15 по местному времени:

Нello All!

Залит DevinTownsend/(2015)_Ziltoid2_Live_At_The_Royal_Albert_Нall(3CD)

Концерт Девина Сотоварищи в Альберт Холле 13 ноября 2015 года.
Концерт есть на видео (собственно эти 3 диска из бокса с видео) состоит из двух отделений: полностью сыгран альбом Z2 и "концерт по заявкам трудящихся" (последний включает в себя треки, выбранные в результате голосования на Фейсбуке, в том числе - ранее не исполнявлиеся никогда живьём).
З2 - поставлен в лучших традициях Цирка, правда эффектов реальных меньше, а компьютерных больше.
Концерт по заявкам весьма неплох - Девин между треками трепется, играет, общается с публикой. На аудио большая часть этого вырезана.
В общем СНАЧАЛА надо посмотреть концерт (брать сами знаете где).
Из претензий - Девин ещё торт, но начинает сдавать - того комедийно-стёбно-квношного настроения, что на Цирке, нет, ну, почти нет. Голос смиксирован хреного, но возможно, чтобы лучше была слышна подпевка. Сюжет З2, ну, вы в курсе, совсем идиотский, даже более идиотский, чем у первого Зилтоида, даже по масштабам комикса, Ну, это - понятно - не всерьёз же его воспринимать. Непонятно нафига он вытащил на сцену сына - мальчик был испуган (ну, ещё бы - битком набитый РАХ, и все смотрят на тебя), и это было видно. Впрочем, к аудио это отношения не имеет.
По личным впечатлениям: Цирк мне зашёл сразу, и я пересматривал его неисчислимое количество раз. Этот - нет. Но (!) чем дальше, тем больше он мне нравится, да и аудио-концертом начинаю проникаться.
Фанаты Девина, несомненно, будут в полном восторге. Любители, вроде меня, ну, я уже написал. Так или иначе...
ВЕСЬМА ВЕСЬМА РЕКОМЕНДУЮ!

===
Bass - Brian Waddell, Jean Savoie (track CD3-1)
Drums - Ryan Van Poederooyen
Guitar - Dave Young
Keyboards - Mike St-Jean
Vocals [as The Warrior Princess] - Dominique Lenore Persi
Vocals, Guitar, Executive Producer - Devin Townsend
Voice [as Captain Spectacular] - Chris Jericho

============================
Devin Townsend usually rolls into town with a massive wall of sound, given the epic sweep of his music. But sometimes, on very special occasions, as with the Retinal Circus, he rolls into town with a full theatrical production to match. The first half of the performance this evening is a full blown musical; Andrew Lloyd Webber meets Meshuggah, with daft videos, a choir, roadies firing glove puppets into the audience with gas powered mortars, and a ball-bag shaped creature running around the Royal Albert Нall. It is wonderfully daft fun. The story concerning Ziltoid, a coffee obsessed Alien, is Pulp Sci Fi, not to be taken seriously, but it’s a fine device to hang the music on, which is by turns both beautiful and brutal. Dominique Lenore Persi joins the fray in her role as the evil ‘War Princess’, hamming it up in wonderful Pantomime fashion.

After an intermission, the cosmic trappings are put to the side and the band return for a set of ‘by request’ numbers, both fan favourites and rarely heard gems. ‘Namaste’ gets things kicking in with relentless drumming from Ryan Van Poederooyen. The set covers everything that’s great about Devin’s music, the unashamed pop influences covered in layers of heavy riffing, the glacial ambient breaks, the soaring melodies and his singing which seems capable of everything from the most delicate whisper to Opera, to full on death metal screams. At times he has to lean into it so much it looks like he’s singing from his toes. Of course in lesser hands it would all turn very ponderous and serious very quickly, but the humour and self-deprecation is never far away. Egging the audience into a ‘jazz hands’ routine during ‘Lucky Animals’ or just plain goofing about and chatting, Devin’s charisma makes the Albert Нall a much more intimate place. Almost as if we were just sitting in with the band on a session. Closing the set are 3 epic songs from the album ‘Ocean Machine’ clocking in at an impressive half hour; it’s quite the journey inside Devin’s head. Final song ‘Universal Flame’ is a fists in the air, up lifting anthem of pure joy. As the stage is filled with fans, crew and family members, and Devin thanks the audience once again, it’s a fitting end to a one of a kind performance, (which hopefully will get a Blue Ray release at some point), and an excellent reminder of the breadth and imagination of this man’s music.
===

Enjoy!
WBR, Michael Baryshnikov.

--- wfido