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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Arjen Lucassen has a habit of turning out some very, very good music in a genre that was long considered dead - the good old rock opera! Over the years in various guises, he has turned out some memorable albums that the great music public promptly ignored. Now, whilst I can understand the aversion to the "operatic" concept, I would have thought that heavy rock/metal lovers would have by now cottoned onto the fact that all operas can contain some pretty dodgy material but that there are always some memorable tunes lurking in there, somewhere.
This latest project in the guise of Star One, is no real departure for Arjen and his musical mates in that we have a theme running throughout the 2 cd's contained within this lavishly produced album (hats off to InsideOut Records who have built quite a reputation for producing some stunning album sleeves for many other artists, too!)with heavy guitars and soaring vocals aplenty!
The opening Down The Rabbit Hole could certainly put new listeners off, but once the album really gets going and hits it's stride in Digital Rain, no prisoners are taken as Arjen gives us the full and heavy barrage which includes my favourite title track which uses an Aboriginal drone as it's keypoint and then just builds and builds into a glorious descending scale until you think that they can get no lower and that your speakers are about to blow - truly attention grabbing!
And it doesn't end there, with tracks like 24 hours, Human See, Human Do, As The Crow Dies and Closer To The Stars all coming crunching from speakers to brain in a never ending deluge.....just great stuff!
As for the Shock and Horror - the change of direction was subject matter...I kid you not, Arjen has gone from the Star One space opera and grounded all of his narrative into man's continued existence in the far future on Mother Earth.....not that anyone would really notice though because Arjen delivers just one more well thought out and brilliantly executed "concept" album that should grab the attention of any music lover and all so superbly packaged - this is real value for money in this age of austerity.
What are you waiting for - just buy it and listen and see for yourself, you will not be disappointed!
This latest project in the guise of Star One, is no real departure for Arjen and his musical mates in that we have a theme running throughout the 2 cd's contained within this lavishly produced album (hats off to InsideOut Records who have built quite a reputation for producing some stunning album sleeves for many other artists, too!)with heavy guitars and soaring vocals aplenty!
The opening Down The Rabbit Hole could certainly put new listeners off, but once the album really gets going and hits it's stride in Digital Rain, no prisoners are taken as Arjen gives us the full and heavy barrage which includes my favourite title track which uses an Aboriginal drone as it's keypoint and then just builds and builds into a glorious descending scale until you think that they can get no lower and that your speakers are about to blow - truly attention grabbing!
And it doesn't end there, with tracks like 24 hours, Human See, Human Do, As The Crow Dies and Closer To The Stars all coming crunching from speakers to brain in a never ending deluge.....just great stuff!
As for the Shock and Horror - the change of direction was subject matter...I kid you not, Arjen has gone from the Star One space opera and grounded all of his narrative into man's continued existence in the far future on Mother Earth.....not that anyone would really notice though because Arjen delivers just one more well thought out and brilliantly executed "concept" album that should grab the attention of any music lover and all so superbly packaged - this is real value for money in this age of austerity.
What are you waiting for - just buy it and listen and see for yourself, you will not be disappointed!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'll be up front. I love the first Star One album and was eagerly awaiting the second. Especially when the trailer came out on YT with the awesome opening riff of "Earth That Was" and the line "Arjen Lucassen has riffs..and he's not afraid to use them." Got the Digipack as soon as it was released and it gets better with every listen.
The opening track "Down the Rabbit Hole" is a gentle keyboard opener. Some people have criticised the slow start/slow opener - it's a device used by a lot of bands - however in the case of both S1 albums, it indicates that the touchpaper is well and truly lit and that lift-off is imminent. From then on, Victims of the Modern Age explodes into a speaker-knackeringly loud mix of monster heavy riffs, flying keyboard and guitar solos and the multi-layered, multi-voiced songs which Arjen does so well. All the songs are backed by the same heavy guitar sound (which Arjen, bless 'im, demonstrated how to do via a video on YT) but each song has it's own distinctive structure and style from straight rock outs like "Digital Rain" and "Cassandra Complex" to complex mixtures of pace and dynamics like "Hours". "It All Ends Here", a take on Blade Runner, is a fabulous, complex finale to the album. As with the previous S1 album, the songs are all based on science fiction films and it's always interesting to try to guess which ones are being covered. I'm not familiar with all the films which get a mention but when you find out, there's a very satisfying "Now it all makes sense" moment. There's no dips in the lyrical content like in the first S1 album's "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" (almost mandatory if you're going to cover Blake's 7, I suppose) and the songs hang together extremely well around the albums dystopian theme.
Vocals are provided by a veritable galaxy (to keep the space theme going) of well known singers including Russell Allen, Dan Swano, Floor Jansen, Damian Wilson and a guest spot for Tony Martin. Performances are all top notch, from the raw emotion Wilson puts into his lines, especially in "Hours" to Swano's brilliant segue from clean vocal to animal growl with the line "violence breeds violence breeds"...in "Victim of the Modern Age".
The digipack version includes 5 extra tracks and a video "Making of.." which is well worth a watch. Lucassen comes across as a funny and yes, modest person who really enjoys making some some excellent music.
"Victims" is an album of supremely well done heavy songs with interesting lyrical themes, superb musicianship and brilliant production.
Wonder where the good ship Star One is going to take us next.....
The opening track "Down the Rabbit Hole" is a gentle keyboard opener. Some people have criticised the slow start/slow opener - it's a device used by a lot of bands - however in the case of both S1 albums, it indicates that the touchpaper is well and truly lit and that lift-off is imminent. From then on, Victims of the Modern Age explodes into a speaker-knackeringly loud mix of monster heavy riffs, flying keyboard and guitar solos and the multi-layered, multi-voiced songs which Arjen does so well. All the songs are backed by the same heavy guitar sound (which Arjen, bless 'im, demonstrated how to do via a video on YT) but each song has it's own distinctive structure and style from straight rock outs like "Digital Rain" and "Cassandra Complex" to complex mixtures of pace and dynamics like "Hours". "It All Ends Here", a take on Blade Runner, is a fabulous, complex finale to the album. As with the previous S1 album, the songs are all based on science fiction films and it's always interesting to try to guess which ones are being covered. I'm not familiar with all the films which get a mention but when you find out, there's a very satisfying "Now it all makes sense" moment. There's no dips in the lyrical content like in the first S1 album's "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" (almost mandatory if you're going to cover Blake's 7, I suppose) and the songs hang together extremely well around the albums dystopian theme.
Vocals are provided by a veritable galaxy (to keep the space theme going) of well known singers including Russell Allen, Dan Swano, Floor Jansen, Damian Wilson and a guest spot for Tony Martin. Performances are all top notch, from the raw emotion Wilson puts into his lines, especially in "Hours" to Swano's brilliant segue from clean vocal to animal growl with the line "violence breeds violence breeds"...in "Victim of the Modern Age".
The digipack version includes 5 extra tracks and a video "Making of.." which is well worth a watch. Lucassen comes across as a funny and yes, modest person who really enjoys making some some excellent music.
"Victims" is an album of supremely well done heavy songs with interesting lyrical themes, superb musicianship and brilliant production.
Wonder where the good ship Star One is going to take us next.....
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
After eight years progressive genius Arjen Lucassen finally released a second Star One album. I have to admit I was a bit aprehensive when I first heard about the return of Star One, "Space Metal" was and is one of the best albums I have ever heard and I was concerned that any follow up would pale in comparison. Im happy to say though that Arjen Lucassen has surpassed himself with "Victims of the Modern Age" which may even be better than "Space Metal".
Once again taking his inspiration from Sci-Fi movies Lucassen has created another mind blowing album of epic riffs, spacey keyboards and this time even a bit of growling from one of the lead singers (Dan Swano). Those familiar with the original Star One album will be pleased to note that all the singers involved on "Space Metal" return for "Victims of the Modern Age" namely Russell Allen(Symphony X), Damien Wilson (Threshold), Floor Jansen (ReVamp), and Dan Swano.
As with any album released by Arjen Lucassen I highly recommend that you get the deluxe two disk digipack edition. The second disk contains five songs featuring the vocal talents of Mike Andersson, Rodney Blaze, Tony Martin, and even Arjen himself. "Closer to the Stars" featuring Tony Martin on vocals is a particular highlight of the second disk.
"Victims of the Modern Age" is without doubt the best album of 2010 and if your a fan of Arjen Lucassen's work then you cannot afford to miss it.
Once again taking his inspiration from Sci-Fi movies Lucassen has created another mind blowing album of epic riffs, spacey keyboards and this time even a bit of growling from one of the lead singers (Dan Swano). Those familiar with the original Star One album will be pleased to note that all the singers involved on "Space Metal" return for "Victims of the Modern Age" namely Russell Allen(Symphony X), Damien Wilson (Threshold), Floor Jansen (ReVamp), and Dan Swano.
As with any album released by Arjen Lucassen I highly recommend that you get the deluxe two disk digipack edition. The second disk contains five songs featuring the vocal talents of Mike Andersson, Rodney Blaze, Tony Martin, and even Arjen himself. "Closer to the Stars" featuring Tony Martin on vocals is a particular highlight of the second disk.
"Victims of the Modern Age" is without doubt the best album of 2010 and if your a fan of Arjen Lucassen's work then you cannot afford to miss it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
mad but brilliant
This title kept popping up in my recommendations, well thank you amazon because this is absolutely fantastic. arjen lucassen is my new favorite genius. Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. Newell
Star One
This is a very good album indeed. Only recently discovered Arjen Lucassen and his diverse range of work. If you liked Rainbow in the Ronnie Dio days you'll probably like this. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dai Bandit
Heavy, melodic rock
I'll approach this review as a lover of symphonic and melodic rock. I have my own limits on how 'heavy' the music I listen to can be before the weight of screaming guitars, booming... Read more
Published 4 months ago by realmusic
Sheer enjoyment!
Another briljant project from the master himself. I have been waiting for this album for months and have not been dissappointed at all! Read more
Published 15 months ago by O. Versloot
Lucassen did it again!
If you like Ayreon and the first Star One album, this one will not dissapoint. It's more heavy and a bit less progressive than the first Star One album, but the sound and melodies... Read more
Published 18 months ago by S. Bach
Excellent album
Excellent album if you like Hard Rock you'll love this album, I originally bought the cd for the Tony Martin song "Closer to the Stars" because I'm a big fan of Tony's but as it... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Richard Dunn
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