Author Topic: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time  (Read 27119 times)

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Offline jingle.boy

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Lots of fantastic reading.  I'm caught up to Space Metal, so I'll put out my thoughts on the albums up to that point.

First, I'm pissed that this started when I wasn't too active here (not at Ruslan, just in general), and wasn't able to participate as this happened - particularly with the listening sessions.  Hopefully I can make myself available for The Gentle Storm listening session.

Second, while I inherently knew the storylines/concepts of the albums, it's really great to see them laid out so neatly and concisely.  I just read Nick's post about how impressive these writeups are, and couldn't agree more.  Just phenomenal.  It's too bad there isn't more participation here.

Lastly... you've all got a bit of an edge with the Survivor predictions on some of these, cuz ya'll discussed your favorites a few months ago!   :biggrin:

My random thoughts/comments on each of the first few albums:

The Final Experiment
You mentioned Arjen has three live albums - I assume you're counting Live in the Real World, or am I having a total brain fart?
Ian Parry - You forgot to mention here (though mentioned it later) that he was also from Vengeance
As far as Multi-album Cohesive rock opera's - Consortium Project is a five-album pentalogy.  For those that don't know it, ironically, Ian Parry is the composer, and Arjen has some guest appearances. 
I also don't like when multiple vocalists sing the same character - and it was especially brutal with the last Flaming Row album when not only were multiple vocalists singing the same character, but some vocalists also sang multiple characters!  :zeltar:

Actual Fantasy
"And yet, in my opinion, he failed to write a good album." - sums it up pretty well.  I wouldn't call it bad, but it's not terribly good.
Not sure if if I've ever heard the revisited version. Gonna have to spin the it on Spotify to see.
As Nick mentioned, I too became a fan at THE, so easing into AF after getting the flavour of all his releases was ok.  It is by far the "least best" album as he put it.

Into the Electric Castle
Brilliant writeup - especially when you're "ambivalent".  I'm truly stunned that anyone could rate 01 ahead of this - more on that later.
Grunts are really A) unnecessary here, or B) poorly done. Could also be my general dislike of Cookie Monster growls.
It ranked in my original Top 50, and my 2nd favorite "Ayreon" album

The Dream Sequencer
For me, his one is hit and miss. I prefer Arjen's more upbeat and 'rockin' music, so this was a tough one for me to digest initially. It has aged well however, as for the longest time THIS was my least favourite Ayreon album.  And having been a fan of Lane/Norlander for a while, it was somewhat of a shock that I didn't love this one. 

Flight of the Migrator
Song-for-song, I believe this is the most consistent disc through the the Ayreon discography. There is nothing here that I don't dislike.  And if I didn't consider it to be part of a double "Universal Migrator" album, I'm sure I'd rate it higher than ITEC.

Ambeon
Never knew they were reworked Ayreon tracks. Gonna have to go back and listen to it again ... again.  Astrid is an absolute gem here. Ya'll failed in the vocal performance Survivor.   ;) :P
That's a word salad - and take it from me, I know word salad
I fear for the day when something happens on the right that is SO nuts that even Stadler says "That's crazy".
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Offline Evermind

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Lots of fantastic reading.  I'm caught up to Space Metal, so I'll put out my thoughts on the albums up to that point.

First, I'm pissed that this started when I wasn't too active here (not at Ruslan, just in general), and wasn't able to participate as this happened - particularly with the listening sessions.  Hopefully I can make myself available for The Gentle Storm listening session.

Second, while I inherently knew the storylines/concepts of the albums, it's really great to see them laid out so neatly and concisely.  I just read Nick's post about how impressive these writeups are, and couldn't agree more.  Just phenomenal.  It's too bad there isn't more participation here.

I can't even express how glad I am to see these kind of posts from the seasoned Ayreon/Arjen DTF fans. I mean, I'm really glad to see these kinds of posts from anyone, naturally, but these are even more special (especially special?). Thank you!

Lastly... you've all got a bit of an edge with the Survivor predictions on some of these, cuz ya'll discussed your favorites a few months ago!

Don't forget that they also had do their predictions months ago, I think it was between Embrace the Storm / 01011001 writeups. There are a lot of random predictions that are totally off-base, in my opinion. :biggrin:

You mentioned Arjen has three live albums - I assume you're counting Live in the Real World, or am I having a total brain fart?

Well, I think I was counting Live in the Real World. Either that, or I had a total brain fart. :lol But I'm pretty sure it was the former.

And I really should get into the last Flaming Row, plot-wise. I like the album, and I have it (and I saw your name there as the part of honorable pre-order team), but for some reason I've never properly delved into the booklet.

Regarding Ambeon, some tracks are really obvious, and some are way more subtle. Astrid gives all the tracks her own spin for sure. The really impressive thing is not only her vocal abilities (and they're damn well impressive), but the fact that she came up with the melodies on her own.

On Theory I am very much locked in with Evermind in my love for that album. While I don't know if I'd say it's my second favorite, simply due to how much I love Into the Electric Castle, it is most likely my third favorite. Musically it was basically everything I abstractly hoped for after 01 and Guilt Machine. It managed to be a two disc concept album but still be very fresh and new for Arjen. It flowed well and was very organic, with such great sound from all the analog equipment and strings. Lyrically I don't know if Arjen will ever quite have a perfect album, but this was one of his stronger efforts, paired with a strong story that was, much like THE, fresh and easy to take hold of. Aided by the fact that I often just throw on the vinyl and kick back, I probably couldn't name half of the 42 tracks, or at least couldn't match all the names perfectly with the music without a refresher, but I find that to be a testament to how well it all works and flows as opposed to any knock on it. Vocally it's fair to say Tommy turned in one of the more impressive Ayreon performances to date, and I'm thrilled he's doing it again on the new album.

I can agree with that, except the ITEC bit.

Also, I think the listening sessions are partially to blame for the lack of participation in the thread. People give a lot of their opinions and thoughts on the music and plot in the chat, and I suppose it feels somewhat redundant to go and post the same thing here in this thread after that. I'm really satisfied with how the listening sessions are now, last time for TTOE we had eight of nine people and constant discussion going. I know the time we pick isn't the best for NA, but I guess there's just no way to please everyone. Still, I think this thread is going well, all things considered.
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

Offline jingle.boy

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Well, seeing as how I'm unemployed, I should be able to make something that is mid-late afternoon my time.  I just missed the post about the time for TTOE (Monday was my anniversary, and I was busy most of the day).

As I said, I should be able to make The Gentle Storm.
That's a word salad - and take it from me, I know word salad
I fear for the day when something happens on the right that is SO nuts that even Stadler says "That's crazy".
Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid
Remember the mark of a great vocalist is if TAC hates them with a special passion

Online twosuitsluke

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Yea, I'd second that the lack of posting in this thread is likely due to the listening sessions. They really are a great way to compliment a thread like this and I urge people to join in if they can. I probably would have posted more were it not for the plug.dj sessions.

Also, as others have said, kudos to Evermind for all his effort in this thread and with the survivor.

Offline jingle.boy

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Alright... I'm happily caught up completely now.

Space Metal
"Apparently I'm one of the only DTFers that are crazy about Space Metal."  Hardly Ruslan... it's a top 5 album of all time for me.  There isn't a damned thing about it that I don't like.  I agree with ErHaO - Intergalactic Space Crusaders is way better / more fun on the DVD, especially to watch the exchanges between Allen and Wilson.
Footnote re: Live on Earth - could there be a bigger difference in the "quality" of performance as a frontman between Soeterbock and Allen?  The former is awkward as hell (though, a great singer), and the latter is so smokin cool that I'd switch teams for a night with him.  :heybaby:

The Human Equation
This was my first full Ayreon album, and I was completely blown away by it.  Ruslan, you and I are on the exact same wavelength with this album. #2 all time in the jingle.boy books.  It's absolutely flawless in my opinion.  Everything works perfectly.  There are certain moments (Day 10/11; Day 18) that still give me chills everytime I listen to them

Embrace the Storm
Fantastic album... no clunkers at all.  Great blend of Arjen's different styles to give us a keyboard led metal album.  I loved it start to bottom.  Every subsequent SOP album got progressively forgettable unfortunately.

01011001 (curious, why is it so goddamned hard for people to remember the actual name of this album?)
Lyrically, it's just awful in certain places - Web of Lies and Connect the Dots in particular (and The Truth is in Here ain't great either).  I get they all have their purpose to the story, but man, they are sooooo bad.  Those two could be the worst songs in the Ayreon discography - at least, lyrically.  The zero/one, on/off, no/yeah part of Age of Shadows drags on a little too long.  There's a few that are musically bad as well.  The distorted vocal effects - while part of the whole vibe of the album/story - get tiresome after a while.  There are just too many bad moments that end up being distractions that take away from the great parts.

Then there's the vocalist issue - way too many of them, and even Arjen acknowledges that now (and why he only used 7 on TTOE).  None of them get the chance to shine, which is why I'm thrilled that Floor (for an Ayreon album), Hansi and Simone are back for another shot.  Would love to see Englund and Luyten have another chance too. 

Overall, the highs are very high, but the lows are very low.  IMO, this is the most inconsistent album in his discography - at least Actual Fantasy was consistently mediocre.   :lol

The Guilt Machine
At first (and for a long time), this album didn't click with me, and I shelved it.  It actually wasn't until this (and the Survivor) thread that had me spin this.  Dunno if my tastes have changed, or if I just didn't give it a chance, but I liked this a LOT more than I remembered.  "More consistent" is right.  Dark, melancholic, Floyd-like, and heavy are very apt ways to describe the mood and vibe of this album.  Better than BCSL... uh, yeah.  By miles.

Spotify has a "bonus track" - a cover of Leonard Cohen's The Stranger Song.  First time I ever heard this.  Was pretty cool.

Victims of the Modern Age
Wow... no commentary on this one!?!?!?  Well, let me offer more than my fair share then.
Wasn't the (lack of) tour also impeded due to Floor's bout with exhaustion?
Swap It All Ends Here with As The Crow Flies, and this is absolutely a flawless album (and would probably rate higher than Space Metal).  I know that the latter fits with the bonus set of songs, since it's Mike Anderson solely on the mic (whose voice I absolutely adore).  But I just can't stand the "doom" (very well put, Ruslan) aspect of the former.
On my last.fm profile, Human See Human Do and Digital Rain are #1 and #2 as my most listened to tracks, and 7 of my top 10 is from VOTMA (only the bookend tracks of Rabbit Hole and It All Ends Here don't make my Top 10 listened to tracks since Sept 2011).
See next post for the Lady Obscure review I wrote of this album for more thoughts.

Lost In The New Real
I too feel this is the least enjoyable out of anything Arjen has done since '95.  Some good tracks, but mostly clunkers - not aided by Arjen taking the vocal duties.  To tell you the truth, I prefer the covers over his material on this one - and the very cool arrangements he came up with.  Disc 2 is far more consistent than Disc 1.  I wouldn't mind another solo album, so long as he had someone else on the mic.  There are some very good musical moments here, but the wackiness of the lyrics to fit the theme - and his dogged determination with the call-backs to his musical inspirations - just don't float my boat.
@ Parama... lol... I feel mostly the same way.

The Theory of Everything
@ Parama... lol... I feel mostly the same way.
Just too much "stitching" together of different and non-cohesive musical thoughts. For instance, Emerson's solo just feels so out of place and unlike any other sound in Phase 1, and the obvious transition between Lake/Emerson/JR solos is anything but smooth.
The story was excellent, and Tommy/Marco/Cristina/Sara knock it out of the park.  I'm not really a fan of Wetton's voice, and my enjoyment of JB/Mills range from "a lot" to "meh".
I feel it's a chore to digest it - even at 90 minutes... where as listening all of his other double albums (including both discs of The Universal Migrator) seems to make the 100-ish minutes fly by
One (very minor) thing that always bugged me was the line that The Prodigy was "one in a million".  If that's the case, then there are 70,000 people across the world just like him?  I'll never know why the lyric wasn't "one in a billion".
Curious... which lyric are you referring to that is "downright silly"?
That's a word salad - and take it from me, I know word salad
I fear for the day when something happens on the right that is SO nuts that even Stadler says "That's crazy".
Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid
Remember the mark of a great vocalist is if TAC hates them with a special passion

Offline jingle.boy

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Quote from: jingle.boy(Ladyobscure.com)
Arjen Lucassen writes the coolest and most creative of concepts. Personally, I think he’s a musical genius. Reuniting the Avengers-like assembly of amazing vocalists (Floor Jansen, Russell Allen, Dan Swanö and Damian Wilson), Arjen follows up 2003’s Space Metal with another masterpiece of songs linked by a similar movie theme, this time around post-apocalyptic/dystopian story lines. Just as with Star One’s previous release, Arjen’s interpretation of these movies is absolutely flawless. Listening to Digital Rain takes you right back to the Matrix; when I hear Floor and Russell in Cassandra Complex, I can’t help but picture Madeleine Stowe and Bruce Willis in 12 Monkeys. Arjen perfectly recreates the moods of the movies, either taking the listener right back to the first time they saw them, or inspiring one to go back and watch them again, or for the first time. I’d never seen Planet of the Apes, Escape From New York, Children of Men, The Road or Gattaca, and this album compelled me to go watch them. The three track run of Human See, Human Do/24 Hours/Cassandra Complex is as good as any three songs ever in prog metal… up there with Take the Time/Surrounded/Metropolis, or Tom Sawyer/Red Barchetta/YYZ.

Heavier than Arjen’s other projects, Star One is his outlet to get his metal on (or out), composing simpler and more straight-forward music off of coarse, deep and wicked guitar riffs. The opening atmospheric setting puts you in the mood for the futuristic music you’re about to become immersed in, leading in to the ferocity of Digital Rain that has a fantastic blend of keyboard and guitar. Fast and Furious is not a movie that Arjen pulled from, but it certainly describes what you’re going to find out of the gate, and throughout the rest of the album… interspersed with a few slower paced songs (24 Hours, It All Ends Here, Lastday). Throughout the album you’ll also find slow and grinding riffs, keyboard melodies and harmonies to keep that sci-fi feel, a rhythm section that sounds like organized chaos at times, catchy chorus’s and psychedelic keyboard and guitar solos… there just isn’t a bad track here at all.

Floor takes more of a lead role on this album than on Space Metal, and the overall output is enhanced by it. Swanö makes people who aren’t a huge fan of growls/screams appreciate – even enjoy – them. Wilson as always is magical, and the notes he holds in 24 Hours are absolutely angelic. Sir Russell Allen delivers his usual powerful and aggressive vocal performance. Though they are the lead vocalists in their respective acts, these four know that the combined whole of their performances is greater than the sum of each individual, none hogging the spotlight whatsoever. Through this recognition, Arjen gets the absolute best out of them (and his musicians for that matter), and makes you want to learn more about their music (if you didn’t already know them).
That's a word salad - and take it from me, I know word salad
I fear for the day when something happens on the right that is SO nuts that even Stadler says "That's crazy".
Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid
Remember the mark of a great vocalist is if TAC hates them with a special passion

Offline Evermind

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The Human Equation
This was my first full Ayreon album, and I was completely blown away by it.  Ruslan, you and I are on the exact same wavelength with this album. #2 all time in the jingle.boy books.  It's absolutely flawless in my opinion.  Everything works perfectly.  There are certain moments (Day 10/11; Day 18) that still give me chills everytime I listen to them

I don't spin it often, because when I do, I want to be fully immersed in that album, but I also always get chills on Days 10, 11, 13, 18, 19, 20 and probably on more of them I'm currently forgetting. Absolutely flawless is a good way to describe it.

Victims of the Modern Age

Wasn't the (lack of) tour also impeded due to Floor's bout with exhaustion?

Hey, I didn't know that! I still think it was Arjen's reluctance from the start, and Floor's just reinforced it; but it's a nice piece on information to have.

Regarding TTOE, I think (for all it's worth as I'm not a native English speaker) "one in a million" sounds way better singing-wise than "one in a billion", and it's probably more like an idiom. Something like "not in a thousand years" (why not 1500 years or 2000 years?), perhaps.

Silly lyrics are, for me, Rival's lines on Love and Envy. I get that the characters are supposed to be really young at that time, but it just sounds so silly in an otherwise serious and beautiful song.

This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

Offline jingle.boy

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re: Floor... she had to cancel tours/shows with ReVamp.  Here's a good statement by her about it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-cIitpvUTQ
That's a word salad - and take it from me, I know word salad
I fear for the day when something happens on the right that is SO nuts that even Stadler says "That's crazy".
Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid
Remember the mark of a great vocalist is if TAC hates them with a special passion

Offline Evermind

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Hey to all the followers of this thread, just wanted to inform you that the next listening session (The Gentle Storm one) will take place at Tuesday, April 25th. The Gentle Storm writeup itself is in the works, I will probably finish it tomorrow, but as I'm travelling to another city to visit my friends on weekend, it will be posted either on Monday or on Tuesday (it takes time to edit out my hilarious mistakes because apparently I couldn't write anything in English even if my life depended on it). Anyway, I hope to see you folks in our plug.dj room at April 25th, 7 P.M. GMT for this listening session.
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

Offline jingle.boy

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I fully anticipate making it.  Are we listening to Gentle, Storm, or both?
That's a word salad - and take it from me, I know word salad
I fear for the day when something happens on the right that is SO nuts that even Stadler says "That's crazy".
Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid
Remember the mark of a great vocalist is if TAC hates them with a special passion

Offline Evermind

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That was a difficult decision, but after careful consideration, we're listening to a mixed album, which basically means five Gentle songs and five Storm songs (counting New Horizons and Epilogue as one song). Not going to reveal which songs will be played as Gentle versions and which as the Storm ones, but you guys are free to speculate. ;)
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

Offline jingle.boy

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So... maybe we should postpone The Gentle Storm listening session until the post about it is up?
That's a word salad - and take it from me, I know word salad
I fear for the day when something happens on the right that is SO nuts that even Stadler says "That's crazy".
Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid
Remember the mark of a great vocalist is if TAC hates them with a special passion

Offline Evermind

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The post is being edited by 425 right now, so I think it'll be up in an hour. I think it's a little late for postponing, so I suppose we're going to go ahead and do the session today, despite at least two people (Rich and Train) being unable to show up.
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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new survivor round when  :corn

Offline Evermind

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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #259 on: April 25, 2017, 11:05:52 AM »
The Gentle Storm — The Diary (2015)




Release date: March 23rd, 2015
Length: 57:03 / 56:53


Tracklist:

1. Endless Sea
2. Heart of Amsterdam
3. The Greatest Love
4. Shores of India
5. Cape of Storms
6. The Moment
7. The Storm
8. Eyes of Michiel
9. Brightest Light
10. New Horizons
11. Epilogue: The Final Entry

Personnel:

Anneke van Giersbergen — all vocals
Arjen Anthony Lucassen — electric and acoustic guitars, acoustic bass guitar, banjo, mandolin, percussion and hammered dulcimer
Ed Warby — drums
Rob Snijders — percussion
Jeroen Goossens — piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute, contrabass flute, oboe, English horn, contrabassoon, shakuhachi, bansuri, sampona, soprano recorder, alto recorder, tenor recorder, traverse, tin whistle, low whistle, didgeridoo, bullroarer
Johan van Stratum — electric bass
Ben Mathot — violins
Maaike Peterse — cellos
Joost van den Broek — grand piano
Hinse Mutter — double bass
Jenneke de Jonge — French horn
Jack Pisters — sitar and coral
Timo Somers — guitar solo in “Heart of Amsterdam”
Michael Mills — Irish bouzouki
Remco Helbers — surbahar
Nathanael van Zuilen — table
Epic Rock Choir — choir



As soon as my eyes fell on the old chest nestled between boxes and suitcases in a corner of the attic, I knew I’d found something significant. Made of dark wood, intricately carved, its metal fittings exquisitely hand crafted, the chest was a relic of an era long past. In contained only one item: a small book, its brown leather cover cracked and crumbling. It looked like a diary. As I gently lifted it from where it had rested for who knows how long, a packet of letters fell from between its pages. My mind raced with a thousand questions: who did the diary belong to? What stories might be waiting inside? As I reached out to open it, I realized I was holding my breath…

History / Background / Writing and recording

A few months after the successful release of The Theory of Everything—a new Ayreon album after a five-year hiatus—Arjen, as usual, found enough inspiration to start writing for his next project. He wrote a couple of songs with basic classical instruments, namely double bass, violin and cello. Arjen then posted a question to his fans on Facebook, asking them about the style of music they would like to hear on his next album. A lot of people voted for a heavier, Star One type of music, but there was also a significant number of fans that chose the folk music option. Seeing this division among his fans, Arjen decided to do both albums, with a type of release that isn’t exactly common in the current music scene—two different versions of the same album.

As it wasn’t another Ayreon album, Arjen wanted to pick only one singer for this project. With both heavy and acoustic folk music in mind, Arjen had to find someone who would be able to perform vocals for both styles of music. He had his sights on Anneke van Giersbergen for this role and even talked with one of the InsideOut managers about her involvement in the project. However, he kept delaying the actual message to her, waiting until he had written more songs for this project. But then something unexpected happened—Anneke herself sent an e-mail to Arjen about a completely different subject with a postscript at the bottom that said that they should work together on some music in the future, perhaps create some project with only the two of them as the songwriters. At that point, Arjen had demo versions of two new songs. He sent them to Anneke, saying that he wanted to do both heavy and softer approach for these tracks, and just like that, the two musicians agreed to work together on what later would become The Gentle Storm.

Arjen and Anneke mostly divided their musical duties for the purposes of this record—Arjen wrote most of the music, Anneke provided most of the lyrics. However, it was still a collaborative effort. Anneke altered the vocal melodies where she saw fit, discussing that with Arjen, of course; and Arjen added some details to the concept—Anneke was pushing for the love story as the core of the record’s concept, while Arjen insisted on including more drama in it.

Instead of doing another progressive album like The Theory of Everything, Arjen focused on writing concise songs with strong choruses this time. Given the century the story takes place in, Arjen also chose to use a lot of eclectic and rare instruments, especially on the acoustic folk version (called the Gentle version). While some of the Ayreon albums have over ten different singers, this one has a ridiculous amount of musical instruments involved—fewer on the heavier version of the album (the Storm version), but still enough for it to be quite fascinating. Not only the instruments are different from version to version—Anneke had to record her vocals for each version separately, because of the different emotional context to both of the versions’ songs, basically recording two albums worth of vocals.

Music

When talking about the music on The Diary, it’s impossible to fit all the different thoughts and feelings in a few words. First off, as mentioned above, there are two different versions of the album—the Gentle one and the Storm one—which are quite different music-wise, the Gentle one being softer and more eclectic, while the Storm one is more “in your face” with electric guitars, drums, appearances of the Epic Rock Choir and, overall, a more direct approach. The Storm version is grand and pompous, while the Gentle one is subtler and lets all the small details shine—and, curiously, features way more instruments than the Storm one.

The Gentle version is all about acoustic instruments. For The Diary, taking into account the century the events are taking place, Arjen wanted the album to be authentic and eclectic, and he also wanted to put the focus on the singer—hence the lack of synthesizers on the album. The synths are noticeably absent on both versions, but the Gentle version also lacks drums from Ed Warby and any presence of electric guitars or bass guitars. Anneke’s voice is also more melodic and soothing, and less aggressive on this version, with a lot of moments where her voice is only accompanied by the occasional piano notes or double bass rhythmic presence. The Storm version mixes these acoustic instruments with some usual rock instruments, like electric guitars, bass guitars and drums. The violin solos on the Gentle version become guitar solos in Storm version in some places, and the double bass rhythm parts are usually supported by electric guitar riffs. The apt and clever usage of choir, and also drums and electric guitar intros make the Storm version songs seem more bombastic and grand, providing the necessary texture for the songs to be taken out on tour, which was Anneke’s intention from the beginning.

However, despite the different arrangements and different vocal approach for each version, the songs are still similar, and there’s one more thing they’re united in—they all tell the same story.

Plot

Note: the timeline included in the deluxe earbook edition doesn’t exactly match the order of songs. For example, according to the timeline, Susanne’s illness begins after her son, Michiel, is born; but on the album itself, the illness is brought up before that point.

The Diary tells a story of a young Dutch couple living in 17th century (the story covers three years from 1666 to 1669) in Amsterdam: Joseph Warwijck and Susanne Vermeer, married in 1666. Susanne is the daughter of a wealthy merchant, and Joseph is a young officer serving on a ship called Merchant, which belongs to the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, abbreviated VOC). The VOC ships that sail to Asia are known to sail away from home for trading purposes for two or three years straight. Joseph’s ship Merchant is among one of these, and in December 1666, he and Susanne has to say farewell to each other as he sails away towards the distant exotic lands. Their only way to communicate with each other now is through hand-written letters. However, given the distance, the fact the ship is often moving from one trading port to another, and the presence pirates and sea battles, the letters arrive to their recipients with a huge delay (usually 6-9 months), if at all.

While waiting in Amsterdam for her husband to return, Susanne keeps a diary. Immediately after Joseph’s departure, she writes an entry about how she misses him so much already, wishing him luck and good winds in his travels on the sea (Endless Sea). One day, when the weather is exceptionally good, she goes for a walk in the streets of Amsterdam, thinking of the beauty and historical legacy of the city (Heart of Amsterdam). In February 1667, Susanne finds out she is pregnant. Overjoyed, she immediately writes Joseph a letter, telling him he will become a father soon (The Greatest Love).

Meanwhile, Joseph is half a world away from Susanne. He writes her a letter from a port in India, describing all the exotic things he saw there (Shores of India). In May 1667, the Merchant—the ship Joseph is on—arrives at the Cape of Good Hope. He writes another letter to Susanne, intending to send it home with the next ship from Holland. In the letter, he mentions that the Cape was called Cape of Storms in the old days, and that this name suits the place far better because of the treacherous waters around it—seven members of the ship’s crew died at sea around it. The ship leaves the Cape in June, and it is caught in a fierce storm shortly after leaving. Joseph himself survives, but another thirteen crew members perish (The Storm). None of Susanne’s letters have arrived yet.
In September 1667, Susanne gives birth to a son. She names him after admiral Michiel de Ruyter, and proceeds to write a letter to Joseph about this wonderful turn of events (Eyes of Michiel). In February 1668, Joseph, who is currently in Batavia, receives the first letters from Susanne. However, as the first ship from Batavia to Holland will not sail until December, he can’t send his response until then. In March 1668, Susanne begins to get ill, feeling progressively wearier and more tired each day. The doctors diagnose her with a chill of the blood and prescribe her medicine, which does not seem to help. Susanne writes a letter to Joseph, hinting at her illness and hoping that Joseph is on his way home (The Moment). This letter reaches Joseph in Batavia six months later, in October.

In December 1668, Joseph departs from Batavia, starting the long journey back to Amsterdam and his beloved wife. He send her a letter, sharing these wonderful news, in which he promises to do everything in his power to get back quickly (Brightest Light). As Susanne gets worse, she tries to write a cheerful letter to Joseph, but her attempts prove unsuccessful, and her letters turn out to be more on the melancholic than optimistic side. She feels that she is dying, and she only hopes to live to the day Joseph gets home and sees their beautiful son (New Horizons). Susanne dies on May 7th, 1669.

Two months later, on July 1st, 1669, Joseph arrives at his house in Amsterdam. He learns about Susanne’s death and meets Michiel. He discovers his wife’s diary with the entries she wrote over those three years, as well as his letters wedged in between the diary’s pages. In grief, he writes one final entry in the diary, thanking Susanne for giving him his son and saying that she and her memory will live on through him. He places Susanne’s letter to him in the diary as well, preserving it for Michiel and the coming generations.

My Thoughts

The existence of two different versions is what makes The Diary a curious album, to say the least. Some people prefer the Gentle one, some people prefer the Storm one—and that’s great, because it gives everyone a choice. However, this also raises questions. Does the album suffer because one of the versions is, perhaps, not as great as the other? Should that diminish the enjoyment we take from listening to the album? Personally, I’m a fan of the Gentle version (I find the Storm one to be alright, yet not nearly as good as the Gentle one), and whenever I listen to The Diary, I treat the Gentle version as the album. I love the Gentle version, and therefore I love the album just as much. In my perspective, the Storm version is just a bonus CD. Before all the Storm fans jump down my throat because of that statement, I don’t imply it is a bonus CD. It’s simply how I treat it; I’m sure that somewhere in the world there are people who treat the Gentle version as a bonus CD. So I hope you will excuse the fact that I will be talking about the Gentle version here, and perhaps 425, as a Storm fan, will provide his insightful thoughts about the Storm version.

Out of all Arjen’s side projects, this one is right about the top for me. While still maintaining Arjen’s trademark sound and songwriting, this record sounds fresh and exciting, with its lack of drums, bass guitars, electric guitars, and especially synthesizers. Everything in these ten songs is so honest, from crystal clear piano to Anneke’s mesmerizing voice—I feel like this album is one of her finest vocal performances to date. The different acoustic instruments are everywhere on this record, and while violins, different flutes and cellos are prevalent, there are plenty of other sounds woven throughout the songs. Of course, the effect wouldn’t be achieved without such a crystal clear mix, where one can hear pretty much everything going on. And even with all the acoustic instruments and the lack of drums, there are menacing and somewhat heavy songs like Cape of Storms, which, I think, is a very well-done song. My other highlights from the record are Endless Sea, The Moment and New Horizons.

425's Thoughts

It’s interesting that Evermind says that he thinks of the Gentle version as “the album,” while he thinks of the Storm version as a bonus CD, because I have the same mindset in reverse. I mean no insult to the Gentle version—I appreciate the stylistic risk it represents, and I’m impressed by the diversity of instruments on it—but my preference is definitely for the Storm version. Why do I prefer that version? I think the main reason is that I’m simply a fan of dynamics and variation within individual songs, which the Storm version provides in spades. I think a lot of the songs on this album, which tend to be on the longer side given their verse-chorus type structure, really benefit from the added dimension provided by the selective use of rock instrumentation on the Storm disc. Arjen did a very good job, in my opinion, of using rock instrumentation in the right proportion for each song—he didn’t go overboard and make the Storm version into a super heavy album just to contrast with the Gentle version. My favorite aspect of the Storm version is the way that the rock instruments come in at the right time to enhance some of the album’s best, most epic choruses, like on Endless Sea, Heart of Amsterdam, and my personal favorite song from the album, New Horizons. The way the electric guitars and Ed Warby’s drums drive that chorus is worth the price of the album all by itself, and luckily the album has a lot of other good songs as well. I really appreciate Arjen’s idea to give us two very different versions of the same album to enjoy—there are a lot of cool aspects to notice comparing between the two versions, and it resulted in Evermind and me both finding albums to enjoy.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2017, 11:35:59 AM by Evermind »
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

Offline jingle.boy

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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #260 on: April 25, 2017, 12:51:14 PM »
Well, looks like I won't be reading this before the listening session.  What's the URL for that, btw?
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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #262 on: April 25, 2017, 01:02:24 PM »
Missing out again  :tdwn  time is always against me  :yeahright

Offline Evermind

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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #263 on: April 25, 2017, 03:07:32 PM »
Alrighty, we had a full listen to the Storm version of the album with 425, home, Tomislav and Chad. :tup If the people who missed the session wish to go ahead and participate in another one where we would listen to the Gentle version, go ahead and let me know here or write me on Facebook. The available days are Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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Offline jingle.boy

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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #264 on: April 25, 2017, 03:58:34 PM »
I'm game, but I likely wouldn't be able to do this Thursday
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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #265 on: April 26, 2017, 01:09:44 AM »
I'm game, but I likely wouldn't be able to do this Thursday

Basically this.

I'm going to a gig Thursday otherwise I'd have been all over it. Think I'm free next Thursday though?

Offline Cyclopssss

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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #266 on: April 26, 2017, 01:43:20 AM »
I'm glad Arjen released two versions of this albums. I myself are more prone to the 'Storm' version, but I love the fact that there is an alternative verrsion around. Also, I thought Marcela Bovio was part of the recording, but I might be mistaking her performing on the live-band with them on tour.  Special mention for the fantastic concept and artwork!
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Offline ZirconBlue

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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #267 on: June 11, 2017, 09:28:18 AM »
Any updates forthcoming?  I got The Source recently, and that has gotten me interested in exploring the back catalog.


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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #268 on: June 11, 2017, 09:41:32 AM »
Any updates forthcoming?  I got The Source recently, and that has gotten me interested in exploring the back catalog.

The Source writeup is definitely coming soon, I wanted to digest the album before doing it. I would say you guys can reasonably expect it to be posted either next week or the week after that.
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

Offline MirrorMask

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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #269 on: June 11, 2017, 10:07:15 AM »
Massively late but let me chime in (for the first time in this thread!) to compliment the latest album discussed - The Diary.

I absolutely adore and love the album. It's just fantastic. I agree that the Gentle version is "the" album and the Storm version is the bonus disc, just because, aside from being disc one, it's more unusual and original, with the focus more on folkish and acoustic instruments.

All the songs are great, from start to bottom the album flows brilliantly and the storyline is heartwrenching. Anneke shines on this record, I knew who she was but this album made me want to check out the rest of her work. She portrays brilliantly the characters and the unfolding of the story.

I can't even pick a favorite song 'cause they're all so gorgeous: Endless Sea, Heart of Amsterdam (which I heard on location, hehe), The Moment, Cape of Storms and New Horizons are the definite highlights, but all the songs are equally great.

I compiled a "single disc" version, with songs from both versions, here's my tracklist and the reasons:

Endless Sea - Storm. The album has to start off strong.
Heart of Amsterdam - Gentle. The folkish atmosphere of ancient Amsterdam gets lost in the electric version.
The Greatest Love - Storm. Bombastic chorus that benefits from the whole band.
Shores of India - Gentle. Same as Amsterdam, the folk / acoustic version highlights the atmosphere.
Cape of Storms - A personal edit, the first half is Gentle (once again I feel a song about a specific place is helped by the folk arrangement) and then the Storm part kicks in when things get going after the second chorus.
The Moment - Gentle. Delicate and sorrowful ballad, it needs to be acoustic.
The Storm  - Storm. Well, d'uh.  ;D
Eyes of Michael - Gentle. No strong reason, it's for balance mostly.
Brightest Light - Storm. The climax of the album approaches and it's time to go all out.
New Horizons - Storm. Same as bove.
Epilogue - Gentle. I prefer more this ending to the album, opposed to the heavier one.
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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #270 on: September 02, 2017, 12:08:07 PM »
So what happened to this...

Anyways..

I finally got around to buying This. Its fantastic. I prefer the Gentle version as it suits the vibe and concept more. Although some tracks sound better with the storm version.
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Re: Arjen Lucassen Discography Thread v. A moment lost in time
« Reply #271 on: September 02, 2017, 12:55:48 PM »
It's about time to plan the listening session for The Source I think  :hat
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