OK, I must admit I broke down and grabbed it too. But you can be sure as fuck I will be buying this CD at least once. To make up for it I ordered $150 worth of merchandise too

Anyways,
OMG, this album is amazing. The drumming is incredible (as is the rest of the playing of course, but the drumming stood out, I love the cymbal work). I don't know why but sunset brings out all kind emotions in me. I have all sorts of melodies from different songs stuck in my head.
I have listened to it all day non-stop and still I have not even begun to digest it.
I cannot wait for the full quality version of this.

All hail the mighty Dev

I have it up to 13 consecutive listens now and I am nowhere close to getting sick of this album yet...fuck, I may never listen to another album again for the rest of my life. This album is PERFECT. MAJOR, MAJOR PROPS go out to Devin, Ryan, Brian, Mike, and Dave on creating the ultimate album for me...it has everything I could ever want out of a record and more!

Jesus, What a great album, I really love "Hypergeek" Best song to me so far, The only ones i dont really like is Vampolka/Vampira, Although is it just me or have i heard the beggining of Vampira on some other older Devin stuff, i swear to god i know that somewhere. Something off OM i believe. The ending to Notes From Africa are DAMN good!!! Sunshine And Happiness sounds like his vai stuff so much as well. Im not gonna give a final rating on this thing yet, but i got to say, out of all of his albums...

1.Terria
2.Synchestra
3.Ocean Machine
4.Accelarated Evoloution
5.Physichist

Vampolka reminds me so much of Mr.Bungle...lol i dont know why

"Vampolka" reminds me of Dog Fashion Disco meets Finntroll meets Insane Clown Posse! Hahahaha!

Ha ha, yeah Dog Fashion Disco!
"To my surprise she was a witch
From salem massachusetts
A high priestess of the occult
In the church of satan
A demon and unholy ghost
The parasite had found it's host
Inside the cold and vacant soul
Of this one and only love"
"Love song for a Witch- Dog Fashion Disco

1.Terria
2.Synchestra
3.Ocean Machine
4.Accelarated Evoloution
5.Physichist

I can't do ratings anymore. Up until this point Infinity was my favourite, but now I realize that there is no way to say favourite with Devin anymore. They are all such different moods, going to different places and saying things in different ways... I can't say that any one is any better than any other, emotionally. Technically, I would say that Synchestra, Infinity, Terria, Ocean Machine, City and Alien are Devin's greatest achievements though. As to 'best', I can't do it.

Jesus, What a great album, I really love "Hypergeek" Best song to me so far, The only ones i dont really like is Vampolka/Vampira, Although is it just me or have i heard the beggining of Vampira on some other older Devin stuff, i swear to god i know that somewhere. Something off OM i believe. The ending to Notes From Africa are DAMN good!!! Sunshine And Happiness sounds like his vai stuff so much as well. Im not gonna give a final rating on this thing yet, but i got to say, out of all of his albums...

1.Terria
2.Synchestra
3.Ocean Machine
4.Accelarated Evoloution
5.Physichist

You forgot Infinity

I'm still digesting this album. It's massive.

I still can't say where it stands with Dev's other albums but I do know that I WILL buy it (there was no doubt). It's an extremely daunting album to digest. The word MASSIVE keeps coming to mind.

All I can say is, yeah there are fleeting moments that kind of remind you of Dev's other works but overall this is a VERY different sound than any of his other albums, and even if just for that it deserves a lot of respect. Dev always changes stuff up from album to album and yet remains good and fresh.

Steve Vai solo complements the song nicely.

Does anybody wish Dev would have solo'd on this? I really miss the Terria/AE solos

Definately an overall happier record than I've ever heard from Dev. A PERFECT complement album to Alien.

The Alien production was Dev's best Strapping production job yet, IMO. Finally a sharp and detailed drum sound. Every instrument and effect was audible and transparent, despite the huge wall of sound. From the six or seven minutes of Synchestra that I've heared prior deleting the files again, I've recorgnized a lack of the snare drum in the mix, as I've stated earlier - but that was just the sound of an mp3, so I'll I have to wait for the proper output before bitching and looking like an ass...

The production/mix of Ocean Machine, Infinity an Terria was impeccable, I give you that. But so was the sound on Accelerated Evolution. So I fail to see "slipping" standards as far as Devin's later productions are concerned. (Oh, and didn't Devin need two seperate mixes to finalize Infinity in a satisfying way? I seem to remember such statements in interviews during the Infinity era...)

Why don't you just wait for the final product? If I miss the snare in the mix on the actual Synchestra CD, I'll come back on January 27th and ask Dev and Ryan again if that was intentional...

I think Devin's ideas for each album are different and he produces as he feels would fit best. He would know... I just think it all sounds right for the project it is. As a producer, I think he gets better at engineering each time and the fact that he mastered this one himself indicates a great maturity in his abilities.

The low snare drum I see as leaving more breathing space for the rest of the music. Loud drums take away from the immensity of a construction like this one.

And Infinity was mixed in the Red Mix and the Blue Mix I think, it's listed in the production details in the CD booklet.

Vampolka reminds me so much of Mr.Bungle...lol i dont know why

"Vampolka" reminds me of Dog Fashion Disco meets Finntroll meets Insane Clown Posse! Hahahaha!

Ha ha, yeah Dog Fashion Disco!
"To my surprise she was a witch
From salem massachusetts
A high priestess of the occult
In the church of satan
A demon and unholy ghost
The parasite had found it's host
Inside the cold and vacant soul
Of this one and only love"
"Love song for a Witch- Dog Fashion Disco

DFD are a great fucking band! Anyone who likes Bungle should check them, they more song-oriented, not as insane, more like a streamlined version of Bungle.

And would you mods stop locking threads?!?! I wanted to reply to the "In Devins words.." thread!

1.Terria
2.Synchestra
3.Ocean Machine
4.Accelarated Evoloution
5.Physichist

I can't do ratings anymore. Up until this point Infinity was my favourite, but now I realize that there is no way to say favourite with Devin anymore. They are all such different moods, going to different places and saying things in different ways... I can't say that any one is any better than any other, emotionally. Technically, I would say that Synchestra, Infinity, Terria, Ocean Machine, City and Alien are Devin's greatest achievements though. As to 'best', I can't do it.

Yea, for me it comes totally down to what mood I'm in =\. Sometimes I think Infinity is like the best thing ever, but others its kinda boring... similar things with all the other albums too.

And would you mods stop locking threads?!?! I wanted to reply to the "In Devins words.." thread!

Same here !!! I pushed the reply button before I realised !

Calling, it's calling, I can't stay here
Knowing there's no higher
Going, I've gone for so many years
Going makes me tire

And they said it was this
And they said it was that
And they said it was this
And they said...but it is

Call for me Jesus, I'm waiting here
Knowing I'm a liar
Knowing I've known more than have my share

After that, I don't most of it, haha.

And would you mods stop locking threads?!?! I wanted to reply to the "In Devins words.." thread!

No.

I think the production on the album is great.. definitely the most 'precise' of everything Devin's done so far. The over-the-top compression of Terria is nowhere to be seen and the drums are meatier and more satisfying than those in Accelerated Evolution (in timbre, not volume). The synth is all perfectly crafted too. Overall it just sounds more carefully thought-out than Dev's other albums, I think.

I'll get back to you on the composition and performance, which are of course the more important factors... haven't had time to get my head around it yet I think I can say with certainty, however, that it's the most tension-free album I've ever heard.

i love this album... so much lovely melodies on there... and ryan plays AMAZING ... the production is really really nice as well....

Best tracks are definitely Triumph and Notes From Africa... Just awesome. I can't wait to grab a CD copy and pimp it around to everyone I can find... That and probably a t-shirt, just because the album art rules.

As for how it stacks up against the past works... I think it's a lot less immediate than most of Devin's stuff... Be it DTB or SYL, everything else of Devin's leaves you at the end thinking "holy shit..." in that it either kicked your ass with up front catchiness and musicmanship or with raw emotion. Synchestra's more of a relaxed journey... In that way it's important to listen to it as a whole, but at the same time it makes it harder to listen to, or at least less appealing to listen to at all hours of the day. It's either a fully immersive journey or some kickass background music to your life, but it's not quite the same as the others.

I don't know if it will find a place in my top 10 like so many of Devin's other albums have, but it all depends on what place it finds in my life after the initial excitement dies down. It's definitely not going by the wayside, though.