Stratovarius Community

After Ayreon, Ambeon, Star One, Guilt Machine etc. A. A. Lucassen finally puts out another solo album. I heard it yesterday and love it!

Anyone else here heard it/planning to listen?

I really liked the first Star One and some Ayreon releases, so I'll definitely give this one chance.

I'll listen to this very soon, I love Arjen's music. :>

Will check this one out.
I hope its as good as "Guilt Machine"!

le link to songs pl0x XD XD

NeverendingAbyss wrote:le link to songs pl0x XD XD

I think its time for somebody to PLEDGE!

Consider getting 3 super-deluxe boxes, in case you lose two.

rikkertje wrote:After Ayreon, Ambeon, Star One, Guilt Machine etc. A. A. Lucassen finally puts out another solo album. I heard it yesterday and love it!

Anyone else here heard it/planning to listen?

Sounds very intersting actually.

( Someone should make a movie from the idea, but not involve Sylvester Stallone in any way. )

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2 ... -old-beast

I've heard it a few times now and absolutely love it.
Every song is a slightly different genre (there's metal, old hard rock, folky stuff, power pop as Arjen calls it, and of course the epic stuff we all know Arjen rocks in), but still the album flows as a whole.

Another good point is the fact that it is really refreshing to hear Arjen sing a whole album. There's one backing vocalist (a very, very good one btw) and that's it.

Narration is done by a very famous Dutch actor called Rutger Hauer. His mysterious voice draws the attention right away.

My advice: LISTEN, BUY, ENJOY.

JensJohansson wrote:

rikkertje wrote:After Ayreon, Ambeon, Star One, Guilt Machine etc. A. A. Lucassen finally puts out another solo album. I heard it yesterday and love it!

Anyone else here heard it/planning to listen?

Sounds very intersting actually.

( Someone should make a movie from the idea, but not involve Sylvester Stallone in any way. )

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2 ... -old-beast

Fuck you, Sylvester Stallone is a God among mere mortals. Your jealousy of his Oscar nominations is palpable, as you sit making your $5 an hour wanking at a keyboard all day, playing the same three songs.

Jens just cannot comprehend the shear vastness of Stallone's talent, ranging from the wholeness and sentimentality of "Rocky", to the country-inspired hilarity of "Rhinestone." And who can forget the inspiring mother-son relationship in the "Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot."

As Stallone belts out his beautiful voice in the song Drinkenstein, he speaks of a simpler time of booze and good times. But there's a deeper sadness there, lying behind the goofy hat and Elvis-styled pants. It is that of sadness, and the follies that come with it. On the surface, "Rhinestone" is a comedy. But deeper down, you will find a meaningful character study of an out-of-luck man and his relationship with rural society.

Still not his best feature film, but one that shows his vast talents and wide range of vocal abilities. When Stallone sings "Budweiser you created a monster," you feel for the newly formed alcoholic, and root for him to overcome his problems. And when he finally does, a palpable sense of satisfaction permeates throughout your mind. You have been given the graces of God, in the form of "Rhinestone."

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The album trailer.

Why can't I see the aliens in there?

Arjen simply is one of the most amazing musicians alive (no offense Jens you would rank pretty high in that list as well)
I haven't bought it yet since I am still working on improving my collection by finding some special editions of his other works for a decent price.

And then there have been so many amazing bands I have gotten into lately (Marillion, Spock's Beard and Beardfish)

Just had a listen at a couple of songs and here's two of my favourites:
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and the cover of Welcome To The Machine:
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It sounds really nice!

After a few listens, I must say that the album is great, pretty much what I expected.

@mayhem-for-all: Yeah, he is pretty high on my list too (if I had to rank current musicians, both he and Jens would be in the top5). And it seems like you really got into neo-prog, am I right?:&#272;

there is buckethead in a catagory of his own, then there is arjen and jens in the catagory of people with jen in their name who are great musicians.

Honestly, I thank rikkertje and Jens a lot for this thread! I have never really been too interested in Aryeon, but I'm absolutely loving what I've heard of this album! I'm going to have to buy it for when it comes out in the US!

Seriously guys, you've opened me up to something I never would have listened to otherwise

I say the same! God bless stratoforum. :facial: :facial:

Krigo wrote: Seriously guys, you've opened me up to something I never would have listened to otherwise

Try listening to EBM

And it seems like you really got into neo-prog, am I right?:&#272;

Well progressive music in general has become a big thing for me over the last few years.
And my collection keeps expanding and expanding...

mayhem-for-all wrote:

And it seems like you really got into neo-prog, am I right?:&#272;

Well progressive music in general has become a big thing for me over the last few years.
And my collection keeps expanding and expanding...

Good to hear! I'm a huge fan of prog, so would you mind tossing a few favorites my way?:>

Balu wrote:

mayhem-for-all wrote:

And it seems like you really got into neo-prog, am I right?:&#272;

Well progressive music in general has become a big thing for me over the last few years.
And my collection keeps expanding and expanding...

Good to hear! I'm a huge fan of prog, so would you mind tossing a few favorites my way?:>

Well I am still learning the basics (even after all these years) so just some big names.

It's nice to start close so I might mention that Jens and Lauri have made amazing proggy solo-albums.
Rush and Yes are amazing classics. Rush actually quickly became one of my biggest favorites and I just love each and every one of their styles. 70s was great 80s wasn't any worse and even today they don't show signs of slowing down on quality.
My Yes collection isn't very big yet but what I have is very good. Close to the Edge is a masterpiece that is difficult to digest but once you get it it's great stuff.

Like I already mentioned Marillion, Spock's Beard, Beardfish and Fates Warning have great music that I am getting into and all of Arjens projects (Mostly Ayreon and Star One but I am also hunting the records of his other projects) are amazing (Into the Electric Caste might be the most magical album of all times)

Then there are the ProgMetal Giants Dream Theater, Symphony X and all the side-projects of theirs.
Jordan Rudess for example has some amazing solo albums that are something you would never expect from him after listening to his playing in DT. I really enjoy the album he made with JP (Evening With Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci) a really nice and calm peace of instrumental flow of melodies. Derek Sherinian has also made some great albums. Mythology for example is definately wirth checking out. I am currently looking for his other projects like Planet X as well but don't know if they are good (I do expect them to be)
Liquid Tension Experiment is also great. I am currently looking for their albums.

Then there is Kevin Moore with his hard-to-find Chroma Key albums. His OSI albums are easier to find and also sound great. I just love the dark atmosphere and I have also learned to like his vocals.

as for some old Finnish prog bands from 70s like WigWam fro example are worth checking. If you are looking for instrumental prog with Jazz influences then check out Pekka Pohjola (The Guy Zappa wanted to work with and to who Lauri Porra has been compared to)

Some new Progressive Metal bands from Finland are also making some great music so I suggest you check out Status Minor and Adamantra. SM made an amazing debut album and just a couple of weeks ago released their second album. The debut album called Dialog was one of the best albums of 2009.
Adamantra also released their debut album a couple of years ago and are currently preparing their next album. The new songs sound like they would from another planet however. They also switched their vocalist who was propably the weakest part of the band. The album Revival was a slight disappointment considering how good they sounded on their first EP but was nonetheless a really solid album with crazy instrumental parts and familiar names like Mikko Sepponen (Drums, also known from bands like Olympos Mons) and Risto Kupiainen (yes the brother of Matias)

I really have to finish up this post but I have no time right now so I will post it now and correct and improve it later.[/b]

So Definate additions to those few are Porcupine Tree (I am still getting introduced to it but so far it has been really good but quite different)

Transatlantic has also been a huge positive surprise. It is simply some of the best Progressive music I have ever heard. The Whirld Tour live album is especially nice (I just love it when Mike Portnoy says that: "we have played for almost two hours but we have only played two songs so far. It looks like it's going to be a long evening")

I just listened to some songs by a band called Haken and while the first one I heard didn't intrest me the second one (Eternal Rain) was amazing. Damn it how can I have time to listen to all these bands and how can I afford to buy all their albums? Well I guess I will have to keep doing it like I have done so far and wait for sales and hunt for discounts.

I have also heard good things about bands like Myrath, Riverside and Anubis Gate even though I am not familiar with their music at all (but they are on my to check list)

Oh and then there is Journey. I have one Best of record of their (Got it for 1€). When I got my hands on it I realised it was of their poppier mainstream times but it was still pretty good. Nice musicianship and good vocals. Still I should gte some of their earlier creations which are a lot more progressive. Kansas is another old classic I am trying to get to know. I once heard a really good Kansas song but everything else I have heard from them after that hasn't impressed me.

Seventh Wonder is also one of the bands I am trying to get into but so far I haven't had the time to listen to enough of their music to buy any of their albums.

Then there are dozens of power metal bands with prog influences (Excalion, Royal Hunt, Pagan's Mind...) I might add that I have always thought that Stratovarius is not just Power Metal. It has always been very progressive. For example Fourth Dimension could easily be introduced as a Prog-album.[/b]

mayhem-for-all: On the subject of Journey I would recommend checking out their most recent album: Eclipse

It was easily one of the best albums of last year for me, was up there with Elysium, Age of the Joker and A Dramatic Turn of Events.

So. Who has heard Arjen's Lost In The New Real? And what's your opinion about it.

Jens, you seemed to be interested. Did you hear the album already?

rikkertje wrote:So. Who has heard Arjen's Lost In The New Real? And what's your opinion about it.

Jens, you seemed to be interested. Did you hear the album already?

Fucking awsome! very strange music but not to strange to me

rikkertje wrote:So. Who has heard Arjen's Lost In The New Real? And what's your opinion about it.

I heard it a few weeks ago and I loved it. Arjen is extremely talented and this is as good as any of his other works, though in a very different way. Songs are short and simple... like an amish man with a pituitary gland disorder. But without missing anything really, they just get straight to the point.

I also highly recommend Guilt Machine, which was a true progressive masterpiece.

@mayhem-for-all

You should really expand your Yes collection. I have all their albums and've seen 'em live twice.

Tales From Topographic Oceans, Fragile and Going For The One are masterpieces.

I reslly love this album and Star one

But now I am waiting for a new Ayreon

I never dig Ayreon too much so I guess im gonna be the last to discover arjen awesomeness, something just doesnt appeal to me, I might be taking sides when comes to music rivalry, I like metallica never megadeth and i like avantasia never Ayreon, I know is stupid...