Music QotW: Best Album in 2008

My album of the year at this point is Ayreon – 01011001.

For those who may not be familiar with Ayreon out there, let me explain. Ayreon is the brainchild of one man, who goes by Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Over the years the formula has varried slightly, but an Ayreon album usually has several key qualities. First, almost all of the music is recorded by and created by Arjen. He plays everything on his albums except for the drums and the woodwind/string parts, excepting the guest musicians he has. Second key fact..lots of different singers. Ayreon albums are almost always concept albums with many different characters in them. Often these characters are voiced by seperate vocalists. In this case, 17 vocalists. Also, third is a very eclectic style. The songs can shift from very crunchy heavy riffs to electronic keyboard driven sections to folks-y type stuff.

This album is an extension of the main Ayreon storyline, referencing a lot of the events that happened in previous ayreon albums. And except for the fact that a couple songs feel disconnected from the rest of the work (And Simone Simons has a tragically small part) I can't say anything bad about it. And I even find myself enjoying Hansi Kursch's vocals even though I can't stand him in Blind Guardian. Arjen really knows how to get the most out of the people he choses to do the vocals on his albums. Add some really nice guest solo spots from artists such as Derek Sherinian, Joost Van Den Broek, and Michael Romero…you've got yourself a winner.

If this gets knocked out of my top 5 in 2008 list at the end of the year, I'm going to be VERY shocked.