UNIVERSAL MIGRATOR, PART 1: THE DREAM SEQUENCER

While this recording does not represent the core nature of Ayreon's music, which is more akin to heavy prog rock, this remains my favorite because of its more atmospheric and melodic content. Exceedingly electronic and even Floydian at times, the menu is way less über-symphonic than on other Ayreon albums , preferring a gloomier and moodier appeal where Arjen Lucassen and Erik Norlander (of Rocket Scientists fame) can weave some scintillating keyboard swirls with Arjen's patented guitar solos as an added feature. The title instrumental track launches this one firmly into outer space sci-fi travelling mode with firstly some usual cold female commands and vocoded protocols evolving gradually into wall of synthesized sound very close to a Floyd/ Tangerine Dream marriage, dense, dreamy and mysterious. Arjen pulls out a solo from his axe that would make Gilmour shudder, swooping analog synthesizers sweeping the corridors on the edge of time, a neat entrance. "Mouse on Mars" is punchier with sequencers aglow, rezoning some distant quadrant of space and featuring both male (Marilyn Manson lookalike Johan Edlund) and female (the pierced Floor Janssen) vocals, combining on a monolithic chorus that espouses the grand fanfare theme, a middle section loaded to the Romulan gills with grandiose workouts on guitar and synths. Drummer Rob Snijders pounds a mean drum in the process. Very good track, this! The nihilistic "2084" strictly stamps the event with a futuristic date where war and destruction seem to thrive in utter connivance; a soft acoustic guitar and forlorn synth solo paint the misery of some nuclear catastrophe giving vocalist Lana Lane the platform to lament some fierce regret. The tortuous axe solo slips around like some gooey eel successfully expressing the oblivion of destiny and the apocalyptic end of civilization. Absolutely creepy! From now on the clock goes backward into past history. In a clever twist, "One Small Step" reverts to a distant childhood memory of Man landing on the Moon in July 1969, ironically the birth of progressive rock in a way, where astronomy beckoned the innocent to look up and beyond the stars and comprehend the humanistic need to travel to space. Singer extraordinaire Edward Reekers provides a masterful performance, oozing bravado and passionate awe while Norlander whips up a shimmering synth solo and Arjen does another incredible job on lead guitar. The Eagle has landed, indeed. The next one is a bizarre electro-medieval concoction inspired by Rembrandt van Rijn and my preferred track here "The Shooting Company of Captain Frans B. Cocq", a gorgeously capricious piece that has an alternative feel with a superb melody, some idiosyncratic singing and some creative sound textures culminating in a shivering choir backdrop. Vocalist "Mouse" does well to hint at anyone from John Foxx, Davis Bowie and Trevor Horn without falling into a cornfield. "Dragon on the Sea" is gurgling synthesized bubble bath, pinging wildly in and out of 16th century focus as Lana Lane takes the microphone and soars accordingly, urging Drake's sailors against the invading armada. This cut doesn't really hit me but its okay, I guess. "Temple of the Cat" beams sonic light on the Mayan pyramid in Tikal and is refreshing little ditty. "Carried by the Wind" is a 6th century inspired affair with Arjen on vocals and a Celtic powered guitar phrasing that is stirring to say the least, another thoroughly enjoyable brief track that hits the melodic mark. "And the Druids Turn to Stone" is the other big winner here , a near 7 minutes of majestic prog with some insistent Hammond organ, purified guitar insertions, dive-bombing synths and a gigantic vocal courtesy of Threshold's genial lead lung Damian Wilson. Yummy! Grandiloquent, perhaps even bombastic at times, this is pure prog bliss. "The First Man on Earth" revives the prehistoric innocence of the dawn of time, a Garden of Eden of sound and substance, almost Beatles-like (pretty cool orchestrations actually) in delivery, a surreal fantasy of a nascent world that will find ways to ruin it all in so many directions. The disc ends its 70 minute + run on a title track reprise that fades backwards into oblivion. Perfect concept, execution and mood. Bravo! 4.5 trance cycles