DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: ADDICTED

Under the name of The Devin Townsend Project, DT set out to do a series of 6 albums where the line up would change on each album and the overall sound or style of each album would also change. Another reason to love Devin, his versatility, but at the same time, he is cohesive in each individual outing. This was the 2nd album in this series. This time he was going with a poppier, danceable sound. That was a scary thought. Well, you can relax because he got that sound, but he did it very loudly! Immediately, you know it's Devin. You get his usual multi tracked guitars and keyboards to create that heavy metal wall of sound he is famous for. No, it's not noise, it's music. I don't know of very many artists that can achieve this as well as what Devin does.

The initial track comes barreling at you full force. A hard driving beat that makes your feet want to get up and dance and a crushing riff with Devin melodically screaming his lungs out. If this one doesn't get your blood rushing, you are already dead. There is no better way to start off an album, and you get a good idea of what Devin's intention was here, amazing melodic, hard and heavy rock that is infectious at the same time. "Universe in a Ball" is the next track and it also has a hard driving beat, but you get more of a progressive feel with this one. "Bend it Like Becker" stays exciting and hard with that continuing wall of sound and this is the first time that you hear Anneke's lead vocals on this particular album. She shares lead vocal duties with Devin throughout this album. She gives a more melodic feel to Devin's emotionally charged singing, and this is all combined into that massive wall of sound. You get a short break from that in the next track "Supercruisin'" with Anneke leading the vocals again and then everything comes crashing together again. This is an amazing track and goes down as one of Devin's best with plenty of prog present, but hard and still melodic.

"Hyperdrive" is a bit weaker, but still good. It is the same song that's on the first "Ziltoid" album, but made more accessible with Anneke's voice. "Resolve" however is powerful with both vocalists complimenting each other. Devin is at his screaming best here and Anneke is at her melodic best with what sounds like a chorus of demons behind them mixed into the sound. Amazing track. There is a sudden break in the wall of sound again on "Ih-Ah", and this time Devin sings in his best soft rock voice all of a sudden. Then towards the middle, things intensify a little as the two leads harmonize like you would never believe, and then Devin continues again. Yes, this is one of DT's softer and maybe even commercial songs, but it's still excellent. Totally unexpected.

"The Way Home" has a rapid fire beat that you would expect to hear in a Tech Metal song, but the melody and Devin's singing is quite mellow at first, but it builds up that wall of sound piece by piece, but it is melodic and emotional all the way through. "Numbered" starts out with a typical Devin riff, then Anneke's voice comes in all multi-layered. This one has a great driving guitar riff with a rhythm to match. Dev sings the verses and Anneke sings the choruses with a choir of her own harmonized voices. This one makes a great rock anthem. The last track "Awake" is the longest at over 9 minutes. It turns into quite an emotional yet loud song as it progresses, and soon Devin's growling and dirty vocals come in, staying melodic all through and easily sliding back to clean vocals while the music stays heavy without even blinking. Only Devin does this transition so well. Anneke sings the choruses again on this one. But they are at their strongest when they sing together. Simply amazing.

This album overall is excellent, there are only a few low points where the songs come to close to being too radio friendly, but they are shorter songs and don't ruin the enjoyment of this album. This is not quite the masterpiece that some of his other albums are, but don't let that stop you from getting this one if you love the hard and heavy, yet very emotional, music of Devin Townsend. This might be a good gateway album for people interested in entering to explore DT's excellent discography. Don't let the fact that Devin does scream and growl, because he can do it so melodically you almost don't realize he is doing it, and it only adds to his music like you wouldn't believe. It makes it so much more emotional. But, the only way you can truly appreciate his voice and his music is to listen to it. His music has plenty of progressiveness in it, this album is more on the melodic side, but it still doesn't disappoint . I can easily call this one an excellent addition to your collection, not necessarily his best and not a masterpiece, but still excellent.