Alien (Strapping Young Lad album)

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Alien
Studio album by
Strapping Young Lad
ReleasedMarch 22, 2005 (2005-03-22)
Recorded19 August - November 2004
StudioThe Armoury (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Genre
Length54:45
LabelHevy Devy, Century Media
ProducerDevin Townsend, Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad chronology
Strapping Young Lad
(2003) 		Alien
(2005) 		The New Black
(2006)
Devin Townsend chronology
Devlab
(2004) 		Alien
(2005) 		Synchestra
(2006)

Alien is the fourth studio album by Canadian extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad. It was released on March 22, 2005. The album was written by Devin Townsend and Gene Hoglan over a six-month time period. The album reached No. 32 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and No. 35 on the Top Independent Albums chart.

Background[edit]

Townsend was diagnosed with bipolar disorder around 1998, a condition that was unknowingly exacerbated by his alcohol and drug use at the time.[3] To compensate, he was prescribed anti-psychotic medication, but by the time of the writing and recording of Alien, he began expressing doubt about the initial diagnosis, and decided to stop taking the medication,[3][4] but continued with his substance abuse, and he eventually "flipped out" during the process, and called the resulting album "toxic" and "psychologically very unhealthy".[3]

Townsend and Hoglan were the primary writers of the album, since Simon and Stroud were busy with other commitments.[5] Townsend has stated that the easiest track to record for the album was "Zen", and the most difficult track to record, "Skeksis", was his favourite.[6] The making of Alien was documented and made viewable online on Century Media's official site in February 2005. It was also available as a bonus DVD of the limited first edition of the album. The band recorded a cover of Tom Jones's "What's New Pussycat?" that was scheduled to appear on Alien, but it was not recorded entirely because "it did not fit the flow" of the album. The song is not expected to be released anytime, even though Blabbermouth.net has reported so.[7]

Due to some kind of error, the unmastered promotional release of Alien (and subsequently the early leaks of the album on the internet) contained the longer version of "Love?" and a version of "We Ride" which had most of the guitar solos missing. Also, on this promo release the track "Thalamus" was credited as being called "Landscape".[8][9] Previous to the promotional release, press releases credited "Thalamus" as being called "Mega Bulldozer".[10]

The voice heard during the intro to the song "Two Weeks" belongs to a British mathematician Andrew Wiles.[11] Wiles was interviewed for an episode of the BBC documentary series Horizon[12] that focused on Fermat's Last Theorem.

Song information[edit]

"Love?"[edit]

"Love?" was chosen as the sole single from the album. Townsend has stated that the chorus was "ripped off" from the song "City of Love" by the band Yes.[13] Townsend added, "I met Jon Anderson at one point and told him. He seemed to find it funny."[14] Allmusic described the song's chorused harmonies as "King's X from hell".[15] In 2018, the band Machine Head released the album Catharsis which contained the song "Beyond the Pale", with a riff that mirrors that of "Love?" almost note by note. Machine Head's Robb Flynn claimed that it was accidental plagiarism, that he spoke with Devin Townsend, and Devin referenced the Yes "rip off". The two musicians are on good terms.

Its accompanying music video, inspired by the cult horror film, The Evil Dead, was directed by Joe Lynch.[16] The video garnered the band wider attention, and helped "Love?" become one of their most recognizable songs.[17] Jed Simon admitted to having produced a video for this particular song because it had "the most commercial potential".[18] "Love?" was originally one of two confirmed songs for an EP that was supposed to contain four new songs and four covers. Although planned for release in 2003, the EP was eventually cancelled.[19]

A second music video was released for the track "Zen," which would also later appear in 2007 film Shoot 'Em Up, where Clive Owen's character notices that the "Zen" music video calms a crying baby. The song "Love?" was featured in the 2005 video game Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown and later, the single was featured on the in-game radio station 106.66 The Blood, in Saints Row: The Third.

"Info Dump"[edit]

Townsend explained that the final track "Info Dump", an instrumental noise track, is a reflection on the panicked state of mind that ensued when he stopped taking his medication prescribed to treat his bipolar disorder.[20] The screaming child at the end is meant to represent his realization.[21]

There are pulses of sounds heard in the middle of the track that, in Morse code, translate to the word "om". The rhythm of these sound pulses were later used to create the rhythm used at the end of "Colour Your World" on Townsend's album Ziltoid the Omniscient.

In a retrospective point of view, Townsend said that the track was "basically structured noise containing a morse code for a math equation," and that during the recording of the album he watched a television program about mathematician Andrew Wiles about his solving of Fermat’s Last Theorem. "[It was] a problem thought previously insolvable with a very elegant solution: X2 + Y2 = Z². Although I’m far from a mathematician, I enjoyed the thought that two opposing ways of thinking could be linked by a simple equation. I was just struck with that during the Alien time, and it just so happens that ‘Ziltoid 2’, ‘Z²’, is an answer for me—of how to proceed. It just seems to tie up everything, including Strapping, in a way that I think is satisfying."[22]

Release[edit]

Alien was released on March 22, 2005, selling 3,697 copies in its first week.[23] It reached No. 32 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, and No. 35 on the Top Independent Albums chart.[24]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[15]
Blabbermouth.net9/10[25]
Chronicles of Chaos10/10[26]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[27]
PopMatters7/10[28]

Critics praised Townsend's inventiveness and the dynamism of the songs in which "melody and discord meet midway";[15][29] Adrien Begrand of PopMatters wrote "Strapping Young Lad have raised the bar yet again",[28] while Blabbermouth.net's Krista G. called it "a total and complete metalized SHIT FIT" and one of the best albums of the year.[25] Townsend himself has gone on to state that Alien is the Strapping album that he's "most proud of".[30]

Track listing[edit]

All lyrics are written by Devin Townsend; all music is composed by Strapping Young Lad

No.TitleLength
1."Imperial"2:17
2."Skeksis"6:42
3."Shitstorm"4:22
4."Love?"4:53
5."Shine"5:13
6."We Ride"2:37
7."Possessions"4:12
8."Two Weeks"3:28
9."Thalamus"3:58
10."Zen"5:02
11."Info Dump"11:56
Total length:54:45
Japanese edition
No.TitleLength
12."Zodiac" (Melvins cover)3:59
13."Love?" (Extended version)5:43
14."In the Rainy Season" (Live)5:29
Australian edition
No.TitleLength
12."Aftermath" (Live)7:11
Korean edition
No.TitleLength
12."Force Fed" (Live)5:42

Personnel[edit]

Strapping Young Lad[edit]

Additional personnel[edit]

  • Dave Young – keyboards, vocals
  • Will Campagna – live keyboards

Male vocal choir[edit]

Chris Valagao, Rossy Living, Cam Krotche, Will Campagna, Shane Clark, Ross Gale, Christ Stanley, Will Cochrane, Ash Manning, Ross Empson, Mike Quigley, Billy Marquardt and Jeff Cook.

Female vocal choir[edit]

Laurielynn Bridger, Marnie Mains, Ani Kyd, Tammy "Tamz" Theis, Magdalena Bulak, Shay Ward, Steph Reid, Deborah Rodrigo-Tyzio, Michelle Madden, and Joanna Ussner.

Children vocals[edit]

Dorian Glaude-Living, Damian Moore, Ethan Belcourt-Lowe and Jayden Gignac.

Production[edit]

  • Shaun Thingvold – engineering, mixing
  • Kristina Ardron – 2nd engineering, editing
  • Ryan Van Poederooyen – drum technician
  • Alex Aligizakis – editing
  • Scott Cooke – editing
  • Bryan Seely – editing, assistant
  • Rob Stefanson – assistant
  • Alan Wong Moon – assistant
  • Greg Reely – mastering at Green Jacket Studios
  • Travis Smith – art consultant
  • Per Johansson – artwork, layout design
  • Omer "Impson" R. Cordell – photography

Charts[edit]

Weekly chart performance for Alien
Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[31] 74
French Albums (SNEP)[32] 156
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[33] 48

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Devin Townsend: A guide to his best albums". 5 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Terry, Nick. "Alien review". Decibel magazine. Archived from the original on 2006-05-06. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. ^ a b c Loudwire (5 October 2016). "Devin Townsend - Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ S. Johnson, Alex. "Tales of extraordinary madness." Zero Tolerance magazine. December 30, 2004. Iss. 003.
  5. ^ SOS, Mike (August 2005). "Interview: Strapping Young Lad: An extreme metal all-star squad". In Music We Trust. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  6. ^ Mike SOS. "In Music We Trust - INTERVIEW: Strapping Young Lad: An extreme metal all-star squad". Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  7. ^ "STRAPPING YOUNG LAD Confirmed For NEW ENGLAND METAL AND HARDCORE FESTIVAL". 14 December 2004.
  8. ^ "Hevydevy forums - Love (extended version)". Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
  9. ^ "Hevydevy Forums - Differences between Aliens". Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
  10. ^ "STRAPPING YOUNG LAD Finalize Track Listing For 'Alien'". 5 December 2004.
  11. ^ Fermat's Last Theorem BBC, Retrieved 26 October 2017
  12. ^ "BBC TWO, Horizon Fermat's Last Theorem". BBC. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  13. ^ "Did Machine Head Steal a Riff from Strapping Young Lad? Robb Flynn and Devin Townsend Respond - MetalSucks". 17 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com.
  15. ^ a b c Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Alien Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  16. ^ Magers, Adrian (2005-04-07). "Strapping Young Lad interview". Tartareandesire.com. Archived from the original on 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  17. ^ Sellers, Kevin (2007-08-12). "Strapping Young Lad - Alien Review". Music Emissions. Archived from the original on 2012-02-02. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  18. ^ Rademacher, Brian (2005-08-11). "Interview with Jed Simon". Rock Eyez Webzine. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  19. ^ "Strapping Young Lad To Release New EP". Blabbermouth.net. 2003-07-09. Archived from the original on 16 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  20. ^ Powell, Brett (2005). "Interview w/ Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad". Los Angeles Loud. Archived from the original on October 27, 2006. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  21. ^ "Strapping Young Lad Feature Interview At Blistering.com". 6 October 2016. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016.
  22. ^ "MOOER Audio".
  23. ^ "Soundscan Report: Queens Of The Stone Age, Ozzy Osbourne, Strapping Young Lad". Blabbermouth.net. 2005-03-30. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  24. ^ "Artist Chart History - Strapping Young Lad". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  25. ^ a b G., Krista. "Alien Review". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  26. ^ Smit, Jackie (February 22, 2005). "CoC : Strapping Young Lad - Alien : Review". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  27. ^ Popoff, Martin; Perri, David (2011). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 4: The '00s. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 471. ISBN 9781-926592-20-6.
  28. ^ a b Begrand, Adrien (2005-03-25). "Strapping Young Lad: Alien". PopMatters. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  29. ^ Miller, Andrew (2005-04-13). "Strapping Young Lad - Alien". Cleveland Scene. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  30. ^ "Devin Townsend Plays 'Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?'". Loudwire. 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  31. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 269.
  32. ^ "Lescharts.com – Strapping Young Lad – Alien". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  33. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Strapping Young Lad – Alien". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
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