Star One--Space Metal

Star One--Space Metal (2002/InsideOut) Rating--9.1

A side project of Ayreon's main man Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Star One is a theme-driven album centered around Sci-Fi movies and television shows. The music is progressive and bottom-heavy (like Ayreon's 2nd 'Univeral Migrator' disc), and several top-notch vocalists handle the mic: Dan Swano, Russell Allen, Damien Wilson, and Floor Jansen. In fact, on most of the songs the vocalists are intermixed depending on the mood/direction of the song.
Lucassen drew his songwriting inspiration from some of his favorite flicks, including Star Wars, Dune, Star Trek, Aliens, and more. A strong metal offering, and a great conceptual journey for the space/sci-fi fan.
"High Moon," based on 'Outlander,' has some great singing throughout, and a chorus dominated by heavy guitar rolling. "Set Your Controls" is a fast-mover, while the 'Aliens'-influenced "Perfect Survivor" has a strong, methodical pace.
Two slow-building tracks are featured: "Master of Darkness" (Star Wars) and "The Eye of Ra" (Stargate). All of "Songs of the Ocean" (Star Trek IV), "Sandrider" (Dune), and "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" (Blake's 7) are good as well. In all, this is another triumph for Lucassen/Ayreon--a great style of metal to get into to expand your listening horizons.
TRACK LIST: Lift-Off/Set Your Controls/High Moon/Songs of the Ocean/Master of Darkness/The Eye of Ra/Sandrider/Perfect Survivor/Intergalactic Space Crusaders/Starchild

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