Album Rating: 3.5

For real? Can you link me a vid to the Usher song?

Album Rating: 3.4

Not to mention the main melody from the title track is ripped straight from an Usher song

Album Rating: 3.5

Great review. Looking forward to hearing this.



Devin Townsend is an artist of volumes.

Album Rating: 3.5

This is the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-dvTjK_07c



Check out the 1 minute mark.



Yikes. That's pretty fucking blatant. Did Devin even write Sky Blue or did the label create some sort of algorithm that appeals to the demographics of greatest interest to do it for him? He always entertained the idea of going pop but he successfully transformed into a pop act for this album. Too bad he's a pretty mediocre one as it turns out.

Album Rating: 4.5

There are some, uh, very diverse opinions about this album, it seems.



Saying "Silent Militia" is awful, what the fuck is that shit?

Album Rating: 3.5

Not saying everything on Sky Blue sucks, there are some good moments for sure. At this point, however, I think it's his weakest release to date excluding Dev Lab.



On a positive note Dark Matters features some seriously stunning, dynamic vocal work from Devin. There are a bunch of really cool melodies and guitar work (some of which don't last very long like Wandering Eye or the beginning of From Sleep Awake) that pop up all over the album that blew my mind. Ryan Van Poederooyen is also pretty fatal on the drums here. Whereas the production on Sky Blue seems really superfluous on Dark Matters it isn't at all. It's done on an appropriately astronomical scale and it sounds glorious.

Album Rating: 4.5

That does seem to be theme here. Peeps strongly prefer one over the other. As for the overall quality of Sky Blue, I think it is on level with Epicloud for me. There is a lot of interesting stuff and it is really fun to listen to, but I do find myself yearning for the Infinity weirdness.



And as far as "Sky Blue"'s melody being lifted from an Usher song, that kinda explains why the song fell a bit flat for me.

3.5 is the perfect rating for this. Nothing on here came remotely close to blowing me away, but it's still a solid release.

Zeedus lapedus

Album Rating: 4.0

Honestly Dark Matters just dominates Sky Blue here. Yeah Sky Blue is pretty good but Dark Matters is on another level.

Album Rating: 3.0

i'll listen i guess

Album Rating: 4.0

You definitely should kill, Sky Blue is just kind of meh compared to Dark Matters.

Album Rating: 3.5

surprised it took you so long to check this, KILL

Album Rating: 4.0

I've only listened to Sky Blue so far, but it's quite enjoyable and I'm gonna keep an open-mind for Dark Matters.

Album Rating: 4.5

It is shamelessly goofy.

Album Rating: 3.5

Just a warning, if you don't enjoy Devin's humour then Dark Matters will be quite tedious since it's packed with it

Album Rating: 3.5

Epicloud was a 2012 album, otherwise spot-on review.

Album Rating: 2.5

Most of the Sky Blue record is pretty good, solid all around. Only thing I really don't like is that ambient stuff that Devin tends to put at the back of a song to stretch is for another 3 minutes like he does on Before We Die. Forever is also quite a snooze fest.



I'm not really into Dark Matters. The amount of pauses to make way for dialog about a story I hardly care about make it really tedious to even listen to. It does feel like it could grow a bit over time, but for now only Deathray, March of the Poozers and Ziltoid Goes Home stick for me.



Oh, and Universal Flame is the absolute highlight of the entirety of Z².

Album Rating: 3.5

^I really dig Universal Flame as well. Though my favorite song overall at the moment is probably Ziltoid Goes Home.

Album Rating: 3.5

I personally think Sky Blue is the better album. Though the fact that the title track sounded almost exactly

like Usher is pretty concerning. I'm gonna assume that Dev listened to the song and the melody was stuck in

his head and it fit in his own song. If I recall correctly he did the same with the title track of Ghost,

though he usually tries to credit his inspirations.



Maybe he should be informed on Twitter? He's a nice, genuine guy so he'd probably clarify it.



Sky Blue is a 4.0 for me, Dark Matters a 3.5.