THE FINAL EXPERIMENT

Assuming you aren't snickering at the premise or introductory voice-overs, you will probably find yourself enjoying Ayreon's first album throughout. It has a big, pompous prog sound with strong melodies and occasionally strong performances. For what they are, the songs are nicely arranged and earnest in their delivery of the subject matter. However, the cheesy synthesized orchestra, at times mediocre vocals and overall lack of song writing flair make "Final Experiment" one for fans of the band only-- it's like a warm- up for later albums which are far and away more entertaining.