''On This Perfect Day'' is the debut album by

Arjen Anthony Lucassen Arjen Anthony Lucassen (born 3 April 1960) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/ rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as t ...

's side project

Guilt Machine Guilt Machine is a musical project by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, owner of other musical projects such as Star One, Ayreon and Ambeon. The project's debut release, '' On This Perfect Day'', was released in August 2009. Biography ...

, released in August 2009. The cover of the album was made by Christophe Dessaigne, an artist discovered by Arjen Lucassen on

Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and profession ...

Album information

The album features several audio messages sent by fans throughout the songs. The music deals with "''the destructive psychology of guilt, regret and the darkest form of secret -- the secrets we hide from ourselves.''", and the music ranges "''from dark and heavy to atmospheric and melancholic.''", as can be noticed via the preview track published at the band's MySpace page.Guilt Machine at MySpace
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Track listing

CD (all editions)

'' All music by

, all lyrics by

Lori Linstruth Lori Von Linstruth is an American guitarist, lyricist and manager. She currently resides in the Netherlands where she lives with her partner and musical collaborator Arjen Anthony Lucassen. She is also his manager. In addition, Linstruth is th ...

.''

DVD (Limited and Special editions only)

; Audio Bonus Tracks #The Stranger Song (

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

cover) - vocals Jasper (4:53) #Michelangelo ( The 23rd Turnoff cover) - vocals Arjen (3:23) #Fan Messages (8:14) #Perfection? - guide vocals Arjen (9:37) #Twisted Coil - radio edit (4:17) #Pull me out of the Dark - radio edit (Green and Cream) (3:36) #Over - radio edit (3:56) ;Video #Trailer "On this Perfect Day" (4:33) #Making of the Trailer (3:44) #Interview with Guilt Machine (40:03)

Reception

Since its release, ''On This Perfect Day'' has received strongly favorable reviews. Elements that were praised included Steverlinck's voice and the dark atmosphere developed by Lucassen; ''

Metal Storm Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technology ...

'' considers it "the darkest and most melancholic lbumthe Dutchman has ever released". ''Metal Storm'' gave the album a rating of 9/10 while stating that the album enjoyed "a promising line-up" and "emotional vocal work that builds up intensity as it goes". ''Metal Underground'' remarked that it is "a bold combination of grit, beauty, and strong themes riding the line between progressive metal and rock". ''RevelationZ'' considers this album as "overall a great album and another worthy addition to the Lucassen catalogue."Revelationz.net 2010
/ref> Reviews differ about its similarity with Lucassen's previous works. ''Metal Storm'' stated, "from all of his side-projects, this is probably the one closest to Ayreon" and ''Dangerdog.com'' calls it "different, but the same". However, ''Sea of Tranquillity'' stated, "I'm sure there are going to be plenty of Ayreon fans who might balk at the overabundance of atmospheric and mellow moments here and miss the more upbeat and bombastic elements of Lucassen's other releases".

Personnel

; Guilt Machine * Jasper Steverlinck – lead vocals *

–

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

and acoustic guitars, bass,

keyboard 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 ...

, mandolin,

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 ...

on all tracks, lead vocals on disc 2 track 2 *

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

Chris Maitland Chris Maitland (born 13 May 1964) is an English drummer. Maitland was born in Cambridge, England. After being the drummer for No-Man on their Autumn 1993 tour (and playing on two tracks on their ''Flowermouth'' album), Maitland was asked b ...

– drums ; Guest Musicians * Ben Mathot –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

* David Faber –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

; Additional vocals * Rozemarijin, Stephan Venker, Ripley, Anonymous, Frederic Dessaigne, Rano Zangana, Masumi Hodgson, Jon Mellado, Ahlroos, Sen, Anonymous, Haydee Garde, Casper Sorensen, Andrew Hyslop, Jardar Folling, Pax, Vinicius TT1, Petho-Devay Ildiko, Claudia M. Luisa Murella – Spoken messages (in order of appearance) ; Production * Arjen Anthony Lucassen – production, mixing * Christophe Dessaigne – artwork photography * Jasper van Tilburgh – band photos * Thomas Ewerhard – logo and layout * Peter Brussée – mastering

References

External links

On This Perfect Day at Mascot Records
{{Authority control Guilt Machine albums 2009 debut albums Mascot Records albums