Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Devin Townsend : Terria Album Review

In 2001 a Canadian musician  by the name of Devin Townsend in my opinion  reached the pinnacle of his creative powers when he released his Fourth studio album in Terria . Its a cohesive   mash of craziness ,  diverse sounds and track layering with sublime guitar playing that  begs you to ask the question  how did this  all come together  and be one of my most  favoured full length album listens. Apparently Townsend was inspired one morning while driving across Canada with his band, and looked to write an "introspective" album dedicated to his homeland. He produced and recorded Terria, a "highly illustrated stream-of-consciousness" album, with Gene Hoglan on drums, Craig McFarland on bass and Jamie Meyer on keyboards.  It is my utmost pleasure to introduce you  to Terria



        Track List

1-      Olives                       3:21    
2-      Mountain                  6:32    
3-      Earth Day                 9:35    
4-      Deep Peace             7:34    
5-      Canada                    6:53    
6-      Down And Under       3:43    
7-      The Fluke                 7:16    
8-      Nobody's Here           6:54    
9-      Tiny Tears                 9:12    
10-    Stagnant                   5:25    
11-    Untitled                     5:29





1- Olives :The opening track  opens  with  some  music  coming from a record player like  you are in a foyer Devin  invites  you to  come  in  and take a seat  offers you a drink  i think the opening track sums  up  the album  its something  that  you need to listen to in a relaxed environment its  like a good bottle of  wine  don't  drink it  fast  sip  it  enjoy the flavour. Terria has  plenty  of  surprises installed  and loads of reflection and pleasant memories  that linger for a long  time after the last track is played

2- Mountain : Fast paced  tempo wise with eerie sounding  howl at the start there is a stop start  kind of a beat in the beginning Mountain has plenty of  layers  and   sound diversity Devin's  vocals  are really  good , and the band is near faultless  they even the tempo out  for a while then  lift it a notch or two towards the end  a really  enjoyable  song  with dog  howls and  some  other  weird  Foreign talking also  going on towards the finish its heavily layered track  with loads of samples

3- Earth day : This song  is  awesome  its a fast tempo dire predicting post apocalyptic  orgy of sounds great guitar  work  from all involved the band  play really well together  Devin's songwriting skills are  diverse  and  you  can  hear the  immense effort  put into the vocal delivery  the song  sounds  very angry  in some patches  and like an interstellar joy  ride in other areas the song   weighs in at a epic  9 .35  Min's  but   the  song  is worth  every second

4-Deep Peace :  My  god after the angry, dire warning, global recycling  epic Earth Day  comes the polar opposite a beautiful song about the acceptance  of crying its as if  Devin is trying to console his inner child  there is a mid song guitar solo that will blow your socks off its so beautiful and  harmonious it  flows naturally  and makes you  wonder what your speakers would feel if they had senses delivering  the sublime   melody, i think  this song would of left a huge smile on the inner child whatever the reason its a  moment in music i will never forget



5-Canada : Sweeping riffs  once again the guitar gets plenty of time to shine in this track a nice little  song about his native country he sings it with great  passion  ,  It has some   strange muffled  vocals  in some parts also has more weird foreign language at the end of the track all in all this  track  is awesome

6-Down and Under : Comes in  like Canada never finished , the  song starts out  with a  briskly played acoustic guitar till the  booming base drum  comes into existence it gets your feet tapping  a beautiful instrumental track  with  just a hint of vocals at the end its a harmonious track that shows this band  play well together


7 -The Fluke : Another great song  nicely paced , Devin sings  with less ferocity  the band  go in all directions in some areas of the song  and you can hear them all  doing their own thing but not in a colliding kind of a way  .  The song  is  beautiful  it captivates you especially the mid section  of the song it hits a beautiful  flowing patch

8 -Nobody's Here : When someone asks me about depression i would like to   play this song  and say  depression  brought this beautiful song into existence   a  mind  probing  journey into the troubled mind of Devin . Boy his music is sublime when  he is expressing his deep  emotions he seems to tap into a well  of pure talent and i feel  the  anguish  in him as he searches to find himself and feels like there's nobody  there

9- Tiny Tears : I would love to  know  what was on his mind  when  he was writing this  its one song that amazes  me  he opens right  up  to who or whatever  he  wrote this for  pleading his age   saying sorry  for making  you cry  and admitting to being a jealous  guy  there is no doubt   that  Devin has no problem expressing emotions that's  why  he  is  such   a joy to listen to.  The song  is a low tempo  beautiful   sing along  that still leaves you  shaking your head at the mans talents

10 - Stagnant : This song  sounds  like  Devin  is saying  that hes  found the middle of the  road hes travelled and  wont  stray   anymore perhaps inclining the  straying is a psychological  and emotional disaster , The guitar  solo  in this song is beautiful and  as always  the band manage to  pull off another  song  that shakes your head  at the  beauty and grandness of this album

11- Universal : this song finishes the album off like it started weirdly and you cant help thinking that Devin deliberately  put  this track in  to compliment olives its as if  he is using them like bookends to hold the  majestic diversity and craziness that is Terria into place . This track its just a strange half ass guitar jam with weird  vocals that  fade in  and out with a few water drips also but funnily enough  as much as i  am not a big  fan of this track  it  wouldn't be Terria  without it

Conclusion : A very moving  album  defiantly worth a listen   i think i would describe it as semi progressive rock  with  samples ,and  a touch of metal  The music  is  incredibly diverse  it takes you on a  roller coaster emotional ride that leaves you feeling  that  this  man  is plagued by inner torment ,during some of the songs i also question  his  sanity  but there is no denying he has a stack of talent  .Devon  and the band  pour their hearts into the music and  i am not sure i have  heard so much  emotion  poured into songs like this for a long while ,they  have left a beautiful  legacy in Terria  8.1 / 10


















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