Customer Reviews

Ki

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

FIRST IMPRESSION:

Just finishing my first-ever trip through Devin Townsend's "Ki" ... and already it feels to me like his best work to date. All the best elements of his previous recorded output combine with a deceptively simple (but never simplistic), often groove-oriented approach that (for me) hits all the right buttons. This project rattles back and forth between melodic and (somewhat subdued for DT) heavy blues-oriented material that has a bit of bite here and there but never loses its composure. Clean/acoustic guitar gives way to heavy, leading into ambient, which slides into moments that are almost David Gilmore-esque, then to back to blues, but this time with a touch of rockabilly ... and yet somehow it all make sense! The Pink Floydian flavor is most evident on "Quiet Riot," but can be felt through much of the project.

Of course, given that this album is the first of four interrelated releases, each with its own stylistic identity, I'm already looking forward to the NEXT chapter of the "Devin Townsend Project"!

I may return and add to this review once I've spent some time with the lyrics, but for now I'm gonna recommend this one on the strength of the music and performance. Well worth a listen!

On my first listen, I wasn't sure what to think. I'm a huge DT fan, with my favorite albums being Ziltoid and Terria.

So I listened a second and third time, and now I believe it to be his best album to date.

Ki is a less aggressive than most of his previous work, but that isn't a negative. You'll still get plenty of the big guitars and lots of classic Devin Townsend screaming.

Seriously, nobody can scream better than this guy.

Highly recommended. Easy five stars.

Let me start by saying I pretty much like everything Devin has done. I know the word genius gets thrown around alot, but for me he is as close as you can get. I bought this on pre-sale because they offered the first 300 copies sold would be autographed. How could I resist that? I have had this CD a little over two weeks already, so I have had time to let the songs sink in a bit. At first I thought that it was a little too jazzy for my taste, but since it was Devin I have given it several more listens and I will say it really is pretty damn great! Sure it is a little different than you might expect from him but there are plenty of "Devin" moments thrown in. If you like Devin, then I strongly advise you to pick up a copy. I personaly can't wait for the next one to come out. BRING IT ON!!!

This album makes a fool out of me, in that I absolutely love it, but I can hardly do it justice when describing it. It took me a few listens in the right atmosphere to really appreciate it, as the first few times I heard it, it was in my car while going back and forth between home and work, and looking back after experiencing this album properly, that's definitely not the way to do it. I personally find it best enjoyed immediately after rocking something intense and emotionally draining like SYL's "Alien", then putting on this album and laying in bed with the lights off and headphones on to absorb every little detail of the music. This album brings emotional restoration in musical form - it's like liquid positivity pouring into your mind, and it's absolutely gorgeous when you're tired and kicked-back, and all you have to do is listen. There's a couple heavy moments on the album early on, and these moments act like waves that pull out whatever negative, stressed feelings you may have, and they make room for the rest of the album, which is beautiful emotional restoration that leaves you feeling wonderful by the time it's over. Dev really outdid himself on this album, and I can only hope that he creates more stuff on a tangent to this in the future.

This album is one in four that the maniacal, insane genius that is Devin Townsend will release under the Devin Townsend Projects moniker(The second, Addicted, is planned to be released in late October/early November). It is an immaculate first entry in the sense that it captures the extreme metal nature of his previous work under Strapping Young Lad and The Devin Townsend Band as well as his fascination with older music.

Ki contains moments of dark bluesy acoustic that build and segue into even darker explosive moments. With brass instruments in Heaven Send, Che Aimee's backing vocals in several tracks and the partial seriousness of the lyrics, Ki is a work both typical of Townsend and, at the same time, open to new listeners. The notorious cursing of SYL is toned down to the occasional damn throughout a couple songs, but still to the same effect that fans are accustomed to.

My personal favorites on this album are Gato, Heaven Send, Ki and Disrputr and they, above the other tracks, illustrate the intense, cosmic buildup that Mr. Townsend was shooting for with Ki. This album is well deserving of 5 stars and will leave the listener strongly anticipating the coming installments.

I've been a fan of Devin Townsend since Ocean Machine and have thoroughly enjoyed his solo stuff since. Ki is no exception as it is a brilliant album! Devin hired a group of talented and unique artists to play on this album and it comes through in the music. It sounds like nothing he has ever written before with clean guitars, at times a sort of funky, bluesy sound that is extremely catchy. Ki will have you listening to it over and over again.

In my opinion Devin has also written his most beautiful song ever in Terminal. It somehow brought me back to my childhood, very chilling...in a good way.

I've thought for years that DT was one of the most talented musicians in music and Ki only confirms this even more.

I got it last night, listened to it, and it was love on first listen. I immediately turned it back on when I woke up this morning. The album is a large stylistic departure for Devin--even diving into psychedelic rockabilly with "Trainfire" (which is an /awesome/ track). However, from start to finish, it sounds like a Devin Townsend record. It has all of his progressive artistry and care that goes into his song writing and production. Devin, as stated in interviews, is using this album to make a statement as an artist. I think he succeeded wildly.

The album is not a metal album. I'm not sure what it is, like a lot of Devin's catalog, it defies categories. He uses a more classic rock instrument setup with clean guitar tones, keyboards, &c. However, the musical vocabulary (note phrasings, riffs, &c.) seem to be drawn more from classical music--a lot like much of heavy metal. A lot of the riffs sound like they could be sped up, distorted and they'd fit on a Mastodon album. It doesn't sound like Talking Heads or Pink Floyd or, really, anyone to me.

Whatever label this music gets, whoever it gets compared to, it is amazing. I just restarted it. I know I will be listening to this album many times in the coming months, and I eagerly await "Addicted", "Deconstruction" and the as yet unnamed fourth album. If "Ki" were it for the year, I would be overjoyed. With three more albums coming, which were written in the same bout of creativity as "Ki", I think I might go into a fugue!

Devin, Thank You.

EDIT/UPDATE: I've listened to it two more times (still just as good, and getting better by the listen!). I'm rethinking my second paragraph. It might make it sound like this is "metal slowed down" which is wrong. It's not. There's jazz, blues and other elements from all over. There's heavy sections and ambient sections. It's a complicated piece of music. The classical elements jumped out at me on the first two times through the album. This is probably because they are the most recognizable elements from Devin's past work (yes, his past work still has some resonances in "Ki", but the album is still a major departure from that work). This is easily one of his best albums. Possibly the best.

I had a major musical identity crisis growing up, especially when it came to picking a band or person I really liked. Devin Townsend has been the person that stands out above of anything else I have listened to. Every album he does is different, but he keeps his Devy signature there. Ki without a doubt is no different, being the album to date that is way different than anything else he has ever done, it proves that Devin Townsend is one of the few people out there that creates music that is original and new every time a new album is released unlike other bands that fall into the same genre with Devin.

Ki is a first of four albums under 'The Devin Townsend Project' plus this is first album being sober and it's very noticeable. His style has obviously changed, plus the clean tone guitar is something that gives the album it's own stand alone sound. The album plays on self control, something that Devin himself has learn and explained in his radio interview, every time you think this record will lose its composure, it takes a breath and let's it go. But there are some very 'chill' songs on the record like "Terminal" "Ain't Never Gonna Win" "Winter" and "Lady Helen" that are soothing enough to make you doze off while you listen.

The record itself can leave you hanging if you are looking for something that will rock out at some point, because it won't. Ki is instead an introduction to what Devin has now become, a sober and brilliant artist with a whole new side to show us. If you have been listening to Devin over the years, you will appreciate this album for what it is.

Awesome beginning to the four album cycle. Cannot wait to hear the rest of the series! A must buy for any Devin Townsend fan.

Definitely Devin's Funkiest & Grooviest release. Absolutely fantastic. Killer basslines on the early tracks!!

This album is completely different than Devin's other 'solo' work or heavier material with SYL. This is a brilliant, unique album. I especially like this sequence of songs: Coast-->Disruptr-->Gato-->Terminal-->Heaven Send-->Ain't Never Gonna Win. Great stuff!

"Winter" is a nice chilled out acoustic track. "Trainfire" deserves recognition as a sorta progressive swing/rockabilly piece.

"Disruptr" is definitely one of Devin's coolest songs - best cut on the album.

Ki is probably my overall favorite DT effort. Recommended.