Devin Townsend Podcasts

[Grim Reality]

I know DT was fairly popular amongst certain users on the old forum. I was a pretty massive fan from the City days up to around Alien/Synchestra, where I felt less of a connection to the music and started looking a bit more underground for my musical kicks.

I discovered the other week he's been doing these covid/stay indoors inspired Podcasts discussing each of his albums at length (1hr 45min per album). I'm up to Physicist and while a bit waffley and short on anecdotes they are fairly entertaining if a bit too earnest in places. Anyway, a nice impetus to revisit some of the older stuff that influenced me greatly in my teens.

So far I've found City to have only just about held up. I actually didn't get all the through. Infinity has never been a favourite of mine and I still found it a bit patchy. Physicist has some belting tracks and a super pace. But Ocean Machine. What an album, loved it as a teen and surprised how much I'm enjoying it again. Driving in the sun to work across near deserted country roads has been an unusual an unexpected pleasure recently.

On a sad note I metal archived the drummer on OM as I fucking love that simple, no frills heavy style when it's done well and discovered he died by his own hand a few years back. Never played on anything else by the looks of it. In the podcast DT talks of how he wanted a big Metallica Black Album sound and they actually sampled a snare hit from Sad But True and used that tone for every snare hit on the OM album. Pretty nice bit of trivia.

[Carnage]

I always assumed Hoglan played on that album, or that he'd used a sampled drums (as with Ziltoid), interesting. Must look out for those, they sound interesting.

[Trev]

I'm really enjoying them, it's almost like he's telling his life story with the albums interspersed with it. Which I suppose he is in way given how he describes his creative process, but it's given me a new slant on albums I've heard countless times. Certainly an eye(ear?) opening experience

[ochoill]

I've been enjoying them a lot so far, looking forward to hearing the next few.  Big fan of a lot of his stuff - only really didn't like the two previous albums to Empath (which itself is great) but almost everything else is solid.  Terria is my favourite album of all time and City is fantastic, still holds up perfectly today and sits well with his retelling in the podcasts.  Ocean Machine is top class and seems to be most Devy fans' favourite, all round solid album, fantastic atmosphere, and hearing him talk about how it came about early in the podcasts was great.

[Pedrito]

I know DT was fairly popular amongst certain users on the old forum. I was a pretty massive fan from the City days up to around Alien/Synchestra, where I felt less of a connection to the music and started looking a bit more underground for my musical kicks.

I discovered the other week he's been doing these covid/stay indoors inspired Podcasts discussing each of his albums at length (1hr 45min per album). I'm up to Physicist and while a bit waffley and short on anecdotes they are fairly entertaining if a bit too earnest in places. Anyway, a nice impetus to revisit some of the older stuff that influenced me greatly in my teens.

So far I've found City to have only just about held up. I actually didn't get all the through. Infinity has never been a favourite of mine and I still found it a bit patchy. Physicist has some belting tracks and a super pace. But Ocean Machine. What an album, loved it as a teen and surprised how much I'm enjoying it again. Driving in the sun to work across near deserted country roads has been an unusual an unexpected pleasure recently.

On a sad note I metal archived the drummer on OM as I fucking love that simple, no frills heavy style when it's done well and discovered he died by his own hand a few years back. Never played on anything else by the looks of it. In the podcast DT talks of how he wanted a big Metallica Black Album sound and they actually sampled a snare hit from Sad But True and used that tone for every snare hit on the OM album. Pretty nice bit of trivia.

I was listening to them and found them very interesting, especially when he talks about the Steve Vai album and all the issues he had making his first records. I reallly like the Vai album I have to say. By the time I got to the Phycisist I was losing ineterest, but I need to listen to the Terria one because that and Ocean are hands down his best albums for me. Love City aswell.

Why did I get a little tired of the podcast? Well, similar to Russell Brand, for example, who have gone through some spiritual or post addiction process, he gets into a lot of this We are all one talk which is great, and I have plenty time for it, but I find there is a real hesitancy there to really nail their flags to the mast. A lot of this I am not religious but...talk. Maybe its a peeve of mine.

Overall very much worth a listen though. The Ocean Machine snare bit was really cool.

[Pedrito]

Half hour into the Terria podcast and he hasnt mentioned the album once. Just lots of psychobabble and self diagnoses. I might leave it til a later date.

[Trev]

Given how much stock he puts into his time with Vai and how it shaped him,  it'd be great if he he could do a podcast with Steve Vai talking about Sex & Religion

[astfgyl]

I had City on lately and I loved all of it. Ocean Machine and Terria are where it's at though. I keep meaning to listen to these podcasts. Did you like that Sex and Religion album by the way? I thought it was awful, and that was at a time when I would listen to anything at all DT put out.

[Grim Reality]

Though it's a rambling and largely unsatisfying episode the reveal as to why he went crazy around the time of Infinity is pure Devy!

[DeletedUsermNqGIiIuGy]

Went into this today, started with Infinity as I think it was the first time I got into his solo stuff. Going to start back at the start now and follow along.
I don't mind if he isn't going into the actual albums too much, he's led an interesting life and he's one of the few I'd like to hear more about that stuff than just the album itself.

[Carnage]

I listened to the Ocean Machine one today. It was interesting to a point but went a bit self-help book toward the end of his track-by-track rundown, that was a chore. I'll listen to more though, ultimately worth a go.