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Star One (also referred to as Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Star One) is a Dutch progressive metal supergroup/side-project of Arjen Anthony Lucassen of Ayreon fame.
Star One | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Netherlands |
| Genres | Progressive metal, heavy metal, space rock |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | InsideOut Music |
| Members | Arjen Anthony Lucassen Russell Allen Damian Wilson Dan Swanö Floor Jansen Peter Vink Ed Warby Gary Wehrkamp Joost van den Broek |
| Website | starone.com |
The band has released three albums to date: their first in 2002, their second in 2010, and most recently a third in 2022, plus a live album in 2003, and features four different singers: Russell Allen (Symphony X), Damian Wilson (Threshold, Headspace, Arena), Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Nightingale), and Floor Jansen (After Forever, ReVamp, Nightwish).
Unlike Ayreon, the Star One albums do not follow one storyline; instead, each song is a different story with a sci-fi concept, most of the tracks based on existing movies and series. The band takes its name from the second season finale of Blake's 7. The band includes four singers alternating in all the songs, not including Lucassen, who sings occasionally, plays all guitars and keyboards and writes and composes all the songs. The third studio album deviates from this, having a different guest singer on each track.
Origins and first album (2002–2003)
Star One was born out of the remnants of an abandoned collaboration between Lucassen and Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson. Dickinson proposed the idea and the two exchanged ideas and put together four songs, Lucassen writing the music and Dickinson writing the lyrics. The project was abandoned however after Lucassen mentioned the project on the internet and Dickinson's manager called off negotiations. Instead of completely abandoning the material that had already been produced, Lucassen decided to put his own lyrics to the music and created Star One.[1]
When asked on the "Ask Arjen Anything" channel of communication if there would be another Star One album, Lucassen simply stated "Probably". However, he later declared:
"Space Metal was really magic. I am afraid that I will fail to capture the same atmosphere and actually ruin it! I am actually against sequels; you cannot repeat the same atmosphere and feeling like you had with the first album."[2]
Second album (2009–2010)
In an interview conducted by Ragnarok Radio in October 2009 Arjen stated Star One is "definitely not dead."[3]
In October 2009 in another interview, with Lebmetal.com, Arjen said he was working on what might become another Star One album: "In the meantime I will be working on a new, heavier album. Possible a new Star One album, but then again things never work out the way I plan them",[4] and in a November 2009 interview with Lagrossradio.com, Arjen stated that he was definitely working on a new Star One album and that he had already written and recorded a song.[5]
In March 2010, a "demo listening party" was held where several members of the arjenlucassen.com messageboard were allowed to listen to the first (only instrumental) demos for the new Star One album.[6] In August of the same year, Arjen revealed the title of this second album, Victims of the Modern Age, and announced that it was ready.[7] The album was released in October 2010.
In a Q&A in August 2018, Lucassen stated that returning to Star One was "always an option, it's the same as with all my other projects. [...] For Star One, I have to be in a certain mood, because it's based on guitar riffs." He confirmed that his next project would not be a Star One album, as his latest work, the Ayreon album The Source, was already heavy-oriented, and stated that if a new Star One album came to be, it would probably be with different singers.[8]
Third album (2020–present)
After releasing the Ayreon album Transitus in September 2020, Lucassen stated in several comments in social media that he was working on a third Star One album. On 9 February 2021 he published a video announcement, confirming this, and said that music is basically ready at this point and he's working on lyrics at the moment. He also promised a "big change": instead of having four singers for the whole album, each track will have its own separate singer.[9] In October 2021, it was announced that the name of album would be Revel in Time along with the release date.[10] The album was released on 18 February 2022.
The music of Star One is heavier than that of Lucassen's progressive rock/metal opera project Ayreon, drawing influences from 1970s space rock and blending them with modern progressive metal. Lucassen explained that the songwriting was different in that Star One songs are built on guitar riffs whereas Ayreon songs stem primarily off chord arrangements. However, similarities still exist mainly in the song arrangements, the multi-layered vocals, and the use of synthesizers and Hammond organs as part of the main instrumentation.
The founder of Star One, and the main vocalists of the first two studio albums, from left to right: Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Russell Allen, Damian Wilson, Dan Swanö, and Floor Jansen.
Instrumentalists
| Name | Associated bands | Space Metal | Live on Earth | Victims of the Modern Age | Revel in Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arjen Anthony Lucassen | Ayreon, Guilt Machine, The Gentle Storm, Stream of Passion, Bodine, Vengeance | guitar, bass, keyboards, Hammond on all tracks, vocals on "Space Oddity" and "Intergalactic Laxative" | guitar | guitar, keyboards, Hammond on all tracks, vocals on "Lastday" and "Knife Edge" | guitar, bass, keyboards, Hammond on all tracks, vocals on track 8 (alternative version), guitar solo on track 10 (both versions) |
| Ed Warby | Gorefest, Ayreon, Elegy, Hail of Bullets, VUUR | drums | drums | drums | drums |
| Erik Norlander | Lana Lane, Rocket Scientists, Asia Featuring John Payne, Last in Line, Dukes of the Orient | keyboards | |||
| Jens Johansson | Stratovarius, Yngwie Malmsteen, Cain's Offering | keyboards | keyboard solo on track 6 | ||
| Gary Wehrkamp | Shadow Gallery | guitar | guitar solos on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 | ||
| Ewa Albering | Quidam | flute | |||
| Peter Vink | HDK, Q65, Knight Area | bass | bass | ||
| Joost van den Broek | After Forever, ReVamp | keyboards | keyboard solos on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and "Knife Edge" | keyboard solo on track 9 (both versions) | |
| Erik van Ittersum | HDK, Kingfisher Sky | Solina Strings | |||
| Alessandro Del Vecchio | Sunstorm, Jørn Lande, Hardline, Voodoo Circle, Level 10, Johnny Gioeli, Silent Force | vocals and keyboards on track 6 (alternate version) | |||
| Michael Romeo | Symphony X | guitar solo on track 1 (both versions) | |||
| Timo Somers | Delain | guitar solo on track 2 (both versions) | |||
| Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal | Sons of Apollo, Guns 'N' Roses | guitar solo on track 4 (both versions) | |||
| Adrian Vandenberg | Vandenberg, Whitesnake | guitar solo on track 5 (both versions) | |||
| Marcel Singor | Kayak | guitar solo on track 8 (both versions) | |||
| Lisa Bella Donna | Moog solo on track 8 (both versions) | ||||
| Steve Vai | guitar solo on track 11 (both versions) |
Singers
| Name | Associated bands | Space Metal | Live on Earth | Victims of the Modern Age | Revel in Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floor Jansen | Nightwish, Northward, ReVamp, After Forever | lead vocals | lead vocals | lead vocals | lead vocals on track 9 |
| Russell Allen | Symphony X, Adrenaline Mob, Allen (collaborative projects) | lead vocals | lead vocals | lead vocals | lead vocals on track 2 |
| Damian Wilson | Threshold, Headspace | lead vocals | lead vocals | lead vocals | lead vocals on track 7 |
| Dan Swanö | Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Witherscape | lead vocals | lead vocals | lead vocals on track 8 | |
| Robert Soeterboek | backing vocals | lead vocals | |||
| Dave Brock | Hawkwind | lead vocals on "Hawkwind Medley" | |||
| Edward Reekers | Kayak | guest vocals | |||
| Irene Jansen | backing vocals | lead vocals on track 9 (alternate version) | |||
| Rodney Blaze | lead vocals on "Two Plus Two Equals Five" | ||||
| Tony Martin | Black Sabbath | lead vocals on "Closer to the Stars" | lead vocals on track 11 (alternate version) | ||
| Mike Andersson | Fullforce | lead vocals on "As the Crow Dies" | lead vocals on track 10 (alternate version) | ||
| Brittney Hayes | Unleash the Archers | lead vocals on track 1 | |||
| Michael Mills | Toehider | lead vocals on track 3 | |||
| Ross Jennings | Haken | lead vocals on track 3 | |||
| Jeff Scott Soto | Sons of Apollo, Yngwie Malmsteen, Axel Rudi Pell | lead vocals on track 4 | |||
| Brandon Yeagley | Crobot | lead vocals on track 5 | |||
| Joe Lynn Turner | Fandango, Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen, Deep Purple | lead vocals on track 6 | |||
| John Jaycee Cuijpers | Praying Mantis | lead vocals on track 10, and tracks 2, 4, and 5 (alternate versions) | |||
| Roy Khan | Conception, Kamelot | lead vocals on track 11 | |||
| Marcela Bovio | Mayan, Elfonía, Stream of Passion, VUUR | lead vocals on tracks 1 and 9 (alternate versions) | |||
| Will Shaw | Heir Apparent | lead vocals on track 3 (alternate version) | |||
| Wilmer Waarbroek | lead vocals on track 7 (alternate version) | ||||
- Space Metal (2002)
- Live on Earth (live album) (2003)
- Victims of the Modern Age (2010)
- Revel in Time (2022)
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