RockRoast

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.

Pros:

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.  3.  Artwork - Jef Bertels returns to create another cover illustration for Ayreon.  I have no idea what is on the cover of this album, but it’s fun to look at, it has plenty of cool details, and it somehow perfectly matches the style of music Ayreon presents.Cons:

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. 

3.  Lyrics - Anything this true is worth saying again:  The lyrics were pretty bad.Neutrals:

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.

2.  Double Album - It’s exciting to buy a double album.  You go home and listen to it, and it lasts…well, about twice as long as normal.  It’s twice as much all-new music.  And as good as the music on “01011001” was, it wasn’t quite enough to keep the listener’s ear and interest for the full 102 minutes.   All in all, “01011001” was very enjoyable, much in the same vein of earlier Ayreon albums, but it also suffered from many of the same drawbacks.  While it may be comforting to interpret that as Lucassen sticking to a formula that he knows works without letting his music grow stale, it is a bit disheartening to acknowledge his failure to recognize and recover from his mistakes. 

This album may not be the most commercial thing, especially in the United States.  (Although it seems to be doing pretty well in Germany and the Netherlands.)  But if you’re in the mood for something totally different and original, with maybe a bit of cheese on the side, then you should give “01011001” a try.  I certainly don’t regret the time I’ve spent listening to it.

It is now three months to the day since the release of the Eagles’ Long Road Out of Eden, and I have to say I am seriously impressed. 

A strange musical trend lately seems to be having really old band members get back together and start recording like the last few decades of silence never happened.  A lot of these bands have found that they don’t have much of an audience anymore, or at least not an audience that is interested in hearing new music from old chart-toppers who are way too old to be in rock bands.  But the Eagles have pulled off a pretty impressive comeback.

Long Road Out of Eden has gone platinum in a handful of countries (Sweden caught me a little by surprise) and is currently closing in on three million stateside sales.  This, from a band that hasn’t released a truly new studio album in almost thirty years.  A band whose members average about the age of ninety-seven.  That’s not something I expected to see.

And apparently, all those years of not having Eagles music to write left them with a lot of unused creativity, because the band felt prompted to release a double album with more than ninety minutes of music.  And what’s shocked me the most is that it actually sounds like the Eagles.  The years have not challenged the musicians’ vision of what Eagles music is.   They picked up just about where they left off.

The album is leisurely paced, with the signature sounds of the Eagles’ particular brand of folksy country-rock.  The first track is a stunning two-minute a capella piece that, while a bit adventurous, opens the album well with a slow melodic hook and careful harmony.  This leads into the first single, “How Long,” which, though not on par with their hits of the past, builds confidence in their ability to revisit those glories.

Probably just due to its being a double album, it begins to drag a bit near the end of the first disc and fails to pick up the pace over the course of the second.  Highlights along the way are the melancholy, emotional “Waiting in the Weeds” and the slightly more agressive, more And though no individual track reaches the heights of “Desperado” or “Hotel California,” Long Road Out of Eden passes itself off as just worthy enough to stand as another addition to the already impressive Eagles library. 

I, for one, look forward to their next release.