Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator
| Flight of the Migrator | ||||
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| Studio album by Ayreon | ||||
| Released | June 20, 2000 | |||
| Recorded | The Electric Castle Studio | |||
| Genre | Progressive metal Rock opera |
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| Length | 65:34 | |||
| Label | Transmission | |||
| Producer | Arjen Lucassen | |||
| Ayreon chronology | ||||
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Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator is a progressive metal album released in 2000 by Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen Lucassen, and is the fifth album of his Ayreon project.
The musical styles found on Flight of the Migrator contrast its counterpart The Dream Sequencer, illustrating a wild, raucous journey through the tumultuous and chaotic reaches of outer space. In keeping with the setting of the story, the album's tone is much heavier, exuding a powerful, guitar-driven metal feel throughout.
Both albums were released simultaneously, sold well and were received positively, with most fans purchasing both separate discs.[citation needed] In 2004, Lucassen moved to a new record label - InsideOut Music - and with this move came re-issues of all the previous Ayreon releases, including The Dream Sequencer. The special edition re-issue merged both albums into a single release, titled Universal Migrator: Parts I & II.[citation needed]
As Universal Migrator had enough content to form a two-CD album, Lucassen decided to sell each disc as a separate release. He believed his fans to be fundamentally divided into two groups by genre of choice, being either progressive rock or heavy metal fans. The Dream Sequencer was meant to appeal to the prog enthusiasts, and Flight of the Migrator to the metal fans, so that each could simply purchase the album of their choice, if so inclined, and to his surprise both fanbases bought and enjoyed both albums.
Contents |
[edit] Plot background
Flight of the Migrator continues the story of the final living human being, the colonist on Mars, and his decision to go even further back in time. Using the Dream Sequencer machine, he travels all the way back to just before the Universe was formed, theoretically before the Big Bang, when there was nothing but chaos. The colonist observes the creation of the very first soul, known as the Universal Migrator. It is from this soul that all others are formed, through a division of the original soul. Each resulting soul then travels off into the Universe to bring life in some form to the planet they inhabit.[1]
The colonist follows the soul bound for Earth, as it travels through countless astronomical entities, such as quasars, pulsars, supernovas, eventually entering a black hole, traveling through a wormhole, and coming out the other side through a white hole directed towards our Solar System. The colonist's ambitious time travel subsequently overloads the Dream Sequencer, resulting in his death while hypnotized by the machine; however, his eternal self receives a message from the Migrator: "Eternity lies before you. You are the new Migrator!"[1][2]
[edit] Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [3] |
Allmusic reviewer Glenn Astarita felt that Flight of the Migrator wasn't as good as its counterpart, saying that "Lucassen's applied concepts and compositional acumen fare much better on the highly recommended 'The Dream Sequencer'."[3]
[edit] Track listing
All songs written and composed by Arjen Anthony Lucassen, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Chaos" | 5:11 | |
| 2. | "Dawn of a Million Souls" | 7:45 | |
| 3. | "Journey on the Waves of Time" | 5:48 | |
| 4. | "To the Quasar" (I. "The Taurus Pulsar" / II. "Quasar 3C273") | 8:43 | |
| 5. | "Into the Black Hole" (I. "The Eye of the Universe" / II. "Halo of Darkness" / III. "The Final Door") | 10:25 | |
| 6. | "Through the Wormhole" | 6:05 | |
| 7. | "Out of the White Hole" (I. "M31" / II. "Planet Y" / III. "The Search Continues") | 7:11 | |
| 8. | "To the Solar System" (I. "Planet of Blue" / II. "System Alert") | Lucassen, Robert Soeterboek[2] | 6:12 |
| 9. | "The New Migrator" (I. "Metamorphosis" / II. "Sleeper Awake") | Lucassen, Ian Parry[2] | 8:17 |
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Vocalists
- Lana Lane - voice on track 1; backing vocals on tracks 4, 5, 6, and 9
- Russell Allen (Symphony X) - track 2
- Damian Wilson (Threshold) - backing vocals on track 2
- Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear) - track 3
- Andi Deris (Helloween) - track 4
- Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) - track 5
- Fabio Lione (Rhapsody of Fire) - track 6
- Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius) - track 7
- Robert Soeterboek - track 8
- Ian Parry (Elegy) - track 9
[edit] Instrumentalists
- Arjen Lucassen - electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, analog synthesizers, Mellotron, Hammond, additional keyboards; guitar solos on tracks 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9
- Ed Warby - drums
- Erik Norlander - analog synthesizers, vocoder, Taurus pedal, Hammond, additional keyboards; synth solos on tracks 1, 3 (Hammond), 4, 5, 7
- Michael Romeo - guitar solo on track 2
- Oscar Holleman - second guitar solo on track 4
- Gary Wehrkamp - guitar and synth solo on track 6
- Rene Merkelbach - last synth solo on track 4
- Clive Nolan - second synth solo on track 5
- Keiko Kumagai - synth solo on track 9 (plus Hammond)
- Peter Siedlach - strings
[edit] Technical
- Arjen Lucassen - producer
- Oscar Holleman - sound engineer
- Stephen van Haestregt - sound engineer
- Jacques Marcoux - sleeve design and layout
[edit] References
- ^ a b UM Album page at Ayreon.com
- ^ a b c Interview with Arjen: Aardschok Magazine (pt. 2)
- ^ a b Astarita, Glenn. "Universal Migrator, Pt. 2: Flight of the Universal Migrator Review". Allmusic. Rovi. http://www.allmusic.com/album/universal-migrator-pt-2-flight-of-the-universal-migrator-r488046/review. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
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