Psy-Fi

Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine


1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
Metallica and Joe Satriani collaborating on a sci-fi film score.

2. What did you think of the opening track?
Sounded interesting at the beginning, with the narration, then the music kicked in and I lost interest.

3. What did you think of the next track?
About the same as the first track.

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?
Didn't care either way.

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?
No. Except for the last track, the music just went in one ear and out the other. Nothing stuck with me or interested me.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it?
Stayed the same until the last track.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
It didn't interest me much.

8. Did you like the instrumental parts?
Not much. Well played but I've just never cared for that style of rock music.

9. What did you think of the production?
Excellent.

10. Did you know of this artiste prior to listening to the album, and if so, did that foreknowledge colour your perception of this album?
Had heard of him but hadn't heard anything by him.

11. Is this, generally, the kind of music you listen to or not?
No. It's not a genre I care for.

12. Assuming you listened to the album more than once, on repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
Listened twice. Didn't change my opinion one way or the other.

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?
The last track.

14. And the one you liked least?
None of the others stood out as being particularly awful.

15. If the album in question is a debut, did that fact allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated?
N/A

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing more from this artiste, if you have not heard any of their other material?
No. I just don't care for this style of rock.

17. Were you surprised by your reaction - positive or negative - to the album?
No. I didn't know what to expect going into it.

18. Did the album end well?
Yes, only because the last track was my favorite by far.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
More songs like the last track would've held my interest a bit more and I probably would've rated the album a bit higher.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
It hung together well, it just isn't my cup of sonic tea.

4/10

__________________

She's a Brick House

Aloysius

Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine

I guess you could say I'm a prog metal guy - my favourite band in the world is Enslaved and I'm pretty fond of Gojira, Deliverance era Opeth and others.

First the good - The programmatic aspect of this album was very well done - there's a sense of the ocean sweeping over you the whole time, and the coherence of the album almost gives it the feel of a rock opera. A lot of the tracks start well with differently textured layers feeding off each other.

Once most of the tracks get underway, however, they tend to get too stadium rock-like for my liking. Funeral sounds to me like an average U2 song. Other tracks like Seventh Wave, Bastard and Sister show great promise at the start, with interesting layered stuff going on and some good riffing.

Somehow this album falls for me in the same category as Hayden and Dream Theatre - I can see that it's clever and well put together, but I just can't get into it.

6/10