Hey, sorry to start a new topic but I had to say this.

To me, Decon is the best album Devy has pulled of. Why? Well, I love every single thing he's wrote and I find Decon is a condensed mix that pretty much sums up all of his musical career.

-'Praise the lowered' has elements of Ocan Machine and Addicted.
-'Stand' has elements from Ki and hints from Ziltoid (during the long 'staaaaand').
-'Juular' makes me think of Victim and Jupiter a little, and a bit of Ziltoid.
-'POTA' has much Ziltoid in it, especially around the end.
-'Sumeria' has an incredible Alien feeling to it and a bit of Infinity when it goes 'Shower the world...'.
-Of course 'Masturbator' is a big melting pot but I think it has an amazing Infinity feel to it (the end fanfare is not insignificant) but around the 'save the world' too.
-'Pandemic' has a lot of Strapping stuff, especially in the rythmics (Home Nucleonics?) and of course the All is calm, all is well' taken from 'Critic'.
-'Deconstruction' totally stands on its own but I still sense some of the crazy Strapping shit, but also everything else...
-'Poltergeist' is very very Strapping. Either Dev was a little nostalgic of the extreme brutality of the SYL years or he wanted to grace us with a beautiful gift (for those who wanted so much to see SYL come back).

All those are, of course, personnal appreciations, but it makes Deconstruction my absolute favorite of all Dev's work to date. It's so dense, so full of emotions. It has everything on it, it has 'too much' on it and yet it works perfectly.
I can never thank him, or chance that brought him in my life, enough, even if I try. (my friends think I'm ill or something).

What do you, noble forumers, think of all this?

You make a lot of good points. Terria will always be his best album in my eyes, but Deconstuction may well be his magnum opus. Time will tell.

It's still a bit too fresh to judge, there's a lot of 'new album syndrome' about it. I don't think it's really fair to say that one album is the best, because all kinda stand (STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND) on their individual merits, y'know? Like how Decon and say, City are both damn heavy albums, but Decon is pretty well-rounded and polished but City is a sonic holocaust, and like the aural equivelant to a tornado of broken glass, or some other hyperbolic descriptor in that same vein.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that although there are a similarities between all Dev's albums, they can all stand (STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND) on their own two feet.

I remember thinking that Addicted was his best when it first came out, now I hardly listen to it. Decon is up there in my list, it's an incredible album, but it needs a little longer for me.

It's still a bit too fresh to judge, there's a lot of 'new album syndrome' about it. I don't think it's really fair to say that one album is the best, because all kinda stand (STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND) on their individual merits, y'know? Like how Decon and say, City are both damn heavy albums, but Decon is pretty well-rounded and polished but City is a sonic holocaust, and like the aural equivelant to a tornado of broken glass, or some other hyperbolic descriptor in that same vein.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that although there are a similarities between all Dev's albums, they can all stand (STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND) on their own two feet.

I totally agree. There is some kind of 'new album syndrome'. And as someone I know says 'new is always better!'
Of course every album STAAAAAANDS on its own. You quote City. I think City is so good because it has all the uncontained anger of a young, extremely talented man (I like the tornado metaphor). When comparing City or OM to Decon, what pops out is maturity. Decon is much more mature than any other album, to my opinion at least.
Oh and I'll always have a special love for Addicted because it was the first album I heard, and Universe in a ball was the first Dev song I ever heard (by chance on the radio).

Oh and 'Planet of the Apes' refers to 'Triumph' with all the 'collective/connected' thing

Is it a ridiculously good record? Absolutely. Is it his best? It may be too soon to say, but... I don't think so. The way I usually wind up determining if a record is perfect or not, in my opinion, is by noting if there's anything I dislike or would change about the said record. If I can listen to it all the way through and I not only love every track, but never once feel like something could have been done better/differently, then I usually feel pretty safe in calling it a masterpiece. Deconstruction is truly an incredible, monolithic album, start to finish, but there are just a few nitpicks I have with it that prevent me from seeing it as perfect. They're not crippling flaws by any means (a small gripe about a song's structure here, a small issue with the orchestra's level in the mix there, etc.) but flaws are flaws. I'd actually go out on a limb and say that Ki is Dev's masterpiece, because despite taking forever to click with me (10+ months) it's the only record by him that I have practically no issues with whatsoever. I wouldn't change a note of it; everything about is... well... perfect!

For the record, I think the DTP as a whole consists of Dev's most flawless work to date, but as I said, it's those little personal gripes here and there that prevent most of them - including Deconstruction - from becoming classics, in my eyes.

I'm having that feeling. Maybe it's just the mood I am in but I'm always wanting to play it, or if I'm on random I never skip a Decon song. Apart from the obvious, I just love that the album has a full orchestra, a choir, 11+ amazing guests from some of my favourite bands AND diarrhea noises. Any one of those things on an album would be pretty darn cool but this has freaking everything. AND it's a Devin Townsend album . I love the connections to other albums, intended or not.

I feel like this fills the gap for me in those times when I want to listen to something really heavy and intense but not dark or angry, when I feel kind of knotted up inside or like everything is too much. The album poops everything out and makes me feel calmer and more aligned. Ziltoid is kinda on the same wavelength as far as heavy but not dark or angry, but it's overall less personal/ relatable and a lot more relaxed and humorous.

The funniest moment for me in Decon is the 'I would like to discuss... Something... With you" in TMM, I fucking love the voice whoever is saying that is pulling. That song alone really puts it in the front runner for best album for me, it's my favourite 'long' song and I've listened to a lot of prog rock/ metal :p.

It’s waaaaay too early to tell as far as I’m concerned, particularly considering the size of the body of work you’re comparing it too. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that even after I’ve had a few years of listening which would put me in a position to make some degree of comparison, my conclusion is likely to be “it’s the best at what it is” As far as I’m concerned, trying to rank Devin’s albums is pretty much impossible, and given that they all do something different, there’s no real point.

From a purely objective point of view, I can’t think of anything I’d change about it, but then that’s true of most of Devin’s albums for me. On the days when this is the album I need, it’s the best, on any other day, it’s one of the others.

You make a lot of good points. Terria will always be his best album in my eyes, but Deconstruction [...] Time will tell.

+ 1

Its awesome just like everything the Dev does. Why compare?

That's a pretty hard question in my opinion. Dev's stuff needs to ferment with me for awhile before I can tell how much it has impacted me. Example: When I first listened to Physicist, I hated it. Well, maybe not hated, but I certainly didn't give it much air time, but now I can see past all the distortion and see all the amazing melodies in it. Or with Ocean Machine, I love the feeling of soaring over an ocean when I listen to that album... but I didn't feel that way until some time later.

Time will tell, but right now, I'm digging Ghost a lot more than Decon.

The way I usually wind up determining if a record is perfect or not, in my opinion, is by noting if there's anything I dislike or would change about the said record. If I can listen to it all the way through and I not only love every track, but never once feel like something could have been done better/differently, then I usually feel pretty safe in calling it a masterpiece.

I agree with that, it makes so much sense.
A record is perfect if it is perfect !
And yet Decon, although a very good and incredible album, has some flaws.
I really dislike Planet of the Apes. It has some good riffs and sections but it just doesn't do much to me.
I just don't get it why alot of people here like it but whatever, I'm only a humon.
The good thing about Planet of the Apes is that since I listen to albums from first song to last, it makes me say : Oh yeah, now it's only awesome songs 'till the end !
So Decon, isn't a perfect album (in my own OH SO humble opinion).
I would say Ocean Machine, Infinity, Physicist are MY 3 DT (and SYL) masterpieces.
Although I really dig City and Alien from SYL they have some kind of flaws I guess but they're pretty close to perfection.
Fuck ! Now that I think about it, they ARE perfect !

I was thinking about City and Alien the other day and I think the first one is totally music from the Balls and the Heart while Alien would be music from the Heart and the Brains. And Deconstruction - which I see as the third ''real angry record'' - would be music from the Head and the Anus.

And now, without further ado...
I am off to bed !
Peace fellas !

Well, sure Decon has some minor flaws, but to me, it only shows that it was written by a human and not a machine and that makes it close to perfect. But, well, perfection is also a point of view. Same with every other record.

I wasn't really trying to compare them all or rank them. I discovered Dev about 2 years ago right after Addicted came out. When I found out all that he had done in the past I was blown away, but I took it all at once. I never had to really wait for a record to be released. Maybe the anticipation of Decon contributed to the fact that I'm extremely enthusiastic about it right now. It just gives me the thrills so my judgement may be altered.

Though, I've never enjoyed a Dev album that much in the past, that's for sure...
I just can't stop listening to it

And Deconstruction... would be music from the Head and the Anus.

Amen to that!

And logically, Dev's next heavy album would be an album that would come from the Anus and the Balls !