The thought behind Star One is a side project metal-album influenced by science fiction movies. I’m not a fan of science fiction movies, thus I restrict this review to the music. It seems that every album from Arjen Lucassen is predictable. Predictable in a sense that it’s always near perfection. You hear this perfection in many aspects, like crystal-clear production (listening to HIFI guarantees a pile of goose bumps), in compositions, choosing and using the right guest musicians/instruments and perfection of the booklet (which is superb once again). This time we find less guest musicians than on previous Ayreon releases, but more emphasis on using them specifically. The reason behind it is that Star One might be performed live sometime…But then again, why a star-parade when you have singers like Russell Allen (Symphony X) and Damian Wilson (part of Ayreons inventory) that can do the job as good as all the others? Especially (Sir) Allen blows me away on this record with his powerful voice. Wilson’s voice seems to be almost a trademark for every Lucassen-album. On the musician-side Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery – guitar solos), Jens Johansson (Stratovarious – synthleads) and Erik Norlander (Lana Lane – synthleads) give assistance with some fantastic solos.

During the songs we also hear singer Dan Swäno for the lower voices and Floor Jansen (After Forever) in the choirs. As always Lucassen wrote all songs and played most of the instruments himself except for the necessary guest-musician-solos and the drums (Ed Warby – also Ayreon-inventory). Compositionally this album is more straight-forward than his previous releases. Guitars are often in the foreground and have an important role. You can compare it with the heavier songs and straightforward parts on ´The Flight of the Migrator´. However, the music still sounds very recognizable thanks to the use of vintage instruments and typical Ayreon melodies. Maybe die-hard non-metal pro-progressive (ahum) Ayreon-fans might not be that satisfied with this release, but it is a side project. Look out for the beautiful 2-cd limited-edition version featuring a cover of Bowie’s ´Space Odyssey´ and a Hawkwind medley. Conclusion: again Lucassen shows how to make a good album! What do you mean, predictable?