Keep your spirits high and your demons low
#325427 by Thominator
Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:02 am
I also read in the booklet that Kristina Natale, the lovely voice from Ghost, is on there. Any idea on which tracks?
#325433 by Bookwyrm83
Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:24 am
Pretty sure I heard her in Stars.
Unless I'm mistaken, I think she's also in the title track, though that might be Anneke. Similar sounding in this case.
#325435 by NamasteLikeBender
Thu Sep 15, 2016 8:03 am
Bookwyrm83 wrote:Pretty sure I heard her in Stars.
Unless I'm mistaken, I think she's also in the title track, though that might be Anneke. Similar sounding in this case.

I would say Stars is more likely than the latter. Title track sounds like Anneke.
#325457 by vt1100
Wed Sep 21, 2016 8:38 am
mymomlikesdogs wrote:We allowed to talk about the 2nd disc?

Personally I found it much more interesting than the main album. Not that the main album is bad, it's just not Dev's best effort, imo.


Thank you. I was thinking same too, although main album is way better than previous I still found demo songs more interesting. Combining most interesting songs from both you get one album worth of pretty nice stuff.
#325459 by hunter_mc
Wed Sep 21, 2016 12:47 pm
mikejs wrote:Lexus, on the bonus disk.


Rather than a song that reminds me of a luxury vehicle, Lexus brings to mind more like a monster truck crushing anything in its path.

Overall, much like Epicloud I love the main disc, but the bonus disc is every bit as good in its own way. I get why most of these didn't make the cut for disc 1, because many of them don't fit the overall "vibe" of Transcendence. But damn, I love 'em all anyway!
#325461 by Bookwyrm83
Wed Sep 21, 2016 5:37 pm
Thankfully I'm not underwhelmed but I do find myself remembering only three songs from the main disc at any given moment.
The bonus disc I've given a few spins and whilst I love Lexus and Gump, the rest haven't latched themselves on as much as I thought they would. Yet. This may change with time.
Plus it is fun to sing along to Sophie's Boobies.
#325463 by Octillus
Thu Sep 22, 2016 5:52 am
Far and away I continue to prefer this to anything in his output of the last 5 years except for Casualties. Maybe even since Ki.
#325464 by Thominator
Thu Sep 22, 2016 7:29 am
Liking it more than Sky Blue, and maybe even more than Addicted and Epicloud. Still, it doesn't even come near to Ki, Decon and Ghost for me. I still need to give the bonus disc a few more spins, but I find it to be 'ok' overall.
#325465 by Comebacteria
Thu Sep 22, 2016 9:14 am
I can't get Celestial Signals out of my head...I think I like it more than anything else on disc 1 or 2, what's with me and this electro-pop metal shit?!
#325466 by EphelDuath666
Thu Sep 22, 2016 12:42 pm
Octillus wrote:Far and away I continue to prefer this to anything in his output of the last 5 years except for Casualties. Maybe even since Ki.


this...very much so. Actually I personally think this is his best one since Synchestra. It has a lot more of a classic Dev-feeling to it than anything else he's done in a long while. People who really dug Addicted and everything that came after it may be a little bummed...maybe even people who got into Dev when Ki was released as well. But those of us who always loved Devin's classic stuff should be pleased with this one.

Stormbending (!), Failure, Transcendence, Secret Sciences...heck, even that wonderfully cheesy but lovely 80's homage 'From the Heart' is basically Tiny Tears meets Stagnant. Love that song and love the lengthy, soothing second half of it too. I mean, sure Stars is quite poppy but it's still a really good one in my opinion. I mean, it certainly ain't any more poppy than 'Life' is and it ain't as poppy as songs such as Sky Blue or Save our Now or (ugh) Lucky Animals, that's for sure. RVP FINALLY gets to shine on this one and the drums sound amazing. The production sounds awesome in general. Of course there' will be people who'll say it's "overproduced" but let's face it...that's a term that hipsters like to throw around a lot and they usually don't even know what it means. I'll take the production on this one over the production on any of the previous DTP albums, thank you.

As for the second CD. It's not bad at all. But I can absolutely understand why none of the songs made it onto the main album. As a matter of fact I think the songs on the bonus CD have a lot more in common with DTP's previous work than with Dev's classics. The songs are pretty straight forward. I really, really love 'Support the Cause' s chorus, even if the first half of this song reminds me of Lucky Animals (which is never a good thing). Kinda hope Devin will re-use the chorus in another song though, it's quite powerful. But other than that I have to say that not too much has stuck with me when it comes to disc 2. But hey, it is a bonus disc after all. I guess I just prefer the main disc's vibe a lot more. And I do think that none of the songs on disc 2 would have suited Transcendence in any way.

So yeah...that would be my opinion then...
#325467 by NamasteLikeBender
Fri Sep 23, 2016 7:08 am
I have Transcendence slightly below Addicted for best DTP album with Deconstruction and Sky Blue close behind. Haven't been able to put the thing down since I got it, although I do find myself passing over Secret Sciences and Transdermal Celebration more often than not.
#325474 by Chris87
Sun Sep 25, 2016 2:27 am
I hate to be that guy, but I have to say I'm starting to go into the "the earlier stuff was better" direction now. I never liked the very quiet stuff like Ki from him, nor was I a really big fan of the...uh...let's call it "Anneke revolution" of his music. She is an awesome singer, don't get me wrong, but my favorite songs from him are all from before the Epicloud time. I thought that Z2 was pretty good when it was released, but after one month or so I never listened to it again completely, only on few occasions I listened to "Warrior", "Rain City" or some other selected tracks, but it's hardly my favorite songs I want to listen to again and again.

With Transcendence, it definitely gets better again for my taste. It is a "grower" album again that I was disappointed with first, but enjoy it more and more with every listen. There's a new spark of creativity in there that I found lacking lately, perhaps that's coming from finally letting the other band members have influence. Still, the whole thing just feels...I don't know...secure? It's like Devin mastered his shit by now, everything seems so round and perfect. That should be a good thing, but it's somehow lacking the uniqueness. He is still an outstanding composer who deserves far more recognition and fame than he has, no doubt about that. But listening to the Albert Hall concert disc, I can't help but say that the special spark is gone and will probably never come again. I guess it's just natural as we get older as humans. His older works have so many raw emotions and insecurity, it makes the music such an intimate experience. The desperation of "Deadhead", the ethereal and seemingly ungraspable confusion and atmosphere of "Soul Driven Cadillac"; the rollercoaster of anger, fear and confusion in "Color Your World"; the helplessness of "Night" and "Sister"...all these songs have stirred up emotions in me I thought I had lost, have shown me a creativity I rarely experience in music. With the newer songs, this is simply gone. It is awesome music, it's creative and complex, but it lost something special. Perhaps it's just the spirit of youth that cannot shine through it anymore.

So, yeah...I'm starting to really like the album, it's still music better than most, but the spark just doesn't want to reappear for me. I also have to skip "Truth" everytime because it reminds me of just that.
#325475 by Fjar
Sun Sep 25, 2016 4:23 am
The second disc is fantastic, imo. The main album is great and hangs together as a whole really well. Offer Your Light is the newest addition to my workout playlist. Transdermal Celebration is good for car karaoke. 8)
#325481 by static2
Mon Sep 26, 2016 4:22 pm
Chris87 wrote:I hate to be that guy, but I have to say I'm starting to go into the "the earlier stuff was better" direction now. I never liked the very quiet stuff like Ki from him, nor was I a really big fan of the...uh...let's call it "Anneke revolution" of his music. She is an awesome singer, don't get me wrong, but my favorite songs from him are all from before the Epicloud time. I thought that Z2 was pretty good when it was released, but after one month or so I never listened to it again completely, only on few occasions I listened to "Warrior", "Rain City" or some other selected tracks, but it's hardly my favorite songs I want to listen to again and again.

With Transcendence, it definitely gets better again for my taste. It is a "grower" album again that I was disappointed with first, but enjoy it more and more with every listen. There's a new spark of creativity in there that I found lacking lately, perhaps that's coming from finally letting the other band members have influence. Still, the whole thing just feels...I don't know...secure? It's like Devin mastered his shit by now, everything seems so round and perfect. That should be a good thing, but it's somehow lacking the uniqueness. He is still an outstanding composer who deserves far more recognition and fame than he has, no doubt about that. But listening to the Albert Hall concert disc, I can't help but say that the special spark is gone and will probably never come again. I guess it's just natural as we get older as humans. His older works have so many raw emotions and insecurity, it makes the music such an intimate experience. The desperation of "Deadhead", the ethereal and seemingly ungraspable confusion and atmosphere of "Soul Driven Cadillac"; the rollercoaster of anger, fear and confusion in "Color Your World"; the helplessness of "Night" and "Sister"...all these songs have stirred up emotions in me I thought I had lost, have shown me a creativity I rarely experience in music. With the newer songs, this is simply gone. It is awesome music, it's creative and complex, but it lost something special. Perhaps it's just the spirit of youth that cannot shine through it anymore.

So, yeah...I'm starting to really like the album, it's still music better than most, but the spark just doesn't want to reappear for me. I also have to skip "Truth" everytime because it reminds me of just that.


I love Transcendence because it's the first time in a while that he's finally tried something different. For a long time, part of the draw was that you had no idea where he'd go next: I got into him through OM and AE when AE came out, and then when Synchestra hit a few years later, it was like... is this actually the same dude? The same band? What planet did he go to?! You couldn't get more different. And AE was that different from Terria. And Terria was that different from Infinity, etc. Always Devinized, yes, but always surprising, and always engaging some new way. Ki, Decon, Ghost, and Casualties all follow from that, but Epicloud and a lot of Z2/SB follow so similar a sound (Addicted, essentially) that it's hard to view the same way. Thankfully, the new record engages lots of new angles. Yes, it relies on the Anneke-revolution sometimes, but very often veers totally off in a different direction, one that sounds (to me) like Terria.

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