01011001

3.5 stars. I remember when I was a kid i used do detest any movie that was a musical.You know the deal, instead of the actors speaking their lines to each other they would sing them (gag). Anyway my tastes in that regard haven't changed whatsoever. That was the problem I had with "Into The Electric Castle", and I couldn't get past it. "01011001" isn't nearly as bad in that regard thankfully, but there are those moments. Another problem I have is that Jorn Lande is the most prominant vocalsist. This was by design of course. Arjen has suggested that with Jorn's strong voice and versitility he was an obvious choice to have a lead role. I do like Jorn it's just that he reminds me of David Coverdale too much. Not a fan. By the way this is the first AYREON album to enter the charts. Very cool. Another aside is that Roy Khan was supposed to sing on this recording but had vocal problems, Arjen couldn't wait for him to get better so he had Daniel Gildenlow do his parts.

Arjen has also stated that with 17 vocalists it is difficult for them to have enough time to fully display their talents unfortunately. So we have a double concept album here with a wide array of vocalists and instrumentalists. I wish they had broken down who sings on what songs in the liner notes. I know it's obvious at times but still. I still think Anneke is the most amazing vocalist on here. Floor Jansen is another vocalist I never tire of. Cool to hear Hansi from BLIND GUARDIAN on here, especially on the backup vocal parts. Oh, and Jonas from the great KATATONIA is a real treat too.

For being a Metal guy I really like the reflective "Connect The Dots" so much. It opens with the sound of a car starting then a beat with vocal melodies comes in. I just love the male reserved vocals on this one. I like the drums and female vocal melodies in "Ride The Comet". Another highlight for me is "Waking Dreams" that sounds like a TANGERINE DREAM song at first thanks to the synth work of Tomas Bodin. Again this is far from a Metal song but I find it so refreshing. Anneke is refreshing too. Haha. "The Truth Is Here" is great too with Phideaux on vocals with Simone helping out. Excellent tune.

This is good, but in my opinion it's not good enough to give it 4 stars.