Terria

Devin Townsend | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 18, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B00005Y2EN
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #308,122 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Olives

2. Mountain

3. Earth Day

4. Deep Peace

5. Canada

6. Down Under the Fluke

7. Nobody's Here

8. Tiny Tears

9. Stagnant

Editorial Reviews

Ocean Machine fans rejoice, Devin returns to the emotion laden riffs & orchestrated vocal lines that made Bio-Mech an instant classic. This limited edition Asian pressing includes a bonus enhanced CD which contains 3 bonus audio tracks, 'Universal' (previ --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mountainous recording from Devon Townsend, July 5, 2006

By 

R. Gorham "RCG2" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Terria (Audio CD)

THE BAND: Devin Townsend (vocals, guitars, keyboards & samples), Craig McFarland (fretless bass), Jamie Meyer (piano, keyboards), Gene Hogian (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (2001) 10 tracks (plus 1 untitled hidden track) clocking in at just under 72 minutes. All songs written and produced by Townsend. Included with the disc is an 18-page booklet contain song lyrics, some neat dreamy futuristic landscape type photos, one picture of Townsend, a listing of the musicians, and thank you's. A 2nd 'bonus" multimedia disc is included as well - containing 3 chapters for your PC - an album picture gallery; a "Listen to Devon" introspective - Devon himself telling the behind the scenses stuff, making of, people involved, artwork, etc; and video footage of Townsend in concert Tokyo 1999 (5 songs: "Seventh Wave", "Regulator", "Truth", "War", and "Hide Nowhere"). "Terria" recorded at various studios in Vancouver B.C. Canada. Label - InsideOut Music.

COMMENTS: A monumental album. An art rock/metal masterpiece. A journey by the man... the musician and the businessman. Life experiences put into music. One of my two personal favorites from Townsend; the other being the more mainstream "Acclerated Evolution" (2003). "Terria" is quite simply creative, aggresive, daring, emotional, soaring, original and consuming. "Terria" starts out with the short and mellow intrumental "Olives", some light guitar strokes, some mumbling, and birds chirping in the background... building up to the other band members joining in for a typical Townsend heavy metal ending. "Mountain" as you'll hear on disc two is about life and his dog "Happy" who had cancer. If you listen closely, you can hear him howling on this track. "Earth Day" is nine-and-a-half minute melodic rocker - one of my favorites here. The slower songs - "Deep Space" is a power ballad (if you will) and perhaps the softest song - along with "Down And Under", and "Nobody's Here"... some beautfiful moments on each (acoustic and electric guitars galore). The album closer is "Stagnant" - mid tempo rocker and catchy as all Hell. The untitle bonus track is a minute-and-a-half clowning around acoustic track followed by 4 minutes of wasted static and space. An incredible album filled with originality... like nothing else you own. Buy "Terria" and "Accelerated Evolution" together. They may not leave your CD player for weeks (5-stars).

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Original, Innovative, Bizarre and Truly Progressive, December 25, 2002

By 

Robert Pontzer (State College, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Terria (Audio CD)

Devin Townsend is an enigmatic musical genius. He createst startling original and equally weird music. "Terria" is his latest concoction and in my opinion, his most fully realized vision of musical schizophrenia. As "Ocean Machine" was the music of the sea, "Terria" is the music of the Earth. This is an organic work that lives and breaths. Devin tackles vocal duties, constantly shifting styles and proving himself a vocal god. He also provides amazing guitar work and lush keyboards. In addition, Devin produced this album. He has a trademark production that is quite warm, thick and lush, while still remaining a crisp punch. You can also experience this production on Soilwork's "Natural Born Chaos".

Admittedly, I start this album on Track 3. I really don't get much out of the first two tracks, which are mainly just experiments in unstructured noise. The 3rd track, "Earth Day" is where it all begins for me... and it begins with a sledgehammer! This 9 minute opus is the heaviest and perhaps strangest of all the tracks on "Terria". It features lyrics that seemingly make little sense (not true for much of the album though). Devin employs many vocal styles in this song, including a raspy black metal style in the pre-chorus that is blood-curdling. This song is heavy, crazy and dynamic.

"Deep Peace" is the yin to "Earth Day"'s yang. This is indeed a composition of deep peace and peerless beauty. The listener can just drift away along with the calm and soothing music. However, the defining moment is the guitar solo midway through the song. This neoclassical solo is the apex of talent and creativity. It is quite long, quite lyrical and extraordinarly enjoyable. Devin proves that he is more than just a versatile vocalist and cunning composer, he is also a GREAT guitarist!

"Canada" is a gorgeous ode to his country. This is a mid-tempo song with some great atmospherics and lush vocal treatments.

"Down and Under" is an instrumental piece. This is primarily acoustic. This is another atmospheric piece, and features plunging bass and some tasteful drumming by metal percussion legend Gene Hoglan.

"The Fluke" is a fast and catchy song. Starting off with a fuzzy guitar riff, this song blasts off with the thick Devin sound. The chorus is huge. But the real highlight of this song is at about the 3:25 mark, which features some amazingly beautiful counterpoint vocals. This part is sublime.

Then follows a serene and soft ballad called "Nobody's Here". This is an emotional tranquilizer. The lyrics are very personal, and something most people can relate too. Devin puts in an beautiful vocal performance. The song swells with lush synths and blossoms into a magnificent chorus. A passionate guitar solo envelops the listener.

"Tiny Tears" is even more fragile, opening with a crying guitar. Each note is like a tear falling down one's face. Devin's voice is very soothing as he sings, "baby baby don't you cry, wipe away that tear from your eye". This is yet another emotional tranquilizer and a masterpiece of modern rock. Music like this requires attentive listening, this is not background music. This is a finely crafted work of atmospheric musical art. "I can't believe I made you cry."

Closer "Stagnant" may be my favorite from the album, and in a perfect world would be all over radio, because this is one catchy pop-rock tune. Devin really has a knack at crafting memorable choruses. This song has such a spritely sound and ends the album perfectly.

"Terria" is indeed a masterpiece of bizarre, original, creative progressive music. It may take a couple listens to sink in. Some of it may be uncomfortable to listen to. But this is the naked essence of emotional progressive art.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heavy mellow moody metal.. still like no one else., August 19, 2004

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terria (Audio CD)

Devin Townsend albums generally fall into two categories. There's the accessible variety that's straightforward and easy to like (e.g. Physicist or Accelerated Evolution).. and there's the kind that's more of an in-depth experience. These have the same qualities - offbeat writing, stellar engineering/production, an approach to metal that's heavy and atmospheric and addicting and melodic all at once - and although they may not be as catchy, time reveals a wealth of depth and detail that you'd never suspect at first.

Whatever you call it, Terria is one of these. It's something that touches on rock and pop and metal and even a helping of the ambient, lightened up with an occasional skewed melody or lyric, or a bizarre stop-on-a-dime change or the addition of some odd sound that's unexpected. There's a definite sense of fun here that some Townsend albums can lack. "Olives" sets the quirky tone right away with a distorted voice and a haze of odd disjointed noises, sloooowwwwly congealing into an introductory melody using a kind of reverse entropy.

"Deep Peace" builds from acoustic to electric with a soaring bridge that's almost Baroque. "Earth Day" covers a similar range from slow mood-metal to fast-paced shrieking (with the aforementioned humor tossed in too, as evidenced by Devy evilly screaming lines like "eat your beets.. RE-CYYY-CLLLLLLEEEEEE"). The quicker "Down and Under" is easy to overlook - it's the lone song not to break the five-minute mark - but pay attention before it slips past and you'll hear him weaving a masterful buildup, from single-guitar groove to ethereal chorus of voices to an enormous crashing metallic wall of sound.

In a way it's almost disappointing to end with "Stagnant," a simple power ballad where you can see the chord changes coming a mile off, followed by a goofy throwaway hidden track. But that's just another reason to hunt for the album's expanded two-disc edition - that way you get "Universal" as a bonus, and it's a fun ride. (A bouncy c'mon-everybody-sing number when it gets the Townsend mad-scientist treatment is definitely something worth hearing.) The bonus disc is rounded out with an audio commentary on making the album, plus seven video tracks of the DT band live in Tokyo - Seventh Wave, Regulator, Truth, War, Hide Nowhere, Bad Devil, Christeen.

When I first heard Terria, I would have rated it as a halfhearted project that searched and drifted but didn't really find itself. After a while longer I would have called it a solid disc but not too outstanding. Now, quite simply, I call it one of Townsend's masterpieces - it can't really be compared to anything else, but it shouldn't be. This is one of those rare gems that's so pure it can only be taken on its own. Just be sure to give it enough time to reveal all its faces.