Of EVERYTHING Dev's done Hummer and Devlab have got the best flow to them. Staying out of the ambienty stuff Synchestra is the most flowing album in my opinion. The big three on Ocean Machine have a lovely flow to 'em, but the album altogether doesn't fully gel in places. Infinity's gels nicely as well, but still not quite as well as Synchestra... So yeah, for me its Synchestra.

[djskrimp]

Yes, I am about to beat a dead horse. I don't think I've explained myself very well, though, so....

Here's why I think "Ocean Machine" works as one big song:

Ocean Machine, to me, is about a human lifecycle. This over-arching theme is touched upon metaphorically, and presented in sequence.

Seventh Wave: The beginning of life, as in conception. Not born yet, but becoming that which will be. It's thought by some that life evolved from the ocean. Therefore, the lifecycle has begun.

Life: The birth. Out of the birth canal and into the cold, bright world.
"My life is all that I've known
And it's all that keeps me here
My time is all that I own
So I won't let it slip away... "

This, to me, speaks of the short time we all have, even at birth. (The minute you are born, you are dying.) Now, all possiblities are open, and each choice cuts down that number till ulitimately there are none left.

Night: "Here I am, living life inside a comic book
Here I am, bored with everything... "
Childhood, adolescence. The wonder of new things, and the tedium of things already known. What teenager DIDN'T think they knew everything?

Hide Nowhere: Adulthood. The knowing that each choice has a consequence, that each action has a reaction.
"See in the sea what is and what will be"
The need to replicate...to produce the same as what you are made of, to perpetuate.

Sister: Looking around and noticing that you aren't the only one feeling the joys and pains of the human existence. You have a family...blood of your blood, sharing the same genetic material, and yet completely different in temprament and outlook.

3 am:
"Time will be on my side
No looking back this time
All that I've known is gone
Time to be moving on... "
Later adulthood. Having experienced some loss, and having some decisions or things happen that have cut, and feeling the wounds, but still looking forward to what could still be.

Voices In The Fan
Old age. Coming to the end of this existence. Looking back, before senility has taken over, and assessing the life lead. The loss of the physical and mental acuity loom very near.

"Goodbye "

Greetings: Crossing over into old age, where you no longer seen as a viable, relevent human, but almost as an alien...a relic in your own time, but no longer of your time. As you pass your knowledge to the younger generation, it is almost like an alien race coming to visit mother earth...
"From our world, I bring you greetings
It's so hard to tame them
...it will be so hard to prove them wrong
I believe, we'll lose our world for them...
I believe, we'd throw up arms before
Them...
...And bore them
So call it home "

See, from <our> world......

Regulators: " Time won't wait for me " No longer can you deny that you time draws near completion. No longer can you deny that the hand of the Reaper comes closer...close enough to touch your heart and stop it.

Funeral: The death of those you've loved, and of fellow man. Your age is advanced, and all that you loved or knew is ceasing to exist...your demise is soon to follow....

"I can't hold on to what I've had
When what I've had
There's nothing left at all... "

Bastard: Continuation of previous song, but now there is a defiance. Now there is anger. Why do we have to die? Why must our existence be so futile, so short? Looking back at the "ocean" from where we came, "The lights from across the harbour ", "So in the corner by the dock
Where there's no light"...the young can't see the end of the tunnel like the old, and ignore it's unpleasant presence "It smells like piss but no one knows". We are coming to our end:
"And right now just to sleep would be alright
...Feel old, gone where the feelings go
...Gone now in a field of green
Gone where feelings go..."

Death of Music: The final act. The death of us, all we know, the end of our existence.

Things Beyond Things: In our death, a new life begins. There is the old, where material things had importance, but they don't anymore. No more is there a need for food, for drink, for entertainment, for fulfillment by having "stuff". Now, we are lived on by our children, our lives maybe an inspiration to others, or our deeds remarked upon in infamy. Maybe this is heaven, maybe this is purgatory, or maybe we live in in the stories told by those born well after our death. It doesn't matter, it's things beyond things.



Yes, I know it was long-winded...but, damnit, I really wanted to explain why I thought that Ocean Machine was one big song. The above remarks are what I think and feel when I hear the album in its entirety...and are the reason I enjoy Devin Townsend's creative output and hold him in such high esteem. He wrote this in 1996-1997, right? At like 25? Who the hell thinks this way at 25? I didn't. I'm 33 now, and I am just now STARTING to think about things this way.

Or, I could just fuck off.

Ocean Machine is still my favorite. I like your break down. Even album to album there is flow, evolution and connectivity. Ocean Machine(water)to Terria(earth)to Accelerated Evolution(air)etc. Multi flow.
When I listen to Terria it is a drive across Canada starting from the coast through the mountains across the prairies through Quebec and on to the Atlantic coast.

Yes, I know it was long-winded...but, damnit, I really wanted to explain why I thought that Ocean Machine was one big song.

And you definitely did it well! Although I might not agree with everything you wrote, I have to admit that it was very interesting to read such an in-depth analysis. I never made those connections between the songs... But even if Devin didn't intend it as you see it, it really makes sense.

(something which i very rarely can say of my own posts, you know, so even more respect for you)

I would say Terria is the closest. The first time I heard it, I didn't know when songs ended and started (except for Canada because I had already heard it on the hevydevy site). I'd say the only time when I was pretty sure a new song had started was tiny tears, and stagnant of course.