Aaaaaaaaand we're back!
The Devin Townsend Project - EpicloudReleased September 18, 2012
Tracklisting:
1. Effervescent!
2. True North
3. Lucky Animals
4. Liberation
5. Where We Belong
6. Save Our Now
7. Kingdom
8. Divine
9. Grace
10. More!
11. Lessons
12. Hold On
13. Angel
Bonus Tracks
14. Epicloud (Vinyl Bonus Track)
15. Cry Forever (iTunes Bonus Track)
16. Take My Ego (iTunes Bonus Track)
Personnel:
Devin Townsend - Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards
Anneke Van Giersbergen - Vocals
Dave Young - Guitar, Keyboards
Brian “Beav” Wadell - Bass
Ryan Van Poederooyen - Drums
Additional Personnel:
The Marcus Mosely Chorale - Choir
Dev planned to start working on a sequel to the Ziltoid album once the DTP was over. However, whenever he sat down to write for that album, he would end up writing songs that didn’t fit with the vibe he was aiming for. He eventually realized there was another album in him that was revealing itself, and chose to get it out of his system before working on another Ziltoid album.
Epicloud was originally meant to be a solo album, but he decided to make it a continuation of the DTP, with the same lineup as the live version of the band, plus Anneke Van Giersbergen. The drums were recorded at Kingdom Studio in Perth, and the rest of the album was done at Armoury Studios in Vancouver. Epicloud also features the Marcus Mosely Chorale, a choir from Vancouver.
Lucky Animals has a callback to the SYL song Monument, from The New Black.
Dev asked fans to submit videos of themselves dancing with their pets for a collaborative music video for Lucky Animals. However, his own video of him dancing became much more popular.
Dev’s video:
https://youtu.be/UvmIByrcwAQOfficial music video:
https://youtu.be/m8YuqlnVX0oSave Our Now is based on the song Island by Pendulum.
Kingdom is a re-record of the song from Physicist. Dev chose to redo the song because he was never happy with how that album turned out, and the song had become a live staple since he started touring again.
The main riff to Grace was going to be the riff from the outro to By Your Command (Pound Pound Pound Ye Push Ye Push…), but Ryan came up with a different rhythm that was used instead.
The iTunes version of the album came with 2 bonus tracks.
Cry Forever is a pretty straightforward heavy song
Take My Ego is an Anneke centric song inspired by The Power of Love by Jennifer Rush. A really underrated gem.
The title track was only included on the vinyl edition of the album.
https://youtu.be/-s4oTFMaha4 Dev recorded a track by track commentary/listening party that was posted to YouTube. The video is no longer available, but I have the commentary if anyone wants to hear it.
Some videos of the making of Epicloud:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_AGVF5YuSPIlwkb412fwsSGNC02le7pOEpicloud was released September 18, 2012. The album is a mixed bag in the best way. It’s got a little bit of all sides of his music, sans the ambient/experimental side heard on Devlab and The Hummer. You could think of Epicloud as a culmination of the the original 4 DTP albums. You have the rock, pop, metal, and the softer sides of his music all in one cohesive album. Even with the variety of sounds on the album, Epicloud is Dev at his most accessible. I always recommend this album to newcomers as the best starting point.
At the time of it’s release, Dev was adamant that Epicloud was not indicative of where his music would go in the future. It was just something he needed to get out of his system on the way to the next record. But given the success and popularity of Epicloud, the record label would pressure him to do another album in this vein later on.
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The deluxe edition came with a second disc, cleverly titled…
EpiclouderTracklisting:
1. Believe
2. Happy Birthday
3. Quietus
4. Heatwave
5. Love Tonight
6. The Mind Wasp
7. Woah No!
8. Love and Marriage
9. Socialization
10. Little PigEpiclouder is comprised of demos and outtakes that didn’t make it on to the main album.
Dev's demos still sound fleshed out and well produced, and there's some real gems on here.
This bonus disc isn't available on YouTube or Streaming, but according to the
banner on the InsideOut Youtube channel it's being released in some form on 7/28/23. Maybe it'll finally be added to streaming.
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The Retinal CircusRecorded October 27, 2012 at The Roundhouse, London
Released September 30, 2013
Tracklisting:
1. Effervescent! / True North (Live)
2. Lucky Animals (Live)
3. Planet of the Apes (Live)
4. Truth (Live)
5. War (Live)
6. Soul Driven (Live)
7. Planet Smasher (Live)
8. Babysong (Live)
9. Vampolka (Live)
10. Vampira (Live)
11. Addicted (Live)
12. Color Your World
13. The Greys (Live)
14. Hyperdrive (Live)
15. Ih-Ah! (Live)
16. Where We Belong (Live)
17. Detox (Live)
18. Bend It Like Bender! (Live)
19. Life (Live)
20. Kingdom (Live)
21. Juular (Live)
22. Love? (Live)
23. Colonial Boy (Live)
24. Grace (Live)
25. Little Pig (Live)Personnel:
Devin Townsend - Guitar, Vocals
Anneke Van Giersbergen - Vocals
Dave Young - Guitar
Brian “Beav” Wadell - Bass
Ryan Van Poederooyen - Drums
Additional Personnel:
Jed Simon - Guitar (Detox, Love?)
Dom Lawson - Vocals (Planet Smasher)
Steve Vai - Narration
After the By A Thread concerts in 2011, Dev announced another special concert, The Retinal Circus, which would take place a year later at the Roundhouse in London. This show was presented as a kind of a musical, with actors playing out a loose story while the band played. The story was narrated by Steve Vai.
The band was joined by Anneke Van Giersbergen and a choir. The setlist featured songs across Dev’s catalog, and even included 2 Strapping Young Lad songs: Love? and Detox. Former SYL guitarist Jed Simon joined the band for both songs. Dom Lawson, a music journalist, sings on Planet Smasher.
Playlist containing most of the show:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1TB2XzzE9-k5WCEzm1sfltP1u6IWFfAh Behind the scenes documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM0FYg1RgUMThis picture just makes me chuckle
A USB drive containing 2 demos and 2 videos was given to VIP attendees
1. Buddah Bidet (Demo)
2. Little Pig (Demo from Epiclouder)
3. VIP Greeting (Video)
4. Peavey Info (Video)
Buddha Bidet is an electropop song only available on this USB drive.
Or, on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX1i7WDzpsY——————————————————————————————————————————————
Fun fact: In the middle of typing this, a snake got in my house. I got him out, but am clueless as to how he got in.
It's been a fun night.