I recorded a track a while ago which, having heard Ghost, now sounds like I'm ripping off Ghost. When in reality, I was probably going for ripping off Terminal.

Anyway, Ghost hasn't quite clicked like Decon did. That said, I felt similar about Ki, and most of Dev's other albums, and now they've had a chance to sink in, I can appreciate them a lot more. Ki especially. I suppose time will tell.

"Seams" really reminds me of "Lady Helen" from Ki. Similar chords and vocals, it even has a similar placement in the album. It gave me a nice sense of familiarity, like a look back at how far Dev's come from the beginning of the DTP. It's not just me is it?

indeed, several others have said as much in this thread, and i agree. i'm sure it's as intentional as the other referential material on both Decon and Ghost.

I recorded a track a while ago which, having heard Ghost, now sounds like I'm ripping off Ghost. When in reality, I was probably going for ripping off Terminal. .

You and me both! Mine isn't nearly as layered as Ghost is, so I figure I should be okay

Ghost (the song) still makes me cringe. Never felt something like that before with a Dev-song...

hello Folks

I listened to Ghost a couple of times yesterday and this morning. I think it is a very good album (again!)
My fave seems to be "Infinite Ocean".

But I wanted to share a thought with all of you: Maybe because of the flute, this albums reminds me a lot of VANGELIS' albums like Oceanic or Voices.
Anyone here enjoys Vangelis too?

for those who don't know Vangelis, I think that if you enjoyed Ghost, you should like Vangelis too.

cheers

V

i just had a brief listen to ghost, it has some lovely moments, although i found the flute a little irritating. Having now heard all of the four albums, i think Ki may be my fave, i never thought that would be the case actually. Still, i will wait until i have the hard copies of these 2 new albums in my cd player and i have played multiple times until i make a more sound call..

Ghost (the song) still makes me cringe. Never felt something like that before with a Dev-song...

Really?! That song is so warm and lovely.

Ghost (the song) still makes me cringe. Never felt something like that before with a Dev-song...

Really?! That song is so warm and lovely.

I have quite negative associations with it's simple upbeat/feel-good-vibe. Maybe i'm just too depressed to appreciate it...

Ghost (the song) still makes me cringe. Never felt something like that before with a Dev-song...

Really?! That song is so warm and lovely.

I have quite negative associations with it's simple upbeat/feel-good-vibe. Maybe i'm just too depressed to appreciate it...

Ya know, I used to feel the same, but somehow that song/the whole album manages to make me feel good. Sure I still prefer the majority of the music I like to be dark, depressing, angry or moody, but there's that side of me that wants to be happy, and permits light in; so long as it's from a musician I know and trust, or one I am impressed by (metal/rock/jazz of course, none of that pop crap). I attribute it to having a girlfriend and subsequently mutual positive emotions – and regular, non-hooker sex.
Charming, aren't I?

[Keeker]

hello Folks

I listened to Ghost a couple of times yesterday and this morning. I think it is a very good album (again!)
My fave seems to be "Infinite Ocean".

But I wanted to share a thought with all of you: Maybe because of the flute, this albums reminds me a lot of VANGELIS' albums like Oceanic or Voices.
Anyone here enjoys Vangelis too?

for those who don't know Vangelis, I think that if you enjoyed Ghost, you should like Vangelis too.

cheers

V

I have a lot of Vangelis' 70s and early 80s albums.

But I wanted to share a thought with all of you: Maybe because of the flute, this albums reminds me a lot of VANGELIS' albums like Oceanic or Voices.
Anyone here enjoys Vangelis too?

Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre and a little bit of Mike Oldfield comes to my mind when hearing Ghost...anyway this album is a piece of art...

I was thinking a cross between Vangelis and Bon Iver for a lot of the album myself.

My thoughts below on Ghost.

What I like about Devin’s music is that it’s full of character and distinctiveness which I think stems from him seeming quite extroverted and larger-than-life. But to me Ghost sounds the opposite, quite tame and all a bit forgettable and wishy-washy. For example listening to Infinite Ocean for the first time I felt it was going to be one verse that reverbs to silence over 8 minutes - which it kinda does. I don’t think the album art-work really captured the essence of the music, bar maybe the last two minutes of As You Were. To me the cover implies the music within is very ‘spacey‘ and ‘out there‘ whereas I find the music was ‘earthy‘ and ‘organic’ - which I find less enjoyable in ambient music which I listen to a lot. The cover needed more greens and browns, and less purples! Anyway, this brings me onto the earthy flutes - I feel they were layered on a bit too thick. I think sparser use of them would’ve been more effective, and to me, maybe less annoying. I also find them a cliche of ‘blissful’ music and in that sense sound a bit forced to create the mood Devin was after. The guy can create wonderful catchy songs within crushing metal so to represent bliss through flutes is creatively a bit unimaginative maybe. I definitively feel the album gets weaker as it progresses with the first half generally being stronger than the second but overall I was hoping for music that would be more than just on in the background while reading or surfing the web which I can see this album being resigned to for me.

However, it’s not all bad, on the positives, Kawaii and the title track are genius and full of feeling and character - I wish there was more of that. They’re probably among the best songs he’s written. Texada, Blackberry, Monsoon and Feather are quite solid tracks too which may grow more on me in time. Also, it’s a different album in his discography - another colour on the palette and his pushing boundaries should always be applauded. Maybe I was hoping for another Ki (which through contrast with Ghost has shown to be far, far darker and heavier than I previously thought) or something more stripped down and spacey like The Hummer. The early release of Feather flagged something much different to expectations and something I was anxious about - rightly so it turns out. However I do think that song works better within the context of the album than in an isolated way. I suspect Ghost 2 (which I think he said is much darker) will be more to my liking. Also, for context, an ‘average’ or ‘ok’ Devin album (which I see Ghost as) is still far better and more interesting than most bands good albums and it’s not like he has huge gaps between albums unlike say Morbid Angel who are about to release a monstrosity of drivel that was 5 years in the making with probably another 5 before we see the next one. Devin spoils us rotten, so it’s all good.

A general note on the overall project. I recall Devin saying something like the albums expand like a balloon, pops (with Deconstruction) and is all blissed out (with Ghost). I think this effect and concept is lost because the albums are impossible to listen to in one sitting and of the four, Addicted doesn’t quite slot into the second slot quite so comfortably as the other 3 do into theirs. Neither is a particularly big problem for me as I always intended to treat them as four individual albums but I bring it up because I think the effect of something building and breaking apart is very interesting, however it would’ve been far more effectively explored and demonstrated over one album. On a side-note, I like the mirroring of fragments of music throughout the four albums as it’s been very pleasurable spotting them, and doing so more when the CDs arrive. I think it’s in this way that the four albums work best as a package.

I’ll now write my thoughts on Deconstruction in the relevant section.

Saying there's too much flute on Ghost is like saying there's too much guitar on Decon.
The flute works, you'll see. We're only hearing about 20% of the actual record with this rip, the bass is drowning the intricacies that are happening in the background.

I really like the first 3 tracks: Fly because of it's bassline, the deeper guitar part and the howling wolves - the chorus is a bit simple for my taste, but all in all it fits well together. Heart Baby is relaxing, has a very nice guitar-tone and i like it's "progressive" structure. I find "Feather" quite touching, the female vocals are great, the fretless bass again fits very well. The long ambient "outro" cracks up the simplicity and adds those spacey synths that create a both relaxing and interesting ambience.

Kawaii is the first bummer for me, because it seems totally predictable, generic and way too simple (to me). I like Devin's clear voice very much, but on this one it annoys me a bit. Not too much though, all in all for me a "zero" song - not too bad and with some good moments. But i wouldn't have missed it, i think.

Ghost is for my taste the worst "major" song that Devin ever published. Again way too simple, but much more annoying than Kawaii. I must admit that i really, really don't like the country-rhythm. The female chorus reminds me of some kind of modern gospel (like the song "Laudato Si", if you know what i mean) and because of that i have very negative feelings about it's upbeat-style (sorry). This song breaks the "Devin can't go wrong"-dogma for me (after ten years, finally! ). I will skip this one in the future, think. Or maybe i appreciate it some time when i get more wise and less depressed, i don't know. It's really interesting for me that some (most?) people really seem to like it, so maybe it's just me.

The rest of the album fits my taste quite well, i like the frogs on "Blackberry" and the female chorus as well as the male/female dual singing. The banjo also seems to fit. The Jean-Michel-Jarre-keyboard on "Monsoon" is very nice, i like the spacey ambience sounds and the spherical flute. The spacey keyboard on "Dark Matters" works even better for me. For me a little highlight of the album. The bass really stands out on "Texada" - great fretless sound! I get a huge Alan Parsons Project-vibe at some parts, which is good! "Seams" again is for me quite a "zero"-song. Nice, but don't leave much impression. I have problems to listen to "Infinity Ocean" without losing concentration, reminds me of the Hummer, maybe nice to fall asleep to it. I like the "A Monday"-reference in "As you were".

I already bought Ghost and don't regret it, but i think it's (at this point) by far my least favorite album from Dev. It's great that most people seem to like it, but with a few exceptions it doesn't work for me. I absolutely can't understand those of you who are comparing it to Terria or OM, but good for you! I wish i would love it that much. Again, maybe i'm still too much in my "Alien" phase of life or something. I don't know.