Customer Reviews

Infinity

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4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Infinity(1998). Devin Townsend's second official solo album.

I'm really glad I decided to hold off on reviewing this album until well after I bought it, because if that happened I probably would have initially only given it 3 stars or so. Not to say that I thought it was a bad album or anything, but it's more due to the fact that after being introduced to Devin's musical genius through the hard-hitting straight-forward Accelerated Evolution(2003) and then being absolutely floored by the one-two punch of Terria(2001) and Ocean Machine(1997), Infinity just sort of felt like an underwhelming curveball of bizzaireness. I did appreciate some of the more basic tracks like 'Truth' and 'Christine', which obviously were intended as the songs to hook you in to the album, but as much as I tried at first, the album never opened up to me. At the time I listened to a lot of progressive stuff, and yet Infinity's appeal still managed to escape me, which didn't make any sense. I was sort of expecting the same epic proportions and dramatic build-up that made Ocean Machine and Terria work so well, and so because Infinity didn't hit me over the head like the others, it was pushed to the back of my collection for the longest time, waiting for the right moment to strike. So why did I just give it 5 stars then? Let me explain.

Then something wonderful happened. Fast forward about 2 years. It was 5 in the morning and I was staying up really late working on some graphic design homework. This semester especially I have been pulling at least 2 all-nighters per week and it was beginning to wear me down. Anyone who works in any sort of design field that requires an extensive amount of time outside of work/class to get things done knows exactly what I'm talking about. My brain was slowly becoming fried. Anyways, I was slated for another all-nighter and was simply struggling to stay awake because my work had to be done by 9 in the morning or else. After several caffinated drinks that didn't do their job, I was desperate. I reached over towards my cds which mostly never keep me awake in the really late hours. Can't listen to anything too light and soothing or I'll pass out. Nothing overwhelmly heavy and monotone either because I'll still fall asleep (oddly enough). So randomly, for no particular reason I decided to throw in Infinity. Then something clicked.

I'll get back to my story in a moment as soon as I describe the album a little bit. While both Ocean Machine and Terria are truly beasts of albums in their emotional intensity, Infinity is a different kind of beast altogether. Despite the fact that Devin seems to have an inclination for posing naked on his album covers, it's really a figurative indication of Infinity's scope and purpose - to open up and bear his soul with nothing holding back. Throughout the course of the album, it takes you through a variety of moods and turning points. Like I mentioned earlier, 'Truth' and 'Christine' both start off as a means of drawing the listener in, enveloped in happiness but with further inspection, one can tell that something is not right in the world of Devy. His trademark "guitar/keyboard wall of sound" is ever present as it always has been. I heard that apparently he had to check himself into a mental institution after creating this album due to bipolar disorder. It faired well for the music, but ended up backfiring on him. Listening to Infinity's sheer oddity in places, it makes perfect sense because no mere "sane" person could get away with pouring such an immense amount of emotion into the music and making it work. He's not just trying to say "look how crazy I am", but rather proving it through the construction of the album. My description really doesn't do it justice. You'll just have to hear Infinity for yourself.

My personal favorite, besides 'Truth', would have to go to 'Bad Devil' due to its extreme nature of crossing over genres. Has anyone ever heard of an "industrial heavy metal 40s swing song" before? There's nothing quite like it. 'War' kicks up the intensity, starting off happy and gradually becoming more sinister as the song ends and Devin desperately shouts "Please! I need some quiet! Just for once!". The album quickly becomes more turbulent in nature and structure with 'Soul Driven Cadillac'. After Devin's melodic vocals comes the most psychotically insane part of the album which between that song and 'Ants' truly gets your brain twisted into a knot and messes with your head. Another reviewer mentioned that Dillenger Escape Plan comes to mind, and parts of 'Ants' do indicate a similar sound in the guitars and manic time-change signatures. 'Wild Colonial Boy' is another originally done piece that starts to bring Infinity's purpose into fruition, and the album culminates into a comfortingly relaxed, yet powerful in its execution two-some in 'Life Is All Dynamics' and 'Unity'. The latter track here essentially works as this album's 'The Death Of Music' in that while not an intensely serious climax, it builds up in a happiness feeling letting the listener know that "everything will be alright". The bonus tracks are great outside of the context of the album. 'Noisy Pink Bubbles' is like 2 different songs in one, sporting some great accoustic work and interesting vocal melodies. Then there's the decent accoustic versions of Ocean Machine's 'Sister' and 'Hide Nowhere'. 'Man' is a dynamic metal track that shouldn't be skipped.

So about the rest of my story, well as I listened to the album in complete exhaustion and emotional flux, its true purpose came to light within me and really put a spin on my world. I felt like I was going insane with him through the middle portion of the album, and took solace in the ending's gradual build-up of peacefulness. For the first time, Infinity was able to hit me home like OM, Terria, and AE did long ago. This kept me going the rest of the night and I found myself playing the album again and again. I was able get all my work done and things were alright in the morning (other than my lack of sleep).

I know this review is a bit long, but the point of my story is to show that 1) Never be too quick to judge and review an album, let it sit and work its way into you. Too many reviewers on this site hastily throw up 5-star and 1-star reviews without giving much thought or time into what they're reviewing. Hell, it took me two years just to be able to properly describe this. And 2) If you don't like Infinity at first, don't sell it just yet! As odd as Infinity is, any music afficionado owes it to themselves to pick it up. While I don't think this is the best place for new fans to start, I definitely recommend it once Devy's style becomes familiar to you. The songs can be listened to individually and once you know how the tracks are placed, Infinity as a whole unravels its true colors. It unquestionably is one of the most odd, daring, bold, and dynamic albums I've ever listened to. I guarentee that you have never, or will never hear anything else like it again.

Now it's just a matter of waiting for Physicist(2000) and Synchestra(2005) to properly open themselves up...

I once read on an internet message board where someone identified each and every Devin Townsend album and I thoroughly enjoyed his descriptions. He said: SYL = Fire, Ocean Machine = Water, Physicist = Clouds, Terria = Earth, and Infinity = Universe, while Devin Townsend equals Soul. Now I don't know how he reached these conclusions, but if you're familiar with Devin Townsend's music (when I say "familiar", I don't mean if you've just "heard" some of his songs!), you will definitely see the correlations between his albums and the aforementioned themes.

But still, it's slightly wrong. Infinity is BIGGER than the entire universe; it's larger, more powerful and more absorbing too. What's more is, Infinity isn't even my favourite Devin Townsend album. I happen to like Ocean Machine and Terria better, but from an objective point of view, Infinity is wider in scope and more eclectic in songwriting than both albums put together.

Infinity is a study in depression and mental stability. It depicts some of the hardest times in Devin's life. He wrote, produced, recorded and engineered it himself and he was was institutionalized (at his own will) shortly after he finished the album due to bipolar disorder. If you truly immerse yourself in this record, you are bound to think a 'normal' person wouldn't have managed to create such compositions. The album reeks of madness from start to finish and this is particularly displayed in "War" and "Ants". You just have to listen to the creepy intro of "War" over and over again (with good headphones) and see how feelings of chaos are disguised under main guitar riffs. The chorus in this song is one of the most haunting lyric lines ever. Each time Devin screams "You can't feel love when you are not being loved!" gets more and more tragic with each second. "Ants" proves that Devin and the band behind him are capable of reaching the highest technical level possible if necessary. Devin performs an inhuman vocal performace in this track. The highly advanced interplay between the guitar, bass and keys (not to mention the godly drumming) could easily rival with some of the most technical bands in the world.

Devin's incredible production technique is heavily subtle through the entire album. The wall of sound that surrounds his songs heightens the compositions to unimaginable levels. Devin's ability to leap between growling rage and ethereal melodicism is successfully complemented by dynamic shifts ("White Colonnial Boy"). "Bad Devil" is perhaps many Devin fans' most favourite song. Its unique feel and overall eclectic vibe is otherworldly. I really love the jazzy piano in the middle and the 'catchy' chorus. Not catchy in the traditional sense though. It's just emphasis on melodicism in deeply focused and logical (yet unpredictable) songs.

If somebody has never heard of what Devin has done and picks up Infinity, it might spook them out or scare them off. Not that any of his albums are instantly accessible, but Devin's body of work on Infinity needs a lot of patience and perseverance on the listener's part. Otherwise it may be misjudged and misunderstood, and that would be a big loss. The bonus tracks on this album are worth checking out as well. Listening to those acoustic live versions (especially the version of "Sister") is like a religious experience to me. Infinity is a difficult album, but it is big. Bigger than the universe indeed.

Infinity is one of the densest, most bizarre and brilliant albums I have ever heard. Arguably Devin's best (though Terria and Strapping Young Lad's City are close competition), it is indisputably his weirdest. Apparently Devin was going through some sort of mental breakdown during the recording of this album which is evident by how odd it is. Rather than being odd in a 'hey look at me I'm curaaaaazeee!' sense of the word, there is sinister, harrowing nature about the bizarreness of this album. At times it sounds like a man desperately trying to cling to his sanity (especially the interludes at the end of Soul Driven and War).

The music itself is some of the thickest Devin has made. His trademark 'wall-of-sound' style of producing his music is completely stretched to limit on this recording. The keyboards are huge, the guitars are loud yet fuzzy, the bass is booming, the drums sound triggered and the sheer amount of vocal lines buried in the mix is astounding. Devin has a knack of 'hiding' things in his music that you don't really notice yet the songs simply wouldn't be the same (or more accurately, would feel the same) without them.

The music itself isn't typical Devin either. Although it has its rockers, its ballads and its intense moments of beauty and fear somehow blended seemlessly together, Infinity feels so huge, so eclectic and so bizarre. Devin is a unique musician and Infinity is his most unique album. Wild Colonial Boy and Life Is All Dynamics and sad, loud and intense yet slow and melodic tracks that capture the feeling of insanity more than any other tracks on the album, Truth and Unity are both huge sounding pieces with a touch of ambience, Ants sounds like Dillinger Escape Plan crossed with Mr Bungle and Bad Devil brings outs his heavy rock side while Christine serves as one of the few easily accesible tracks on the albums. But the whole is great than the sum of its parts. Infinity is one of the few albums that works almost as well skipping from track to track as you please as it does listening to it all the way through and soaking up everything about it. Also worth noting are the bonus tracks, a live rendition of Sister that leads into Hide Nowhere and a decent demo track called man. Rather than spoiling the flow of album like some bonus tracks do, they seem to serve as an appropriate afterthough.

Infinity is very unique album. It is huge in sound, epic in scope and passionate in its execution. Whether you're familiar with Devin Townsend or not, you haven't heard anything like Infinity.

This is my first album review ever. Ive decided to review the most difficult album to describe! How does one describe Infinity? Pun intended.

If you are used to Velveeta, Roquefort is way too pungent.
If you are used to Hi C, Pinotage is way to strong.
If you are used to Dr. Suess, Dostoyevsky is way too complex.

Devin's music is very personal. If you are used to mass-marketed music, see the comparisons above. However, this music is certainly not pompous if that is the impression you have gotten so far. Quite the opposite. Its very HUMAN. perhaps the most human out of anything I have ever heard. This quality is perhaps what makes it such a challenging listen for people who are used to listening to mainstream or commercial music that is pounded into othem via radio, movie soundtracks, MTV, etc.
Devin's music certainly cant be put into a "genre". It has elements from differnet many different genres: It has Progressive elements yet lacks the snooty "look at me" arrogance that most prog music has. It has metal elements but is too variant to simply "bang your head" to. The same goes for the emotion in the music. It varies from song to song and more often than not, varies within each song.

As I sit and write, delete , and re-write, I realize its easier to describe what Devin's music is NOT vs what it is. His music is very challenging but also the most rewarding music I have ever listened to. It revolutionized my thoughts on music. Once I was hooked, I havent been able to stop listening to all of his albums. Furthermore, most of my CD collection went to the second hand store or became coasters because of Devin. How can one listen to two dimensional music when three dimensional music exists?

Infinity has been compared to an insane metal-Broadway musical. It certainly isnt a bad description. Very few songs are accessable upon first listen. Truth and Christeen, the first tracks on the album, are great hooks and perhaps the most accessible tunes on the album. They are also a great way to get a speeding ticket if you listen to this in your automobile!

After those tracks, the album flies in all different directions. The complete lack of cohesion somehow makes the album very cohesive. It is VERY entertaining and powerful.

Bad Devil is cheesy, freaky and simply funny. A metal tune with a trombone solo???

War takes a more serious turn. Great power into an odd finish that I simply cant describe.

Soul Driven, a personal favorite, is Devin's most inaccessable, abstract song he has ever made. It's really out there. To make something like Soul Driven, one must not only be ceative but also
very uninhibited. I still dont have much of a clue what the song is about, but thats definately part of its charm for me.

Ants. Wow. Silliness and a feel of despair mixed together. Blistering picks on the strings.

Colonial Boy: the best way to describe this is a psychotic waltz. It almost has a circus-like feel to it. I find this to be the most insane song on the album. From this point, the album almost reamerges from its insanity.

Dynamics is a re-materialization. To me, its the wrap up song of the album, bringing one back to a seemingly solid ground. I'll leave it at that.

Unity is the aftermath of the album. It's as if this song is meant to bring comfort to what you just listened to or experienced. An attempt to say "everything is going to be OK"

Noisy Pink Bubbles is the bouns track. This song starts off sounding like Barry White on acid. Its very silly and simply weird.. it then takes off on a more serious note...which plummets one into his next album, Physicist.

A similarity in all of Devin's albums that I have found is that it takes me a long time to get through them. It took me about 6 months to get through Ocean Machine and almost a year to get through Terria. Infinity is no exception. I find myself getting hung up when I listen to his albums, forcing me gladly to restart from square one. Another thing about Devin is he has never made a bad song. That is VERY rare if you think about it. I cant think of another band or musician that I can say the same about. Furthermore, each of his albums are so very different. Again, this is very rare. Most musicians seem to get stuck in a certain sound or pattern. This isnt the case with Devin.

Infinity is a mood album for me along with Physicist and Accelerated Evolution.

His other three albums, Ocean Machine, Terria, and Synchestra, I listen to very often.

Infinity is a 7.5/10 when stacked against his other albums.
Infinity is a 10/10 when I compare it to an open field of music.

Devin is the best in the business in my opinion. His music has a timelessness to it. Its like listening to a great story teller in ways as well. There is so much character in his music. If you really love music, Devin is for you.

Terria is my favorite album ever. I simply cant write a review of Terria because it would end up as long as a bloody book!

I truly hope you try any one of his albums.

In 1997, Devin Townsend released Biomech by Ocean Machine. It is one of my and many others favorite album. Ocean Machine was overwhelmingly complex, thoughtful, catchy and unified in musical vision and flow. In 1998, the ever prolific Devin Townsend released his next solo album, Infinity. Could lightning strike twice?

In this case, it did. Infinity while not being quite as accessbile as Ocean Machine, is just as rewarding. It's deep(hundreds of vocal layers in some places), engrossing, and leads up to an emotional climax(on the aptly named Unity) much like Ocean Machine. Along the way, Infinity leads you on a journey through the much troubled mind set of Devin Townsend, and a unique, unpredicatble listening experience.

Truth: Truth is one of the most awe inspiring instrumentals I've ever heard. Instrumentals on most other Devin Townsend releases tend to be transition tracks, but Truth is truly a masterpiece. It starts off dense and foreboding, a tapestry of clashing riffs, drumming, and a multitude of voice samples. As the track progresses, it moves through several sections, each more awe inspiring and uplifting than the last with some great guitar work and vocal lines. This track is like a celebration of music.

Christeen: Christeen is one of the catchiest songs Devin Townsend has written. It teems with energy and has some great melodies. It's like catchy pop rock combined with Devy's trademark wall of sound. But beneath the somewhat happy sounding music is a darker undercurrent of desire, need and pain. Nonetheless, this song serves as a great attentioning grabbing track(if Truth didn't do it for you already)

Bad Devil: Bad Devil is the next catchy and highly eclectic song from Infinity. It's not surprisingly a fan favorite. The song is built around a jazzy rhythm and bluesy riff. But there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you on your toes. Horn solos, dissonant orchestrations, and crazy piano solos. Bad Devil is another track bursting with energy, emotion and power.

War: War rips out of the gate with a relentless, pounding guitar riff with numerous vocal and intstrumental embelishments on top. Much like Bad Devil, this track is really catchy, unpredictable and almost funky. The lyrics are a bit vague, but I think talk about war as some type of emotional struggle. For the first half of War, the music is just relentless, every corner filled in with sound. The rest of the track gets increasingly dark and manic with lots of vocal layering. The track gets very troubled and confusing finally breaks down and ends with some nice vocal lines.

Soul Driven: This is where Infinity gets difficult. Soul Driven starts off catchy enough but just buries you with an mountain of vocals, music and other stuff I can't pick out. Devin Townsend makes no effort to adhere to any discernible song structure and there are few catchy melodies for you to grab onto. This song is just an emotional and musical collage. There are supposed to be lyrics, but you can't make anything out. At the end there's just talking, what sounds like samples of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and another choir of Devys.

Ants: Ants is incredibly technical and complex transition track of sorts. It switches from complex guitar interplay to crazy vocal melodies. A previous reviewer pegged this perfectly as a cross between Dillinger Escape Plan and Mr. Bungle. I think the lyrics compare us and our constant search for money to ants. Devin is saying in many ways that life is too hectic.

Wild Colonial Boy: This is another track that doesn't mean so much on its own but contributes to Infinity's build toward a climax. The track is majestic, vocally complex, and emotionally strained.

Life is all Dynamics: This song starts out with some beautiful singing about well, life. Later, the song explodes into a huge climactic burst of melody and the chorus "Life is All Dynamics". As the song goes on it becomes more convoluted and leads into...

Unity: Unity, IMO, is the climax of Infinity. What Death of Music was to Ocean Machine, Unity is to Infinity. It's a beautiful, serene and breathtaking piece. A resolution of the album's complex mixing pot of emotions and basically says it will all be alright. Unity is the light at the end of the tunnel.

Noisy Pink Bubbles: Noisy Pink Bubbles is the final track on Infinity. It's ends the album on a crazy, dark yet amazing note.
It talks about obscuring reality through drug use. And with that, Infinity is over.

Infinity also has three hidden tracks. The acoustic sister version of Sister(sorry about that) is an interesting listen that lets you appreciate the beauty of that oft ignored transition track. Hide Nowhere also gets acoustic treatment and a cool demo called Man is here too.

Infinity is another powerful, engrossing and all encompassing listen from mad genius Devin Townsend. If you liked this you should check out Ocean Machine and Terria(a more difficult listen). Highest recommendation though the cover art could have been better.

Devin Townsend has basically three types of albums he has released.

A work of accesible genius - Terria
More straightforward, but still original metal albums - Ocean Machine, Accelerated Evolution
A work of insane genius - Infinity.

The cover of Infinity shows Devin naked, with his guitar. And that is what he does on this album - he lets you look into the emotional mind of someone going through a manic depressive state. But unlike the mainstream emo bands of today, he does not go about it by screaming "BLAH I'M SAD", but rather uses his guitar... and roughly 50 million other layers of instruments - including horns, piano, and I'm sure only Devin knows what else.

From the mostly instrumental opener "Truth", you can tell this is going to be a powerful album. Full of amazing drumming, awe inspiring guitar work, a flurry of sonic booms and spine chilling screams of 'HALLELLUJAH', this song is powerful. It then flies without rest into the most normal song on this album - "Christeen". After that you get some jazz/swing metal of "Bad Devil", which is not only catchy, but deep and emotional (the pianos and horns also come in to the mix here too). Then comes the last of the 'normal' songs on the album - "War", which is a great song in its own right.

And thus ends the normal songs.

"Soul Driven" is an extremely odd, slow song, full of about half a billion vocal layers and whose meaning could be analyzed for pages and pages - I don't even pretend to understand it. "Ants" is probably the least subtle song on the album. It is hectic, has lots of samples from commercials/television, and if you look at the song name you should be able to draw a conclusion about what is bothering him from this song. "Colonial Boy" is another more 'normal' song, though it is only normal by DTownsend standards, compared to anything else it is basically just weird.

And then comes the climax of the album - Dynamics. From the extremely high pitched vocals at the start (if anyone doubts he has vocal range, listen to "Dynamics", "Truth" and "Bad Devil") it flies into the most powerful point on the album when Devin screams "AND THE HEAVES WILL MOVE, AND THE EARTH WILL QUAKE... AND GOD HAS FAILED AS A METAPHOR" over a flurry of highly distorted guitars and synths.

"Unity"/"Noisy Pink Bubbles" act as an outro to this amazing album, the soft lullaby of "its all right..." on "Unity" gives way to a moment of silence before the odd "Noisy Pink Bubbles" - which is exactly what the song sounds like.


Overall, you can't get much more inaccessible, confused, emotional, powerful, complex and varied than Infinity is... but it takes a while to sink in. I've heard people say this album has saved their lives. I highly suggest you check it out if you think you can absorb its weirdness.

Very simple:pick up John Lennon,Paul McCartney,Neil Peart,Geddy Lee,Mozart,Beethoven and any other 50 musicians of your choice.Join them altogether and give them 10 years to try to make whatever they feel like.It will never get close to Devin Townsend's work.
This man is the most brilliant musician of all time,and this album just makes you know that it's gonna take a long time for us to hear of someone so versatile.
Infinity has got everything you expect from music:heaviness,beauty,originality,extraordinaire musicianship,humour,psychedelism,and great vocals,as always.
It's useless to describe each song,or try to say how it sounds like,so please buy this album and make a true upgrade in your collection.
Nothing has been done that resembles this masterpiece.Only Devin's other anthologic albums.Buy them all,too.

If the band Suicide did not exist, I would say that this is unequivocally the sound of insanity, but instead I will say it is one of its finest examples.

The album permeates your ears with an intoxicating and variable sound that is frightening and alluring at the same time. You want to dive into the word created my cacophonous melodies and rhythms. This is disturbing stuff here man, but at the same time strangely beautiful. Harmonies arise from nowhere and leave you thinking that you are somewhere. Who cares where. It is brilliant. Completely brilliant.

I know nothing about this dude. I don't have any history or context, but I have a thing or two to say and it is simply that this album changes the way you see music is looked at. Looked at. You see goblins dancing in the background and a deranged wizard throwing out lyrics and chords from the tip of his staff in an acid-trip throe of ecstasy.

I can't say too many good things about this album, but I will stop here, as his next song plays and I will sink into Devin Townsend's iridescent swamps of primal joy and perverted artistic creation. Yeah, it is good.

While this may not be off the bat my favorite Devin Townsend album, it is in fact an album that I was listening to this morning, so now I will review it, since my mind is now officially all tripped out for the day.
Devin Townsend is one of the best producers of music in this day and age, he started out as a small time producer of metal with his band Strapping Young Lad, but then proved himself a genius when he moved himself into other territories. His solo albums are pretty much always brilliant.
Infinity is no exception, all though, it is pretty F'd up, and may take a few spins to get used to. I have had a headache all morning, and something told me that the cure would be this disc blaring through my headphones while I took the train to work. Nice. It sort of worked.
There is a comforting insanity throughout this chaos, it's loud as fck, but in a soothing kind of way. Songs like CHRISTINE are almost love ballads, only the kind that make you think a little, and songs like BAD DEVIL are trippy heavy circus fests, crunching with an Addams Family groove. I love it.
The bulk of this album is very detailed and layered, and did I mention loud? But still, it numbed my aching brain enough to make the trek into work.
If you find yourself hallucinating somewhere, this is not a bad choice to spin either. By the end it gets very mellow, as if an intense trip is winding down in UNITY, and then closes with NOISY PINK BUBBLES, a nice funky type track with dark Floyd style bass lines... great, I'll be seeing colors all day!
This release includes some bonus live material at the end which in no way hurts.

What can I say? this album is just unbelievable. It's the most insane mix of every music genre I've ever heard. I own every townsend and SYL albums and i must say this seems to me to be the most creative and insane one, not necessarily the best ( i think terria is perfect ). But it is also a hard album to really get into. I f you've never hear anything by townsend, you should probably start with ocean machine, it's way more accessible. This album really pushes the boundaries of metal and rock, it can sound like heavy metal, ambient music, pop or just pure sonic chaos at some points. This album speeks to me, townsend's emotions are perfectly expressed through the music, and his voice is very versatile, he can sound like an altar boy and a second later like the meanest of death metal singers. This album has a very primitive sound, and by primitive I don't mean simple at all ( the music is at times extremely complicated but it's never self-indulgent), it just has a very powerful and meaningful quality that makes it sound almost divine ( that sounds maybe a little extreme but that shows just how inspiring his music is to me) So everybody listen to this man for he is the future of music, I even recommend this cd to people that aren't into metal or rock, this cd is for people that want to hear something new and are tired of radio-ready music.