STAR ONE — Live on Earth (review)

Movie · 2003 · Progressive Metal

5/5 · 2011-05-09
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Star One mastermind Arjen Lucassen is of course more known for his Ayreon project, but because of the sheer amount of vocalists he features on each Ayreon album, often with many in the same song, it has been impossible for fans to hear the amazing music taken out on tour. Well with his Star One project that was no longer the case, and this DVD and double CD package will give fans a great selection of some of the best moments from both the Star One album Space Metal and some of Ayreon’s greatest songs too, as well as a couple of other treats such as some impressive solo sections for the keyboard and bass guitar.

The set list here is obviously mainly dominated with songs from the Space Metal album, since that’s what Lucassen was promoting at the time and these are the songs that feature the singers that he has brought with him (with the exception of Robert Soeterboek, who fills in for Dan Swano, the only singer who couldn’t make the tour). The rest of the set is made up of the songs that best suit the voices that Lucassen had at his disposal, including his own. We mainly get songs from his most popular Ayreon album, Into the Electric Castle, with either one of two tracks from his other Ayreon albums that were released at the time.

Robert Soeterboek does a good job at filling in for Dan Swano. They have similar vocal styles so the Star One material is performed to perfection. Symphony X’s Russell Allen and Damian Wilson (Threshold, Rick Wakeman) are both on top form, as are the two female singers, Floor Jansen of After Forever and her not so well known sister, Irene. Throughout most of the show the sisters handle backing vocals, with Floor in particular taking the occasional lead role as the actual member of Star One. Lucassen himself only sings to reprise his role as Into the Electric Castle’s Hippie for the song Amazing Flight and for one of the bonus DVD tracks.

The material from the Ayreon albums however was bound to turn out different live due to the different singers used on the original recordings to the Star One line-up. Russell Allen does a decent version of Dreamtime from The Final Experiment CD, and since he sang the original version of Dawn of a Million Souls the band play that one as well. What gets me is that with both of these songs is that they are cut short from their original versions. Dreamtime on the album is part of a much larger song called The Awareness. I wouldn’t a problem if they only played the Dreamtime section but they don’t. It’s an edit version. Dawn of a Million Souls on the other hand has the guitar solo cut but I can understand the reason here. Lucassen may have wrote it, but on the version from the Flight of the Migrator album it was played by Russell Allen’s bandmate Michael Romeo. Lucassen is known to have said that he can’t actually play it the way Romeo did, which is probably why they had to cut it, rather than sneakily use a backing tape. Well respect to them for that, but I still miss it.

Eyes of Time is where the first mistake comes along. The original was sang by Lenny Wolf of Kingdom Come. Damian handles vocals here but despite his amazing voice it’s just one of those cases of a voice not suiting a song. He doesn’t murder it, he just doesn’t do it justice. This is also another case of one of the Ayreon songs being cut short. The original had an excellent instrumental after the main song had finished but the band completely cut it out, which is a shame. But in Damian’s favour when the time comes to sing Into the Black Hole he pulls it off to perfection. There’s not many people who could do a song that Bruce Dickinson originally sang and do it so well. The original remains the better one, but only just.

On the songs from Into the Electric Castle Robert takes on the role of the Barbarian character and does really well. His vocals in Amazing Flight and The Castle Hall are just as good as those done by Jay van Feggelen, and the man’s stage moves fit in well.

Around the middle of the set, the band takes a break from the heavy music and performs some of Lucassen’s more mellow songs. The first is Actual Fantasy which is followed by Valley of the Queens, which Floor Jansen comes down to sing. Straight from this the band begins fan favourite Isis and Osiris, which is another song which has been partly cut. The play the main two sections though so they can get away with it this time.

Amazing Flight in Space is a highlight of the performance but apart from the first section the song is very different from the original. After the main vocal section Arjen and keyboardist Joost van den Broek have a guitar/keyboard solo battle. When I say a battle I mean a battle. They do not just try to outdo each other with some amazing playing, but each tries to keep centre stage and at one time the pair of them are even trying to force each other back with their heads, while still playing! It’s quite entertaining to watch.

Another highlight of the set is Intergalactic Space Crusaders, one of the Star One songs. On the Space Metal album is really sounds as if Russell and Damian and having a vocal dialogue together but performed live the pair actually act parts of the song out, invisible lightsabers included. The overall sound of this song is actually better than the album version, which I find rare for any band.

The solo sections of Joost van den Broek and bass player Peter Vink are also pretty good. Vink’s in particular is very interesting as he uses a loop effect to keep repeating every note he plays over and over while adding more and more to it until finally you hear what is essentially many bass guitars playing at once. Then when this stops he pulls out a more traditional bass solo. He’s a very gifted player and I’m surprised that he isn’t more well known. Based on this it’s a shame that Star One don’t play Ayreon’s The Banishment in this show because it would really showcase Vink’s talent even more than this solo does.

To finish up the set we hear two of Star One’s best songs, The Eye of Ra and Starchild, followed by Ayreon’s The Two Gates. At the end of The Eye of Ra the whole vocal cast is singing and if you didn’t know better you’d think it was the finale. But then we get Starchild, the most progressive and epic song from Space Metal. It’s highlights like this that make Live on Earth an amazing addition to anyone’s Arjen Lucassen collection. It’s a little bit annoying that they drag The Two Gates out for 14 minutes though while Russell Allen introduces everyone in the band, until it comes to Robert Soeterboek’s turn and he starts singing that ‘shakin’ that ass’ song. That gives some laughs.

Even after the main show is over there is still more material to be had. Not only do you get the whole show on two CD’s as well, but also some DVD extras. First we have a photo gallery which is backed by the rare Star One version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. Then we have a behind the scenes short film which features rehearsal footage among other things. And finally we have three extra live performances. There’s a second version of the Dreamtime edit, this time sung by original vocalist Edward Reekers. There is also a cover of Space Truckin’ by Deep Purple, which sees the whole band seeming to go mad on stage. Final we get the Lucassen voiced Intergalactic Laxative, which is just funny to listen to.

Despite its minor faults this package is excellent and very entertaining. Although I think Star One’s Sandrider should have been included and I think that Ayreon’s The Banishment would have been nice, the set is fantastic. This is what fans of Arjen’s music were waiting for and as usual the man delivered the goods. Essential for fans of either project, and possibly a great introduction to this very talented man.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scoring 9.7/10)