HEVYDEVY FORUMS

Now that there has been some time to digest both releases, has anyone found a preference between Devin's 2014 offerings?
Do you enjoy them both equally and/or find picking favorites futile?
Perhaps you'd like to pontificate on your personal analyses of either release.
Let's discuss it here.

Okay, I'll get the ball rolling.

Z2 is an impressive feat and quite polarizing in some ways. It's eclectic, epic and creative, offering a multitude of emotions as well as musical styles, owing to being a double album with the intent of variation.
Casualties of Cool however is more consistent and haunting. It's grounded in such a way that you never find yourself distracted from the mood or scratching your head - you're in the zone and stay there until the final note gently lets you go (this can be said of both the main and bonus disc, IMO).

All things considered I'd say I prefer Casualties overall, for its aforementioned qualities and for its honest mindset. With Z2 I almost feel like I have to be in the mood for it (funny, considering I obtained it fairly recently and have given it quite a bit of attention), whereas Casualties I can put on at anytime and it fits like a glove.
Both releases are fantastic, of course, however Casualties has a charm to it that's more inviting.

Z2 wins by a long shot for me. I only like a few tracks on Casualties, although I really do like those track quite a bit. But Z2 has so much more to offer for me.

Casualties.
It's just what I need nowadays. I really do like Z2, and I listen to it (at least some songs) every day. But Casualties man... it's just so dark and calm and soothing at the same time. Nearly every day since its release in May I find myself going "HOW can this be so good?!". They're both good of course, so this is purely subjective.

I absolutely agree with you, Bookwyrm.

Casualties. It's just perfect. It has so much mood and atmosphere I get completely lost in it.

Despite not being impressed to start with, Z2 has found it's place, but casualties is far more unique in the Dev-cography and just seems so organic plus, it sends baby to sleep!

Casualties is one of his better works, Z2 is a good double album but in the grand scheme I'll look at it like The New Black, the self titled or Synchestra. Better than the stuff that didn't work for me but not as vital.

Z² by far. But that isn't a hard decision in my case, since I didn't enjoy Casualties at all and only listened to it about two times. It's just not my type of music.

To me, Casualties is "mood" music. Ghost is the same way. I have to be in a certain mood and mind frame to listen to those albums. They are amazing albums, but I can't really enjoy them unless I am in a certain zone.

Any other Dev or SYL album I can throw on at anytime and enjoy them to their fullest.

Z² and CoC are two very, very different experiences for me, and cannot compete on any level with each other. Z² definitely gets more listens from me, but that in no way means I believe it is a superior album.

Z2 is a bit like Epicloud, some very very strong songs but also a fair bit of filler.

Casualties is a glimpse of the genius we've come to love. He was really taking some risks on that album, and to me it paid off. If I was going to give someone a sampling of Dev, and had to pick 4 albums, it would probably be Alien, Ziltoid (1), Terria, and Casualties. Just to show the range of what he does.

Interesting points of view from everyone. Please keep them coming.

For me, Casualties is the album of the year.
Z2 is great (Sky Blue is possibly the best record on the DTP saga IMHO, it is perfect!) but when it comes to Dev my standards are never restricted to the diversity of the technical aspects but to the emotional aspect of the record.
I feel COC has the same integrity and compromise of genuine emotions as the ALIEN record from SYL, however different they seem to be, these two are milestones in Devin's carreer and they certainly sound like it. While Z2 is a record that could happen anytime in the future, COC is a record that HAD to happen right now or it was never going to happen... it is unique!

I love music I can fall asleep to and Causalities does it for me. I could fall asleep to Sky Blue if I tried but overall Z2 is just like driving good time music while Causalities puts me in a more retrospective mood.

Both are awesome but Causalities wins for me.