Ayreon
The Final Experiment

Arjen Anthony Lucassen, before being a great musician, is an excellent artist: over the years, he first established his importance in the progressive horizon and then had the strength to reaffirm it with splendid albums like "The Human Equation" and "01011001". Yet, prior to these monumental sonic experiences, Anthony Lucassen's work started quietly: indeed, the first cry was emitted in 1995 with "The Final Experiment", still one of his lesser-known works today.

A grandiose debut, a complex and magnificent work for a musician tackling his first studio projects with a very ambitious project right from its inception. Already with this album, the Dutch multi-instrumentalist makes clear his way of conceiving and producing music: The Final Experiment is a concept album, a recurring element in Ayreon's discography. Here, the story is about Ayreon, a blind minstrel from the 6th century who, having the ability to perceive messages from the future, understands the desperate situation in which the world will end: famines, wars, environmental destructions, and other various issues. From this starting point, Lucassen's purely stylistic conception evolves, i.e., the complete and continuous fusion of the most diverse influences of rock in general. It smoothly ranges from the melodic hard rock of the seventies to decidedly modern sounds. It caresses the lighter metal and does not disdain intrusions taken here and there from opera and more complex prog rock. The final result is that of a lengthy work but always well balanced in its various contaminations and above all catchy from the first listen, thanks to an excellent melodic sophistication.

Surrounded by more or less known musicians, Lucassen brings to life a rock opera with essential traits, where the technicalities are reduced to the bone. This is perhaps one of the main characteristics of the Ayreon project and of Lucassen: he does not understand prog as the magmatic and continuous evolution of technicalities for their own sake, useless. His conception of prog is that of a genre that, through the marriage of the most diverse influences, manages to elicit pure emotions from music. This is the case of the sweet "Nature's Dance" and "The Charm of the Seer", clear examples of how melody can wonderfully marry a background atmosphere borrowed directly from the seventies. Moreover, there is a noticeable attraction to the new age, which is also reaffirmed in "Sail Away to Avalon", another fantastic composition alternating on different stylistic registers. This atmosphere recalling the past is well present throughout the album and mixes with much more "futuristic" sounds like those of "Computer Reign", while the suite "The Banishment" highlights all the major components of music as conceived by Lucassen: initial moments with a paradisiacal touch that evolve in the second part into a truly engaging progressive ride.

It would be misleading to mention all the tracks on the CD and their influences, as one would risk diminishing a notable musical and thematic work. The Final Experiment, although today a somewhat "unexplored" album in Ayreon's discography, is nevertheless a work that already clarified the characteristics of Lucassen's music, his desire to amaze through an orgiastic whirlwind of the most diverse currents of rock in particular and metal. Better to rediscover such a work...

1. "Prologue" (3:16)
2. "The Awareness" (6:36)
3. "Eyes Of Time" (5:05)
4. "The Banishment" (11:08)
5. "Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy" (2:46)
6. "Sail Away To Avalon" (4:02)
7. "Nature's Dance" (2:28)
8. "Computer Reign (Game Over)" (3:24)
9. "Waracle" (6:45)
10. "Listen To The Waves" (4:59)
11. "Magic Ride" (3:36)
12. "Merlin's Will" (3:20)
13. "The Charm Of The Seer" (4:13)
14. "Swan Song" (2:44)
15. "Ayreon's Fate" (6:57)