Casualties of Cool (album)

### Genre

Country rock, blues rock, ambient, alternative country, new age, progressive rock

### Producer

Devin Townsend

***Casualties of Cool*** is the debut album of space country rock group Casualties of Cool, consisting of Canadian musicians Devin Townsend and Ché Aimee Dorval, released on May 14, 2014. It is a concept album.

## Hevydevy.com description

> *Casualties is a long standing project I've been working on that acts as a bridge between the 5 DTP albums and the massive Ziltoid 2 project, and as such…is a very peculiar and interesting work that requires a certain level of artistic freedom to accurately represent the vision. It is an album, a film, with 2 bonus albums worth of material. One of the bonus albums is the complete, unreleased 'Ghost 2' album. Casualties is a story that coincides with a film, the story arc follows a man marooned on a hostile planet, being lured there by a voice of a siren that ends up being the purveyor of a mortal game. The game is a metaphor for the relationship between men and women, selfishness and accountability, and ultimately…the relationship between an artist and himself. The story starts in darkness and ends in light. Casualties as a bridge, represents the process of getting through the dark to arrive at creative freedom that cannot exist without going into the dark and confronting the fear of oneself.*
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## Background

The *Casualties of Cool* project was published officially and went into production in 2012, after *Epicloud'*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 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* 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* was completed, and next in line was mastering the album and ultimately compiling a bonus disc. The release date was originally scheduled for April 2014, 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 DTP or his solo material. Townsend started a crowdfunding campaign to support the release of the album. The campaign started on February 22, 2014, through PledgeMusic, and at the same time the release date was confirmed as the May 2014 date. The funding quickly reached its goal, and all additional funds were put directly to Townsend's upcoming project *Z²*.

## 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. 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 and *Ghost²*

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 leftovers of *Ghost²*, a planned 2011 sequel to *Ghost* (by the Devin Townsend Project) that was scrapped. Other songs intended for *Ghost²* include "Radial Highway," "Watch You" (both released on the *Contain Us* box set and the former as a *Ghost* iTunes bonus track), "Fall" (released through Mackie Gear's SoundCloud),. "Drench" was previously released on Townsend's SoundCloud. The first five tracks of *Ghost²* in sequence were released as MP3 bonus tracks with the Century Media preorders of *The Calm and the Storm*. 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* and an acoustic rendition on Townsend's *Unplugged* EP. "Coming Home" remains completely unplayed and unreleased.

## 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 part of 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: each track is extended with new ambience that allows the newly numbered sequence to mesh fluidly. Among these extended "alternate sequence" tracks is "Gone is Gone" from disc 2, which was originally meant to be included in disc 1 (between "Forgive Me" and "Broken"). However, due to the data restraints of the CD, the song was unable to make the cut. "Cold Feet" is a by-the-numbers 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" ambience relative to discs 1 and 2 of *Casualties*, it is heavier and more classic Townsend than any other material on the entire release. Dorval is absent from both "Cold Feet" and "Thing." There are also two commentary tracks included covering both discs 1 and 2, totalling to over 2 hours of commentary.

These bonuses were also included in the pledge wooden box set, which also features the *Casualties* deluxe edition 2xCD and a pair of custom wooden sunglasses.

## Reissue

The album was reissued 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

All songs written by Devin Townsend except where noted.

1. "Daddy" (5:11)
2. "Mountaintop" (5:33)
3. "Flight" (5:32)
4. "The Code" (4:41)
5. "Moon" (6:28)
6. "Pier" (3:39) [Townsend, Morgan Ågren]
7. "Ether" (4:50)
8. "Hejda" (3:40)
9. "Forgive Me" (6:00)
10. "Broken" (1:59)
11. "Bones" (3:39)
12. "Deathscope" (6:13)
13. "The Field" (4:01)
14. "The Bridge" (8:13) [Townsend, Kat Epple]
15. "Pure" (4:08) [Epple]

**Deluxe edition disc 2**

1. "Ghost Wives" (5:04)
2. "Drained" (4:28)
3. "Dig For Gold" (4:41)
4. "Dead Eyes" (5:53)
5. "Drench" (6:23) [Townsend, Mike St-Jean, Dave Young]
6. "Mend" (3:54) [Townsend, Jeff Schmidt]
7. "Where You've Been" (4:52)
8. "Gone is Gone" (4:13)
9. "Fight" (6:49)
10. "Glass World" (2:36)
11. "Aquarius" (5:11)
12. "Perspective" (7:12)
13. "Moonshine" (3:49)

**Bone USB exclusive content**

1. "Cold Feet" (3:39)
2. "Thing" (6:43)
3. "Forgive Me (Alternate Sequence)" (6:09)
4. "Gone is Gone (Alternate Sequence)" (4:38)
5. "Broken (Alternate Sequence)" (2:00)
6. "Bones (Alternate Sequence)" (3:39)
7. "CoC Commentary Disc 1" (73:52)
8. "CoC Commentary Disc 2" (65:04)

**Live at the Union Chapel DVD (2016 InsideOut reissue)**

1. "Daddy" (9:35)
2. "The Code" (6:39)
3. "Mountaintop" (6:11)
4. "Flight" (6:50)
5. "Ether" (6:05)
6. "Moon/Pier" (8:41)
7. "Bones" (3:33)
8. "Forgive Me" (6:14)
9. "Jam" (5:34)
10. "The Field" (5:00)
11. "Deathscope" (5:01)
12. "Gone is Gone" (5:15)
13. "The Bridge" (12:00)

It also contains a bonus interview with Townsend and Dorval filmed just prior to the gig.

## Personnel

* Devin Townsend – guitars, bass, vocals, keyboards
* Ché Aimee Dorval – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
* Morgan Ågren – drums, percussion

### Additional personnel

* Kat Epple – flute, woodwinds
* Jørgen Munkeby – saxophones
* Dave Young – additional keyboards
* Mike St-Jean – additional drums
* Jeff Schmidt – additional bass guitar
* Randy Slaugh – string arrangements, engineering
* The Sångkraft Chamber Choir – choir
* Leif Åkesson – choir conducting

## References

1. ↑ Casualties of Cool at PledgeMusic
2. ↑ Loudwire: Casualties of Cool Crowd Funding Goal: Five Hours
3. ↑ *Casualties of Cool* liner notes.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Devin Townsend Working on Casualties of Cool Side Project | Theprp.com – Metal, Hardcore and Rock News, Reviews and More
5. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
6. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
7. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
8. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
9. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
10. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
11. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
12. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
13. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
14. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
15. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
16. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
17. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
18. ↑ "Casualties of Cool is the end of the Devin Townsend Project" *Metal Hammer 11/2012. The Retinal Circus special.* pp. 15. 2012-10-29.
19. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
20. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
21. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
22. ↑ The Casualties of Cool Pledge campaign has started. *Devin Townsend official Facebook page*. February 22, 2014.
23. ↑ Casualties of Cool. *PledgeMusic*. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
24. ↑ Casualties of Cool: Casualties of Cool (Pledge Music)
25. ↑ Devin Townsend Project - Fall by MackieGear
26. ↑ DRENCH by Devin Townsend!
27. ↑ Devin's Casualties of Cool Album Set for Reissue
28. ↑ Casualties of Cool to see full release including Live at Union Chapel DVD (Facebook)
29. ↑ Sputnikmusic Best of 2014
30. ↑ Devin Townsend Announces Drummer For Casualties Of Cool