Although the two aren't musically alike, Neil Young and Devin Townsend follow a similar approach to making music.
Young uses his hard-rocking band Crazy Horse to recharge his batteries, so that he can go off and pursue other musical areas of interest as a solo artist.
And Townsend has the same setup -- returning time and time again back to "the band thing" (heavy metallists Strapping Young Lad) before tackling other styles as a solo artist.
While Townsend's 2006 solo outing Synchestra does let quite a few headbanging elements slip through the metal detectors, Townsend's quirkiness continues to bubble to the surface throughout.
Since Townsend first broke on the scene as a member of Steve Vai's band (1993's Sex & Religion), it's understandable that a few obviously Vai-ish bits should be detected, such as the track "Babysong." But Townsend is certainly not a one-trick pony, as evidenced by the Faith No More-ish instrumental "Vampolka" and a quartet of prog metal epics stacked side by side: "Gaia," "Pixillate," "Judgement," and "A Simple Lullaby." As evidenced by Synchestra, Townsend seems to be getting more musically daring with each subsequent release, unlike some other veteran rockers who start to play it safe as the years roll on.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Let It Roll | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 02:52 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 2 | Hypergeek | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 02:20 | 5 MB | 17 MB |
| 3 | Triumph | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 07:08 | 16 MB | 55 MB |
| 4 | Baby Song | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 05:30 | 12 MB | 43 MB |
| 5 | Vampolka | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 01:36 | 3 MB | 10 MB |
| 6 | Vampira | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 26 MB |
| 7 | Mental Tan | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 02:15 | 5 MB | 13 MB |
| 8 | Gaia | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 06:03 | 13 MB | 48 MB |
| 9 | Pixillate | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 08:17 | 18 MB | 59 MB |
| 10 | Judgement | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 05:55 | 13 MB | 44 MB |
| 11 | A Simple Lullaby | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 07:09 | 16 MB | 54 MB |
| 12 | Sunset | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 02:31 | 5 MB | 19 MB |
| 13 | Notes From Africa | Devin Townsend Band, Devin Townsend | Play | 07:42 | 17 MB | 56 MB |
| 14 | Sunshine And Happiness (Hidden track) | Devin Townsend | Play | 02:35 | 5 MB | 20 MB |
| 65 mins | 149 MB | |||||
| 65 mins | 488 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Omer "Impson" R. Cordell | Photography |
| 2 | Devin Townsend Band | Primary Artist |
| 3 | Greg Reely | Mastering |
| 4 | Bryan Seely | Technical Support |
| 5 | Shaun Thingvold | Engineer, Mixing Supervision |
| 6 | Devin Townsend | Audio Production, Computers, Editing, Engineer, Group Member, Guitar, Mixing, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals, Writer |
| 7 | Tracy Turner | Food Stylist |
| 8 | Deborah Tyzio | Vocals |
| 9 | Steve Vai | Soloist |
| 10 | Ryan Van Poederooyen | Drums |
| 11 | Jason "JVP" VanPoederooyen | Drum Editing |
| 12 | Brian Waddell | Group Member, Guitar |
| 13 | Dave Young | Guitar, Hammond B3, Keyboards, Mandolin, Piano |
| 14 | Dave Young Orchestra | Assistant Engineer, Group Member, Guitar, Keyboards, Mandolin, Organ (Hammond), Piano (Grand) |
| 15 | Mike Young | Bass (Upright), Guitar (Bass), Tuba |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |