Addicted (The Devin Townsend Project album)

Addicted
Studio album by The Devin Townsend Project
Released November 17, 2009
Recorded May 6 – September 8, 2009
Genre Progressive metal, industrial metal, alternative metal
Length 46:49
Label HevyDevy
Producer Devin Townsend
Devin Townsend chronology
Ki
(2009)
Addicted
(2009)
Deconstruction
(2011)
Alternative cover
The international InsideOut release of Addicted is sold in a slipcase bearing the Devin Townsend Project logo, designed by Travis Smith.
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Blistering [2]
BW&BK [3]
DPRP [4]
Metal Storm [5]
mX [6]
Rock Sound [7]

Addicted is the twelfth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the second of four albums in The Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on November 17, 2009 on Townsend's independent record label HevyDevy Records. The album was written and produced by Townsend, and features Ryan Van Poederooyen, Brian Waddell, Mark Cimino, and Anneke van Giersbergen.[8]

Contents

Background

Addicted is the second of four albums in the Devin Townsend Project series, each featuring a different lineup and theme.[9] Addicted was written and produced by Townsend. The album features vocals by Townsend along with Anneke van Giersbergen, a former member of Dutch band The Gathering. Brian Waddell and Ryan Van Poederooyen of the former Devin Townsend Band play bass and drums, respectively, while Mark Cimino plays guitar alongside Townsend.[8] Recording for the album began May 6, 2009. The next album in the series is Deconstruction, which was released on June 20, 2011.

Music

According to Townsend, Addicted is an album of "melodic" and "danceable" music but is "much heavier" than his previous albums. Townsend has compared the album's songwriting to his more accessible songs, such as "Life" from Ocean Machine: Biomech (1997), "Stagnant" from Terria (2001), and "Material" from Physicist (2000).[10] The album's production style was directly influenced by Nickelback's 2008 album Dark Horse.[10][11] Townsend has quipped that "Some parts of it sound like Meshuggah, some parts of it sound like Boney M."[10] Addicted includes a new version of the song "Hyperdrive" from Townsend's 2007 album Ziltoid the Omniscient with lead vocals by van Giersbergen, who has performed a cover of the song with her current band Agua de Annique. "Resolve" was "directly influenced by The Wildhearts" and it bears a resemblance to "Vanilla Radio" from The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed.[12] Unlike Townsend's previous albums, which were usually in open C tuning, most of the songs on Addicted were played in open B tuning. "Universe in a Ball" was played in open B, "Hyperdrive" in open C (to accommodate the vocal range of van Giersbergen, as opposed to the version of "Hyperdrive" that appeared on the album Ziltoid the Omniscient which was recorded in a different key), and "The Way Home" in open C.

Release and artwork

Addicted was released on Townsend's independent record label HevyDevy Records on November 17, 2009 through their website. Pre-orders went on sale October 6, 2009 with special-edition packages through Century Media's CM Distro website.[13] The album was released November 13, 2009 in Germany,[14] November 16, 2009 in the rest of Europe, and November 17, 2009 in North America by distributor InsideOut Music.[15] It was released in Japan through Marquee/Avalon on December 16, 2009.[16]

The album features art by Travis Smith, who created the album art for Townsend's previous albums Terria, Accelerated Evolution, and Ziltoid the Omniscient. The InsideOut releases are sold in a slipcase bearing Smith's Devin Townsend Project logo.[17]

Track list

All songs written and composed by Devin Townsend. 

No. Title Length
1. "Addicted!"   5:37
2. "Universe in a Ball!"   4:09
3. "Bend It Like Bender!"   3:37
4. "Supercrush!"   5:13
5. "Hyperdrive!"   3:36
6. "Resolve!"   3:12
7. "Ih-Ah!"   3:45
8. "The Way Home!" (Townsend, Waddell) 3:14
9. "Numbered!"   4:55
10. "Awake!!"   9:44
Total length:
46:49

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Finnish Albums Chart 36[18]
U.S. Billboard 200 168[19]
U.S. Heatseekers 2[20]
U.S. Independent Albums 22[21]

Personnel

Musicians

Additional Musicians

Production

References

  1. ^ Freeman, Phil (October 2009). "Addicted – Review." Allmusic. Retrieved October 27, 2009.
  2. ^ Findlay, Tom (November 2009). "Addicted – Review." Blistering. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  3. ^ Begai, Carl (November 2009). "Addicted – Review." BW&BK. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  4. ^ de Val, Tom; van der Vorst, Bart Jan (November 2007). "Addicted - Review." DPRP. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  5. ^ Anderson, Baz (November, 2007). "Addicted - Review." Metal Storm. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  6. ^ Newstead, Al (November 26, 2009). "Addicted." mX. News Corporation.
  7. ^ Sadler, Darren (November, 2009). "Addicted - Review." Rock Sound. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  8. ^ a b "Devin Townsend Project: Addicted North American release date announced." Blabbermouth.net. September 23, 2009.
  9. ^ Blabbermouth.net (March 20, 2009). "Devin Townsend to return this summer with Ki." Retrieved April 12, 2009.
  10. ^ a b c Genghis & Ragman (May 10, 2009). "Podcast #80 – Idol." The Right to Rock.
  11. ^ Rausch, Jan (April 7, 2009). "Video interview with Devin Townsend." Toazted.
  12. ^ Album notes.
  13. ^ HevyDevy Records (October 6, 2009). "Addicted Exclusive Specially Priced Pre-Order Packages Now Available." Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  14. ^ InsideOut Music (Germany). "Devin Townsend Project – Addicted" (German). Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  15. ^ InsideOut Music. "Devin Townsend Project – Addicted." Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  16. ^ "アディクテッド/デヴィン・タウンゼンド・プロジェクト." Oricon. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  17. ^ InsideOut Music (Shop). "Devin Townsend Project – Addicted." Retrieved November 25, 2009.
  18. ^ Suomen virallinen lista
  19. ^ [1]
  20. ^ [2]
  21. ^ [3]