Devin Townsend Project - Addicted (2009)
When I was a teenage boy who loved "Metalocalypse", KFC Double Downs and fucking with homeless people, this was something I loved blaring into my eardrums via iPod earphones. Sometimes I think back to those days and realize that the only thing that's different is that I generally can't force myself to watch "Metalocalypse" anymore, which I only started watching in the first place because one character (Pickles) was initially inspired by Devin Townsend, and that Mike Patton voiced a villain in an episode or two. That's how much of an obsessive fanboy I was: I was watching television shows purely due to the association of my favorite musical artists. I know it was stupid, but I miss being -that- passionate about the things I love to the point where I let them control part of my life, not out of feeling like a slave chained to their musical identity, but someone who had so much confidence in what they liked that they didn't give a fuck about displaying it to everyone. I think I even gave a copy of this album (minus the first two tracks) to my mom at some point. I was that bad.
This album is Devin Townsend (now accompanied by a different line-up of musicians) attempting to add pop into his music with the help of the immensely vocally-talented Anneke van Giersbergen (of ex-The Gathering and solo fame) who has a gorgeous, BEAUTIFUL voice. I mean, fuck, dude, I could listen to her sing forever, she has the voice of an absolute angel, and I'm not exaggerating: She is absolutely heavenly. I fucking LOVE her voice. Anyhow, the plan here was to incorporate poppier, prettier elements into Devin Townsend's music in an attempt to branch out and crank out some fun, colorful tunes, and they succeeded with a few minor misses that dampen the album a bit. Before we get into the positives and the negatives, I just wanna point out two things about this album that are really fucking cool to me: Devin Townsend's guitar riffs on here were only recorded once and then looped for however long to give it more of an industrial/robotic feel, which is cool because I don't think Devin Townsend has done that before up to this point in his discography, and secondly, towards the end of the final track "Awake!!" the music gets a bit darker and tenser than anywhere else on the album, and he screams "NOW DECONSTRUCT!!" which is a reference to the complete 180 he'd do with his next studio album "Deconstruction", and I think that's fucking -brilliant- to help bridge the musical gap between the albums. I get fucking goosebumps every time I hear that.
I have a lot to say about the positives of this album, being that I like every song, unfortunately except for the title track, since I thought it was a bit of a weird, abstract opening to an album that's anything but, and that Devin Townsend probably should've came straight outta the gate with a poppier song. There are some fucking -incredible- songs on here, especially due to Anneke van Giersbergen's vocal contributions, which very notably includes a reworking of "Hyperdrive" from "Ziltoid the Omniscient" with her taking over the song entirely by herself, sans a brief appearance by Devin Townsend right at the end, but I really think Anneke was the glue missing from some of his music, which is to say that I think they're a fucking -phenomenal- pairing vocally, and just.. Fuck, I love Anneke's singing, I REALLY do, but Devin sounds fucking great on this album as well, going from belting out lyrics to screaming, but with Anneke backing him up, be it switching off vocals or her harmonizing in the background, you really can't lose.
One negative thing about this album that I had to get over is the fact that while it's easily Devin Townsend's most accessible album in his discography (at least up to this point in it), the songs typically don't flourish in the same way as his older, more complex works. Still, when you get over it and realize that there are a lot of great tunes on here that will appeal to the Hevy Devy veterans ("Supercrush!", "The Way Home!" and the epic "Numbered!") along with catchy as fuck songs that I could easily see getting actual radio play on alternative rock/pop stations ("Bend It Like Bender!", "Resolve!" and the adorable "Ih-Ah!" to name just a few) it quickly becomes clear that this album can be polarizing, but those whose initial reaction to turn away can find a great album if they just open their ears to Devin Townsend exploring previously uncharted ground that no one could've guessed even just five years ago that he'd go on to explore. Fun, beautiful, and addicting. Is that last part too much? Shit.
8/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
