Seeing the breakdown of Ki's "8" rating really got me thinking about the Dev's motivations for Decon. I realize it's a small sample size but considering how "metal-centric" Blabbermouth is, I think an "8" for Ki is very impressive.
When interviewed, Dev quite frequently would talk about this subset of fans that only wanted SYL and he felt would reject everything else. He seemed worried about getting poor reviews because of Ki's new direction. This all kind of snowballed into the theme of Decon, which was a dissection of why people would only want to listen to metal.
Now, I always felt that Dev was paying too much credence to, what I perceived as, a vocal minority. This small sampling of Ki ratings really cemented it for me.
More than 75% of people gave it 8 or more. Those are Devin Townsend fans. Not some asshole who whines because SYL isn't around anymore. Those are your bread and butter Devin.
About 13% gave it between 5 - 7. These are the true dissenters and there is nothing wrong with that. Some might be new listeners who don't love it or long time fans who aren't feeling it. Either way, they realized that the album is not without merit. It's quality stuff, but just not their cup of tea maybe. This is total conjecture but it's how I perceive these votes.
Last we have the roughly 11% who basically gave it a 1. I see these votes as the people Dev is writing Decon for. These are the assholes that fully reject Ki because it's not SYL.
I think these "1's" are the equivalent of internet bullies. They talk a lot of shit and down-vote anything that isn't perfect, but if you meet them, they'd be 15 year old punks who still have the crust cut off their PB&J by their mom. I guess my moral is, FUCK THESE ASSHOLES. It doesn't matter if it's SYL or DTB or DTP, people like Ki because it's fucking good. No, great.
Just an observation/rant.