Ayreon - 01011001
Ayreon’s latest effort, the geekily titled 01011001, came with–as I expected–the typical Ayreonesque pros and cons. I’d been looking forward to this release for a while, and when I popped it in for a first listen, I was pleased to hear a new version of Ayreon’s unique folksy progressive metal. But I was also disappointed by Arjen Lucassen’s failure to redress the flaws of his previous works.
1. Melodies - This is one of the signature qualities of Ayreon’s music. Whether it be for a dark metal song or a softer ballad, Lucassen can write a great melody to fit the mood perfectly.
2. Concept - The basic plot here is that a superadvanced starfaring civilization that has lost their emotions after eons of technological advancements decides to create humans so that they can learn to feel emotions again. Perhaps it’s a silly science fiction story, but it works. And it has some pretty cool underpinning themes about the loss of humanity and the dependence on machines and computers in the modern age.
1. Lyrics - Lyrics have never been a strong point for Ayreon. The concepts may be cool, but the lyrical storytelling is cheesy and in many places just downright laughable. Watch out in particular for the superadvanced civilization to debate whether or not they should wipe out the dinosaurs (”The Fifth Extinction”) and listen closely for the awkward references to modern human life (”Connect the Dots”). If you read along as you listen, you’re bound to come across a line or two that cracks you up.
2. Track Lengths - Ayreon’s previous release, The Human Equation, is a masterpiece in my book. One of the reasons for this is that the longest track is just shy of nine minutes. Lucassen writes good music, but his lengthier pieces tend to meander and lose my interest. But on “01011001,” there are no less than three tracks that boldy throw caution to the wind and steamroll the ten-minute mark.
1. Guest Appearances - In keeping with long-standing tradition, Arjen Lucassen invited numerous other musicians to help him perform the music he’d composed. Notable guest vocalists on this album were Daniel Gildenlow (Pain of Salvation), Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian) and Ty Tabor (King’s X). I was excited for the former two, but Gildenlow didn’t have a whole lot of airtime and I didn’t even know Kursch was singing until I read it in the liner notes. Perhaps I didn’t recognize him without ninety-nine of his clones singing backup. Ty Tabor had pretty much a whole song to himself (”Connect the Dots”) but failed to impress me. In his defense, he wasn’t given a melody that really lent itself to showcasing virtuosity. But his performance reflected the performance of almost all the guest vocalists: they did fine, but didn’t really accomplish anything amazing like I was hoping. The only possible exception is Jorn Lande’s laudable contributions on “Comatose.”
As for the instrumental guests, Lucassen made one choice in particular that surprised me: A guitar solo by Michael Romeo of Symphony X. Ayreon and Symphony X are both metal bands that are frequently derided for their cheesiness, but I didn’t think they’d go together very well. I mean, swiss cheese is good and feta cheese is good, and they might even taste good together, but who on earth would even think to try it? And in this case, the two musical styles did not mix well. I wasn’t even listening for Romeo’s solo, but as soon as his guitar kicked in, I noticed something wasn’t right anymore. To his credit, I felt he toned down the histrionics a bit for Ayreon’s sake, but it still just didn’t work. In contrast, Derek Sherinian, once of Dream Theater, had a decent but somewhat superfluous keyboard solo earlier on that I didn’t even notice until I read about it later.
This album may not be the most commercial thing, especially in the
Tags: 01011001, Arjen Lucassen, Ayreon, Daniel Gildenlow, Derek Sherinian, Dream Theater, folk rock, Hansi Kursch, Jorn Lande, metal, Michael Romeo, music, progressive metal, progressive rock, rock music, Symphony X, The Human Equation, Ty Tabor