Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals
Encyclopedia
Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals is the fourth studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen
, and the eponymous first album of the formation Christensen and The Damn Crystals. The album was released on 25 November 2011 on CD
and as music download
, with a vinyl
release pending.
and mastering
are performed by different people than those Christensen usually worked with. This was because he wanted to try something new. He wanted to record in a new manner, with a new co-producer and in a new studio.
Christensen's first three solo albums got progressively quieter and more mature but this trend has come to a halt with this album being "noticeably less quiet than Superior
." Christensen also announced well in advance that "the album has a lot of rock elements here and there. In general you can say that it's less acoustic and less traditional singer/songwriter-ish as last time and more outgoing and band-like," He nevertheless had to fight off the the expectations he is making music in line with his former band, Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
, with whom he had been on a reunion tour prior to recording this album. He claims to have kept Dizzy Mizz Lizzy "extremely separated" from his professional development.
Previously, Christensen used to write the songs and record the bulk of instruments by himself, but this time he chose to compose and record the album with the backing band he has had since 2005, which is now named The Damn Crystals. Christensen felt that working as a team during the Superior tour had turned out very well, which is why he chose to invite the band members to join him throughout the entire creative process. It was described as coming out of his comfort zone, letting go of control, and breaking with his ego-trip. According to Christensen, "I posed myself a bit of a challenge to let others join in, but it has actually been surprisingly easy," and "A totally different energy has come to this plate because we worked with four more on it. On the whole it has become so much better."
The album opens with the 11-minute progrock
title track "The Damn Crystals". This may be a contracted track of "Reach Out" and "Where the Wild Roses Grow", which are two song titles that appear on an alternate track listing from which the title track's name is missing.
"Surprise Me" was the first single off the album, released on 24 October 2011. According to Christensen, "the single might be the most classic rock-track of the bunch."
"Love and Water" was originally written for Honeyburst
while "I'll Let You Know" was written for Christensen's first solo album Secrets on Parade
but was skipped as it did not fit into that album's context.
The title to "Far Beyond Driven" was borrowed from Pantera
's album title Far Beyond Driven
, as Christensen used it as a placeholder lyric when playing a song hook on the acoustic guitar, but was unable to find better lyrics to replace it.
It has long been unsure whether the ballad "Never Be One Until We're Two" would be released on this album because of the heavier sound Christensen intended to give this album. The song was known to the audience because Christensen had played it on several occasions, including at Lille VEGA in Copenhagen on 16 September 2009 and on a Dutch radio show on 12 November 2009.
"Caught in the Arms of..." (working title: "Caught in the Eye of...") was likely to make its way onto the album. An unfinished acoustic version of this song appears throughout the documentary "Tim Christensen: From Roskilde to Abbey Road", and a studio version was requested by many fans. The song was completed but not included on the album. On 30 November 2011, Christensen played a full version of the song before a webcam as part of his "low key late night sessions".
A more critical review by GAFFA
states that "the melodic curve is on a decline throughout the album," and that "Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals is a very good rock album, but no more than that. There is simply a lack of durable tunes, which is somewhat paradoxical for an otherwise excellent melody maker."
Production
and Jesper Thilo
decided to record an album together at STC Studios, but since A-Studio was in use by Christensen and band, they had to move out to the B-Studio.
Tim Christensen
Tim Christensen is a Danish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass guitar, drums, Mellotron, harmonium, keyboard, piano and organ...
, and the eponymous first album of the formation Christensen and The Damn Crystals. The album was released on 25 November 2011 on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
and as music download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
, with a vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
release pending.
Overview
In many respects, Christensen's fourth studio album is a clear break with his previous albums. Among others the mixingMix engineer
A mix engineer, also referred to as "mixing engineer", is a person who, once all instruments, voices, and sounds, etc., have been recorded, creates what is called the final version of a song, hence the term "mix engineer"...
and mastering
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
are performed by different people than those Christensen usually worked with. This was because he wanted to try something new. He wanted to record in a new manner, with a new co-producer and in a new studio.
Christensen's first three solo albums got progressively quieter and more mature but this trend has come to a halt with this album being "noticeably less quiet than Superior
Superior (album)
Superior is the third studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released on 24 November 2008 on CD, limited edition CD/DVD box set which includes a 30-minute documentary, and a double vinyl box set which also includes the CD and DVD, as well as an outsize poster.- Overview :The...
." Christensen also announced well in advance that "the album has a lot of rock elements here and there. In general you can say that it's less acoustic and less traditional singer/songwriter-ish as last time and more outgoing and band-like," He nevertheless had to fight off the the expectations he is making music in line with his former band, Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy was an alternative rock band from Denmark that started in 1988. Between 1994 and 1997, they were highly successful in Denmark and Japan, heading the early 1990s rock revival in Denmark. The trio consisted of Tim Christensen , Martin Nielsen and Søren Friis...
, with whom he had been on a reunion tour prior to recording this album. He claims to have kept Dizzy Mizz Lizzy "extremely separated" from his professional development.
Previously, Christensen used to write the songs and record the bulk of instruments by himself, but this time he chose to compose and record the album with the backing band he has had since 2005, which is now named The Damn Crystals. Christensen felt that working as a team during the Superior tour had turned out very well, which is why he chose to invite the band members to join him throughout the entire creative process. It was described as coming out of his comfort zone, letting go of control, and breaking with his ego-trip. According to Christensen, "I posed myself a bit of a challenge to let others join in, but it has actually been surprisingly easy," and "A totally different energy has come to this plate because we worked with four more on it. On the whole it has become so much better."
Songs
A total of 12 songs were being considered for the new album.The album opens with the 11-minute progrock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
title track "The Damn Crystals". This may be a contracted track of "Reach Out" and "Where the Wild Roses Grow", which are two song titles that appear on an alternate track listing from which the title track's name is missing.
"Surprise Me" was the first single off the album, released on 24 October 2011. According to Christensen, "the single might be the most classic rock-track of the bunch."
"Love and Water" was originally written for Honeyburst
Honeyburst
Honeyburst is the second studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released on 1 September 2003 on CD and vinyl.- Overview :...
while "I'll Let You Know" was written for Christensen's first solo album Secrets on Parade
Secrets on Parade
Secrets on Parade is the debut solo album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released on 5 October 2000 on CD and vinyl. It is considered the transitional work between the music he made with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and his solo music...
but was skipped as it did not fit into that album's context.
The title to "Far Beyond Driven" was borrowed from Pantera
Pantera
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
's album title Far Beyond Driven
Far Beyond Driven
Far Beyond Driven is the seventh album by American groove metal band Pantera. It was released on March 22, 1994 through East West Records. Upon its release, it debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200...
, as Christensen used it as a placeholder lyric when playing a song hook on the acoustic guitar, but was unable to find better lyrics to replace it.
It has long been unsure whether the ballad "Never Be One Until We're Two" would be released on this album because of the heavier sound Christensen intended to give this album. The song was known to the audience because Christensen had played it on several occasions, including at Lille VEGA in Copenhagen on 16 September 2009 and on a Dutch radio show on 12 November 2009.
"Caught in the Arms of..." (working title: "Caught in the Eye of...") was likely to make its way onto the album. An unfinished acoustic version of this song appears throughout the documentary "Tim Christensen: From Roskilde to Abbey Road", and a studio version was requested by many fans. The song was completed but not included on the album. On 30 November 2011, Christensen played a full version of the song before a webcam as part of his "low key late night sessions".
Reception
Reviewers call the album "distinctly warmer, simpler, and much less pompous," and "not just his best album, but one of Danish rock's best (...) with one perfect pop song after the other." The balance between riffs and melodies form "dynamic contrasts that adorn tremendously well, and underline what a tremendously well-playing band Tim Christensen has gathered around him."A more critical review by GAFFA
Gaffa (magazine)
Gaffa is a free Danish music magazine, published on a monthly basis since 1983. The magazine is distributed to places such as educational institutions, record shops, libraries and cafés, as well as a small number to paying subscribers...
states that "the melodic curve is on a decline throughout the album," and that "Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals is a very good rock album, but no more than that. There is simply a lack of durable tunes, which is somewhat paradoxical for an otherwise excellent melody maker."
Track listing
Personnel
Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals- Tim ChristensenTim ChristensenTim Christensen is a Danish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass guitar, drums, Mellotron, harmonium, keyboard, piano and organ...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Lars Skjærbæk – guitars, MellotronMellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, backing vocals - Christoffer Møller - keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s, MellotronMellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music... - Søren Koch - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Jesper Lind - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Production
- Frank Birch Pontoppidan – engineer, mixerMix engineerA mix engineer, also referred to as "mixing engineer", is a person who, once all instruments, voices, and sounds, etc., have been recorded, creates what is called the final version of a song, hence the term "mix engineer"...
, producer - George Marino – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Paul Wilson – designerDesignerA designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
, artworkWork of artA work of art, artwork, art piece, or art object is an aesthetic item or artistic creation.The term "a work of art" can apply to:*an example of fine art, such as a painting or sculpture*a fine work of architecture or landscape design... - Helene Hasen – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Silke Hansen - modelModel (person)A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
Trivia
During the first weekend of recording this album, jazz legends Scott HamiltonScott Hamilton (musician)
Scott Hamilton is a jazz tenor saxophonist, born in 1954 and associated with swing and mainstream jazz.-Biography:He emerged in the 1970s and at the time he was considered to be one of the few musicians of real talent who carried the tradition of the classic jazz tenor saxophone in the style of...
and Jesper Thilo
Jesper Thilo
Jesper Thilo is a Danish jazz musician, mainly known as a tenor saxophonist, alto saxophonist and clarinetist. He is considered to be one of the top European straight-ahead jazz musicians of the post-1970 period...
decided to record an album together at STC Studios, but since A-Studio was in use by Christensen and band, they had to move out to the B-Studio.