The seventh Ayreon release is a twisting emotional journey through one man’s mind. This reads and unfolds like a story, with plenty of character and plot twists. I’d wholeheartedly suggest sitting down with the lyrics and following along with the music, in order to absorb the full experience. It deals with a comatose man post-wreck, his family and friends, but also inanimate objects such as his emotions: love, fear, agony, and so forth. The 20 tracks are the 20 "days" of the coma, and much is learned from beginning to end. There are still plenty of heavy and distortion-laden moments to be found, but this is more so a work of art; think of a sprawling, metallic Pink Floyd journey.
James LaBrie of Dream Theater is the "main character," and other guest vocalists include Devon Graves (Dead Soul Tribe), Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad), Heather Findlay (Mostly Autumn), Marcela Bovio (Elfonia), Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth), and numerous others.
"Isolation" checks in at over eight minutes long and has a great bass thump, with the follow-up "Pain" running the full gamut of emotions, especially from the one called agony (Devon Graves). "Hope" is a lighthearted keyboard piece that has a nice Beatles feel, "School" is heavier, and "Mystery," "Voices," and "Memories" also stand out from Disc One.
On the second disc, "Trauma" is heavy at its onset, with some great female vocals from Findlay highlighting "Sign." "Pride" is another of the disc’s heavier tracks, "Betrayal" has a great atmosphere (and is also where the story really begins to unfold), and "Realization" has some chopping riffwork.
Devin Townsend’s segment at the end of "Loser" is aggressive and excellent, more great vocal work shows up in "Disclosure," and "Confrontation" brings the story to a close.
And by the way... is there a deeper meaning to the whole story? Longtime Ayreon fans may think so, based on the very last thing you hear at disc’s end. A nod to his Ayreonauts, and another hint of Arjen’s brilliance.

TRACK LIST: DISC ONE - Day One: Vigil/Day Two: Isolation/Day Three: Pain/Day Four: Mystery/Day Five: Voices/Day Six: Childhood/Day Seven: Hope/Day Eight: School/Day Nine: Playground/Day Ten: Memories/Day Eleven: Love
DISC TWO - Day Twelve: Trauma/Day Thirteen: Sign/Day Fourteen: Pride/Day Fifteen: Betrayal/Day Sixteen: Loser/Day Seventeen: Accident?/Day Eighteen: Realization/Day Nineteen: Disclosure/Day Twenty: Confrontation