#6 - Top of 2012

Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Lost In the New Real (Inside Out Records)

What has the unique Arjen Anthony Lucassen been doing when he is not splitting his busy schedule between Ayreon, Star One and Gentle Storm? The answer is creating his own solo album "Lost In The New Real", the 3rd one and first one in a while since 1996. The singer/ songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist narrates to the listener the story of Mr L, a 21st century modern-day man who is revived (from being cryogenically preserved at the point of his death) in a distant future where everything has changed and is trying to come in terms with the "new real" with the help of his psychological advisor Voight-Kampff (a tribute to the apparatus that is use in Philip K Dick's story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?). The album discusses a number of issues that could also apply to contemporary situations, including separating music originality and piracy (noted in "Pink Beatles in a Purple Zeppelin"), concerns considering overpopulation (in "Parental Procreation Permit") and the environment (with theories about the "Yellowstone Memorial Day"), as well as drawing the line between reality and digital facade (seen in "Don't Switch Me Off"). It combines enjoyable positive songs and the more negative aspects of the realization of someone waking up to a dystopian future.

An interesting note is that, although the concept is not directly related to Ayreon, there are some connections with the project as the Dream Sequencer can be spotted in the cover art and the main character is Mr L who has previously appeared in the "01011001"  Ayreon album.!

95/100

Below is the music video for "Pink Beatles in a Purple Zeppelin"