THE HUMAN EQUATION

I love Ayreon because of two reasons: the music itself and the access it gives me to singers and bands I don't know yet. In both aspects, this is the best Ayreon album yet, and should be part of the selection of any progressive rock fan.

Arjen Lucassen has the great skill to match melodies and lyrics with singers. That way, he seems to bring out the best in all of them. He uses the warm side of James LaBrie's voice a lot, and the screams of Magnus Ekwall are superb. I won't mention all singers although I should - all add something unique to this album. Special mention should go to Arjen Lucassen himself. He often argues he's not a great singer, but he is very aware of that he can do, and his vocals at The Human Equation are outstanding.

The music seems at moments heavier than on other Ayreon albums, but overall the music is more accessible, maybe because of the absence of the space noises that are all through his earlier work.

I have to thank Arjen for this album, and for the new sources of music it has given me. I already bought CDs of Opeth, Mostly Autumn and Saviour Machine, and am thinking of looking for The Quill soon. I will listen to them as soon as I am ready to take The Human Equation out of my CD player.