Member:
Eric Kampman
(Profile)
(All Album Reviews by Eric Kampman)
Date:
8/1/2003
Format:
CD (Album)
I must confess this is the only Ayreon album I own. I've struggled with my opinions about it for some time. The insipid emotional content of the words strikes me in sort of the same way a Spielberg movie does, and yet there's something oddly appealing about that.
This is the first of a two-part release, the 2nd of which is apparently called Flight of the Migrator. I don't really want to touch on the theme -- I'd rather comment on the music itself. First of all, to give an idea of what they sound like, I would say it's a slightly more proggy than you would expect mix of Pink Floyd and Alan Parsons. Very well crafted songs. Of particular note are "2084", "Temple of the Cat", and "The First Man on Earth". Low point for me is the singing on "And the Druids Turn to Stone", but then I don't listen to Dream Theater for much the same reason.
Lots of great guest-star vocals, including one of my personal favorites, Neal Morse, on "The First Man on Earth". That song, in particular, could be on a Spock's Beard album, and you wouldn't notice a thing. Twisty chord progression. Very nice.
On the whole, I listen to it more than I do many of my recent purchases. In short, if you tend towards the craft of good songwriting and you like Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd, or perhaps Todd Rundgren, this is a good choice.
Member:
theJAK
(Profile)
(All Album Reviews by theJAK)
Date:
4/26/2004
Format:
CD (Album)
I'm a big fan of Ayreon, because this band/project blend together three things I really like: prog, heavy metal and science fiction. This album, though, only has two of those things, prog and science fiction. Arjen Lucassen is not Ben Bova or Isaac Asimov, but I would say that his plots for Ayreon albums are acceptable, if you are into the mood for sci-fi. He's also a great musician and selects the best to play in his albums.
This album is the first half of a two album concept piece, released separately. This is the rock part, and Universal Migrator pt.2 is the metal part. This album is greatly influenced by Pink Floyd, and nothing better than to listen to the first track where Lucassen plays guitar like Gilmour hasn't played for years.
With the participation of Erik Norlander and Lana Lane, among other great musicians and singers, like Neal Morse, the album, although a bit slow and mellow, specially compared to the other Ayreon albums, is very good, being one of my favourites.
The highlight of the album is "The first man on Earth" where Neal Morse and Lucassen create one of the best prog tracks I've ever listened to. It's just amazing to see them blend together their talent into one piece of music. Even if you don't like the rest of the album, which is rather difficult, this track will amaze you.
So, even if not better than Into The Electric Castle, Ayreon's masterpiece, it is a great album and deserves to be listened.
10/10 for this one
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