The inventive and endlessly imaginative mind of Arjen Lucassen has been at work again to bring us yet another winner of an album.
This time it’s not his Ayreon project. Instead Songs No One Will Hear goes out as a Arjen solo album.
As usual with Arjen, it’s a conceptual theme. Indeed, “the soundtrack of the apocalypse”.
The story which unfolds over the course of the album based around an asteroid due to hit the planet in five months and charting how the population reacts right up to the end.
Whilst this is an Arjen solo job, many of those who have collaborated with him over the years crop up such as Irene and Floor Jansen, Joost Van Den Broek and Marcela Bovio to name but three.
This is such a fun album. Arjen’s song writing and multi-musicianship is as flawless as ever. Lyrically it’s clever too. Biting, sarcastic and humorous. As is the progressively more unhinged between song narration by Mike Mills as an Aussie radio show host and his “end of the world show”.
And on progressively – prog is a big feature here though in typical Arjen style is merges prog with the bombastic and symphonic heavy stuff, riffing, tasty guitar licks, some blusey stuff, keyboard and organ swirls and even the familiar folksy tinges with some violin and flute chucked in. Oh, and lots of glorious hooks and melodies too.
So much going on musically and lyrically you might think it’s a difficult listen. Not so….Such is the level of composition and delivery it is immediately accessible from first listen and becomes more so with each additional listen.
The Clock Ticks Down sets the scene with the realisation in five months it’s all over. Arjen and Irene Jansen trade the vocals. A dark, sombre undertone given the subject matter through breaks out in to all sorts of heavy riffing and atmospheric syths.
Goddam Conspiracy is huge fun. Bitingly topical and sarcastic, humorous lyrics. It chugs along nicely with the catchy hooks, riffs, licks, a glorious organ break giving it a bit of a vintage Uriah Heep feel and the violin and flute interludes folk-rock it up too. So many styles in four and a half minutes.
Here’s the video:
The approaching doom is dealt with progressively over the remainder of the album with more of the humour and merging of musical styles not least with the arrival of the mysterious Dr. Slumber running a bus tour to the site the asteroid is due to hit.
It all leading up to the fifteen minute closer of Our Final Song. Has anyone packed so much in to fifteen minutes of music? A sweeping, majestic, bombastic epic bringing the world to an end as the planet killer impacts.
Arjen hits the spot yet again. He’s one of a kind. All the usual various formats available.
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