Last year (2002) we already had a pleasant surprise with the new Arjen Lucassen Project "STAR ONE" and now the Dutch 'Master of Prog-Metal' does it again with a live double album.

The special edition features an extra bonus DVD of approximately 150 minutes. The nearly 2 hours show from the short tour in the fall of 2003 has been recorded just fine, but obviously the sound is not as huge and big as on the studio-recording. With the production-process of this live registration some minor irregularities and one or two little technical failures were corrected and in the final mix Arjen has managed even to optimise the balance in all vocals and instruments (all ready being of a superb quality during the concert in Rijssen). Peter Vink's bass has a little more exquisite and profound sound and nearly every word sung by all the vocalists can be heard clearly.

Who has seen the show or read the concert-review might know what songs are on the album: From the album "Space Metal" there's "Set Your Controls", "High Moon", "Songs Of The Ocean", "Intergalactic Space Crusaders", "The Eye Of Ra" and "Starchild". Furthermore we travel through time with tracks from various Ayreon albums, whilst "Actual Fantasy", "Valley Of The Queens" and "Isis And Osiris" (with beautiful flute playing by Ewa Albering) are the points of rest and moments of reflection between all the heavier stuff.

Once again "Sir" Russell Allen demonstrates his mighty and powerful voice, one can appreciate Damian Wilson's impressive vocal abilities and the album gives also proof of how the background vocalists (Floor "AFTER FOREVER" Jansen and her sister Irene Jansen) provided us with a superb performance. Especially the sound of Soeterboek's voice profited from the production- and mixing techniques.

Unnecessary to mention that Ed Warby (drums) and above all Joost "SUN CAGED" van den Broek (listen to the duel between him and Arjen in "Amazing Flight In Space") played magnificently in this all "STAR" environment. Mr Space Metal himself? Just listen and watch! I'll bet he enjoyed himself just as much as the many spectators did, who watched him play some dazzling guitar and saw him radiate just like a true "STAR".

The special edition (with the DVD, the complete concert-recordings and some extra's) is a gem and deserves a special nomination in any magazine and as a combination CD/DVD a unique live document from highly motivated musicians, giving their best performances and truly having a good time themselves as well. The whole concert was filmed with just a few camera's and in spite of these technical limitations the quality is surprisingly good. Although now and then some flashy spotlights strike your eyes, this is just a minor detail.

Sometimes you might hear some adjusting in the output levels of the sound but you can correct this irregularity by making some adjustments to your hifi-system as shown on Arjen's website www.arjenlucassen.com In conclusion one can say there's really much to enjoy listening to Star One's music and watching this DVD!!