Awesome album. Been a long time since I've actually sat down and listened to 90 minutes of music straight.

Damn this album is ......................long. Had to listen to it in segments, one "Phase" at a time, otherwise the music started to drag on for me. It's well made music, that is certain. Gonna give it another couple listens and see if it grows on me or not.

Yep, he could stop making double albums. 8-10 minutes less wouldn't be much of a loss but an improvement to these records and a single CD could handle that length.
Even If I get kinda distracted towards the end due to the duration and production is not excellent, the album itself is lovely. Also, the team Ayreon assembled this time works perfectly, I think it's the best one so far!

The worst lyrics I've ever heard. Laughed several times. Juvenile writing.

Musically, it sounds like Arjen... Some very impressive keyboarding in particular. But I just can't take it seriously.

I give it 6 for Average.

Written by phanto on 01.11.2013 at 05:51

The worst lyrics I've ever heard. Laughed several times. Juvenile writing.

A drink everytime you hear the word "genious" next listen

Written by Unhealer on 01.11.2013 at 06:21

Written by phanto on 01.11.2013 at 05:51

The worst lyrics I've ever heard. Laughed several times. Juvenile writing.

A drink everytime you hear the word "genious" next listen

*drunk after the first ten minutes*

Judging by a quick listen, the lyrics are definitely nothing to be proud of. Laughable is quite accurate description.

"Oh no, I can't believe
You're falling for this loser
Oh no, I thought you knew
That I am so much cooler!"

...

All-in-all everything seems to be pretty much the same as with the previous Ayreon releases. Including the (in my opinion) annoying, supposedly space-like, mellotrons/keyboards. Has Arjen come up with anything really new?

Gotta give it a few spins to get a better idea about the album...

I didnt wait for any shakesperean quotations in this album , the lyrics isnt Arjen's strongest suit , but i think his storytelling is good and if u think about it its made in a simple way so all can understand the story the rival's lyrics struck me for abit to much simplistic too but in the end i dont mind so much since the music is just awesome and the story is not bad at all. In the original's cd lyrics in each song it has a small text before the lyrics explaining what is going on in the story etc , anyways we all have our opinions no album is perfect (except of pink floyd's )

Written by Laze on 01.11.2013 at 11:47

"Oh no, I can't believe
You're falling for this loser
Oh no, I thought you knew
That I am so much cooler!"

Yes, a great album but I have to agree with the later posts. The lyrics are probably some of the cheesiest I've ever heard. And especially that part, the first time I was like "did Marco really just sing that?"

Written by Laze on 01.11.2013 at 11:47


"Oh no, I can't believe
You're falling for this loser
Oh no, I thought you knew
That I am so much cooler!"

...

All-in-all everything seems to be pretty much the same as with the previous Ayreon releases. Including the (in my opinion) annoying, supposedly space-like, mellotrons/keyboards. Has Arjen come up with anything really new?

Gotta give it a few spins to get a better idea about the album...

Yeah... I think that no matter how much you enjoy the album, that line will always be groan-worthy.

As for the keyboard thing though, I actually believe this is by far the best keyboard work we've seen on an Ayreon album. I guess if you don't like the keyboards that much as a whole, then chances are this will bug you too, as the keyboards are quite prominent in this album. (Similarly to Into The Electric Castle)
However, if you take the quality of the synth-work into account here (and I especially take careful note of this, being into keys myself) then there is no doubt that this is one of the best synthwork on any modern rock/metal album you will hear. This is part of the reason that I enjoy this album so much.

"Psycho Fanboy" here - I give it a 10!

Okey, after seeing the lyrics and understanding the story I have to say I do love it, even if the lyrics are simple. 9/10 and one of the best albums of the year!

Finally a chance to listen entirely, the psycho keyboard fanboy of me upholds my previous rating. Definitely parts of 'Human Equation' & '01011001' I like better, but parts of this release I prefer to both previous releases as well.

Oh wow, an Ayreon album with corny lyrics? Call the fucking press!

Yeah they were pretty bad in some places, the lyrics, but I view the album as a musical more so than a proper metal album, so I felt they worked for the most part. They worked just to explain the very basic story, which isn't very easy to do in music I think. But yeah, cheesy, very.


I crack up every time I hear the Father wail "GREAAAAAT! TELL US MORE. THAT SOUNDS INTRIGUING!" or of course, pretty much all of "Love & Envy". Apart from that I don't really see what the fuss is over the lyrics.


(Probably just me though, but whatever)

Just had my first listen through this album, and I feel I have to disagree about the lyrics being so bad. The style in which the lyrics are written is obviously quite straight-forward. Granted, In that sense they're pretty simplistic. But just like dialogues would be pretty straight-forward in a movie and/or a novel (as a vehicle to carry the plot and the characters), so are the dialogues in this album (which cover most of the lyrics, while some are inner thoughts and reflections).

It's everything around the lyrics that make it all come together in a completely brilliant way (just like all the different visual elements in a movie or the descriptive format of books, make it all come together along with the dialogues). And in music that "missing link" is of course the instrumental journey to go along with the lyrics; Everchanging and ever so fitting.

The story itself is quite fleshed out and fairly complex. Add to that, the different emotional bonds between the characters and the interesting motivations behind their actions make the lyrics "far" from simplistic (in my opinion).

In contrast to f.ex. Avantasia (where the plot and characters serve as vehicles to drive the lyrics), Ayreon has even more of that cinematic/literary way of building up the albums. If one's full attention is not given to absorb all the different elements, then it's perfectly understandable how the lyrics appear to be quite shallow. Just like the dialogues from a movie would appear completely lame without having the visual experience of watching it unfold on screen, so does the lyrics on this album if one doesn't connect with the relationship between the music and the words ( this isjust how I feel about it, in my opinion).

What I'm trying to say is, that on their own merits I agree with previous statements; The lyrics are simple. But in the proper context within the album (built around the plot and the characters), then I disagree (again, just my opinion). Depending on which angle we look at it from, I think a case can be made from either way.

I'm not trying to convince myself or anyone else that Arjen is the new Stephen King (or whatever author being put on a pedestal these days ), and I'm not an elitist. I'm curious if anyone else share the same opinion (I'm a bit clumsy with expressing myself so I aplogize for the long post. )

8.5 for me. I gave 9 because of sentiment. I am a bit disappointed because album is quite chaotic. I think that it wasn't good idea to divide it to 42 short songs. Arjen should do this album like all previous albums. I enjoy longer and more complex songs. But generally music and vocals are very good. I also enjoy cool keyboard solos.

Written by Hex_Omega on 03.11.2013 at 17:37

I think that it wasn't good idea to divide it to 42 short songs.

it seems that the reason why it's 42 songs flies over the heads of many people. The album is called 'The Theory Of Everything', so, people, please do the math

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 03.11.2013 at 18:10

Written by Hex_Omega on 03.11.2013 at 17:37

I think that it wasn't good idea to divide it to 42 short songs.

it seems that the reason why it's 42 songs flies over the heads of many people. The album is called 'The Theory Of Everything', so, people, please do the math

Oh gawd. This flew over my head as well even though I am a huge DA fan...

I don't think I'll listen to this. I disliked most of Ayreon's past stuff I have heard even though I consciously wanted to like it and this album just seem to ooze with "pretentious". And the bad kind.

Written by Hex_Omega on 03.11.2013 at 17:37

8.5 for me. I gave 9 because of sentiment. I am a bit disappointed because album is quite chaotic. I think that it wasn't good idea to divide it to 42 short songs. Arjen should do this album like all previous albums. I enjoy longer and more complex songs. But generally music and vocals are very good. I also enjoy cool keyboard solos.

Yeah, I thought it was pretty jarring at first. But really, given that each track has a particular scenario happening with it's own title, it made following the story MUCH easier. In terms of structure and story I feel that this is the best written Ayreon album, just because it's easy to follow without being boring, in my opinion. I don't know about you, but as much as I love The Human Equation, it took many listens in order to digest it all and follow the story properly, and I feel this was made difficult by most of the songs being a bit long (not that many of them, but more so in contrast with this album here).

It did of course take a couple of spins to understand The Theory of Everything, but I felt it sunk in much easier than the other Ayreon albums. Heck I still don't really understand the one prior to The Theory Of Everything.


I'm not saying you're wrong, of course. This is just how I understood it.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 03.11.2013 at 18:10

Written by Hex_Omega on 03.11.2013 at 17:37

I think that it wasn't good idea to divide it to 42 short songs.

it seems that the reason why it's 42 songs flies over the heads of many people. The album is called 'The Theory Of Everything', so, people, please do the math

I understand why he divided album to 42 songs, but I'm not sure if it was a good idea. For a concept of course it was, but for music?

Written by Hex_Omega on 03.11.2013 at 18:38

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 03.11.2013 at 18:10

Written by Hex_Omega on 03.11.2013 at 17:37

I think that it wasn't good idea to divide it to 42 short songs.

it seems that the reason why it's 42 songs flies over the heads of many people. The album is called 'The Theory Of Everything', so, people, please do the math

I understand why he divided album to 42 songs, but I'm not sure if it was a good idea. For a concept of course it was, but for music?

To be honest, I just listen to the album as 4 tracks. It's a much more comforting and fun listen when you do that. I'd only recommend listening to the "42 track" style when you're picking out single songs such as The Parting and Progressive Waves.

Written by Hex_Omega on 03.11.2013 at 18:38

I understand why he divided album to 42 songs, but I'm not sure if it was a good idea. For a concept of course it was, but for music?

I liked the flow of the album better with this 42 track division, it somehow makes the listen seem lighter to me whereas It sometimes felt like a struggle to listen to The Human Equation in it's entirety for example. Of course it's divided this way because the music allows it in the first place, it's not like you can divide any of his previous albums into 42 tracks and pretend it actually adds something to the experience.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 03.11.2013 at 18:10

it seems that the reason why it's 42 songs flies over the heads of many people. The album is called 'The Theory Of Everything', so, people, please do the math

yeah it's pretty obvious why it's "42" tracks ... but still some of them are too short , sometimes insignificant.

The lyrics are indeed simple and straight-forward, but that is in no way an inherently bad thing. Asimov also chose to make use of a simplistic, easy to follow and to-the-point narrative in favour of being prolific. There are people who disregard his prose because of that, but who doesn't know Asimov? Who dislkes his stories?

He knew he was not a masterful prose-crafter.

And so does Arjen. His lyrics are easy to follow and to-the-point.

That said, it's true that there are some times where the overly-simplistic lyrics are kind of awkward and embarrasing.

I enjoyed it.

Probably the best from this mediocre band called "ayreon", the most overrated band ever on M.S. .

Written by Vonpire on 05.11.2013 at 16:40

Probably the best from this mediocre band called "ayreon", the most overrated band ever on M.S. .

we don't agree on much But here I fully agree with you.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 05.11.2013 at 16:43

Written by Vonpire on 05.11.2013 at 16:40

Probably the best from this mediocre band called "ayreon", the most overrated band ever on M.S. .

we don't agree on much But here I fully agree with you.

OMG Let's eat some cookies then !

Top 20 albums of 2013? I think many of MSers are more into progressive tunes.

WTF ? Nothing against Ayreon (album is nothing special, though) but Album of the Year on Metalstorm ?

For me its easily one of the best of the year , so its a matter of perspective in this site always , how many fans are there for each band and are willing to vote for it , so it mind be the best for me but for someone else is some other album , dont take always account of the list its a matter of how each one sees it, as all top 10 lists tha exist for every reason that may be. it will probably drop in the future anyways they always do.