Album Review - Ayreon - 01011001 - RevelationZ Magazine

Calling Arjen Lucassen's latest Ayreon release "01011001", just an "album" is doing it a serious injustice. This is something more akin to a Broadway production. It's grand in scope, and one that actually flows and is fully completed. The story is easy to follow through the dialogues of 17 different vocalists as a myriad of characters or "presences", if you will. The music that accompanies it, is melted down to a complex perfection. It takes a piece from every past Ayreon disc, from the more metallic "Flight of the Migrator" with its thunder and power to the fragile progressiveness of "Into The Electric Castle". There are also plenty of 70s prog rock vibes, some folksy sections, and a few songs that are just cold, brittle and like an electronic wasteland.

The songs are all very long, clocking in between 7 to 10 minutes on average and through those time spaces, several different genres may be at play. Whirling through atmospheric synthesizers, rushing through torrents of guitars and drums that pound the speakers like razor rain, hushed silences pierced by heart strung vocals... you can run the entire gamut of emotional responses and genres in just one song, right down to the gorgeously huge wall of vocal choruses that exalt you, and the folksy, "let's play in the fairy circle" dancey feel of the medieval touched parts. It's all very interesting but there are times when themes are looped too much or there is simply not enough going on to push a song forward. Oh sure, it gets there eventually, but there might be a great deal of noodling to come before the meat of the song finally kicks in.

So here we have two discs, 17 singers divided up between the Forever and the Humans, quite a few songs, and a running time of over 100 minutes. There's also a story to follow, one borrowed from the bookshelves and movies of 50s and 60s Science Fiction. A race of beings called "Forever" (perhaps because of their seeming immortality?) became so dependant on machines that they lost all feeling. No emotions, cold as rocks, but taunted and haunted by the memories of what they had been. If only they had not been foolish and thrown their life away. On the verge of extinction they find a way to literally "ride a comet" and crash land on a planet called Earth. The comet causes the dinosaurs to become extinct (and also gives us the hilarious line "I see mainly reptiles!!" which was gifted to Tom Englund and is so overdone it can't help but spark a bit of a chuckle) but also makes rise for another species to advance, that is - humans. And it is with humans that they base their hopes on, being similar to what they once were, they watch the humans, thrill in the emotions that they cycle through. Eventually they decide that evolution is taking too long, so they silently slip their knowledge to the human race - the same knowledge that once lead about their own destruction - in the hopes that under their guiding hands that things would not boil down to such a tragic end as it did for them. Of course... the album also touches on what happens. Tragic as it may be.

This entire story is cycled through the two discs, and carries with it some silly moments as well as thought provoking ones. It forces you to look not only inside yourself, but what we have done and are doing as a species in general. A fate like that is not too far fetched, but then again, Science Fiction materials have been predicting just such a similar doom for us since before the invent of the television... The music is pretentious, but Arjen has placed many melodies that excel in being catchy, unique and just a pleasure to hear. They flit and flutter through the songs like a kite out of control, sometimes holding steady and other times disappearing from the soundscape skies completely. There are extended moments of ambience, sometimes lasting up to a minute and more, and handfuls of instrumental tangents that fill out a good portion of the disc. These can be tedious to sit through but all of a sudden, a chunky guitar riff will hit you and entwine you back into its capturing tendrils all over again. Or perhaps bits of vocals will begin to weave through, building into giant choruses that send chills up the spine and goosebumps skittering across your flesh. This album *is* a journey, it *does* require patience, but it will reward you in its twists, turns and flashes of musical brilliance.

There are many great performances here, the most impressive from the "Forever" lineup. Their inner squabblings and moral dilemmas are fascinating slices of human nature, as filtered through a different lens. These masterful performances include a stunning appearance by Bob Catley, who's voice seems so earthy, grounded and rich with warmth. There's Floor Jansen, who nails her lines with flourish and power, and the more fluttery approach of Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering). Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian) is on board as well, and when you hear his voice, it's almost a given that some fairy-dance folksy metal is about to begin pouring in. Steve Lee (Gotthard) is a welcome vocal diversion, laying down some hard rock lines, but the real star of the show is Jorn Lande. Anytime his voice appears in the midst here, it's a revelation. From the shadows to the light, his gorgeous vocal tone, acrobatics, sheer overwhelming power and amazing emotional depth are stunning to behold.

"Comatose" is a quiet soundscape, devoid of most sound before the female vocals echo in and then Jorn appears, like some great being unfurling his wings and stretching them to each end of the skies, obliterating all else. You can only focus on his silent thunder, raging lightning trade offs with the shadowy female lines. It's amazing. As is his appearances on the pulse pounding "Liquid Eternity", the epic sweeping vocal extravaganza of "Beneath the Waves", and the devastating ultimatums on "The Sixth Extinction". One cannot count out the opener for the second disc, "The Fifth Extinction" which adds a dash of metallic seasoning quite liberally.

However, there are the songs that are interesting for a once through, but afterward are just tedious story progression pieces. "Web of Lies" and "Connect the Dots" come to mind, which are lazy, progressive rock songs that sputter along without much to recommend them as stand alone songs. These drag the album down as a whole, but it's such an expansive and packed disc that these can be easily overlooked. Unfortunately some of the lyrics are also ridiculous and give the overall picture a B-rated feel at times. These are minor squabbles that are dismissed when looking at Arjen's latest as a whole.

Some might find Ayreon's "01011001" to be a tedious, boring, sometimes silly seeming, album - it is a difficult disc to digest. Of course, the hardcore progressive pack will take to this like flies to honey, or thirsty dogs to the water hole. There is a wealth of music, voices, instrumentation, themes and storyline to nitpick and tear apart. Those that require instant gratification are going to have a rougher time of it. For those just testing the Ayreon waters, it is recommended to begin with "The Human Equation" which is overall the better disc, as the dissection of fickle human emotion is always a fascinating subject and the "Universal Migrator" duo are more tempting to the casual listener being instantly gratifying slices of music. But there is a place for the story driven "01011001" as well. And with all of Arjen Lucassen's works, it is worth the journey to hear the blips of brilliance scattered throughout like diamonds amongst glittery imitations. They both shine brightly, but only the diamonds have the sparkle to last the test of time.

Written by Alanna
Saturday, February 23, 2008
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