Star One is a new project by the Holland's Arjen Lucassen, the man behind Ayreon. Like Ayreon, the album features several vocalists, Russell Allen from Symphony X, Damian Wilson from Threshold, Floor Jansen from After Forever, and Dan Swanö. No big name guests like Fish or Bruce Dickenson this time, though.
This album sees Arjen steering more towards melodic metal rather than progressive metal of Ayreon, with lyrics inspired by various science-fiction films TV series, not explicitly named, but mostly fairly obvious. You can probably guess some from the song titles; "The Eye of Ra", "Intergalactic Space Crusaders", "Sandrider", "Starchild".
The heavy sound, with a lot of Hammond organ in places, should appeal a lot to fans of the heavier side of Uriah Heep, although the staccato guitar riffs are more akin to bands like Metallica. And there are widdly synth solos a-plenty. The production is clear, although the 80s sheen sounds a bit dated at times.
The bonus disc with the limited edition features a medley of Hawkwind songs, with some vocals from Dave Brock, plus a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" (not sure if the heavy powerchords quite work), and a (hidden) cover of Donovan's "Intergalactic Laxative"
Overall, a good solid album for fans of melodic or progressive metal.
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