"Loser" is a song by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Ayreon, originally released under the title "Day Sixteen: Loser" as a part of the 2004 album ''

The Human Equation ''The Human Equation'' is the sixth album from the progressive rock project Ayreon by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released on 25 May 2004 via Inside Out Music. As with other Ayreon albums, it features guest appearances from several mu ...

''. It is the fifth track of the second disc, and the sixteenth track of the overall album. It was later released as the fifth single by Ayreon under the new title "Loser"; this version, very different, features several new musicians. In the original version,

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

are provided by Mike Baker from

Shadow Gallery :''The Shadow Gallery is also the name of the home of the protagonist in the graphic novel V for Vendetta.'' Shadow Gallery is an American progressive metal band formed in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania during the early 1980s. It was originally ...

, who is playing the character Father in his only album appearance. Devin Townsend provides vocals at the end of the song, in his third and final appearance as the character Rage. In addition to composing the song, Lucassen also wrote Father's lyrics; however Rage's lyrics are written by Townsend himself, as for the other songs the character is featured in. In the single version, Peter Vink is replacing Lucassen as

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

ist while Joost van den Broek is featured as a second keyboardist;. The most notable difference is the substitution of the original

Hammond Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...

solo by Ken Hensley to a duel between Lucassen and Van den Broek.

Lyrics

The song follows the plot of the main story of the album. For more information of it, see the plot at the article of the album. The sixteenth day is marked with a rather strange event: Father, Me's nemesis, comes to visit Me. Calling him "Loser", and belittling him as always, it is later revealed that the Father is the true loser, having had several failed marriages and with lawsuits against him by each of those wives, while half of the many neglected children he has with them are in jail. Rage reawakens and refuses Father's words, reflecting upon the intensity of Me's hatred towards him. ("You're killing it from afar, go tell it in a bar/You're killing it from afar my father!")

Music video

A music video was shot for the song. It features live footage of Star One performing the song, plus images of the band in the middle of some fields and also Mike Baker singing his part on the song.

Track listing

#Loser (Star One version) - 3:31 #

How You Gonna See Me Now "How You Gonna See Me Now" is a song written by Alice Cooper, Bernie Taupin, and Dick Wagner, performed by Cooper and produced by David Foster. It was released on Cooper’s album, '' From the Inside''. The song reached number nine in Australia ...

(Acoustic

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

cover, with Mike Baker) - 3:52 #

Into the Black Hole ''Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator'' is the fifth album from Ayreon, a progressive metal/rock opera project by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released in 2000. The musical styles found on ''Flight of the Migrator'' contra ...

(Acoustic live version, with Irene Jansen) - 4:22 # The Castle Hall (Acoustic version, with Irene Jansen) - 4:07

Personnel

* Arjen Lucassen - All electric, acoustic and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

guitars,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, synthesisers. * Ed Warby ( Gorefest, Elegy and

Hail of Bullets Hail of Bullets was a Dutch old school death metal supergroup from Rotterdam. The band's lyrical content deals with the Second World War, and is based upon the research of vocalist Martin van Drunen, who has been described as the band's "resident ...

) -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Mike Baker (

) -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Devin Townsend (

Devin Townsend Band Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

, Strapping Young Lad,

Devin Townsend Project Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also h ...

) - Vocals *

Irene Jansen Irene Jansen is a Dutch singer. She sang on the Ayreon album ''The Human Equation'', portraying the character Passion. She was also the live backing vocalist of Star One during their tour in 2003, and played the character Morgana in two Gary Hugh ...

- Vocals *

Gary Wehrkamp Gary Wehrkamp (born May 11, 1970 in Butler, New Jersey) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is most notably a member of the American progressive rock band Shadow Gallery. Biography Career Early Years Wehrkamp made his foray ...

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) -

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Peter Vink Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

- Bass (Loser) *Joost van den Broek ( After Forever) - Keyboards (Loser and Castle Hall) * Robert Baba - Electric violin (Loser) * Jeroen Goossens -

Didgeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

(Loser) *John McManus -

Flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

(Loser)

References

Loser page at Ayreon's official website

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loser (Ayreon Song) 2004 singles Ayreon songs 2004 songs