Actual Fantasy
Erwin Groeneveld
01-01-1997
The previous Ayreon project, called 'The Final Experiment', still sells very well in Holland, the UK, Japan and even Australia. But the man behind Ayreon, Arjen Anthony Lucassen had the time the come up with the next one: 'Actual Fantasy'. The word 'Fantasy' is well chosen. Though you can not talk of a rock-opera with this album, there's one subject which goes like a red thread through all of the compositions: Fantasy. The album sounds totally different than TFE. The music as well as the artwork are totally different, which is typical of Lucassen who doesn't like to repeat himself. The music is a, odd, combination of hard psychedelic rock and high-tech synthesizer music.
The hints of Pink Floyd in 'Abbey Of Synn', 'Computer Eyes' and 'Forevermore' are obvious. I think not everyone will like that. But its the combination of heavy guitars and the hypermodern synthesizers which make 'Actual Fantasy' a spectacular and fantastic experience, just like TFE. The contrasts are big. The numbers are quite long, six minutes minimal, and are a delight to the ears of every music lover. The use of three very good singers and the often-used vocal effects contribute to the atmosphere of the album.
Favorite tracks: Abbey Of Synn and Computer Eyes. These two tracks both contain mind-blowing synth-solos and both tell a very entertaining story.
Conclusion: Although the album is not like TFE, its of the same high quality. 10 points out of 10. Along with Arena's 'Pride', I think that 'Actual Fantasy' is the best release of 1996 in the prog-rock scene.
The tracks of Actual Fantasy:
'Actual Fantasy' is the, short, overture of the album. It starts very beautiful with an, electronic, orchestra. Then you hear a voice say: 'Now allow yourself to slide into a world, as real as you want it to be...'. Then the orchestra falls away into the next track.
'Abbey Of Synn' is set in the Middle Ages and tells a story about monks who live in an old abbey. Comedy is strictly forbidden in the abbey, because 'Laughter kills the fear within', the fear for God. But there are monks dying, and all of them have a blackened tongue and blackened fingers. There are a lot books in the abbey, including one of Aristotle. That book is totally devoted to comedy and is kept secret somewhere in the abbey. The monks find the book, but it seems that the pages of the book are poisoned. If you lick your finger to turn a page you will die. In the end they try to save the book during a fire, but the book is perished in the fire.
'The Stranger From Within' tells a story about a girl who's deathly ill. She is saved by a man who can heal people by using positive thoughts. I won't tell much about it, because the extra CD-ROM track provided with the album contains a clip of this number. If you see it once or twice, you'll understand it....
'Computer Eyes' tells a story about someone who's playing a computer game for days. At one moment he doesn't know anymore who is who, and if he is playing the game or he has become a part of the game. He's 'Lost in a world, created by man. He sees everything through the eyes of the computer. Listen to the text of the track and you'll hear many variations on the words used in the text. Very ingenious.
'Beyond The Last Horizon' is also set in the Middle Ages and tells a story about the crusaders who went on to Jerusalem to free the Christians from the Moslims. One of them walks into a trap and is killed. Then he sees a light and rides to it on his horse. He rides on a road, which leads to the 'last horizon': death. He arrives on the 'valley of death', but there is no light, there's nothing. Its dark. So, if you go beyond the last horizon, you'll be gone... But the story continues....
'Far side Of The World' is, again, set in the Middle Ages. It tells a story about a boy who lives in a small village which is being annihilated by a terrible disease. The boy falls and has a vision. In order to save the village, they must dig a tunnel right through the center of Earth. Then they must place a cross on the silver tower. Then, only then, the village is saved. No one believes him, but people are still dying, so they do what the boy says...
'Back On Planet Earth' tells a story about a boy who lives on a space station far from planet earth. He overheard the elders, telling each other stories about the days that they were young, back on planet earth. He tries to get some images of the earth and he sees the most beautiful things: flowers, clouds, rivers and mountains. He decides to go back to earth. When he has landed, he only sees a world destroyed by environmental disasters... The hint to 'The Final Experiment' is obvious here.
'Forevermore' is based on 'The Never-ending Story'. A boy steals a book from a shop. But the shop owner placed the book in order to be stolen. The boy begins to read the book and becomes a part of the story told in the book. The book tells a story about a world, called 'Fantasia'. Fantasia is being destroyed by 'The Great Nothing', which symbolizes the fact that no one is fantasizing anymore. Fantasia and her empress can only be saved if someone give the empress a name. The boy gives her a name and Fantasia is saved.