Essential Listening | Ayreon: The Human Equation
Ayreon, the brainchild of Dutch multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Arjen Anthony Lucassen, can rightfully claim the title of "one of the best albums of 2004." Lucassen strikes a chord with music lovers of all types with The Human Equation. Elements of psychedelic rock, death metal, hard rock, traditional Irish, classical, and progressive rock are seamlessly and effortlessly combined to create over 100 minutes of awe-inspiring music.
Some simple background information about this album and artist is necessary. "Ayreon" is not a band; rather, it's a "supergroup" of sorts, led by Arjen Lucassen, who composes and produces the music, in addition to playing most of the instruments himself (except for the drums as performed by ex-Gorefest drummer Ed Warby, and the occasional keyboard solos performed by various artists). Each Ayreon release is a "rock opera," based upon stories created by - you guessed it - Arjen Lucassen. The "supergroup" description is in reference to the vocalists used for the records - Lucassen normally chooses one vocalist for each character's role in his stories. The roster of vocalists chosen for previous Ayreon albums is a who's-who of the top names in progressive (and other genres of) rock. Fish (ex-Marillion), Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius), Neal Morse (Spock's Beard), Russell Allen (Symphony X), Fabio Lione (Rhapsody), and Barry Hay (Golden Earring) are but a few vocalists from Lucassen's impressive roster. Each Ayreon release differs from the others, a rule to which The Human Equation is definitely no exception.
The Human Equation features 11 vocalists, most notably including James LaBrie of Dream Theater. Other respected names include Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth), Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend Band), Devon Graves (Dead Soul Tribe), Mike Baker (Shadow Gallery), and several others. Arjen also introduces a few relatively unknown vocalists, with Marcela Bovio and Irene Jansen. As with most previous Arjen releases, each vocalist portrays a specific character within the story. Unlike previous Ayreon releases, however, the story behind The Human Equation is very deep. In a nutshell, it is about a wealthy businessman (the "Me" character, as portrayed by James LaBrie) who is involved in a car accident in broad daylight, with no one else around. He slips into a coma for 20 days, puzzling the doctors since nothing is physically wrong with him. The plot of the story occurs in two places simultaneously: at his bedside in the hospital, where his wife (portrayed by Marcela Bovio) and best friend (portrayed by Arjen himself) are talking, and also within his own mind. Each day, he faces emotions (Reason, Love, Fear, Pride, Passion, Rage, and Agony) and past memories, such as when his mother died, when he betrayed his best friend, when he first met his wife, and when he was in school. As the album progresses with the interactive dialogue between characters (some songs feature 6-10 vocalists), the listener slowly begins to realize that the "accident" was not an accident at all.
On a musical level, the music perfectly compliments the moods as set forth by the vocalists and their characters. The music gets heavy as Rage (portrayed by Devin Townsend) speaks to the businessman; the music is soft as Love (portrayed by Heather Findlay) speaks to him, and so on. As mentioned earlier, there is something here for any music lover - from folk to classical to proggy to heavy - and any open-minded music fan will appreciate the album for its lush musical arrangements and wide variety of styles.
The entire album is amazing, from start to finish. However, some highlights include "Day Three: Pain," "Day Eleven: Love," "Day Fourteen: Pride," "Day Sixteen: Loser," "Day Eighteen: Realization," and "Day Twenty: Confrontation." Be certain to check out The Human Equation in its entirety.
