THE HUMAN EQUATION

I bought this album as an introduction to Arjen's wide work. For me, Arjen does very interesting music. Structurally it is not very progressive, the usual system in the songs is the basic pop-structure. But it (the music) has something that lures. Something that fascinates the listener. Arjen has several side projects that concentrates into one genre, at least with 'Star One'. But this piece has something very unique. I am familiar with his previous three albums, but not with the first two ones. Arjen has an ability to combine genres without messing the whole point of the music. This album grasps attention particularly with that ability and shares great feelings. Feelings are very important in music. The music, itself, is great while being little simple, but the idea in this album is not entirely in the music. There are eleven great vocalists, including Arjen, and what they create with their contribution, is something spectacular. It could be little difficult to get into this album despite the fact that the music is very simple. For some people, the length of this whole composition could be too much. There are lots of singing and less instrument jamming, that could get a while to get used to. The tracks filled with vocals is why this album is called rock opera. That, and the fact that there are many vocalists who play a part in a story.

The concepts of this album is very easy to get. It basically can be read straight from the lyrics, or from the website. The story is very cliché, but it works with the music. The human conciousness can be complex, but with this man (Me, James LaBrie), it is quite simple. Non-necessary, brief summary of the story: Guy has ignored his wife, betrayed his best friend. All because of his miserable childhood. His father beat him and never really cared about him. He falls into a coma, because of very strange car crash. He wakes up in his mind and realizes he is surrounded by feelings that takes him into his past. (By the way, when I say "He" or ”The guy”, I refer to the guy in coma.) ”I can’t move, I can’t feel my body, I don’t remember anything”

(The next paragraphs will contain some things about the storyline) Days 1-4: The 'Vigil' starts the album with a sexy cough by Meri Pitkänen. In this short song his best friend and wife are wondering about his fate. Calm, good vocal beginning to the album. 'Isolation' begins with more wondering, but his time by the guy, James LaBrie himself. He is confused. Fear, sung by Mikael Åkerfeldt, comes forth as the first emotion. Little after, a metal riff strikes. The verse is very laid back while being very swift. Great, dramatic vocals from Reason, sung by Eric Clayton, which sounds -some people say- a bit Bowie. Passion (Irene Jansen) and Pride (Magnus Ekwall) does good power singing in the chorus. After the second chorus, good peaceful flutes and the great, awesome Heather Findlay (Love). Oh, I think I love this woman, her voice is so beautiful, soft and tender. I get goose bumps every time I hear the lady sing. Calm, great work in this song. I think the moment where there are some techno keyboards, represents the fact that the guy is so lost in his head. That is the feeling I get from this part. Pretty lame guitar solo followed by wonderful keyboard solo. Great indeed it is, masterfully melodic. Arjen is very good guitarist, I assume, but his solos have not impressed my so far. The final chorus concludes the track. 'Pain' is a hard rock song. It begins with calm guitars and the soft voice of Agony, Devon Graves. Good chorus by Rage, Devin Townsend. The chorus is a good example what this mastermind does the best. Great different types of vocals one on top of the other. This combines a genius totality. The introduction by flutes and violin for (my) Love is great when she comes and tries to stop the collaboration of Agony and Rage. 'Mystery' is very calm track. Acoustic guitars roll and keyboards flow. I'm not a big fan of Marcela’s voice, but she really can sing. Very sharp and high voice. The verse and chorus are pretty dusty and I find this song little boring. The middle parts include good keyboard melodies and some mystery parts. Good song, but not the kind of quality than most of the tracks in the album. The track finishes with good vocal performances, great screaming by James LaBrie. The first couple of tracks is just introduction of the emotions, and how they try to affect to the guy. In ’Mystery’ the Wife and Best friend are trying to figure out why he crashed and wondering whether he knows. Knows what? You will know soon enough.

"Who are these voices, where do they come from? Should we try to understand?"

Days 5-8: 'Voices' begins with melodic guitarring and great cello and flute playing. Pride does a great intro vocals. Magnus is very clear rock singer. Really good cello work in this one. Very soft voice by Me, fine work. Reason wonders what are the voices that the guy hears. Love thinks that they are helpful. Excellent work. The guy is still very confused. This song include a average guitar solo and riffing, and a metal finish. 'Childhood' is my favourite track in the first disc. Very soft and beautiful voices by Me and Agony. Brilliantly beautiful melody. Then full, warm voice by Fear. The emotions take the guy into his poor childhood. Great, beautiful flutes and keyboards. Awesome guitar solo, which comes twice. Really good. This song shares amazing feelings. The song finishes with cello, and the great vocals from Agony and Me. 'Hope' is a happy song with cheerful keyboards. Short acoustic guitar solo. The Best friend is trying to wake him, but he realizes that he can't... Not yet. 'School' is a same kind of song than the previous one with Rage. Again, Devin sings chorus with great ability. Calm verse and metal chorus. After second chorus, nice dramatic, orchestral part. Reason and Pride fights for his attention. Prides wants that the guy kicks some butt, but Reason thinks that he is much wiser. With the song 'Childhood', he begins the journey through his past with emotions as guides.

"It's been 10 days, it shouldn't last this long. The doctor's mystified, nothing's physically wrong."

Days 9-12: 'Playground' is great. Short track with one melody, which is played with different instruments. Very happy melody. Guess he played happy plays. There is one thing that I wonder here. Shouldn't playground come before school? 'Memories' is another happy song with listing up the memories of the guy. Wife and Best friend tries to wake him up by talking and reminding who he is. This song has a good guitar melody. Short pop rock song. The next bit is 'Love'. This is very pop song with some hard rock guitars. The song is about how he and his wife fell in love with eachother. There is much repetition and not much music. Very powerfuly singed chorus, which is pretty catchy too. These are the facts that makes this track a very pop song. 'Trauma' is the longest song in the album. It is about how his mother died and how he feels guilty about it. There are very scary parts in this song with great work from Agony, Fear and Reason. Their vocal collaboration is incredible. Very good grunting by Mikael. Very good song grants what it promises in its name. Though perhaps the song is little dragging. The same tempo flows through the song sounding a bit boring. Good song, but not great.

"Look at you, lying there, defenceless and alone. See I'm no fool, I always knew, you wouldn't make it on your own"

Days 13-16: 'Sign' is a great ballad. Her voice is so lovely. Love does marvelous job, writing and singing the lyrics. So soft, so tender, so beautiful voice. Good guitars and flutes and great violin. The part where his Best friend and Wife sees his tears and fist is funny. I always think of goblins when I hear it. Great, mellow song. 'Pride' reveals his original plans about his career. He wanted to be artist, not a businessman. This song is pure hard rock with great rock guitar solo by Arjen. Flute is a metal instrument said someone. There has been interesting fight between Reason and Pride, but this is the song where they finally unite. Good keyboard flute outro. 'Betrayal' is the song, which tells the story how he betrayed his Best friend. Very good, operatic, full voice of Reason. Very epic sounding track. Great keyboard solo. 'Loser' begins with didgeridoo. This song is folk metal. Great song, my favourite of the whole album. Great melodies, great riffing, great vocals. This song is where his father mock him pretty badly. With that kind of father as a role model it is no wonder he ended up messing his life. Great hammond solo by Ken Hensley. Masterful outro vocals sung by Rage. Very enjoyable song.

"See him fight, he's all on his own..." "I need your help, can't do it alone!" "Listen to me, can you hear me shout?" "Let me out!!"

Days 17-20: 'Accident' tells the story who he ended up crashing to a tree. Very hypnotizing atmosphere, good bass tune. Good, melodic guitar solo followed by fine keyboard solo. Average stuff in the album. 'Realization' is very good track. It include very few vocals and much music. If not the vocals in the end, it would be great instrumental track. Begins with soft flute, but almost immediately jumps into this happy rock. Fine riffing. My friend said that the riff, which comes right in the middle of the song sound so Nightwish. The next song, 'Disclosure' is fine track, but for me, it is the weakest link. It has good melodies and vocal performances, but it is little boring. The final track is 'Confrontation'. Begins calmly, evolves constantly. The ending is great. Tempo rises and all the vocalists say something (except the father) and after the climax there are some weird stuff I don't want to understand. Good finisher.

This is a great album. Long composition, and the fact that it is done by one single man, is something marvellous. A mastermind is not a bad nickname for Arjen Anthony Lucassen. I can't, however, give this album five stars. It is not entirely progressive, as said before. Though the music rarely remind prog, Arjen does great work uniting genres and styles. And somehow, in my opinion, this artist deserves to be here. There is something that makes the music shine. I have this special edition with a DVD, which is pretty interesting. It has story of how Arjen got his singers to work with him and other cool stuff, video from 'Day eleven; Love' and much of Arjen's explanation. I think this was worth the couple of euros more I paid. What I like: The opera, many, great vocalists, which all do excellent work in this album. Combination of musical styles. The use of cello, violin, flutes. The artwork, the cover is great, but the booklet is even better. Things I love: Heather Findlay. She does amazing job as Love. I love Love. So beautiful. The voice is great too. All in all, this is great piece of music. It has everything: Metal, rock, pop, folk, techno, grunting, many great instruments and vocalists, variety of musical styles, diversity, and Heather Findlay. I still wouldn't call this an excellent addition to any "Prog" music collection, but I can't give three stars. This album deserves at least four stars. I rarely give five. This album is an excellent addition to any music collection. Not all people enjoy this music much, but everyone should at least give it a try. I highly recommend this album to everyone, the album is very enjoyable. 4/5 stars.

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