Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution - Golden Age Of Music (Album Review)
When you think of progressive rock/metal concept albums, one name springs instantly to mind, Arjen Lucassen. It could have all been so different for Lucassen, as his 1993 solo album, released under the Anthony moniker, ‘Pools Of Sorrow, Waves Of Joy’ was met with indifference by the record-buying public (finding a copy thirty years later will be a long and expensive search). Seemingly undaunted and already a hard rock veteran after stints in Bodine and Vengeance, Lucassen pushed on regardless, his determination resulting in a slew of projects that played a crucial role in revitalising the progressive rock/metal scene via releases under the Ayreon, Ambeon, Guilt Machine and Star One banners while still finding time for guest appearances and contributions to albums by leading lights of the scene such as Within Temptation and Avantasia. For this project, Lucassen has put his little black book of names to one side (Lucassen has enlisted many performers on his star-studded albums, especially singers) and settled on a band project, it’s still essentially a concept record in the Lucassen tradition, but he looks to be out to have a little fun, and the results are glorious.
The clue is in the title ‘Golden Age Of Music’. Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution is a love letter to 70s/80s hard rock (often with tongue firmly in cheek). This is a record that should have the Nigel Tufnel seal of approval. If Golden Age Of Music’ was a stick of rock, it’d have ‘Up To 11’ stamped through it. Think Cats In Space on steroids (and I rate the Cats very highly). Lucassen has always had a flair for the overblown and pompous, but here he fine-tunes it into a period of space and time that many of us continue to love. Suffice it to say, if you own a Deep Purple or Rainbow record, you need ‘Golden Age Of Music’.
Photo credit: Lori Linstruth
As I mentioned earlier, Supersonic Revolution is an actual band with Arjen on bass, long-standing keyboard player Joost van den Broek, guitarist Timo Somers (Delain, Vengeance), and drummer Koen Herfst (Vandenberg) bringing exceptional musical chops to the party. Everything could fall apart if Lucassen didn't enlist the right singer for the job, so I’d like to offer a shout-out to singer John "Jaycee" Cuijpers. Jaycee is no stranger to the Lucassen universe, although you might know him as frontman for NWOBHM legends Praying Mantis, and his performance here is nothing less than stunning. There are plenty of singers doing the rounds these days who all want to fill the shoes of the sadly missed Ronnie James Dio or the likes of Gillan or Coverdale but instead spend their time spreading themselves way too thin on numerous inferior releases and covers albums (small rant over).
Photo credit: Lori Linstruth
But what of the actual music, you ask? Well (finally), after a typically atmospheric keyboard intro, we launch into the self-explanatory ‘The Glamattack’ as pounding drums and swirling organ underpin Jaycee sounding uncannily like primetime Graham Bonnet. Keys and drums hold court here. Somers unleashes a blistering guitar break leading into a perfect classic rock instrumental breakdown before Jaycee returns; “Hairspray and Makeup, satin and gold, platform heels, you’re good to go” he bellows. It’s a statement of intent. The title track is up next with plenty of fun cultural references “Radio Caroline, Hair like Farrah, shorts like Daisy D”. You can’t help but smile as Jaycee name-checks the albums of our youth “I saw a rainbow rise” while Broek and Somers trade-off. ‘The Rise Of The Starman’ is an extra-terrestrial tribute to you know who...Five years indeed. When I mentioned that Golden Age qualifies as a tribute to the music we love (with a big shit-eatin’ grin), it’s no more evident than on ‘Smoke On The Water’ ‘Burn It Down’ where we find Broek unleashing his best Jon Lord over a pounding drum track (the production is just about perfect throughout) while Jaycee is singing about Lake Geneva and having a tough time getting a date “My cats sick, my dog just died” he’s told and takes it badly. The epic ‘Odyssey’ (six minutes plus) is up next and gradually builds until Somers sweeps in with a chunky, pinched harmonic laced, riff and suitably cutting solo.
Swirling organ and a bone-crunching riff ushers in ‘They Took Us By Storm’, a rather clever tribute to the Storm Thorgerson sleeves that graced our favourite records back in the day. Drummer Koen Herfst shines as his rhythmic patterns add heart to the ebb and flow of ‘Golden Boy’ before ‘Holy Holy Ground’ offers another highlight. Building on a Whitesnake circa 1987 swagger, Jaycee reminisces on the end of an era. The big dirty riffs and pinched harmonics are back battling Broek’s swirling keys as Jaycee sparingly employs a Dioesque snap to his delivery for ‘Fight Of The Century’. The album concludes as ‘Came To Mock, Stayed To Rock’ opens with a bluesy musical interlude that might have made Diver Down era Van Halen before the band fully kicks in with abundant time and room for the players to spread their wings and stretch out musically, with Somers again to the fore peeling off multiple impressive solos. Lyrically it seems that Lucassen and Co appreciate the music we love might not be as popular as it once was, but give them a chance, and they guarantee a good time.
Want more? Ok then, on to the four bonus cover tunes. First up, we’ve a version of T-Rex’s ‘Children Of The Revolution’ with its massive riff dialled way up (to 11 naturally) and still has room to squeeze keyboard and guitar solos into a tight three minutes. Unexpectedly, ‘Heard It On The Ex’ by ZZ Top has mutated into a Hammond organ-drenched Deep Purple song before the guys blaze, via an incendiary guitar intro, into ‘Fantasy’ originally by Earth Wind and Fire, which has a bottom-end guaranteed to test the bass response of your stereo. The bonus tracks conclude with a deep cut in the Roger Glover (Deep Purple) penned ‘Love Is All’. The tune is a perfect choice for Lucassen and fits Jaycee like a glove (Trivia: the single made little impression in the UK in 1974 but was a number-one hit in the Netherlands and Belgium sung by Ronnie James Dio).
Musical taste is always subjective, but I can’t imagine how any hard rock fan, especially from the classic era of the 70s/80s, will fail to be impressed by Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution. The songs are catchy and lyrically fun, the musicianship is off the charts great and you can almost feel the love and enthusiasm that has gone into the album. An album that comes very highly recommended.
Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution - Golden Age of Music is available now via Music Theories Recording/Mascot Label Group on various formats; 2LP Transparent Blue, 2LP Pink Marble, 2LP Purple Marble, 2LP Yellow Marble, CD, Digitally and Artbook.
When you think of progressive rock/metal concept albums, one name springs instantly to mind, Arjen Lucassen. It could have all been so different for Lucassen, as his 1993 solo album, released under the Anthony moniker, ‘Pools Of Sorrow, Waves Of Joy’ was met with indifference by the record-buying public (finding a copy thirty years later will be a long and expensive search). Seemingly undaunted and already a hard rock veteran after stints in Bodine and Vengeance, Lucassen pushed on regardless, his determination resulting in a slew of projects that played a crucial role in revitalising the progressive rock/metal scene via releases under the Ayreon, Ambeon, Guilt Machine and Star One banners while still finding time for guest appearances and contributions to albums by leading lights of the scene such as Within Temptation and Avantasia. For this project, Lucassen has put his little black book of names to one side (Lucassen has enlisted many performers on his star-studded albums, especially singers) and settled on a band project, it’s still essentially a concept record in the Lucassen tradition, but he looks to be out to have a little fun, and the results are glorious.