Guilt Machine

[Postulate]

Yeah, The Human Equation is an album I do NOT understand the praise for. It's not just that I think it's not great, it's outright bad. And yet people list it among their favorite albums. I can't think of anything good to say about it. The concept is stupid, the lyrics are retarded, the songwriting is obnoxious and boring, and ARJEN CANNOT WRITE MELODIES. PERIOD. I also hate how it's labeled as "progressive" metal. What in hell's name is at all progressive about Ayreon? It's a fucking unsyncopated plodding power-chord fest with pop melodies that aren't catchy.

I mean I can understand why people cream themselves over most highly-acclaimed albums, but come on...there is just nothing going on in The Human Equation.

 

[JesterIF]

Yeah, The Human Equation is an album I do NOT understand the praise for. It's not just that I think it's not great, it's outright bad. And yet people list it among their favorite albums. I can't think of anything good to say about it. The concept is stupid, the lyrics are retarded, the songwriting is obnoxious and boring, and ARJEN CANNOT WRITE MELODIES. PERIOD. I also hate how it's labeled as "progressive" metal. What in hell's name is at all progressive about Ayreon? It's a fucking unsyncopated plodding power-chord fest with pop melodies that aren't catchy.

I mean I can understand why people cream themselves over most highly-acclaimed albums, but come on...there is just nothing going on in The Human Equation.

I think you're exaggerating here.

BUT

The Human Equation is indeed the only Ayreon album I could qualify as below average. Listenable, but not enjoyable.

In my opinion, Arjen and his projects were very promising, but after the third Ayreon album, it went wrong. He never managed to give a breath of fresh air to his sound, and started writing plain material.

 

[Wander]

Postulate is definitely exaggerating.

Concept is stupid: True
The lyrics are retarded: Indeed as in every other Ayreon album but atleast the parts Devin wrote for THE are cool.
the songwriting is obnoxious and boring, and ARJEN CANNOT WRITE MELODIES: Exaggeration... Some boring stuff, some annoying stuff and then again some good melodies and a bunch of very good singers on top of it. There are good things to say about it.

One Finnish reviewer said of Arjen's Ayreon albums that they're like Hollywood productions where you get a bunch of huge stars to have a role in an average, overly melodramatic film with big production values but shitty plot. That's pretty much what it is.

 

[Postulate]

I have no problem with people disagreeing, but I stand by everything I said.

 

[Wander]

You don't even agree that there are good singers on it?

 

[ToastedOveries]

Yeah, The Human Equation is an album I do NOT understand the praise for. It's not just that I think it's not great, it's outright bad. And yet people list it among their favorite albums. I can't think of anything good to say about it. The concept is stupid, the lyrics are retarded, the songwriting is obnoxious and boring, and ARJEN CANNOT WRITE MELODIES. PERIOD. I also hate how it's labeled as "progressive" metal. What in hell's name is at all progressive about Ayreon? It's a fucking unsyncopated plodding power-chord fest with pop melodies that aren't catchy.

I mean I can understand why people cream themselves over most highly-acclaimed albums, but come on...there is just nothing going on in The Human Equation.

I agree with all the points made here exactly.

 

[BlackTron]

Holy SHIT, finally. People who feel the same way about the Human Equation. The Dream Sequencer is tied with the New Mythology Suite for my favorite album of all time (and look at it if you think he can't write melodies), but shit son, I can't even bear to listen to THE. Meanwhile teeming masses laud it with accolades. I wonder what's going on: are they brainwashed or musically unsophisticated, or did my auditory cortex stop working?

The only good thing I can say about Guilt Machine is that some of the riffs were ripped right from other recent stuff he's done, which felt faintly reminiscent and made me want to put on the source material instead.

The Binary album tho (as my friends call it) was respectable.

 

[Dark Lucidity]

I like this better than the Binary album. The drumming feels like its been taken from Porcupine Tree's Stupid Dream album, which I hold pretty close to me. Feels more like the darker parts of universal migrator part one. A few sounds from the Binary album but its not that bad, try Ambeon and see how badly that's ripped from other Ayreon albums, felt like a total waste of money and time.

The Human Equation - well some of it is pretty crap but it has some really nice songs too. Isolation, Pain, Trauma.