This what I "Get":

Ocean Machine: The warm-up for the rest of his solo career. A damn fine effort with very, very good songs and a great layout but the songs would get better and the production would get far better.

Infinity: The first standout of the career. Perhaps it was the circumstances and the drugs but this one turned out brilliantly, both in the songwriting and the production stakes. I understand that it is not as Devin intended it to be (and I can see what he means when I resequenced it as he supposedly wanted it) but it remains one of the two greatest achievements he has ever created.

Physicist: Not bad. It seems to be more of a filler album within the grand scheme of things, and it doesn't help that Devin lost all of the files to the entire album aside from the drums and had to rerecord the whole thing.

Terria: The second masterpiece. Again, it was probably a product of the times and circumstances involved but this one has so much heart, so much colour and depth... Some of the most inventively structured and most powerful songs he's ever written with utterly sublime production and perfect flow throughout.

Accelerated Evolution: The warm-up for the DTB to find their feet. Not really the greatest effort but Devin wanted to make sure that the band could handle it so he could move on to greater things... Some good songs, good production. Not bad.

Synchestra: A much better effort than AE, has some brilliant songs but also (intentionally) some not so flash ones. Devin said he wanted it to flow so that it doesn't deliver the goods all the time because he was sick of his albums always demanding your attention the whole time... Fair enough. The really good songs on here are some of his better songs ever.

[Blazingmonga]

You know what I get every time I listen to these albums? Memories. I get the memory of when I first listened to the album, and when I first understood it. Very vividly.

I'm not sure I want to say what those memories are or what they remind me of, but suffice to say that it is always a very therapeutic experience. I am reminded of specific troubles I have overcome and good times I have had.

I am reminded of the things I have learned. Each album has taught me a different thing and shown me a different side of myself. That's what I get.

I feel like his music is a part of me, some unconscious connection. I feel that if i was as talented i would have written this music for myself to enjoy


That is kind of 'getting it' i suppose... ?

I feel that if i was as talented i would have written this music for myself to enjoy

I know exactly what you mean, man. That was how I felt when I first heard City. Well, I first listened to "Detox" with headphones on full blast, and when it was done I didn't know what the hell I had just heard. I couldn't even decide if it was supposed to be serious or not, it was just so intense and over-the-top. I listened to it again right away, and WHAM! it fuckin' blew my mind. I felt like the music already existed within my mind, and I was just discovering it then. Like it fit perfectly into a certain mental wavelength, the one I experienced while on four hits of acid and half a bottle of whiskey, the feeling that my brain was about to explode like a supernova because of the intensity...these are the things that I "got" when I first got SYL...

With Ocean Machine, my expectations were high because of City, but I wasn't prepared for how mellow it would seem in comparison, so I wasn't sure what to make of it at first. But after another listen or two, I had set my expectations aside and that's when I "got" the album. It's been my favorite album ever since...
[/i]

You know what I get every time I listen to these albums? Memories. I get the memory of when I first listened to the album, and when I first understood it. Very vividly.

I'm not sure I want to say what those memories are or what they remind me of, but suffice to say that it is always a very therapeutic experience. I am reminded of specific troubles I have overcome and good times I have had.

I am reminded of the things I have learned. Each album has taught me a different thing and shown me a different side of myself. That's what I get.

Same here, sometimes its actually a problem for me (Just kinda a thing you dont wanna get reminded of), but other times its a good thing.

Well it took me a long time to 'get' Infinity. I used to like it but not particularly love it, it just seemed like a bunch of not too bad songs with massive over the top production. Then one day when I listened to it I really felt the grand feelign behind it - I picked up a vibe from the album that I had never picked up before. It was one giant twisted trip through a skewed perspective that I had never seen through before.

I can't be bothered going into too much detail but I realised the actual artistic merit of the album. eg War was no longer just a meshing of genres, it became the sound of teetering sanity.

'Getting it' is I think when you see past the superficial aspect of the music (the key, timing, production, instrumentation) and really lock into the artistic/emotional aspect of the music (which is in the eye of the beholder of course). There isn't always a literal meaning behind the music to 'get' that can be explained in words, to me its always been about those indescribable feelings, vibes and atmospheres.

sometimes i wonder if there is anything to 'get'... does it matter if i don't know all the words or understand the original intention of devin... as long as it takes me away from where i am at the time or enhances a moment then thats what matters. i'm useless at describing what i mean! ok...if it reaches that little place in my mind that i keep to myself and makes me think 'i'm not the only one' i think thats when i get it, if thats getting it. (i'm all confusticated!!!)


shutting up now!!!

sometimes i wonder if there is anything to 'get'... does it matter if i don't know all the words or understand the original intention of devin... as long as it takes me away from where i am at the time or enhances a moment then thats what matters. i'm useless at describing what i mean! ok...if it reaches that little place in my mind that i keep to myself and makes me think 'i'm not the only one' i think thats when i get it, if thats getting it. (i'm all confusticated!!!)


shutting up now!!!

Yes, when the music makes you realize that there are other people who think and feel in the same way you do, that definitely constitutes 'getting it'. In fact, I think that is a big part of getting Devin's music. His music connects with the listener on such an emotional level that when you meet others with the same appreciation for it, you feel that you already know them a bit.

For instance, I could never explain what Terria means to me. I can tell you that it got me through some tough times and that it feels soothing and comforting whenever I listen to it, but that by no means explains the album. And for others, it works in complete opposite ways.

same here

Basically I think it's up to how much time you have spent with Dev's records in your collection and getting used to his usual boundary-crossing attitude. Eight or so years ago it took many listens to get into OM, few months at least, while Syncestra was really a piece of cake. There was time when Physicist and AE really clicked after many listens, but now they hold a very low replay value for me.

To "get" it.. yeah, it takes me some time to get those chills, tears and goosebumps.
What I think I "get" is what Devin originally intended the song to be like.
The moments when the song sounds so good it makes me wanna cry.. I know he made some parts like that on purpose, like clever melodic twists and so on.
It takes me some time to get all those things that can sound awesome.

for me its an ambience thing.... you get that feeling
you get those chills
you 'get' those highs an lows and inbetweens
you 'get' or 'feel' those warming or cooling progressions all orchestrated in a fashion to "give" a certain effect. finally after a few listens I can say I've gotten, or felt, What i feel devin was trying to 'give' me.

What did I get from synchestra after multiple listens??? a whole new outlook, created by those highs, lows, inbetweens, chills, warmths, and even silences, I "GOT" a fresh outlook.

for me, to "get" an album always takes multiple listens and there are a number of ways to "get" it.

I can 'get' the concept, i can get/understand the lyrics, or i could even get an earache.

BUT FOR ME to "get" an album, is to gain something from it.

AND ALL of devs work has given me something.

I "Got" Devins music the first time i heard it. Honestly. It wasn't something that had to grow on me at all. Something so good shouldn't have to grow on you.

Not "growing on you" in that sense, but for its full potential to unleash (ooh, poetic) one might need some time first. I don't know if it's right to say "something so good shouldn't have to grow on you". Although I can see your point, that's not the kind of "growing" I think of. For me, that's what happens with albums you don't like at first and end up liking. I've liked all of Devins albums from the beginning, but I never "got" any of them from the start.



Or, I could just fuck off.

The "message" you're getting is the emotion the artist put into it, and yes that just goes over my head a lot of times initially, and I know it does to other people too. The level of stuff going on in Devin's work especially means it too complex and there's too depth there to just instantaneously be able to see how the pieces of the music add up as a whole.

i'm gonna simplify it. i hear a DTB or SYL album and 9/10 i go "its very good, but not as good as (REPLACE name here!), its very noisy/distorted"

and then i have it on in the car and i go "woooooooooooooo!!!!!! this is friggen amazing! listen to the melodies, the layers and the soaring vocals! its his best yet!!"

car listening is a true test of an album for me. and devin impresses me every time!

and i disagree that an album shouldnt have to grow on you. with the truly amazing stuff there is too much to take in on your first couple of listens, but once you become familiar with the songs you start to hear things you didnt hear before and its like a whole new album.

i heart devin very much. i have one philosophy in metal. i dont trust any metaller who says they dont like devin in one form or another