Isaac Asimov's "The End of Eternity," Stanislaw Lem's "Solaris," Ray Bradbury's stories, the works of A. Toynbee — this is just a partial list of what comes to mind when you contemplate the concept behind the new AYREON album (though the same applies to the previous ones as well). Lucassen tells the story of planet Y (hence the album title 01011001, which is nothing other than the ASCII code for that letter), inhabited by the Forever, beings entirely dependent on machines who have completely lost the ability to feel. The heroine, performed by Anneke Van Giersbergen, sees nothing wrong with this, but many look back with nostalgia to the times when they still had emotions and feelings. Using a comet, the Forever send their DNA to planet Earth. The comet kills the dinosaurs and gives rise to human life, but the Forever do not allow humans to develop independently — they constantly interfere with the process, rushing events and accelerating their natural course, thereby creating yet another machine civilization. Scientists of the 21st century receive a vision from the Forever, and they transmit this information into the past (this immediately recalls the concept of the very first AYREON album, since it was precisely such a message that the blind bard Ayreon received from the year 2084). However, all is in vain — Earth is yet another mistake of the Forever. The year 2085 — the planet perishes, and only one survivor remains: the Migrator. He reaches Mars, and beyond that... the events are detailed in the "Universal Migrator" dilogy from 2000. Such is this rock opera with a sci-fi storyline.
But let's say a few words about the musical side. Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), Daniel Gildenlow (Pain of Salvation), Thomas Englund (Evergrey), Jorn Lande, Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-THE GATHERING), Floor Jansen (AFTER FOREVER), Steve Lee (Gotthard), Bob Catley (Magnum), and Magali Luyten (Virus IV) — what a stunning all-star lineup, and these are just the Forever. For the Humans, singing in four songs, there are Simone Simons (Epica), Phideaux Xavier, Wudstik, and others. Perhaps most importantly, among the Humans, Arjen Lucassen places himself — the man whose name is synonymous with AYREON. Among the guitarists, Michael Romeo makes an appearance; among the keyboardists, such geniuses as Thomas Bodin and DEREK SHERINIAN; Ed Warby of Gorefest recorded the drums; and there is also flute, cello, and violin (the latter is particularly fitting in the composition titled E=MC2, since it is well known that Einstein's second great passion after theoretical physics was playing the violin).
How did it all turn out? Quite well, actually. There are powerful, driving moments as well as purely lyrical passages. Each vocalist works in their own style, and Arjen brilliantly assigned roles based on each singer's timbral characteristics. Among the album's drawbacks is the similarity of some voices, which means the transition between parts is not always felt, making the album best enjoyed with the booklet in hand and no distractions. On first listen, the album may seem somewhat tedious — that is a fact — but it is equally true that the album should be listened to at least three times, and only if your opinion remains unchanged should you set it aside. Though the latter is unlikely to happen if the listener is familiar with Arjen's other works and enjoys experimental progressive rock.