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FATE OF A DREAMER
Tracklist: Estranged (2.47); Ashes (5.29); High (4.12); Cold Metal (6.50); Fate (7.39); Sick Ceremony (3.44); Lost Message (4.30); Surreal (4.37); Sweet Little Brother (6.06); Dreamer (5.17).
Arjen Lucassen is one of the few writers and musicians around today who is genuinely interested in exploring a whole variety of different genres: bombastic metal, sweet and simple melodies, pompous prog - as Ayreon
he's done them all, and very well he's done them too.
With this album he's showing a new side to his talents while, at the same time, glancing back to what has gone before. This music springs from "electronic patterns, chords and melodies derived from the recorded
tracks of existing Ayreon songs" - from these, new ideas emerged and grew into the ten tracks featured on 'Fate of a Dreamer'.
Here Arjen plays acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, voice, samples and weird noises (!) and is accompanied by drummer Stephen van Haestregt, and Walter Latupeirissa (Snowy White, Steve Lukather and Pat
Travers) on bass.
The icing on the cake is Astrid van Der Veen who provides the vocals - and also wrote the lyrics.
She has an amazing voice; strong, sweet and amazingly mature for her fourteen years, with a vocal style reminiscent of the early work of Sinaid O'Connor, circa 'The Lion and the Cobra'. Another similarity between these two is the big boots which Astrid wears with a pink frilly dress on the album cover (interesting discussions on the role of women in today's society follow!)
Adding to the atmosphere and ambiance of the music are John and Pat McManus, of Celtus, who play flute, Uillean pipes and fiddle on some of the tracks. Erik Norlander and Lana Lane also appear on a couple of
tracks.
The album opens with 'Estranged' which is introduced by pure Celtic pipes accompanying Astrid's clear tones. As the song progresses the subtle background music gently intensifies - a wonderful evocative start.
'Ashes' begins gently, the layers of music gradually building then slipping beneath the sublime vocals. Some tasty guitar work augments the music between the sung sections with their fabulous multi tracked
chorus.
'High' is another number in which the Celtic sound is strong, with both of the McManus brothers taking a part. This is a very atmospheric piece with strong, but restrained, instrumentation supporting the
flawless vocals.
'Cold Metal' is immediately familiar as it was previewed on the 'Ayreonauts Only' album.
It combines strong rhythms with brooding, atmospheric synth sounds - all these illuminated by short passages of inspired guitar work.
'Fate' is the first of the instrumental compositions - a techno / ambient composition. Spacey sounds lead into and through the track whilst striking guitar lines take off and sour above the brooding background.
There's always a track that doesn't catch the imagination as much as others and, for me, it's 'Sick Ceremony' ... a nice song amongst outstanding ones.
The two McManus make a final appearance in 'A Lost Message', a song very obviously based upon 'The Charm Of The Seer' from 'The Final Experiment'.
This song has always been a favourite of mine and hearing the melody played on the proper instruments, twinned with Astrid's exquisite voice takes it one step nearer to heaven!
Some beautifully elegant guitar playing introduces 'Surreal', then gives way to a vocal section, resurfacing to accompany the vocal reprise and lead the outro.
'Sweet Little Brother' is less of a dream, more of a nightmare scenario. This is an excellent piece with strong guitar work over a pounding rhythm track, with Astrid's sweet voice creating an effective contrast.
The last track, 'Dreamer', is another instrumental. An urgent rhythmic bassline against swirling synths and guitar sounds form the first part of the piece.
In the later part, a guitar melody is intertwined with a vocal line - very nice.
Although generally this album has a pretty different sound to the Ayreon albums, the deft Lucassen touch has worked its magic and the result is a superb CD that I just keep on playing.
'Fate of a Dreamer' will be appreciated by all Ayreonauts, and will also appeal to lovers of female vocalists.
Marisa 29th April 2001
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