Metal Reviews

I just couldn't get into The Human Equation and after that I turned this guy off, thinking that he was a ridiculously overambitious wanker. But I've decided to give him a new chance. As far as I know, he has a crapload of bands and projects. Could some of you guys reccomend me some of his more accessible albums?

The Human Equation

Just kidding, I actually think he is overrated. That is probably the only album I can stand. I have only heard Ayreon albums though. "What!? You don't like Arjen? You're stuuuuuupid."

His Star One stuff is good

death to neo-prog

kidding. Arjen is a neo-prog kinda dude but he writes some very good hooks, I usually at least try everything he releases. although it's all insanely indulgant.. I think his best so far has been Universal Migrator or whatever it was called.

I think his Star One stuff is his best stuff as well.

He actually doesn't have a ton of stuff, he was in an old 80's rock band called Vengeance and since then it's basically been Ayreon. He's did the Ambeon project, and Star One and most recently Stream Of Passion, but generally it's been all Ayreon.

If you didn't like The Human Equation what didn't you like? I think that album has a bit of every Ayreon albums. In the end, I think each album is different enough from each other, and I don't think they're very self-indulgent at all. Definitely not Yngwie-like, maturbatory stuff.

I usually don't like this kind of shit but I really did like The Human Equation. It grabbed me the first moment I put the disc in. It's like watching a movie. You gotta pay attention to the lyrics though, the music isn't so captivating by itsself.

I think The Human Equation was abit uneven, it had great moments and then some pretty boring moments. I'd have to say that the most accessible (and also the least ambitious) album would have to be Actual Fantasy. A good idea is to look at the list of guest singers on each album.

My favorites are the Universal Migrator albums, both of those are stunning pieces of work.

Sick. Those albums are both horrible, especially the first one. Mindless boring crap is what it was. I remember the first time I played them; I was pleased w/ an 1/8 of the first disk, and a 1/4 of the second. Then again, that was years ago. My taste in music has change significantly since then. I might give them another shot.

I've heard some snippets of other albums, but The Human Equation is his best work by a couple of miles I think. He should have used Devin Townsend more though.

The first? The one with Lana Lane and the dude from Tiamat? That's a killer CD! "2084" gives me goosebumps! The other one is probably the most power metal he's ever gotten. You have terrible taste, my friend!

Yeah, Devin stands out on that album. Did you know he recorded 25 vocal tracks for each part he did? Holy shit! The ending to "Loser" is so fucking badass! Man, that is such a killer song thanks to Devin, it's so unexpected.

I like "Pain" the best. Devy definitely makes the album THAT much better.

I remember wanting Devin to collaborate with Arjen and Swano. Now all he has to do is do some with Swano and I'll have nothing left to live for.

Looser is a killer song indeed, and Trauma is good too. But overall the album didn't grow on me as I hoped it would do. I'll probably check out Star One next, or Actual Fantasy.

A frien of me came the other day and said "Dude loser pwns" and I way like "of course you idiot, it's Devy". He almost killed himself.

I want him to work with Dillinger Escape Plan or Nevermore for some reason ^^, or produce Biomechanical's next album (seriously, he'd be perfect for that band!)

I agree, my favourite song on that album is Pain, just because its chorus is so fucking amazing

yip

I'm a huge fan of the Ayreon disco, but "The Human Equation" just blew my mind from start to finish. I think it has a lot to do with the connection between the lyrical content, and how the perfect singers were picked to do each part, and how the music displays the exact same emotion that's being portrayed by the characters.

And as awesome as that last part of Loser is, I think a good portion of the credit for that song has to go to Mike Baker (I think that's his name). I won't even try to describe how he does what he does, but it definitely got my attention.