Rickter Scale Show 181 - Ayreon, Tom Shinness

[Rick and Roll]

airing Sunday, June 1 from 8-11 PM EST and Monday, June 2 from 1-4 PM EST

This week we will slowly climb up the musical mountain, and virtually leap off the cliff. The first section will be Arjen "Ayreon" Lucassen's magnifcient creation "The Dream Sequencer". This may be his finest work. It slowly builds to the concurrently released disc "Flight of the Migrator". This has some of Ayreon's heaviest music, but always done tastefully and brilliantly.

These two discs were released together - Lucassen thought that each disc would appeal to a different fan base. But he realized that most fans bought both discs, so he re-released them together. The storyline is connected not only to each other, but to his other works. As a sign of an artist that truly "gets it", he did not include bonus tracks, as to not penalize those who bought the discs originally.

That will be the first 2+ hours of the show. Then we take a big step down in the volume level, but not a single step down in talent. We'll hear nine songs from Tom Shinness, an multi-instrumentalist I saw a few weeks ago as part of Phil Keaggy's ensemble. He plays many instruments, mainly a 1918 "harpguitar" which is amazing. Tom has quite a few records out, and is an excellent songwriter.

Ayreon - Universal Migrator Part I & II (2004 repackage)

Part 1: The Dream Sequencer (2000)

The Dream Sequencer
My House on Mars
2084
One Small Step
The Shooting Company of Captain Frans B. Cocq
Dragon On The Sea
Temple of the Cat
Carried By The Wind
And the Druids Turn to Stone
The First Man on Earth
The Dream Sequencer (Reprise)

Part 2: Flight of the Migrator (2000)

Chaos
Dawn of A Million Souls
Journey on the Waves of TIme
To The Quasar
Into The Black Hole
Through the Wormhole
Out of the White Hole
To the Solar System
The New Migrator

Outstanding vocal performances, especially by Damian Wilson, and Lana Lane and Erik Norlander are present throughout.

Tom Shinness - selections from Translucent Harp (1998)

Morning Falls
Don't Give Into Sorrow About Tomorrow
Tyler Roses
Cloud Kite Flight
Dulcitar
Mandocruisin'
Snickeroo
Translucent Harp
The Essence of Time Well Spent

Very quiet, very enjoyable.

Next week is the 2008 Nearfest special, will feature as many artists as the Moon has in the library.