''Addicted'' is the twelfth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the second album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on November 17, 2009, on Townsend's

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

HevyDevy Records. The album was written and produced by Townsend, and features

Ryan Van Poederooyen Ryan Joost Van Poederooyen (; born November 13, 1972), often referred to by his initials RVP, is a Canadian drummer. He gained international recognitionSharpe-Young, Garry (2005). ''New Wave of American Heavy Metal''. p. 157. New Plymouth: Zonda ...

, Brian Waddell, Mark Cimino, and Anneke van Giersbergen.

Background

''Addicted'' is the second of seven albums in the Devin Townsend Project series, each featuring a different lineup and theme. ''Addicted'' was written and produced by Townsend. The album features vocals by Townsend along with Anneke van Giersbergen, former singer of Dutch band The Gathering. Brian Waddell and

of the former

Devin Townsend Band Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

play bass and drums, respectively, while Mark Cimino plays guitar alongside Townsend. Recording for the album began May 6, 2009. The next album in the series is ''

Deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essences w ...

'', 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). The album's production style was directly influenced by Nickelback's 2008 album ''

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

''. Townsend has quipped that "Some parts of it sound like Meshuggah, some parts of it sound like

Boney M. Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's o ...

" ''Addicted'' includes a new version of the song "Hyperdrive" from Townsend's album '' Ziltoid the Omniscient'' (2007), with lead vocals by van Giersbergen, who has performed a cover of the song with her former band

Agua de Annique Anneke van Giersbergen & Agua de Annique was the solo project of the former The Gathering vocalist, Anneke van Giersbergen. History The project was announced on 5 June 2007, the same day that both The Gathering and Anneke van Giersbergen issu ...

. "Resolve!" was "directly influenced by The Wildhearts" and it bears a resemblance to " Vanilla Radio" from '' The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed''. Unlike Townsend's previous albums, which were usually in

open C tuning Open C tuning is an open tuning for guitar. The open-string notes form a C major chord, which is the triad (C,E,G) having the root note C, the major third (C,E), and the perfect fifth (C,G). When the guitar is strummed without fretting any s ...

, most of the songs on ''Addicted'' were played in

open B tuning Open B Tuning is an open tuning for guitar. The open string notes in this tuning are B-F-B-F-B-D. It uses the three notes that form the triad of a B major chord: B, the root note; F, the perfect fifth; and D the major third. When the guitar is ...

. "Universe in a Ball!" was played in open B, "Hyperdrive!" in

open C Open C tuning is an open tuning for guitar. The open-string notes form a C major chord, which is the triad (C,E,G) having the root note C, the major third (C,E), and the perfect fifth (C,G). When the guitar is strummed without fretting any stri ...

(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 C), and "Ih-Ah!" and "The Way Home!" in open C.

Release and artwork

''Addicted'' was released on Townsend's

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. The album was released on November 13, 2009, in Germany, November 16, 2009, in the rest of Europe, and November 17, 2009, in North America by InsideOut Music. It was released in Japan through Marquee/Avalon on December 16, 2009. The album features art by Travis Smith, who created the album art for Townsend's previous albums '' Terria'' and '' Accelerated Evolution''. The InsideOut releases are sold in a slipcase bearing Smith's Devin Townsend Project logo.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

* Devin Townsend – vocals, guitar,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, programming, production, mixing *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Brian "Beav" Waddell –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Mark Cimino – guitar

Additional personnel

* Anneke van Giersbergen – additional vocals, lead vocals on "Supercrush!", "Hyperdrive!", "Resolve!" and "Numbered!" * Dave Young – additional keyboards * Susanne Richter – additional vocals on "Ih-Ah!" * Rob Cunningham, Hugh Gilmartin, John Rafferty, Brian Johnson, Steve Lobmeier; Devin Townsend, Brian "Beav" Waddell,

and Mark Cimino – gang vocals * Travis Smith – art

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Addicted (The Devin Townsend Project Album) Devin Townsend albums 2009 albums Albums produced by Devin Townsend Albums with cover art by Travis Smith (artist)