Hey everyone, first off I wanna say that I'm a big fan of Dev's work and man, Synchestra definately is his greatest work to date imho, it just blows my mind, so congrats on such a great achievement Dev!

After having had such a cool experience with the latest SYL album and its great bonus DVD I thought I gotta have the CD+DVD edition of Synchestra as well because with Alien, the DVD really added value to it, you got insight into the making of the thing and it was just cool to see everyone in the band talk about it etc... Plus what I liked a lot was that everyone seemed really serious about their ambitions for the album.

Apparantly I expected way too much from the Synchestra DVD. Ok, so there's no making-of documentary, no problem, I can live with that. Let's look at what interesting things Dev has to say on the album then (studio tour)... Oh he's just either really stoned or really sick or something, let's keep watching anyway... (5 minutes later) This is a waste of time, why would I find any of this inconsistent rambling interesting? Well, maybe it's me and I should just get with the fact that the studio tour thing is just an extra etc... Still, seeing Dev like this makes it pretty hard to take the whole thing seriously. Ok so this DVD is actually about the studio performance thing, right? Cool, ok, let's have a quick look... Ah, Life, yeah lemme check out that song... Aw man, Dev is still stoned/sick as hell and making a mess of it (and this is getting really annoying, whats with the Windows Media Player effects running over everything?). Hey but wait, an on-the-road documentary thing, Dev might be sober then etc, this could be way interesting... Ehm... Is this the DT Band? This looks like it could be any idiot metal band who spends its days watching Jackass and making songs about 'total fucking darkness' while being drunk all the time, I don't wanna see Dev taking the crap water out of the bus, I don't wanna see a band member having a wet dream... Enough, I'm turning this off and I hope I can repress it in my memory enough to make the album as enjoyable as it was before I saw this stuff.

I don't wanna be a troll, I don't wanna ruin other people's fun, if you enjoy the DVD that's really great but I thought there might be others who would be disappointed after the awesome Alien DVD and I thought maybe it wasn't wrong of me to expect something of a bit higher quality.

And to Dev: Love all your work man, you fucking rock, really, but seeing stuff like this DVD does make it quite a bit harder to take you seriously.

[Tracy]

Dude, I think you explained it yourself. Devin does not take himself seriously! Any fan should know that by now.

What did you want? Him waxing philosophical about politics? Doing tech-talk about the intricacies of his guitar technique or gear? Neither are what he's about.

What you saw is Devin's personality. Sorry if you found him disappointing.

Hehe, but it's the same guy I saw on the Alien DVD, right?
I think it's really cool he doesn't take himself seriously, that's the way it should be. I do a lot of silly stuff often myself but I'd never put the worst stuff on tape and give it to my fans, even as a bonus thing, I'd just be wasting their time.

The point is: Synchestra is brilliant, the digipak is beautiful with the fantastic artwork and Dev is a fucking genius. Then comes the DVD that shows Dev as if he's stupid and stoned all the time and I don't think that's his personality. For a lot of people, this kinda breaks the package.

Of course this isn't a problem for a lot of people, it's only a problem for:
- fans that don't know DT too well yet and will hereby conclude that Dev is a retard and that someone else must have done the writing etc on this album, which is not a stupid conclusion if the DVD edition of Synchestra is all you know of DT
- people who like to identify with the artist when they listen to music and would never put out a DVD in which they look like an idiot the whole time themselves

Of course the first category is not much to worry about since this edition will probably only be bought primarily by the big fans. The second category might be a problem because I think there are a lot of people like that. Of course there are also a lot of people who don't need to identify that much to enjoy music so for them this isn't a problem at all.

I love the DVD, and I think the live performance was pretty spot on...I'd rather have bonus stuff like this, no matter how silly some parts were, than nothing at all.

To be honest I haven't watched the DVD yet but I'm chuffed to bits just managing to find the Special Edition in my local indie shop so it could just be a DVD of pigs mating, I'm still bloody chuffed.

I love the DVD, and I think the live performance was pretty spot on...I'd rather have bonus stuff like this, no matter how silly some parts were, than nothing at all.

Spot on

Cool DVD. Another example of not being odd and... Dev's metal is so... Dev's )))

OK, I have to agree that I'm never a fan of tour clips etc. But it's no big deal, I've watched it once, I may not watch that bit again. All I'm concerned with is the performance, and I have to disagree and say I think it is spot on.

I suppose if you hadn't realised about the problems with the original DVD plans, that might have been a bit of a surprise, but I really enjoyed the intimate feel of the DVD and it is more focused on the band then, which interests me far more than a crowd. Either way though, it's surely much better than the other option when the original DVD plans couldn't happen..ie not doing it at all!

As for the quality of syncehstra as a whole, I guses that's the beauty of music, we all listen to it seeking something different

Apart from the infamous visualisations, the only thing that annoyed me about the DVD is that the camera crew almost feature in it as a sixth member of the band. They keep cropping up in all the stills and to a lesser extent the live footage. I thought that was a bit unprofessional. If they're there filming the DTB, they should blend in and not be seen. I'm not talking about the unavoidable stuff where you can see someone moving to get a certain shot or whatever. I'm talking about the parts where the director has actually chosen angles that feature members of the crew doing stuff. I suppose it's trying to set a mood but personally I'd rather not see any of those random people on a DTB DVD.

Otherwise, for my 2c, the DVD is pretty much perfect. Especially considering it cost like a pound more than the regular edition.

[EphelDuath666]

yeah, considering the cost of the DVD I don't really get the disappointment. It's a Bonus DVD after all and a really good one too! Can't say that I own an Album with a better BONUS DVD.

yeah, considering the cost of the DVD I don't really get the disappointment. It's a Bonus DVD after all and a really good one too! Can't say that I own an Album with a better BONUS DVD.

That's right. If it would have been a full blown 20 buck DVD release I would have been disappointed. This little thingy was just an extra that came with the album and you could even get Synchestra without it. I love it, the studio gig is good, the rest is really fun to see what it's like when they are recording and touring.

For a bonus disk, you just can't expect it to be a full scale concert and a Some Kind Of Monster documentary. Ryan said, someday there will be a 'real' DTB DVD.

hmm, so far, i've watched the dvd three times, and i'm pretty sure i'll do it again. so i don't share the experience cybercrash has described above.
i mean, if you don't know much about devin as a person, some of the footage must seem like he was drunk, or in a strange mood or something. but for me, this was not bad at all. in fact, i found the studio tour rather funny! when he shows the place and says: "and here we got the stairs, ceiling, walls..." or whatever he says, that's funny for me. i really appreciate that devin is able to take himself not too serious. at least that's much better than the opposite would be.
ok, the toilet humour in the on the road-bit is strange, but if it's their kind of humour, my god, why not?

as for the live video itself, i like the performance very much. devin's singing is not like on the records, but that's not that immportant to me. i think one can see what the band felt like while playing the songs, and that's much more important. showing the camera team during the concert even adds some of this comfortable "everyone's doing fine"-feel to it.
so, there's no problem for me with this.

it's a pity for you, cybercrash, that you were so disappointed. but i believe that, if you watch that thing again in a couple of months, you might like it better.

I loved the DVD and what I like about the DTB, above all other bands, is that there is a FAMILY element. I've never been more rewarded from just being interested in a band. Which other band do I smile with when I see the singer's wife on the DVD?! Or chuckle at the Beav just because i've shot the shit with him on the shoutbox? The DVD was a warm, intimate reward for the fans, even the tour clips.
I prefer the more human approach compared to, for example, the new My Dying Bride DVD, in which they distance themselves from the fans and try to seem "Godlike".

Devin isn't a God and he takes shits like you or me. He has to sleep and eat and so do the rest of the band. For the "Larger than Life" metal stuff, see Strapping Young Lad for more of that side of things. DTB is about humanity and we should see those involved as they are.