AYREON — Universal Migrator, Part 2: Flight of the Migrator (review)

AYREON — Universal Migrator, Part 2: Flight of the Migrator album cover Album · 2000 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Conor Fynes
'Flight Of The Migrator' - Ayreon (71%)

This is a very cool, very psychedelic album. Theres a real feeling of travelling through space, and Arjen puts to use many cool effects. The musicianship on the album is also great. The intense instrumental opener 'Chaos' is probably the most technical effort Ayreon has ever done, and ever will do. Arjen even said himself that he needed to practice his guitar a few months before mastering the song! There are some great singers on this singer, most notably Fabio Leone (of Rhapsody Of Fire) and Bruce Dickenson (hailing from Iron Maiden fame.) The singers are for the most part used very well.

But why only 3 stars?

The album feels very one tracked; stuck to a single sound. It can get boring after an album, and from an artist like Ayreon, I'm really expecting more. Musically, it doesn't compare to the other albums in Ayreon's discography. This album's counterpart, 'The Dream Sequencer' highly overshadowed this release in terms of quality, but I can certainly see why someone would love this album. It's just not for me... Theres a real emotional lack to the musical craft, and while some songs really work well, others like the Dickenson track 'Into The Black Hole' can get really boring, and hurt the album.

The songwriting is good, and the atmospherics are FANTASTIC and are probably the album's high point. I just have never found a great amount of enjoyment in this album. There's nothing wrong with it, but besides 'Chaos,' there really aren't that many moments that stand out on this album.

Well done, but Ayreon's done much, much better.

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