The Universal Migrator - part 2
Aardschok Magazine
01-07-2000
In our previous edition Arjen Anthony Lucassen extensively reported about the realization of his double release 'Universal Migrator part1: The Dream Sequencer' and 'Universal Migrator part 2: Flight Of The Migrator'. In this second part we leaf a little more detailed through this exciting matter. With that goes of course the photo album and a box full of correspondence of the guest musicians, according to Arjen. The story continues...
Part 1: The Dream Sequencer
The Dream Sequencer
The story: "The albums begins with an intro of sound effects. The colonist walks through a tunnel to the Dream Sequencer. He sits down in some sort of bubble bath and places the electrodes on his head. Three days I have been tinkering with these sound effects. The Dream Sequencer tells that he selected the Universal Migrator program. Then the colonist dreams away."
Guest musician(s): "Lana Lane plays the voice of the Dream Sequencer. Erik Norlander does a part of the keyboard parts, actually he does in all songs, and the voice of the computer. I met Lana and Erik through the internet and I have worked a great deal with them already. The music is very Pink Floyd like."
My House On Mars
The story: "A very depressive song. The colonist namely goes back to his youth that was not so great. His father died in the war of 2084 and the boys feels alone. In the lyrics I also explain that it is senseless to die as a war hero."
Guest musician(s): "Johan Edlund (Tiamat) is of course the perfect man for this part. He wanted to join right away. Johan did write his own vocal line and according to that I have written the words. Still the song needed something extra. Through my record label I got in touch with Floor Jansen of After Forever. She plays the sister of the colonist. Floor is only eighteen and inexperienced, but she has lots of feeling and talent. Her vocal line is indeed in the vein of Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering), but I don't mind so much."
2084
The story: "Again that depressive atmosphere and the sounds of war. It is 2084 and the earth is completely destroyed. The main character, now a woman, sees her dead body lying on the floor. It is in fact a retrospect on the events and predictions, that Ayreon did, in the sixth century on "The Final Experiment"
Guest musician(s): "Lana Lane has a very powerful voice. She has also done all the backing choirs. She does that close fitting and powerful. I think she sounds at her best in the more quiet songs. Indeed, again a Anneke van Giersbergen like vocal melody. The synthesizer solo is done by Clive Nolan (Arena, Pendragon).
One Small Step
The story: "An autobiographic song, but a positive one. It begins triumphantly and you hear the countdown of a rocket launch. It is 1969 and astronaut Neil Armstrong lands on the moon. The I-person experiences this as a child. I still remember that my father carried me out of bed at four in the morning and said: 'You've got to see this'. The comments of the astronauts are samples of a real moon landing."
Guest musician(s): "This song screamed for Edward Reekers (Kayak), because of the feeling and rest that's in it. He is a top singer and already a regular customer at Ayreon. I have been thinking about Greg lake (Emmerson, Lake and Palmer), but that didn't work.
The Shooting Company Of Captain Frans B. Cocq
The story: "This is the official title of the painting 'The Night Watch' . The roll of drums leads us to the seventeenth century, the Dutch Golden Age. The I-person is an ensign bearer in The Night Watch. He describes proudly how he is being painted by Rembrandt. I wanted to write something about the Dutch history. After all, I am a Dutch artist. The music is again very Floyd-like."
Guest musician(s): "Because of all kinds of bad luck Mouse has not been able to play his part as Hippie on the previous album. I just am an enormous fan of the man and despite what happened, I did call him again. That John Lennon like vocal line is suits him perfect."
Dragon On The Sea
The story: "Back to the sixteenth century, the pirates time. The I-person is Queen Elizabeth sending Sir Frances Drake out to fight the Spanish Armada. I wanted on the beat of the song impressive row sounds. Just terrible, because how do you do that with just the sample of one rowing boat? After a day of cut and paste it worked out in the end. This song originates from y solo period. Erik Norlander thought it was the best song and therefore wrote the lyrics. The music was polished and translated to Ayreon."
Guest musician(s): "Here Lana Lane really shows what she can do. It is a song without drum and bass, but with a grand atmosphere."
Temple Of The Cat
The story: "It is around eight hundred after Christ, the Maya time. A girl is searching for the Jaguar Temple. In a roundabout way I have laid my hands on an original mono recording of a Maya festival. It sure was a hell of job to clean up the noisy recording. The temple bells are also authentic."
Guest musician(s): "It is purely a coincidence that I ran into Jacqueline Govaert. She was with her band Krezip with Oscar Holleman in the studio at the moment I came by. I heard her voice and was immediately impressed. By chance I was still looking for one female singer and she wanted to join. Jacqueline is only seventeen, but she has a full voice and the perfect appeal.
Carried By The Wind
The story: "Another nice link to the first Ayreon CD. The scene is set in England during the sixth century. The colonist turns out to have once been Ayreon, the blind minstrel. He is dead and finally freed of these computer-send visions. The sound is great with Irish folk influences, truly in the vein of The Final Experiment. The wind sounds I have recorded in my own backyard. Such a thing is the best to do yourself."
Guest musician(s): "The part of Ayreon I of course had to do myself. I really got the feeling of the song. This time there are no sound effects used for my voice."
And The Druids Turned To Stone
The story: "It is 2300 before Christ. I am treading on ice now by mentioning Stonehenge. It still is a mystery as to how these enormous stones have gotten there. In my fantasy the druids stood in a circle. By uttering magical words they turned into stones. It was quite hard not to sound to corny and Spinal Tap like."
Guest musician(s): "Damian Wilson called me to say he wanted to join, even though he didn't like the song too much. The result is extremely good. Damian sang it with so much feeling and here you can hear what kind of singer he is, from soft and sensitive to heavy and high."
The First Man On Earth
The story: The adventures of the first man on earth, about fifty thousand years before Christ. Everything then looked beautiful and clean. Yeah, what can one write about this? So I did the writing together with Neil Morse and Erik Norlander."
Guest musician(s): From the first moment I heard Spock's Beard, I was sold. What a musician, what a star, this Neil Morse. Neil choose to sing a 'Beatlesque' song. I have recorded his singing in the studio of Erik Norlander in L.A.. I played it to him on an acoustic guitar and less than an hour later it was ready. Especially in the third couplet he lets himself go with this very nice and bluesy touch. Because Neil can't sing higher than F# (fis), I have asked Marc McCrite of Rocket Scientists to do the backing choirs. That voice of his is like a chameleon and blends perfect with other voices."
The Dram Sequencer Reprise
The story: "The instrumental outtro. The colonist awakes from his hypnosis, but decides to go even further back. If you want to know how the story continues, you'll have to buy the second CD, ha ha."
Guest musician(s): You hear bits and pieces from the intro. The music had to pass by real dreamily, but also something had to happen. That's why there is a slide solo. On that I am very proud myself."
Part II: Flight of the Migrator
Chaos
The story: "Chaos, that's the time before the Big Bang. The Dream Sequencer warns the colonist for the danger of getting back that far in time. Then the song really booms in. For Ayreon standards this is a terribly heavy song."
Guest musician(s): "Lana Lane and Erik Norlander again as The dream Sequencer and the computer voice. Guitar technically I pull everything out of the closet. Just showing what I got. Practicing is something I never do, so I really had to battle for two months just to play this. Ed Warby gives a stunning drum solo and the song ends with a gigantic explosion, so you almost fear you speakers will be ripped open."
Dawn Of A Million Souls
The story: "During the Big Bang one large soul originates, The Universal Migrator, that divides into millions of souls. All these souls go out to search for planets to create life."
Guest musician(s): "Russel Allen (Symphony X) is the only singer I could not record myself. In the middle of the night he played his recording through the phone. Tears in my eyes. What a power, soul and feeling. Russel does not sing like that at all in Symphony X. The likeness of his voice and Tony Martin's is surprising. Michael Romeo (Symphony X) offered spontaneously to play two guitar solo's. I couldn't say no to that of course."
Journey On The Waves Of Time
The story: "The adventure begins. The colonist travels together with the souls on the waves of time and sets out to find the earth. Which space phenomena will they encounter underway?"
Guest musician(s): "Iron strong singing by Ralf Scheepers. A bit lower than with Primal Fear, but tight, powerful and in tune."
To The Quasar
The story: "A huge lightmass, called Quasar, comes into sight. The soul wants to go to the center of the lightmass, a big black hole, and hopes to reach earth that way. He first passes the imploded star "The Taurus Pulsar". The they pass "Quasar 3c273"."
Guest musician(s): "Andy Deris I have, because of the very busy time schedules, recorded just two days before the end mix in Germany. A very professional musician. I have used mainly the low side of his voice with some effects. Of course now and then you hear his typical power voice. That is his trademark at Helloween. Rene Merkelbach does a keyboard solo and I have asked Oscar Holleman for a load of great noise, one of them dirty wah-wah guitar solo's, to bang over the double bass drums of Ed Warby."
Into The Black Hole
The story: "It is scary to fly into the black hole ("The Eye Of The Universe"). Screams and terrible noises resound. Is this hell ("Halo Of Darkness")? But they do it. The music is heavy, almost Black Sabbath like."
Guest musicican(s): "Bruce Dickinson is absolutely the pearl in the crown. This really has become the strongest song. Bruce is just the man you see on the stage. No more, no less. He immediately wanted to go into the studio and lost himself in the words. I saw that I came straight from his heart. Bruce had all the space and sings differently here than with Maiden. I asked him to act at certain moments and bring out his 'siren' That went perfectly. The second synthesizer solo is done by Clive Nolan. I promised him that."
Through The Wormhole
The story: "A flight through a wormhole, in theory a tunnel located behind a black hole. It's a fast song with the old metal feel."
Guest musician(s): "Fabio Lione is in my opinion a very good singer and I had to get him in on it. The contact was a bit slow in the beginning, but I had set my mind on getting him, no matter what. It was hard work and it took us a long time. Fabio didn't feel the song and didn't get the rhythm. But his voice is out of this world. And just by making all kinds of weird jumps it became something very good. Gary Wehrkamp from Shadow Gallery had once send me fan mail. Great to be recognized by such a top musician. Of course I wanted him in. He played a chillingly good guitar solo and a fantastic synthesizer solo.
Out Of The White Hole
The story: "Theoretically the other side of the black hole is called the white hole. No one has ever seen it and it is unsure if it exists. In my theory it can of course. The soul and the colonist come out of the white hole and end up in Andromeda, a planetary system ("M31"). In the distance they see a planet that could have life on it. What happens? On this "planet Y" lives Forever, the alien from Into The Electric Castle. The see creatures with hollow eyes staring up without emotion. Suddenly a voice says: "Remember Forever", the final sentence of "Into The Electric Castle". Since this planet is already inhabited, the soul continues his quest, "The Search Continues"."
Guest musician(s): "Timo Kotipelto of Stratovarius I met through the internet. He has an enormous sense of humor and we had great laughs. Timo has a beautiful voice and I wanted him to sing from high to low. For him too it was a discovery and not everyone will recognize his voice immediately. Robert Soeterboek, by the way, sang the demo. He did that so well, I want to release his version as a bonus track."
To The Solar System
The story: "Now things are getting exciting. The duo approaches our solar system ("Planet Blue"). The colonist feels that things are going wrong. His body slowly dies. The Dream Sequencer gets overheated and the oxygen is running out ("System Alert")."
Guest musician(s): "Robert Soeterboek has a great voice on which you can build at your hearts desire. He made this Alice In Chains like song line himself.
The New Migrator
The story: "For the first time the Migrator communicates. He has reached the earth and his task is done. The Migrator tells the colonist that he will be the new Migrator. In "Metamorphosis" the soul of the colonists separates from the body and begins his new mission. It has become a bombastic and classical piece. Then "Sleeper Awake" rocks in. A song that once Ian Parry and I wrote for Vengeance."
Guest musician(s): Of course this had to be sang by Ian. Ian did rewrite the lyrics. He is a professional and it feels good. For the Hammond and Mini moog solo, I have asked the incredibly talented Keiko Kumagai from Japan. Her band Ars Nova I got to know through a fan."
Finally Arjen stresses that Oscar Holleman played a major part in the end result. "Without the mixing of Oscar, it never would have worked!"
The End?