“Revel in Time” (2022) is the third album from ARJEN ANTHONY LUCASSEN’S STAR ONE. It’s both a reaction to and contrast with Arjen’s most recent Ayreon album “Transitus.” While “Transitus” is a cinematic experience that could even be classified as a musical, “Revel in Time” is a heavy album that is massively riff driven with more emphasis on virtuoso musicianship.
Similar to its predecessors, “Revel In Time” is based on an overall concept. Each track is inspired by a movie that that deals with some kind of manipulation of time. One key difference this time around is the casting of vocalists. The first two Star One albums had the same cast of four singers: Floor Jansen, Russell Allen, Damian Wilson and Dan Swano. But for Revel in Time, Arjen aimed to feature one singer per track, that is, a different main singer for almost every track.
This is especially evident on CD 2, the “Same Songs, Different Singers”-CD as Arjen likes to call it. As he explains it, the guide vocals that were recorded (for the other singers) were far too good to never see the light of day (which is the fate of most guide vocal recordings). So he decided to release a second CD with alternate versions of the songs with the guide vocals.
At some point he started spontaneously inviting other singers to sing some of these tracks, because he was curious how the songs would sound with their voices. Ultimately CD-2 ended up with no less than 9 different singers, all equally as good as the ones on CD1. A total of about 30 different musicians contributed to the new album, not all of them being singers though. The core of STAR ONE remains Ed Warby’s powerful drums as well as Arjen’s guitar and bass work that hold it all together and give it that typical STAR ONE sound. The icing on the cake is the front cover art that was created by Arjen’s trusted favorite artist Jef Bertels. “Revel in Time” is available as Ltd. Deluxe 3CD+Blu-Ray Artbook & Poster, Ltd. 2CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP+CD & LP-Booklet, Digital album (2CD).
Cover painting by Jef Bertels
REVEL IN TIME
Track list and featured musicians
CD I:
1] Fate of Man 5:29
lead and backing vocals: Brittney Slayes
guitar solo: Michael Romeo
2] 28 Days (Till the End of Time) 7:21
lead vocal: Sir Russell Allen
guitar solos: Timo Somers
3] Prescient 6:34
lead and backing vocals:
Micheal Mills and Ross Jennings
4] Back from the Past 4:50
lead vocal: Jeff Scott Soto
guitar solo: Ron Bumblefoot Thal
5] Revel in Time 4:38
lead vocal: Brandon Yeagley
guitar solos: Adrian Vandenberg
6] The Year of ’41 6:20
lead vocal: Joe Lynn Turner
vocalization: Will Shaw
guitar solo: Joel Hoekstra
synthesizer solo: Jens Johansson
7] Bridge of Life 5:14
lead vocal: Damian Wilson
8] Today is Yesterday 5:46
lead vocal: Dan Swanö
Moog synthesizers: Lisa Bella Donna
guitar solo: Marcel Singor
9] A Hand on the Clock 5:52
lead and backing vocals: Floor Jansen
Hammond solo: Joost van den Broek
10] Beyond the Edge of it All 4:52
lead vocal: John Jaycee Cuijpers_
guitar solo: Arjen Lucassen
11] Lost Children of the Universe 9:46
lead vocals: Roy Khan
choir: Hellscore Choir
guitar solo: Steve Vai
CD II: Same Songs, Different Singers
1] Fate of Man
lead and backing vocals: Marcela Bovio
2] 28 Days (Till the End of Time)
lead vocal: John Jaycee Cuijpers
3] Prescient
lead and backing vocals: Will Shaw
4] Back from the Past
lead vocal: John Jaycee Cuijpers
5] Revel in Time
lead vocal: John Jaycee Cuijpers
6] The Year of ’41
lead vocal and synth solo:
Alessandro Del Vecchio
7] Bridge of Life
lead vocals: Wilmer Waarbroek
8] Today is Yesterday
lead vocals: Arjen Lucassen
9] A Hand on the Clock
lead and backing vocals:
Marcela Bovio and Irene Jansen (verses)
10] Beyond the Edge of it All
lead vocals: Mike Andersson
11] Lost Children of the Universe
lead vocals: Tony Martin
MUSICIANS
Arjen Lucassen: guitars, bass, keyboards and vocals
Ed Warby: drums
Erik van Ittersum: Solina Strings
Marcela Bovio: backing vocals
Irene Jansen: backing vocals