Ayreon is a project of a Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen
Anthony Lucassen, who in 1995 released an album called "The Final
Experiment," the first (ironic, isn't it?) of a very successful
series of rock operas featuring many international
guest-musicians. The latest installment came out in 2004,
titled "The Human Equation."
UNIVERSAL MIGRATOR, PART 2: FLIGHT OF THE MIGRATOR
(2000)
RATING: ***1/2
BEST SONGS: "Dawn Of A Million Souls," "To
The Quasar," "Into The Black Hole"
While this is definitely the most ambitious project in metal since Hear N' Aid (and moreso, because HnA was just one song, while this is an entire album), it doesn't strike me as the greatest thing that ever happened in metal. Yes, it features Bruce Dickinson, Russel Allen, Fabio Leone, Timo Kotipelto, Andi Deris, Ian Parry, and Ralf Scheepers, but it's just not very heavy, hence: not very captivating for a metalhead, such as myself. The heaviest songs are "Into the Black Hole," sung by Dickinson (some heavy riffing) and "Out of the White Hole," sung by Kotipelto. "Through the Wormhole" ("Hey, Butthead, how many holes does this album need?" -- "I dunno, dude, maybe these guys don't get any holes in real life, huh, huh.") sounds like a soundtrack to the computer game (lots of synthesizers). Still, the arrangements are interesting (gotta give credit to Lucassen: he's one talented son of a gun), and while the story is fairly simple, it's not as annoying as, say, Rhapsody's concepts. As far as everybody's favorite, "Dawn of a Million Souls," I'm going to say one thing only: IMHO, Russel Allen is a very overrated singer. Still, you have to own this album by the roster alone, but you'd be better off getting it in trade.
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