Devin Townsend Project - Addicted (2009)

Part two of the Devin Townsend Project is called "Addicted", a album that is the complete opposite to its predecessor "Ki". Instead of progressive ambient metal, we get to experience more uplifting and happy metal that reminds you of the excellent album "Infinity". It also has a slightly different personnel than what "Ki" had. Out with Savoie, Maxwell and Ché, and in with Van Poederooyen, Waddell, Cimino and also the former The Gathering singer Anneke Van Giersbergen. A much needed change since I think the former line-up would not be fitting in this musical style.

This album deserves its name since most of the songs in this album are very catchy and very easily likable. The music itself sounds like a really heavy pop album with a nice mix of both male and female vocals since Anneke does the leads in a couple of songs. It is really hard to frown when you are listening to this album since everything in this album comes from the bright side of life. Not even the heavy and doom like "Numbered!" seems dark.

One of the most famous songs in this album is "Bend It Like Bender!", since it is often played by Devin in concerts. It is a nice groovy song with an interesting chorus, but it is far from my favourite in this album. It is clearly beaten by songs like "Addicted!", "Supercrush!", "Ih-Ah!", "The Way Home!", "Numbered!" and "Awake!!". This is a good example of that "Addicted" is a well diverse album that has a high and even quality all the way through the album

It is very easy to get happy while listening to "Addicted, but there is one song that gets my blood boiling with rage. The song "Hyperdrive!" is a re-recording of the same song from "Ziltoid The Omniscient", and it is really not a bad song, until you compare it with the original. The original was one of my favourite tracks from "Ziltoid The Omniscient" since it simulated the feeling of traveling through space, millions of miles from your loved ones, while the re-recording instead simulates the feeling of going 200 km/h on the highway without any worries in your mind at all. That is not right, it just feels fake and impersonal, and it does not help the fact that Anneke sings the song (which she still does good, but not as emotional as Devin did). So skip this song and listen to the original instead.

I would not like to compare "Ki" and "Addicted" against each other since they are two very different albums, but I would like to point out that this is the ultimate proof of the vast and ever changing mind of Devin Townsend. "Addicted" is intoxicating and would work perfectly as a drug. Even if there is a disappointing re-recording of "Hyperdrive!" in this album, I still would consider "Addicted" as one of the highlights of Devin's career. It does not waste time on daylight and it certainly does not get knocked down.

Songs worthy of recognition: Supercrush!, Ih-Ah!, The Way Home!, Awake!

Rating: 9/10 Hyperdrives