{"id":2380,"date":"2015-08-16T05:10:27","date_gmt":"2015-08-16T04:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arjenlucassen.com\/content\/?page_id=2380"},"modified":"2016-03-25T17:25:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T17:25:22","slug":"the-gentle-storm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.arjenlucassen.com\/content\/arjens-projects\/the-gentle-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gentle Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Gentle Storm BIO<\/h3>\n

Arjen Lucassen and vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen<\/a> – who rose to fame with The Gathering – originally crossed paths in 1998 for Ayreon’s breakthrough third album, Into The Electric Castle<\/a>. Ten years later they teamed up again for the seventh Ayreon album, 01011001<\/a>, both having established themselves as world renowned heavy metal \/ rock artists in the decade between releases. Although their respective musical styles went in vastly different directions during that time, Arjen and Anneke retained a common ground that ultimately led to the creation of The Gentle Storm’s debut album, The Diary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Gentle Storm – The Diary (2015)<\/figcaption><\/figure>Given that both Anneke and Arjen are from Holland, they decided it would be interesting and authentic to base The Gentle Storm concept on something Dutch. The obvious choice for them was to focus on the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century. It was a unique time of remarkable progress in art, mathematics and science, and much of that progress was happening in Holland. “The art alone from that period is a rich source of inspiration,” says Arjen. “You can’t really look at a painting by Rembrandt or Vermeer and not feel inspired.”<\/p>\n

The album concept is a tale of love, loss, and separation told through the story of two fictional seventeenth-century lovers. A Dutch sailor embarks on a two-year voyage, leaving his wife at home in Holland. The only way for the couple to communicate and keep their love alive during the long separation is through letters. These letters form the basis for the songs on the album.
<\/p>\n

THE DIARY – TRACKLIST<\/p>\n

CD1: Gentle
\n01 Endless Sea (gentle version) 05.59
\n02 Heart of Amsterdam (gentle version) 06.36
\n03 The Greatest Love (gentle version) 04.08
\n04 Shores of India (gentle version) 06.40
\n05 Cape of Storms (gentle version) 05.28
\n06 The Moment (gentle version) 06.08
\n07 The Storm (gentle version) 05.56
\n08 Eyes of Michiel (gentle version) 03.56
\n09 Brightest Light (gentle version) 04.46
\n10 New Horizons (gentle version) 05.24
\n11 Epilogue: The Final Entry (gentle version) 02.02<\/p>\n

CD2: Storm
\n01 Endless Sea (storm version) 05.53
\n02 Heart of Amsterdam (storm version) 06.37
\n03 The Greatest Love (storm version) 03.57
\n04 Shores of India (storm version) 06.24
\n05 Cape of Storms (storm version) 05.32
\n06 The Moment (storm version) 06.10
\n07 The Storm (storm version) 05.58
\n08 Eyes of Michiel (storm version) 04.00
\n09 Brightest Light (storm version) 04.54
\n10 New Horizons (storm version) 05.25
\n11 Epilogue: The Final Entry (storm version) 02.03<\/p>\n

\"Arjen
Arjen Lucassen and Anneke van Giersbergen – The Gentle Storm<\/figcaption><\/figure>The Diary double album – close to a year in the making – is an epic production of Ayreon proportions featuring two contrasting interpretations of the same songs, all composed specifically for The Gentle Storm: acoustic \/ folk arrangements (CD1 – Gentle) and bombastic \/ heavy arrangements (CD2 – Storm). It also heralds Anneke’s return to the realms of heavy guitars and soaring vocals reminiscent of The Gathering’s breakthrough album, Mandylion. Of course, it wouldn’t be an Arjen Lucassen project without his trademark progressive elements, but he readily admits his main focus was on Anneke’s vocals.<\/p>\n

“Anneke’s got an amazing instrument in her voice, and I wanted to showcase that by giving her strong melodies to sing,” says Arjen. “So this time I was hyper-focused on chords and melodies when composing the music. I even wrote and demoed all the songs using one simple orchestral string sound for everything before I started arranging the other instruments. That cheesy demo string sound made every song fight for its life, and only the strongest survived. Working this way has arguably led to The Diary being my most melodic album to date.”<\/p>\n

The Diary breaks new ground for Arjen in particular in that it was the first time he worked with a large choir, real double bass, and a real French horn. In addition, he found people to play many different exotic acoustic instruments. \u201cThere are over 40, in fact,\u201d he says. \u201cSome of them so exotic that people probably haven’t heard of them!\u201d It’s worth noting that, apart from an acoustic grand piano, there are no keyboards on The Diary. Arjen’s beloved Hammond organ and Minimoog remain under wraps, although it wasn\u2019t an easy task leaving them there.<\/p>\n