Lost in the New Real
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''Lost in the New Real'' (also referred to as ''Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Lost in the New Real'') is the second solo studio album by
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
songwriter, producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist
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 the ...
, released on 23 April 2012. It is Lucassen's first solo album since 1993's '' Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy'', released 18 years earlier under the name Anthony, before he reached fame with his
progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...
/
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
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 ...
project
Ayreon Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electro ...
. Lucassen wrote all the songs, sings lead vocals and performs most instruments himself, including all guitars, bass and keyboards. As with Ayreon, it is a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
. It follows the story of Mr. L (voiced by Lucassen), a modern-day man revived in a distant future where everything has changed. Although the story is not a part of the Ayreon storyline, it is set within the same fictional universe: the character of Mr. L had previously appeared in the song "The Truth is in Here" from ''
01011001 ''01011001'' is the seventh studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. "01011001" is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter '' Y''. ''01011001'' is a concept album that tells the story of aliens ca ...
'', while the cover art includes the Dream Sequencer from the Ayreon album '' Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer''. The album also prominently features spoken vocals performed by actor
Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...
as Mr. L's appointed psychological advisor, Voight-Kampff, in reference to the eponymous fictional polygraph-like device in ''
Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
'', in which Hauer starred. Music videos were released for "Pink Beatles in a Purple Zeppelin" and "E-police". Lucassen also released a music video for "Lost in the New Real", which also acts practically as an introduction to the album.


Plot

The story of follows Mr. L, a twenty-first century man who was
cryopreserved Cryo-preservation or cryo-conservation is a process where organisms, organelles, cells, tissues, extracellular matrix, organs, or any other biological constructs susceptible to damage caused by unregulated chemical kinetics are preserved by co ...
at the moment of clinical death from a terminal disease. The album begins as Mr. L is being revived at a point in the distant future, when technology has advanced enough to cure his disease. Mr. L finds himself in a world that has drastically changed – to the point that the line between what's real and what's not is no longer clear. Mr. L's appointed psychological advisor, Voight-Kampff (Hauer), is tasked with helping him emotionally adapt to this strange new world. The listener follows Mr. L's emotional journey as he is confronted with both serious and comical aspects of the "New Real", and desperately tries to decide if he can find a meaningful place within it.


Connections to Ayreon

''Lost in the New Real'' features several elements indicating it is set in the same universe and timeline as Ayreon; Lucassen stated "There are some connections to the Ayreon saga (I couldn't resist...)", even if insisting on the fact it was still a separate story. Due to '' The Theory of Everything'' being a fresh start for Ayreon, ''Lost in the New Real'' was the last Lucassen album to take place in the fictional universe and storyline originating from ''
The Final Experiment ''The Final Experiment'' (originally ''Ayreon: The Final Experiment'') is the debut studio album by the Dutch progressive metal project Ayreon, released in 1995. Originally with no artist noted, at the suggestion of the record label the subject wa ...
'' in 1995, until the release of ''The Source'' in 2017, which acts as a prequel to the storyline. The cover art features the Dream Sequencer, a device previously featured in three Ayreon albums, here appearing identical to the cover of '' Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer'' Mr. L already appeared in the Ayreon song "The Truth Is in Here" from ''01011001'', where he was also voiced by Lucassen. The song was set in present day, presumably before the events of ''Lost in the New Real''. In "The Truth Is in Here", Mr. L was referring to several Ayreon stories, including the stories of ''
The Final Experiment ''The Final Experiment'' (originally ''Ayreon: The Final Experiment'') is the debut studio album by the Dutch progressive metal project Ayreon, released in 1995. Originally with no artist noted, at the suggestion of the record label the subject wa ...
'', ''
Into the Electric Castle ''Into the Electric Castle – A Space Opera'' is the third album of the progressive metal project Ayreon by Dutch songwriter, producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Released in 1998, it was the band's first double al ...
'' and ''
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 ...
''. In the booklet, "Our Imperfect Race" explains that "In their ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence, SETI finally has detected a signal that could be some sort of binary code. Is it an alien life form trying to contact us, or just a freak coincidence?". This is a reference to ''01011001'', where The Forever, a fictional race featured in several Ayreon albums, sends a distress signal under the form of a binary code.


Background and recording

On 13 June 2011 Lucassen announced his next album would be a solo album, stating "I've been wanting to record a solo album with just me singing for about 10 years now ..my last solo attempts have turned into an Ayreon, Star One and Guilt Machine releases instead! But now the time is right and I feel very inspired!". He defines his new album as "an eclectic album", and announced that
Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...
will be the narrator. Hauer is best known for acting in the 1982 cult film ''
Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
'', Lucassen's favorite science-fiction film. On 8 February 2012 Lucassen's website stated that Hauer "enjoyed the collaboration with Arjen, saying 'it was marvelous work, very creative.'", and announces the releases dates in Europe and USA. On 23 February 2012, the title of the album, along with the cover art, were revealed.


Reception

''
Mir Fantastiki ''Mir Fantastiki'' (russian: Мир фантастики), officially abbreviated as ''MirF'', is a Russian monthly science fiction and fantasy magazine. The name also refers to the website run by the magazine, Mirf.ru. ''Mir Fantastiki'' litera ...
'' magazine rated ''Lost in the New Real'' 10 out of 10, calling it "a masterpiece of conceptualism" and "anthem to the classics of rock", and later awarded it as the Best sci-fi/fantasy concept album of 2012.


Track listing


Personnel


Musicians

*
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 the ...
– lead vocals ("Mr. L"), guitars, bass, keyboards, other instruments *
Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...
spoken vocals ("Voight Kampff") * Wilmer Waarbroek – backing vocals, grunts on "Parental Procreation Permit" *
Ed Warby Edward R. Warby (born 7 March 1968) is a Dutch musician, best known as the drummer for death metal band Gorefest and progressive rock/metal project Ayreon. He also appeared in the band Agressor in 1982 and joined the Eindhoven-based metal band ...
– drums * Rob Snijders – drums * Ben Mathot – violin * Maaike Peterse – cello * Jeroen Goossens – flutes * Elvya Dulcimer –
hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...
, female vocals on "The Battle of Evermore" * Gjalt Lucassen –
megaphone A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loudhailer is usually a portable or hand-held, cone-shaped acoustic horn used to amplify a person's voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction. The sound is introduced into ...
on "I'm the Slime"


Production

* Arjen Anthony Lucassen – producing *
Claudio Bergamin Claudio Bergamin is a Chilean/Italian fantasy artist. He creates album covers for rock bands and book covers for paranormal authors. Artwork Bergamin's style is realistic fantasy illustration. He has created artwork for a wide number of rock a ...
cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...


References

{{Authority control Arjen Anthony Lucassen albums 2012 albums Rock operas