November 26, 2013 by

I'm calling this one right now.  I may not have heard everything this year has to offer, but I am quite certain that I have heard one album that simply cannot be topped, at least not this year.  it's not my new favorite of all time or anything, but it is by the same artist who made my favorite album of all time, and it isn't lagging too far behind.

The album I speak of is Ayreon's The Theory of Everything. As a brief overview, this is Arjen Anthony Lucassen's eighth album on this particular project, and his fifteenth overall (he also did two under the name Star One, two under his own name, one for Guilt Machine, one for Stream Of Passion, and one for Ambeon).  The Ayreon project is a Progressive Metal Opera, one which tells a story within each album and until now continued in an ongoing saga with each new album.  The roles in each album are cast to various singers and musicians from other bands and styles. Past castings have included Simone Simons (Epica), Michael Akerfeldt (Opeth), Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Ken Hensley (Uriah Heep), and many more very well respected artists as well as some great relatively unknowns who have proven to stand strong amongst the more decorated voices in the project.  In short, Arjen knows how to get the right people involved in his project.

In The Theory Of Everything, the cast includes Janne Christoffersson (Grand Magus) as The Teacher, Sara Squadrani (Ancient Bards) as The Girl, Michael Mills (Toehider) as The Father, Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) as The Mother, Tommy Karevik (Kamelot) as The Prodigy, Marco Hietala (Nightwish) as The Rival, and the great John Wetton (Asia, King Crimson) as The Psychiatrist. Not only that, but guest musicians include Rick Wakeman (Yes), Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Troy Donockley (Nightwish), Maaike Peterse (Kingfisher Sky), and Steve Hackett (Genesis).  Needless to say, this casting is rich with talent and potential, and as you might assume by the context of this post none of it goes to waste.

The story on this album is what separates it from past albums in the Ayreon project.  The other seven albums were all one continuous story that ended with 01011001, and it dealt with many themes of science fiction.  This time around the story is completely stand alone and does away with the sci/fi plot in favor of a psychological story about a scientific prodigy with savant syndrome.  The prodigy is a brilliant mind with no ability to interact socially, and cannot process the world around cohesively enough to put his mind to a focused use.  Inspiration has been clearly noted from films such as Rain Man and A Beautiful Mind, so it helps to think of this albums as a sort of Heavy Metal Opera version of those films.  More directly, the album deals with the conflicts that arise with the Prodigy's ability to interact with other people, particularly his parents, girlfriend, and rival.  It's a very relate-able plot when compared to some of the past albums.

The performances here are absolutely top notch; each character is convincingly portrayed and beautifully harmonized with the moments they are portraying and the varying perspectives they're bringing across.  It's very easily to visualize these scenes play out because they're so expertly delivered and written.  Some may be turned off by the very operatic influence in the music; themes repeat across all acts of the album to reinstate certain characters or conflicts as is traditionally done in some operas.  In my opinion, some of the themes are so beautifully done that their various reprises almost make me want to applaud their return in the various points, and I also find it helpful to have recurring themes to reinforce certain moments that you cannot plainly see being performed.  For example, the notes played when the Prodigy or his Father actually work on the theory itself are not something that can be well described without narration, which this album does not have, but is easily identified when that rhythm starts playing.

In terms of faults, this album have a weaker third act compared to the other three acts.  It's in no way bad, but it's certainly not as strong as the two that came before, which is kind of a shame because it also contains most of the major pre-climax turning points for the various conflicts in the story.  The best way I can describe it is that it feels like Arjen had this beautiful ending in mind and this brilliant setup, but wasn't as inspired when bridging them together.

Speaking of the acts, the album is a two disc set that contains two phases.  Three of the four phases have eleven tracks, and the third phase has none.  In total, the album has four songs broken into 42 parts, which is a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.  The way it comes off for me is like a play with four acts, and each track is a separate scene within the act.  Musically these tracks are connected similarly to how Dark Side Of The Moon connects its tracks, though the transition isn't always very clean, meaning that jumping to track 4 will start you off with some of track 3's ending before starting the new scene for real.  This isn't a huge deal because I find it's significantly better to listen to the whole thing in one sitting, or if necessary try to stick with each phase as a whole unit.  The story begs for the full plot, and while there are certain scenes you may want to pull specifically for repeated listens you will find that they are strengthened by the surrounding material to the point where you need to have it all.

In terms of sound, as I mentioned before it's Progressive Metal at its heart.  This means that songs will evolve their sounds and transcend time signatures, which is especially complimentary to the nature of this album.  Each act feels like a connected song, and each clocks in at over 20 minutes.  That may sound like a lot for those used to pop songs, but each track itself ranges from about one to four minutes, and themes tend to change with each act.  The progressive style allows the music to flow freely from one idea to the next without feeling old or overwhelming.  And of course as per usual with Ayreon, the album incorporates lots of synth, classical, and folk influences on top of its Metal structure and roots, which also helps to diversify the sound throughout.  As diverse as it can be, it never feels jumbled for forced; its all brilliantly cohesive and flowing.  Simply put, it joyously manages to surprise you with new sounds without abandoning familiar themes that keep the story grounded.  Very well done.

I can't stop listening to this album or gushing about it.  I wouldn't say its as good as The Human Equation, Ayreon's sixth album and my personal favorite of all time, but I can certainly see this one making my Top 5 of all time.  The major thing that it doesn't do that The Human Equation did has to do with the cast itself, which is something that I just don't think can be topped.  But still, what was accomplished here is something to celebrate.  I wish I could link the whole album for you guys to check out, but the videos for that have been taken down.  So here's a list of the tracks I could manage to find.  Check them out and if you dig what you're hearing, buy the album.

"The Theory Of Everything Parts 1 & 2" (Phase 1, tracks 2 & 11)

"The Teacher's Discovery" (Phase 1, track 5)

"Progressive Waves" (Phase 1, track 7)

"The Gift" & "The Eleventh Dimension" (Phase 1, tracks 8 & 9)

"Quantum Chaos" (Phase 2, track 19)

"Magnetism" (Phase 3, track 28)

"Mirror Of Dreams" (Phase 4, track 32)


What about you guys?  What is your pick for the best album of 2013 so far?


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On This Day In Music (November 26th)


A Social Grace by Psychotic Waltz released on November 26th, 1990.  Also released on this day:

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