The AE album is magic from the beginning to the end. Dev's vox is pure magic.

This album got me through some rough time recently.
I just luv this album.
_________________________________________________________

So I hide my internal suicide
All my pride just to keep it inside ..... keep it INSIDE
Ten thousand lies...
TEN THOUSAND LIES!!!

The AE album is magic from the beginning to the end. Dev's vox is pure magic.

This album got me through some rough time recently.
I just luv this album.

Hear hear... This album is a life-saver for me too...

Hear hear... This album is a life-saver for me too...

Yeah it's a life-saver..

Don't know why really. Tried to understand why AE can make me calm and feeling kind of "secure" when I've been feeling totally lost... Beats me.

Anyway; many thanks to Devin for this life-saver.

THe intro track enthralled me with its weird vocal effects, i also like deadhead and suicide, those songs give me shivers down my neck for some reason i can't quite pinpoint

I totally dig AE, it was my first Devy album and I am glad because it appears to be his most accesable, and it only opened the door to his entire back-catalog of brilliant works. The first three tracks are as solid as any opening three i've heard on any album, Deadhead and Suicide are emotional landslides for me, and the album closes with one of my favorites, Slow Me Down. This ranks below Terria as my favorite.

I like AE, but i think it is Devin's least "Complete" work to date. But as someone already said, i consider Devin's discography to be a conceptual work in progress (Ala Zappa's discography). It may become some what more complete in the context of other works.

My only real complaint about AE is Dev's vocals are much more restrained. He focuses alot on getting the vocal just right, while on previous albums he would just "emote" and really make you feel. Songs like Random Analysis and Depth Charge lose alot of their potential impact as a result..

It's like with a lot of albums I own - some tracks aren't as good as others. Kerrang magazine gave it 6/10, and said that while it may be hard for first time listeners to get into, it'll be an instant hit for followers of Devin Townsend's work. I don't really agree with that, because I think that some songs on there (such as "Storm" and "Away") are very easy listening. Even my parents like them! The only fault I really had with AE is that some of the songs on there are a bit too long.

AE seems to me to be more popular amongst Devin's newer fans, and for many it's been their first introduction to his music. I've been listening to his stuff since just before 'Biomech' came out on East-West, close to seven years (shit!), and while this doesn't make me a 'better' DT fan than someone who's only got into him recently, it means I've had the opportunity to follow the evolution of his sound in 'real time'.
Personally, I think AE and SYL are jointly his two worst albums. AE is 'pretty' enough, but that's about it - the guitars are neither heavy enough to match up to 'City' or 'Infinity' or melodic enough to compare to 'Biomech'. The lyrics seem, I don't know, too introverted to have much meaning for anyone else, there are too many Vai-esque solos (NOT my cup of tea AT ALL) and the sound in general is a bit, well, hollow. It's nothing like the rich swelling universe of sound you hear on 'Infinity', or the better parts of 'Terria' - and the latter, while very good in parts, doesn't do it for me like his earlier stuff does, even 'Physicist', which is CRIMINALLY under-rated. I'm not even going to talk about 'SYL' in comparison to 'City'.

I suppose what I'm saying is not that I think Devy's best days are behind him, but that the more 'conventional' he tries to make his music, the less it succeeds. I have VERY high hopes for the next Strapping record, and as for whatever he does after that, who knows? I'll keep listening, that's for sure.

Hehe, Vai isn't your cup of tea? I remember I got most of my friends into satriani, yngwie malmsteen, eric johnson, etc, but NONE of them ever got into Vai and very few enjoy Devin's work. However, it took me a looooonnnngggg time to enjoy Steve Vai. I realized it's just a matter of musical tastes, no matter how talented a musician may be. Oh well.

Steve Vai is a very talented musician, but it's not really my cup of tea either, and I'm a guitarist, so I should like him (at least, that's what most people say, which is mostly bullshit).
I agree that the solo's on AE sound like Vai, I've said this before, BUT for some reason I find the solo's on AE not as boring as the ones from Steve Vai. Maybe it's the 80s feel Vai still has, or maybe it's Devin's velocity on guitar, I dunno.

I like AE and SYL. Syl was the album that really made me like strapping young lad. I think that the wall of sound that is City/Heavy as a Really Heavy thing is somewhat hard for a first time listener, they both require your full attention to the music and very high volume to be fully enjoyed while SYL is good for doing other things at the same time.

As for AE it doesn't have as much stuff that hurts my ears with weird high-pitched stuff that physicist and infinity have

'Heavy as' through to 'AE' : every single note is magic in my opinion.

Hehe, Vai isn't your cup of tea? I remember I got most of my friends into satriani, yngwie malmsteen, eric johnson, etc, but NONE of them ever got into Vai and very few enjoy Devin's work. However, it took me a looooonnnngggg time to enjoy Steve Vai. I realized it's just a matter of musical tastes, no matter how talented a musician may be. Oh well.

Vai is more an experimental composer (much like Devin or his idol, Frank Zappa). Hes a genius guitarist and a fantastic showman but hes more concerned with conceptual compositions and breaking new ground with what you can and can't do with a guitar.

For instance Yah-Yo Gakk, that track can be annoying but at the same time its very clever, simulating a child's noises on a guitar.

Even still my fav Vai album is Sex & Religion not just because of Devin's disgustingly good vocal performance but also because i think the more straight forward song writing is more enjoyable.

AE rocks! May not be my favourite dev album but how anyone can knock it sends confusing thoughts to my hairy eyebrows.

To me AE will always be magic and the vox is also magic. The thing is I just can't explain why.
Maybe I will never understand why, it' just a feeling, words can't explain.

This was my first contact with Dev's music but now I have bought every album he has done.

.. There is no goin' back once you got hooked on his music..