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 recordingA 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.
MusicWhen 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.
PlotNote: 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 ThoughtsThe 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.