Customer Reviews

Space Metal

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First the short version of this review. The best CD Arjen Anthony Lucas has put out since Aryeon's "Into the Electric Castle". Most of you that read this are probably aware that Arjen is the mastermind behind the very successful prog-metal outfit called Ayreon. Why Arjen did not choose to issue this under the Ayreon name is a mystery to me since the music is very much in the style of Aryeon. No matter it does not affect the quality of the output.

As anyone who bought an Ayreon album can testify Arjen Lucas is a big Science Fiction fan. As a tribute to some of his favourite SF movies and one TV series Arjen set out to retell their story in musical form. Arjen calls it "Sonic Space Story" and it's an appropriate name.

As is Aryeon's case, Arjen has for this project collaborated with some heavy weights in the prog / metal field. Heading the list is Symphony X's vocalist Russell Allen who gives an awe-inspiring performance throughout the CD. Not to be out done Damian Wilson, a veteran Ayreon vocalist also gives a scintillating performance. The vocals throughout this CD are first rate and all the vocalist give top rate performances. Floor Jansen of After Forever is the only female on this album but that is more than made up in the quality of Floor Jansen's voice which is truly remarkable. She sings with emotion, grace, dignity and laser like precision. The only downside is that she is employed sparingly compare to the male vocalist but whenever she appears it is very memorable.

Once again Arjen surrounds himself with top-notch musicians. Prominent among them is the veteran of several Ayreon projects Eric Norlander who plays synths. Ed Warby on drums gives a magnificently steady performance on drums. Arjen himself is an accomplished musician playing guitar, bass, synths and the Hammond Organ among others. The music is played with precision and verve. Veritably an audio delight.

The songs break down as follows. The CD launches with the mellow, keyboard heavy intro appropriately called "Lift-Off" and then segues into the up tempo "Set Your Controls". The synths and the guitar set the tempo and lays down a deep tapestry, which gives the album an irresistible momentum to start off on. Russell Allen's performance combined with Floor Jansen's on "High Noon", the CD's second song, is staggering. The music itself is a steady mid tempo affair marked by churning guitars. These first 2 songs are among the best on the album and set the standards for what follows. The third song " Songs of The Ocean" opens with a classy guitar riff and features an heavy omnipresent drum work and a Hammond organ used throughout. The song is moody changing intensity several times. Floor Jansen is used to good effect. The basis of "Master of the Dark" is a heavy dark riff. Midway through the song the tempo increases dramatically coinciding perfectly with the story being told. The next song the "Eye of Ra" starts in a very atmospheric, deliberate pace and slowly gains unstoppable momentum. The vocal performances by all the vocalists are amazing. The music is grandiose but not overbearing. The song is full of sharp, slicing guitar riffs and richly textured synths. The combination of the vocals and music makes it easily one of the best songs on the album. "Sandrider" starts off with short choppy riffs and maintains a steady tempo for the duration of the song. The song contains a catchy vocal melody and contains a strong performance vocally by Dan Swano and once again by Floor Jansen. The Hammond organ and the guitar riffs at the start of "Perfect Survivor" gives it a doomy atmosphere. The music is slightly subdued with the drums being up front in the mix while the synths lurk insidiously in the background. "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" contains the catchiest chorus on the CD. Russel Allen and Damian Wilson trade off magnificent vocal performances. The song also features a wicked keyboard solo by Erik Norlander. The epic "Starchild" closes the CD and starts off in a very melancholic manner. The song is very moody and affecting. About two thirds through the song shrugs off the melancholic mood and becomes more dynamic affair. The song slows down again near the end and mirrors the start of the song finishing in moody but hopeful mood. A terrific way to end an amazing CD.

The packaging of this CD is amazing. It features the gorgeous lush artwork Mattias Noren on the inserts and a great cover by Vincent DiFate. I know it has nothing to do with the quality of the music but I thinks it is well worth pointing out due to the overall quality brought to this project. Matthas Noren's artwork is slick and evokes an otherworldly atmosphere.

The limited edition of this CD includes a bonus CD that features a heartfelt and kick [bootie] Hawkwind medley featuring Hawkwind vocalist Dave Brock. There are also two original Star One songs well worth having. They are the straightforward rocker "Spaced Out" and "Inseparable Enemies" which features churning guitar and harmonious synths. Actually "Spaced Out" is represented by two different versions with different vocal arrangements. There is also a delightful appropriate cover of Bowie's "Space Oddity". "Starchild" also makes an appearance mixed in Dolby Pro-Logic and a slightly longer running time. There is a bonus tract not listed on the sleeve cover which a bit of tongue in cheek affair. The limited edition is well worth seeking out.

Along with Green Carnation's "Light of Day, Day Of Darkness" this CD, and I have no qualms saying this even though at the time I write this it is May 2002, will be one of the top 5 CD's of the year. Any progressive metal fans owe themselves the pleasure of owning this CD. I cannot more highly recommend this CD.

After Arjen Lucassen split up his extreme sides on the previous Ayreon albums, The Flight of the Migrator and The Dream Sequencer, he went on to create the highly atmospheric Ambeon record with an unknown, yet very talented, young female singer. Once he got it out of his system as well, he knew it was time to put out something really heavy but, as in the case with Ambeon, he needed to express himself in a different project than Ayreon... so he called it Star One.

The name of the project is Star One, and the title of the album is Space Metal. On this record, Arjen wanted to pay homage to all the science fiction movies that take place entirely in space. It is no secret that Arjen was deeply influeced by sci-fi films and apparently he felt he wanted to thank for their impact on him. There is no single storyline here, unlike most Ayreon releases. This is a theme album focusing on similar subject matters but each song stands on its own.

Another difference with Ayreon is the number of singers featured here. Arjen chose to work with only four singers this time, and I would consider each and every one of them among the best and most prolific singers in prog metal. Russel Allen from Symphony X is one of the best singers around and his style on Space Metal is no exception. Damian Wilson is Arjen's long-time friend and we've all grown to love his unique and emotional delivery over the years. Then we have a newcomer, Dan Swano, who is currently my favourite vocalist in prog rock and metal. I remember how psyched I was when I heard Arjen was going to work with him because Dan possesses one of the darkest, deepest and most expressive singing styles I have ever heard. I hope he and Arjen will get together again for other projects in the future. The last singer is female vocalist Floor Jansen of After Forever fame. Jansen sounds nothing like she does in After Forever, she sings more operatic and more progressive. Her high singing provides a nice contrast with Dan and Damien's deeper expressions. Usually this is complemented by Russel Allen's sometimes fiery and sometimes painful delivery. Overall each singer seems to be very excited to be part of this project and embraces it as if it were their own. Arjen always knows who he has to work with and how to bring out the best in these talented individuals.

The music is a lot heavier than the previous Ayreon releases, but by "heavy" I mean by Arjen Lucassen's standards. Don't go expecting an ultra-aggressive riff and furious drum-bass hybrid. After all this is Arjen Lucassen and his artsy side is always there. It's this aspect that makes him different from 98% of other prog metal acts. Still there is plenty of gigantic riffs played by Arjen and some really beautiful lead solos that shine with ferocity. Jens Johansson (Stratovarius, Malmsteen) and Erik Norlander (Lana Lane) perform meticulous keyboard sections in quite a few songs. Shadow Gallery guitarist Gary Wehrkamp also offers two leads, one of which sees him duelling with Jens Johansson in the song "Master of Darkness". The usual Ayreon instruments such as the hammond, mellotrons and analog synths are all handled by Arjen himself and long-time drummer Ed Warby is once again sitting behind the drum kit.

It is hard to pick any favourites here but I really like the fierce opening of "Set Your Controls" inviting all four singers in the mix, the emotional track "Songs of the Ocean" and the heavy "Master of Darkness" both displaying the dynamics we're familiar with from Ayreon discs. "The Eye of Ra" and the 10-minute epic "Starchild" are most fans' favourite tunes as they bring heaviness, depth and poignancy into the focus of these tracks and combine them with a strange kind of catchiness that simply draws the listener's attention.

Star One is one of the top 5 discs Arjen has released. While the earlier Ayreon albums, The Final Experiment and Into the Electric Castle, are still more appealing to me, I also have to add the new Ayreon album The Human Equation to this list. But personally I prefer this album over the Migrator records or the Ambeon project. This was one of my favourite 2002 prog releases along with the CDs of Pain of Salvation, Vanden Plas and Threshold. And today, after two years, it's still as good as ever. It just needs time to grow on you, so be a tad patient.

He gets better with each album. This album simply rocks, and never lets up. Stuck in traffic? Turn on space metal and you'll be lost in space. Amazing, crisp vocals, hammering beats, fantastic time changes, super keyboards and guitars, amazing arrangements.....

His best work since the migrator. This guy just does it again and again... Consistency in this genre is the best one could ever hope for. I hope our boy Arjen makes music forever.

I was introduced to this band, this genius, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, when I was given a burned copy of this CD by a friend of mine.

I instantly loved it! The big organ/keyboard/wall-of-sound, the fantastic arrangements, the crunchy guitars, and pounding drums, the warm, full bass, and of course, the variety of great vocals thanks to the talents of Russell Allen, Dan Swanö, Damian Wilson and Floor Jansen.

I am a big fan of the concept/rock opera style since I was a 14 year old kid listening to "Operation Mindcrime" and trying to figure out who killed Mary, to Savatage's "Streets: A Rock Opera", from Trans-siberian Orchestra's "Christmas Eve & Other Stories" to Saviour Machine's "Legend" trilogy and now this.

This guy knows how to write good songs, no...great songs. Each one has it's own personality and mood yet they seem to blend perfectly into the overall theme of the album, more on that in a second.

Sure, they could be described as "cheesy" by people who don't understand the brilliance of concept albums (when done well) or just don't have an appreciation for this kind of music or for Sci-Fi. But otherwise, I don't see how you can't love this album.

Standout's for me are "High Moon", "The Eye of Ra", and "Master of Darkness".

The production is beautiful, the songwriting is masterful, and the stories are also good. StorieS? As in plural? Yes, unlike a typical concept album, which tell a single story, Space Metal is comprised of songs about individual space movies like "Outlander", "Stargate", "Dune", "Alien", "Star Wars" and more. So the Sci-Fi/Space theme is consistent, but the stories are seperate. It's great!

It's a real bummer that these interpretations of these classic Sci-Fi movies will most likely never be turned into big-budget music videos as they deserve to be, but I know that they have been released on the next best thing, a live DVD.

If you like big-sound, high-quality prog-rock/power metal and enjoy Sci-Fi and concept albums...pick this gem up RIGHT NOW.

I started out my Ayreon collection by getting the Human Equation and Star One Live on Earth with the DVD. So I started on the best first. Then I picked up this studio version of Star One.
I really like the live album. This studio album adds extra ambiance. The lyrics are cheesy - hey they are based on chessy sci fi material like Star Trek 4.
Russell Allen and Damian sound really good. Dan Swano and Robert sing the low parts, which are not as good, but Dan Swano is better than Robert's low vocals on the live album. Floor does okay on the vocals but often she is lost in the mix. Floor's voice also doesn't layer and fill out well. Not bad, but not as good as her vocals with sister Irene on Star One live, which are simply awesome.
Guitar tone is very good. Song structure is pretty good. If you like 70's/80's style of metal and synth overlaid with Arjen's humor, you will like this.

I imagine the audience for this CD, particularly in America, is a fairly small one. If you find the concept of Space Metal even the least intriguing you'll enjoy Star One.

Ayreon fans should take note, if you are more into the Prog side than the Metal side there is not much for you here. Arjen went pretty all out to keep the slower/calmer/progressive moments out of the CD and replaced them with guitar solos, double bass drums and 16th note tempos.

Imagine Star Trek turned into a heavy metal song. If you like that, buy this immediately!

As one of the previous reviewer said this is NOT Ayreon. This is METAL record. So, do not expect something similar to previous releases.
My friend, the heavy metal nut ( Dio, Judas Priest, etc.) said " Wow! Cool!". My 12 year old daughter likes it ( she is Ayreon nut too -:)). She is discovering classic hard rock like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin' now, so this album feets her tastes.
The album is indeed much less progressive, but more agressive and heavy. In fact, it is heavier then Flight Of The Migrator. I expected something in the same vein, because of the title.
The major problem with the album, in my humble opinion, is the much pieces of music can be applied to any theme: "long live rock-n-roll", "girls-girls", "we're so cool guys", etc. Heavy, mostly guitar-oriented arrangement, in most cases, doesn't reflect lirics that deal with sci-fi themes.
In my opinion, if you record space metal, sinths and keys must be used wider to create sci-fi, space aura.

The good things about this album are:
1) It is overall very good release. There are some really good tracks, like The Eye Of Ra, Starchild, Songs Of The Ocean.
2) LIMITED EDITION has a great packaging.
3) The second ( bonus) disk consists of great material. Honestly, I cannot say which disk I like more. The bonus one has great Hawkwind medley ( truly space metal!) and pretty good cover of David Bowie classic "Space Oddity" ( another great example of true space music!).
I really recommend you to buy Limited Edition. It costs just $2-3 more, but the bonus disk worth it!
Don't get me wrong: I like this CD, I bought it and I have been listening to it. But it is not 5 star one! And, it is not the best Ayreon CD. It is probably in the same level as its first 2 CDs, but far from brilliant Electric Castl, Migrator and Sequencer.

If you know who Arjen is you probably have this cd already. But for those of you who dont, Arjen Anthony Lucassen is a composer of music for many projects. He is known for Ayreon and usually gets guest vocals on his cds, but he can sing as well. Another project he has done was Ambeon. That was also done really well that i would describe it as a mix of Tori Amos and metal.

Anyway, onto Star One. Star One is in one word...incredible. Many people say the music for this cd is not all that original, but who cares? It sounds great and has great vocals contributing to the whole album. Russell Allen, Dan Swano, Damian Wilson, and Floor Jansen are the contributing singers to this wonderful cd. There is just so much talent on this cd that it cannot be anything but good.

This cd is a concept album about, well, you guessed it...space. The songs are dedicated to all the science fiction that Arjen loves, from Star Wars to Stargate. All the songs are like an abridged version of the movie put to music. All the singers interact with each other on, taking roles of the characters.

Now onto the actual songs:
I do admit they sound similar to each other, but in a good way,... My favorite song on the cd has to be Master of Darkness. This one is about star wars and Luke (Dan) interacting with Obi Wan (Damian), Darth Vader (Russell), and the Leia (Floor) is in there singing some of the chorus. Next would be Sandrider (i think its about Dune but im not sure) i dont know too much about this track, except that it is really really good. All of the tracks on this cd are extremely solid if not great and enjoyable.

If you get the limited edition version, you will get a bonus disc that has some cool stuff on it, but by far the best feature of that track is the cover of Space Oddity (Bowie) from Arjen himself. He even plays all the instruments on that track too (he plays everything but drums on this cd).

Now onto another aspect of this release, the artwork. The artwork is done by one of the most talented artists of today Mattias Noren ... He does artwork for progressive bands. In my opinion he is the best that I have ever seen. Really, check out his stuff.

hmm...that was a long review but i covered a lot and i really hope you buy this album... This is an amazing album and beyond a doubt warrants purchasing. Dont just download it, you will miss so many things.

...this CD truly deserves a Five out of Five. This is a very strong contender for album of the year for me and is practically guaranteed a place in my Top 10. Brainchild of Arjen Lucassen this is the metal CD that fans of Ayreon have been waiting for. While Aeyreon occasionally in self-indulgent prog stylings, Star One is a metal treat all beautifully wrapped in a Sci-Fi theme. Don't let the words, Sci-Fi theme scare you. This is not some laboured, multi-CD project that is difficult to follow like Iron Savior. Star One is a collection of songs, each incredibly individual and strong that each are loosely based on Science fiction films. I won't tell you what they are I'll let you have the fun on your own. Some songs only touch on certain scenes from movies as it woul dbe hard to take a 4 minute song and explain an entire 2 hour movie. The concept is fresh and unique, I wish more bands did this. Lucassen is a pioneer!

The packaging is flawless, many beautiful images, each correlating to each song, adorn the inside booklet, along with notes and lyrics and so on. Star One has an absolute multitude of guests, much like the Ayreon albums giving it the feel of yet another side project. However, there is a main band and each guest is usually a vocalist that brings an incredible individual flair and style to each song. Truly magnificent. I don't like to just list people but often it is the only way. This CD includes appearances from members (and ex-members) of Shadow Gallery, After Forever, Gorefest, Edge of Sanity, Symphony X, Stratovarius, Threshold and more if ya want to get into line-up and membership trivia.

The performances are sterling as is the production; the sound is lush, modern and powerful. The songwriting is easily the heaviest material he has done in a while and it makes sense that this is not another Ayreon CD. The soloing is elegant and tasteful and Ed Warby shows why he is still one of the most respected, multi-faceted drummers in rock and metal today. The songs are not long, pretentious or self-indulgent like so many of these projects can be. It has a very streamlined, metal feel compared to Ayreon, and the tunes are faster and heavier. A highlight for me was the vocal trade off between Russell Allen and Damien Wilson on the song "Intergalactic Space Crusaders". The vocal performances on the tune "Perfect Survivor" capture perfectly the mood of the movie in question. Apparently the European version has some bonus tracks, so I may have to bite and get that as well, that's how much I enjoyed this one.

SPACE METAL gets my highest recommendation and fans of virtually all-metal genres (except perhaps death and black metal) will appreciate the absolutely top-notch writing, production and performance, lyrics and packaging on this essential CD.

Consider yourself a music fan with a pulse? The fact that Space Metal probably won't see mass consumption should piss you off. Ninety-five percent of the best music in the world goes unheard by the masses, and that sucks. Of that ninety-five percent, Space Metal is at the very top, and the Hammond B-3 organ is the most under-utilized instrument today. The album is based on mastermind Arjen Anthony Lucassen's favorite science fiction movies and you can tell what movies the songs are based on as well. (Which only triples the cool quotient of the thing.) Lucassen's talent is unequalled, period. He's just untouchable, and Space Metal has no wasted moments, none. Pick this masterpiece up, throw on the headphones and completely lose yourself in a wash of Hammond B3 glory. The best album of any genre released in ten years, bar none.