Ki (album)

Ki
Studio album by Devin Townsend
Publication (s)	May 22, 2009
Label (s)	HevyDevy Records
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Ambient / hard rock
Title (number)	13
running time	66 min. 50 sec.
occupation	Vocals , guitar : Devin Townsend Bass : Jean Savoie Keyboard : Dave Young Drums : Duris Maxwell
production	Devin Townsend
Studio (s)	2008-2009, Devestate, Studio D, The Factory
chronology Ziltoid the Omniscient (2007) Ki Addicted (2009)

Ki is the tenth studio album by the Canadian musician Devin Townsend . It was released on May 22, 2009 through his independent label HevyDevy.

background

"Ki" is the first album in a cycle that Devin Townsend wants to complete within a year. Each album should show one facet of the musician in a self-contained manner. “Ki” is supposed to be the comparatively calm start, followed by “ Addicted ”, released in November 2009 , which continues the melodic-bombastic style of the 1997 album “Ocean Machine”. The third album "Deconstruction" will take up the style of the releases by Strapping Young Lad , the fourth album, as yet unnamed, is intended as an " ambient final".

The album title "Ki" has two meanings for Townsend. On the one hand, in Japanese metaphysics it stands for power or life energy (see Qi ), on the other hand it is the title of an album by the Japanese Kitarō .

Emergence

In the years after the release of the previous album "Ziltoid the Omniscient" there had been far-reaching changes in Townsend's life. He became a father and overcame his drug addiction. He started writing tons of songs and decided to use them for a cycle of four albums. In addition to keyboardist Dave Young, he engaged musicians for "Ki" who had never before had anything to do with hard rock music. He knew the bassist Jean Savoie as an employee of a music shop. Drummer Duris Maxwell (* 1946) had already played with well-known bands such as Jefferson Airplane and The Temptations . Townsend met him in a blues club. The female vocal parts come from Ché Dorval, a friend of the keyboardist.

Since the studio musicians came from different styles of music, Townsend gave them precise instructions on what to play and how. On the other hand, he was open to their opinions and suggestions. The recordings therefore took around three months in total. There will be no tour for this album, according to Townsend, because he wants to finish the other three albums in the cycle first.

Reviews

The album is considered untypical for Townsend and therefore received mixed reviews . Allmusic's Greg Prato doesn't think the album is as groundbreaking as the artist's other releases, but it shows that Townsend is capable of making the music that suits his mood. Fix Sadler of Baby Blue Pages characterizes the album as untypical for Townsend and for this reason considers it to be the Canadian's best album. For Michael Rensen from Rock Hard, the album initially seems like a “richly Spartan, ambient work with few climaxes”, the magic of which only unfolds after listening to it several times.

Track list

1. A Monday (Townsend) - 1:43
2. Coast (Townsend) - 4:36
3. Disruptr (Townsend) - 5:49
4. Gato (Townsend) - 5:23
5. Terminal (Townsend, Young) - 6:58
6. Heaven Send (Townsend) - 8:54
7. Ain't Never Gonna Win (Townsend, Maxwell, Savoie, Young) - 3:17
8. Winter (Townsend) - 4:48
9. Trainfire (Townsend) - 5:59
10. Lady Helen (Townsend) - 6:05
11. Ki (Townsend) - 7:21
12. Quiet Riot (Townsend) - 3:02
13. Demon League (Townsend) - 2:55

Chart placements

In Europe, the album was only able to place in the Finnish charts (position 26) and in the French charts (position 179). In the USA, the entry into the Billboard 200 album charts did not succeed, "Ki" instead reached position 69 of the US Top Heatseekers .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Björn-Thorsten Jaschinski: DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT - Fuck it, pussy! In: Rock Hard . No. 266 .
2. ↑ Michael Rensen: Review of "Addicted" . In: Rock Hard . No. 271 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Talitha Martijn: Interview with Devin Townsend. metal-experience.com, May 19, 2009, accessed November 26, 2009 . 
4. ↑ Ursula Pieringer, Wolfgang Kuhn: Devin Townsend Interview on the album KI. (No longer available online.) Metal Hammer Online, archived from the original on July 3, 2009 ; Retrieved November 26, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Rachel Jablonski: Devin Townsend - Ki interview. (No longer available online.) Stream of Consciousness, May 11, 2009, archived from the original on May 30, 2009 ; accessed on November 26, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ^ Greg Prato: Ki> Review. Allmusic , accessed November 26, 2009 . 
7. ^ Fix Sadler: Devin Townsend Project - Ki. Baby Blue Pages , accessed November 26, 2009 . 
8. ↑ Michael Rensen: Devin Townsend - Ki. Rock Hard Online, accessed November 26, 2009 . 
9. ^ Finnishcharts.com: Devin Townsend , Retrieved November 26, 2009.
10. ↑ lescharts.com: Devin Townsend , Accessed on 26 November of 2009.
11. ↑ DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: 'Ki' First-Week Sales Revealed. (No longer available online.) Blabbermouth.net, June 24, 2009, archived from the original on June 27, 2009 ; accessed on November 26, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• Ki at Allmusic (English)