The Eargasm Thread, version 2.0

Equipment: foobar2000, ATH-M50

Music: edIT - Crying Over Pros For No Reason (entire album)

Date: Don't recall

Story: Played the album. It was good. I cried because it was too good

Equipment used: MBP---M2Tech HiFace---Meier StageDAC---Meier Concerto---Beyerdynamic Tesla T1

Any album by Water Lily Acoustics from hdtracks.com. With crossfeed I am transported to heaven.

Equipment: iTunes, Beyerdynamic DT770 - 32 ohm version
 

Music: Skins and Bones entire album by Foo Fighters
 

Date: November 2009
 

Story: I was enrolled in a History of Jazz and Rock class at school, and one of our assignments was to write a review of both a studio and live album. I hadn't had much prior experience to live music, but I have been a long time fan of the Foo Fighters, so I chose their Skin and Bones album. It was one of the first acoustic-only albums and concerts the Foo Fighters have ever done, and I must say, I was 100% dumbfounded when I first heard it. The songs flow amazingly well and the acoustic guitar mixed with Dave Grohl's voice is absolutely beautiful. The one song that did it for me more than any other was the live version of Everlong at the very end of the CD. The build-up to the chorus sent chills down my spine. If you haven't heard this album, I would say it is close to, if not, my number one recommended front-to-back listening album.

I was 13 or 14, some sony discman, with my father's koss cantremember headphones, listening to floyd's animals. cant remember how it sounded but hey! there must be a reason i still rember it, right?

I was 12 when I got the Sony Walkman 1, which came with one tape.  Portable headphone listening was unheard of in those days, and the tape it came with had all sorts of wacky headphone effects, the most amazing of which was the sound of a jet passing right through your head.  Everyone I played that to was blown away!

I had one other tape in those days, a double sider of Oxygene/Equinoxe.  Those 2 tapes lasted me about a year (plus stuff recorded off the radio).  Time have changed!

My first was when I was very young. My father was (and still is) a Hi-Fi DIY nut. I came home from school one day and could hear the music down the block.

I walk into the house and he's blasting ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man (on vinyl, of course). Can't remember the exact equipment, but that was my first real...HOLY CRAP THIS IS AMAZING moment. I got into Head-Fi a few years ago after a few underwhelming Hi-Fi encounters. I love it.

Equipment used: Doesn't matter. At the time, it was horrible noisy stuff, which shows that it's the music that counts.

Track, Artist and Album: Any (preferably entire) album by Devin Townsend

Date (if you can remember): 5-10 years back

Story:

I had this stuff for a while, and it took me having the playlist on random to come to this conclusion, after inadvertently going through most of an album, before asking myself "what is this I am listening to?" I don't know which album I started from, but it could have been The Hummer (a rare ambient work by Devy) that got me to try the rest of the albums, after hitting a bassy part. Seriously, this man is a genius. He understands the mind and what you are thinking, based on what you are hearing and have heard. From this, the next sounds are correct and what is necessary to make you feel good. Apart from the amazing acoustic, and electronic engineering that he single-handedly does, his voice is out of this world. He can do metal screams of death, as witnessed by any listener of Strapping Young Lad (his band), or sing opera as he tried in the latest album a little bit, or just tell a story.

The most important part is that almost every work has a characteristic "wall of sound". There are layers upon layers of ambient behind all the music, and between the face and ambient backdrop, there are more things that just drive your mind in the right direction. I wish I could suggest an album, they vary quite a bit. Physicist for example is for the metaller, the others all incorporate elements of death metal, classical, symphony, folk, every genre that you cannot imagine being melded, just is. So far, not one modern composer (who caters to a general audience) I can compare to him. Some classical artists have done amazing modern stuff, while I hate to single anyone out, Gyorgy Ligeti's Atmospheres is one track that is pretty damn nice. It is like 50 of the same string instrument that he instructs the players to use in such a way as to create this texture that engulfs around you, turns itself inside out and then unwraps you. Devy doesn't have such a specific agenda, but every single track is so pleasing I can't believe it.

If you like Ambient music, try The Hummer. Reviews don't do it justice, being good anyways. For more active, in your face "ambient" there is a rare album called Devlab. The others can be lumped as being Devy's normal stuff, while all having somewhat of their own path.