Ayreon
„The Human Equation“
double CD with Booklet

Arjen Lucassen, the mastermind behind Ayreon, has primarily made concept albums since 1995. These are progressive rock, metal, folk, and spacey. At the same time, they are always epically expansive and peppered with guest musicians.

In 2004, "The Human Equation", the fifth installment in the Forever cycle, was released, according to my interpretation. It is thus the successor to "Into The Electric Castle". "The Human Equation" is set in the present day. Initially, it's not clear that the Forever are involved here as well. The story begins in a hospital. The main character, "Me," is sung by James LaBrie (Dream Theater), "Me's wife" is sung by Marcela Bovio (Star One), and "Me's" best friend is sung by Arjen Lucassen himself. "Me" is a tormented character, a cold businessman ("thanks" to his father), because "Me" would have preferred to be an artist. On an empty road, he crashes his car into a tree. Physically unharmed, he lies in a coma, waging an internal war. This war ends after 20 songs, or rather, 20 days in a coma.

And right here I have to voice some criticism. To me, the connection to The Forever feels more artificial than on the other albums. The story of "Me" works perfectly well on its own. It's only with "01011001" that the album retrospectively acquires a function for me. In their ignorance, The Forever attempt to understand human emotions, believing they only need to solve the "human equation" to do so. For them, the human being they created is a problem that can be analyzed and solved like a lab rat. But how can an emotionless, alien society possibly grasp the inner conflicts, insecurities, and multifaceted inner voices of human beings? Many sociologist has tried to force socialization into a scientific framework. It doesn't work. The later-released "01011001" (2008) saves "The Human Equation", because in my chronology, it takes place before "The Human Equation". I maintain that this album makes no sense within "my" Forever cycle without the knowledge gained from "01011001". Of course, it works on its own, as it's still a good album. However, with "01011001", it becomes a piece of the Forever puzzle. It fits, but I still see a gap.

I'd like to highlight Mike Baker as "Father" and Devin Townsend as "Anger" in song 16, "Loser". While "Father" is hurling the worst insults at his son "Me," "Anger" jumps out of the corner and screams, knocking everyone to the ground. Just one song this time? Every single song is well done. All the characters, all the emotions are superbly cast. Heather Findlay as "Love". Irene Jansen as "Passion". Pick out one? Makes no sense to me.

Conclusion

This album took me several listens to appreciate and it has its quirks, because I found it overloaded, not new and, yes, typical Ayreon. But with each listen, it became clear: musically, it's every bit as good as "Into The Electric Castle" and "01011001", except for my criticism of the concept above. Arjen once again conjures vivid imagery, leads an army of musicians to peak performance, and creates another great album. Listen to "Isolation", "Loser" and "Confrontation". Is humanity ultimately just an equation?

Album order of the "Forever" cycle according to release date.

1995 The Final Experiment
1998 Into the Electric Castle
2000 Universal Migrator Part I „The Dream Sequencer“
2000 Universal Migrator Part II „Flight of the Migrator“
2004 The Human Equation
2008 01011001
2017 The Source

The photos are all from my CD. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.

TheProgThief
©02.11.2024
Mk 2