I haven't really written much about my favorite music, but I always intended to. What better way to start than on the 10th anniversary of the debut album of one of my favorite bands: Celldweller.
Celldweller is one of those bands you've probably heard repeatedly on TV and in video games, but never realized. This band consists primarily of just one dude: Klayton, a performer and DJ from Detroit. In the 90s, he was the front man for a band called Circle of Dust (of which I haven't heard anything, but they've put out five albums). Celldweller debuted in 2003, and has been sporadically active since. Klayton's second Celldweller album wouldn't come out until 2012, but in between, he produced a conceptual soundtrack and a plethora of remixes and exclusives.
I'd classify Celldweller's music as a form of industrial metal, for it is hard, intense, and highly energetic. Most of their songs have strong beats, rip-roaring guitar, loud screamy vocals, and a strong undercurrent of electronica. It's not all noise though: many of the band's music incorporates orchestral elements, and most songs have strong, structured, catchy melodies. The songs convey a certain mood and style that's distinctively futuristic or otherworldly (songs from the latest album, Wish Upon a Blackstar, are especially spacey in nature).
I first discovered Celldweller around 2004, after playing the video game Enter the Matrix, and looking at the game's music credits for cool stuff to download. A huge variety of other songs have been featured in movies, games, TV shows, and commercials across the board. Celldweller has been slow in producing actual CD albums, but their songs are usually readily available as MP3 singles and downloads in various online stores.
I've collected as many of Celldweller's songs as I could, going so far as buying their physical CDs whenever available. I find this brand of music very catchy, invigorating, and inspiring. Many of these songs have not only been great for everyday listening, but have also been hugely inspirational for my writing. Many Celldweller songs have seeped into my playlists, inspiring the most exciting and far-out ideas I've conjured.
The band's self-titled debut hits pretty hard and fast: the opening song "Switchback" is one of the band's biggest and most recognizable hits. The energy rages on consistently with such songs as "Stay With Me (Unlikely)," "The Last Firstborn," "Symbiont," "I Believe You," and "Own Little World." Things get a little more downbeat and moody with "Frozen," a song which directly inspired one of my sci-fi novels. I really admire the beat and guitar work of "Unlikely (Stay With Me)," and something about "So Sorry to Say" has always felt uplifting. However, the experience is brought down just a tad by a few songs I never cared about (namely, "Under My Feet," "Afraid This Time" and "Fadeaway"). Despite a few quibbles, the album is pretty solid.
This album was just recently re-issued as a 10th anniversary edition, featuring a bonus disc crammed full of great bonus content. Biggest standouts include a cover of "Tragedy," which I feel beats the living snot out of the original Bee Gees version. Plus, "Shapeshifter" is included, a smashing song made in conjunction with Styles of Beyond, but was sadly never featured in any of Celldweller's main albums. The disc also includes a number of unreleased demo songs and a number of fairly awesome remixes. "Ghosts," in particular, is becoming a new favorite of mine.
The Beta Cessions (2005)
But wait, there's more! Celldweller also produced this companion album to their self-titled debut, which features the entire Celldweller album without the vocals. If you really want to hear the hard-hitting beats, synthesized sounds, and guitar without Klayton's voice, then this album makes for an excellent soundtrack-type of experience. Another disc includes a wealth of alternate versions of certain songs, plus a few exclusive songs (including "Goodbye" and "Kemikal").
Soundtrack for the Voices in My Head Volume 1 (2009)
One of two albums Celldweller has made that's designed as a conceptual soundtrack. Most of this album is instrumental, featuring fantastic and otherworldly soundscapes that could effectively set the stage for any sci-fi or fantasy adventure. Chances are that you may recognize such tracks as "Through the Gates," "Solaris," "Surgical," "Animatronic," "Descent," or the various versions of "Ursa Minor" from film trailers or games (I do distinctively remember hearing "Ursa Minor" in the trailer for the movie Surrogates). "La Puerta del Diablo" is probably one of the scariest tracks I've heard, for even though it's a slow and moody track, it's just plain creepy. A few preliminary versions of the song "Birthright" are also included. This album has become an essential part of my collection, for it provides a versatile inspiration for any number of stories I've created.
Wish Upon a Blackstar (2012)
I was actually pretty hyped for this release: Klayton had actually released parts of this album from 2009 onward. This whole project was rolled out in a novel-like fashion, with each new single released as a downloadable "chapter" of the larger piece. I had a pretty early exposure to the songs "Louder Than Words," "The Best It's Gonna Get," and "So Long Sentiment," which are all catchy as hell. Upon listening to the whole album, I came to enjoy "The Lucky One" the best, for its catchy lyrics and strong pulsing beats. A similar energy is achieved in "Blackstar," "Unshakable," and "I Can't Wait." There's something about "It Makes No Difference Who We Are" I find most addicting. The album achieves some pleasing ambiance with "Memories of a Girl I Haven't Met" and "The Seven Sisters."
The album overall could be listened to as a continuous story. I've never listened closely enough to the lyrics to discern a plot per se, but Klayton himself articulated the basic moral being "be careful what you wish for." The blackstar itself is a otherworldly motif that harkens to a far-out and imaginative setting. In spite of the album's spacey appeal, it has been a major influence on my writings; "The Lucky One" is probably my most-played song, for it was inspirational for one of the action scenes in my superhero-themed novel.
A number of outtakes from this album actually appear on the bonus disc of the Celldweller 10th Anniversary release.
Soundtrack for the Voices in My Head Volume 2 (2012)
In addition to Wish Upon a Blackstar, Celldweller also released another conceptual soundtrack album. Gamers everywhere would get a kick out of "First Person Shooter," which is an intense and hard-hitting composition that would be perfect in a shooter game. "Shut Em Down" is one of the awesomest songs of the lot, featuring the same manic energy, but with dramatic orchestral parts. The same sense of drama and intensity is echoed in "Earth Scraper," "Senorita Bonita," "Scandroid," "Pulsar," "Solid State Playmate," and "Heart-Break." Things mellow out just a bit in "Empyrean," which still boasts a steady beat and menacing synthesized sounds. "Venus," and the epic 19-minute track "Adrift on Celestial Seas," offer a more gentle, poetic, and elegant sense of otherworldly splendor. Best of all, the album also features the song "The End," a variant of "Welcome to the End" was was featured in the band's first album. "The End" starts off slow, but the last minute or so just explodes in a crescendo that's both furious and elegant. A lot of the songs in this album have been influential in my writing.
The Complete Cellout Volume 1 (2012)
This album pretty much consists of remixes, and they aren't all bad. Only the opening 30-second intro track is new, but every other song is a familiar hit from the group's other albums. It's still a highly-energetic and stylishly-electronic experience, and it can be interesting to hear favorite songs mixed in fresh new ways.
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