(Review from metal-archives.com, progarchives.com, amazon)

Arjen Lucassen sure has evolved big time since his days as a guitarist in Dutch hair metal band Vengeance. 01011001 is the seventh regular release from his Ayreon project.

Ambient and electronic music has a clear influence on the sound here, folk music influences are used quite extensively too; and the songs come across as well structured, planned and executed.

Less dramatics and less metal than in the previous releases; and not as pretentious as previous releases either.

Those who missed the instrumental section on “The Human Equation” will be glad to see their return with “0101101″. The production values are closer to “The Human Equation” than anything else, but the songs are written more in the style of “Electric Castle” and “Universal Migrator”, with longer vocal parts and long instrumentals. Thanks to the aid of many top-gun progressive musicians, Symphony X’s Michael Romeo and ex-Dream Theater’s Derek Sherinian among them, “0101101″ should not be a disappointment to the progressive fans who were hooked with “Electric Castle” or “Universal Migrator”.

The structure of the concept, it is divided into two different disc: “Y” and “Earth”, each one including the planet where its own part of the story develops. Between both albums, a total of 17 different vocalists are featured, divided in two categories: Forever and Men.

The first disc “Y”, can be considered as the very beginning of the whole Ayreon story. Its name refers to the planet “Y”, an imaginary planet located in the Andromeda constelation and supposed to be home for the Forevers, intelligent beings (just like mankind, and this happens because, further on the story, it is said that mankind was actually created by the Forevers) that now try to stay alive by artificial ways because machines have destroyed their planet and their sun, forcing them to live in the darkness and lose their emotions. They moan for an undefined period of time in the shadows until they discover a way to survive in another planet, by sending their DNA to a distant galaxy on a comet to find the perfect planet while they look after them in every moment.

Due to the fact that about 3 or 4 of the 8 songs of the disc are connected with the sadness, darkness, memories and lack of emotions of the Forevers, “Y” is incredibly melancholic (in contrast with the “happiness” found in the other disc), ethereal and, of course, very slow. These elements create a very delicate harmony based on tragedy, loss, grief, greed and a little arrogance.

The second disc, “Earth” continues the concept that was told in “Ride The Comet”, with the discovering by the Forevers of a planet perfect to breed a new race and live again throght them. That planet was the Earth, back then inhabited by the dinosaurs. The Forevers, sensing danger from those giant reptiles, killed them and placed their seeds on Earth, resulting in the birth of the human race. Next, according to the story, Forevers gave men and women emotions and feelings but, fearing that the humans’ evolution moved far too slow, they started giving manking more knowledge than what they could control, leading to overpopulation, massive pollution, nuclear bombs, global warming and misuse of liberty and expression. Wanting to prevent mankind from their eventual destruction, the Forevers started sending them signals, but all efforts were useless: nothing could be done, and mankind was destroyed during a nuclear World War in 2084 (as told before on “Flight of The Migrator Pt. I: The Dream Sequencer”), and forcing the survivors to escpae to Mars: They eventually die until there’s only one man alive and, knowing he won’t survive, the Forevers send him their last hope in the shape of the artifact called the Dream Sequencer, not before pleading to the Universal Migrator to restore their lives.

“Earth” includes more lively songs than “Y”, faster tempos and “brighter” atmospheres, giving the sensation of being surrounded by life every time. It’s clearly more aggressive, including even death grunts. This time, the atmosphere is not as important as before, losing the leadership of the songs and giving it to the guitars, keyboards and strings, which are more widely used this time.

Line-up:
- Arjen Lucassen / vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, synths and programming
with
- Anneke Van Giersbergen / vocals
- Bob Catley / vocals
- Daniel Gildenlow / vocals
- Floor Jansen / vocals
- Hansi Kursch / vocals
- Jonas Renkse / vocals
- Jorn Lande / vocals
- Liselotte Hegt / vocals
- Magali Luyten / vocals
- Marjan Welman / vocals
- Phideaux Xavier / vocals
- Simone Simons / vocals
- Steve Lee / vocals
- Tom S. Englund / vocals
- Ty Tabor / vocals
- Wudstik / vocals
- Lori Linstruth / guitars
- Michael Romeo / guitars
- Ben Mathot / Violin
- David Faber / Violoncello
- Jeroen Goossens / Flute
- Derek Sherinian / keyboards
- Joost van den Broek / keyboards
- Tomas Bodin / keyboards
- Ed Warby / drum

Track List:
CD1
01. Age of Shadows – 10:47
02. Comatose – 4:26
03. Liquid Eternity – 8:09
04. Connect the Dots – 4:12
05. Beneath the Waves – 8:26
06. Newborn Race – 7:49
07. Ride the Comet – 3:29
08. Web of Lies – 2:50
CD2
01. The Fifth Extinction – 10:29
02. Waking Dreams – 6:31
03. The Truth is in Here – 5:12
04. Unnatural Selection – 7:15
05. River of Time – 4:24
06. E=mc² – 5:50
07. The Sixth Extinction – 12:18

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