''Casualties of Cool'' is the debut album of Canadian

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

duo Casualties of Cool, consisting of Canadian musicians

Devin Townsend Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

and Ché Aimee Dorval, released on May 14, 2014. It is a musical departure from any of Townsend's previous works, primarily because it is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

that features

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

-influenced songs with

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

and ambient influences. A number of guests performed on the album, including Morgen Ågren of

Kaipa Kaipa is a Swedish progressive rock band. History The band was formed as Ura Kaipa by Hans Lundin (keyboards) and Tomas Eriksson (bass) from San Michael's. Roine Stolt joined Kaipa as guitarist when he was 17. In 1974, shortly after they had ...

on drums, Kat Epple of Emerald Web on

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and re ...

, and

Jørgen Munkeby Jørgen Munkeby (born 3 September 1980 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegians, Norwegian jazz rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, known as the frontman in the band Shining (Norwegian band), Shining ...

of Shining on saxophone. It was partially funded by the

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

site

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects, such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist pa ...

Background

The ''Casualties of Cool'' project was published officially and went into production in 2012, after ''

Epicloud ''Epicloud'' is the fifteenth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the fifth album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on September 18, 2012, in North America, and September 24, 2012, in Europe, through ...

s release, although Townsend had been working on it since 2010. In September 2012, Townsend stated, "''Casualties of Cool'' is a duo with myself and Ché. It sounds like haunted

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

songs. Late night music, completely isolated sounding and different than anything I've done. Ché sings most of the leads, and it's probably the truest reflection of who I am in life at this point". Later Townsend mentioned that ''Casualties of Cool'' features "music closest to his heart" at this point of his life, referring the album to be "a special one", "one of the most favorite things he's ever done" and "really satisfying to do". Townsend has also said the album is "much needed serious music for him" and that it is an important project he doesn't want to rush. In August 2013, Townsend stated ''Casualties of Cool'' was done and "heading to mastering", but in early November 2013 he noted that the album was still being mixed. On November 19, 2013, Townsend posted that ''Casualties of Cool'' was completed, and next in line was mastering the album and ultimately compiling a bonus disc. The bonus disc contains the leftover material from the main album as well as songs from ''Ghost 2'', the unreleased compilation of leftover tracks from ''Ghost''. The release date was originally scheduled for April 2014,Devin Townsend's Twitter
/ref> but was later postponed to May 2014. In February 2014, Townsend mentioned he revisited the mix many times since the album went to mastering. Originally in 2012, Townsend stated that this album would be the sixth and the last album in the Devin Townsend Project series, but in February 2014, he confirmed that Casualties of Cool is its own project, not a part of Devin Townsend Project or his solo material. Townsend also planned to start a

campaign to support the release of the album. The campaign started on February 22, 2014, through

, and at the same time the release date was confirmed to May 14, 2014. The funding quickly reached its goal, and all additional funds are put directly to Townsend's upcoming projects.

Concept

Townsend described the story as being about a traveler that is lured to a sentient planet, which feeds on the traveler's fear. The traveler finds solace in an old radio and later an old

phonograph A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

. Eventually, he confronts his own fear, and his "force of will to not submit to the fear" liberates a woman held inside the planet, which also frees his own soul.

Bonus disc

A deluxe version of the album includes an entire bonus disc of outtakes and alternate versions. Most of the material was written with the songs on the main disc, such as "Fight," the original version of "Flight" with Townsend on lead vocals and a different ending. However, "Drench", "Mend", "Perspective", and "Moonshine" are the remaining leftovers of ''Ghost 2'', a planned sequel to ''Ghost'' that was scrapped. Other songs intended for ''Ghost 2'' include "Radial Highway" (released on the '' Contain Us'' box set and as a ''Ghost'' iTunes bonus track), "Fall" (released through Mackie Gear's SoundCloud), and "Watch You" (released on ''Contain Us''). As well, "Drench" was released on Townsend's SoundCloud, and the first five tracks of ''Ghost 2'' in sequence were released as MP3 bonus tracks with the

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A ...

preorders of ''Ghost''. The only unreleased studio recordings intended for the album are "Saloon" and "Coming Home", of which the former is available in live recordings on ''Contain Us'' and '' By a Thread - Live in London 2011''. An acoustic rendition of "Saloon" is available on Townsend's ''Unplugged'' EP.

Pledge exclusive content

During the pledge drive for ''Casualties of Cool'', a number of different bonuses were made available to anyone that pledged a certain amount of money. One of those bonuses included a "bone-shaped" USB drive that contained two bonus tracks from the ''Casualties of Cool'' sessions, along with an alternate track sequence of disc 1 of ''Casualties of Cool''. This also included a text document that included a message from Townsend explaining the alternate track sequence for disc 1. He explains that each track is extended with new ambiance and instrumentals that allow the newly numbered sequence to mesh more fluidly. Among these extended "alternate sequence" tracks is "Gone Is Gone" from ''Casualties of Cool'' disc 2, which was originally meant to be included in disc 1 (following "Forgive Me" and prefacing "Broken"). However, due to the data restraints of the CD, the song was unable to make the cut. "Cold Feet" is said to be a by-the-numbers ''Casualties of Cool'' B-side, while "Thing" is reminiscent of the ''Ki'' sessions, fused with the production quality of ''Casualties of Cool''. While the song explores a certain "outer space" ambiance relative to discs 1 and 2 of ''Casualties of Cool'', it is heavier and more classic Townsend than any other ''Casualties of Cool'' song. Dorval is absent from both "Cold Feet" and "Thing". There are also two commentary tracks included covering both discs 1 and 2, totaling out to over 2 hours of commentary. These bonuses were also included in the pledge box set.

Reissue

The album was re-issued worldwide on January 15, 2016 containing an additional DVD with live footage from the 2014 concert at the Union Chapel in London.

Reception

''Casualties of Cool'' was ranked the 7th best record of 2014 by Sputnikmusic, with the comment: "Suffice it to say, this a record which you should hear as soon as you possibly can. It further establishes Devin Townsend as one of today’s most accomplished, and ingenious, musicians." It also received a 5/5 rating on the website.

Track listing

Personnel

; Casualties of Cool *

– guitars, bass guitar, vocals, keyboards *Ché Aimee Dorval – lead vocals, acoustic guitar ; Additional personnel *

Morgan Ågren Morgan Ågren (born 1967) is a Swedish drummer who plays with the progressive rock band Kaipa (band), Kaipa. Biography A native of Umeå, Västerbotten County, Västerbotten, Ågren began playing drums at a young age, eventually joining forces ...

– drums, percussion * Kat Epple – flute,

– saxophones * Dave Young – additional keyboards * Mike St-Jean – additional drums * Jeff Schmidt – additional bass guitar * Randy Slaugh –

string arrangements The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* The Sångkraft Chamber Choir –

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

* Leif Åkesson – choir conducting

References

{{Authority control Devin Townsend albums 2014 albums Albums produced by Devin Townsend 2010s concept albums Crowdfunded albums