NOSTRADAMUS - THE FATE OF MAN

In a Rock Opera about a character who really existed, it's also important that the novelization is coherent with the real history as much as possible. Another important required characteristic is that the story flows from one song to the other without having to interrupt it too often by a narrator. Last but obviously not least, the music must be good. KAYAK surely succeeds in creating good music to support the story. Both the songs and the instrumental symphonic parts are good and the passages are melodic but never trivial as usual with this Dutch band. I don't know if a real musical has ever been performed. Probably not. KAYAK is a band that usually doesn't perform out of its Country, mainly beacause its mastermind Ton Scherpenzeel doesn't want to put a feet on an airplane and this is quite a big limit.

Back to the story: the character of Michel de Notre Dame, aka Nostradamus is famous for his hermetic profecies, and there's a huge amount of books about him and his writings. In a "compact version" of this opera, released as a single CD, there's a narration, in English and in Dutch about what the true story might have been, with an interesting, realistic, hypothesis.

An exhaustive review of all the songs would take long and wouldn't be of any use if one is interested in this double CD. Some of the songs are really excellent and who is practical with the musical style of KAYAK will find here them at their best.

Being it an Opera, some themes are recurring several times. "Celestial Science" and "A Man with Remarkable Talents" are two of themost important themes, but my personal favorite is "Save My Wife" which is dramatic, sad and has a melodic structure tytpical of the best KAYAK songs.

A great concept album from the same land of "The Human Equation". It's a pity that while Arjen Lucassen has been able to bring his one to a theather and to a DVD, KAYAK failed to do the same. A complete Rock Opera that probably will never be peroformed on stage, if not just by the band playing the songs.