Star One
Encyclopedia
Star One is a Dutch
progressive metal
supergroup
/side-project of Arjen Anthony Lucassen
of Ayreon
fame. Unlike Ayreon, the band did not follow one storyline; instead, each song was a different story with a sci-fi concept, most of the tracks based on existing movies and series.
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.
When asked on the "Ask Arjen Anything" channel of communication if there would be another Star One album, Lucassen simply stated "Probably". However, he has since stated that he does not want to make another Star One album:
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", 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.
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.
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. The album was released in October 2010.
/metal
opera project Ayreon, drawing influences from seventies
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.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
/side-project of Arjen Anthony Lucassen
Arjen Anthony Lucassen
Arjen Anthony "Oswold Jr." Lucassen is a progressive metal/rock composer, singer and musician from the Netherlands, best known for his long-running progressive opera project titled Ayreon....
of Ayreon
Ayreon
Ayreon is a project by Dutch composer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen.Ayreon's musical style derives mostly from heavy metal and progressive rock, but combines them with genres like folk, classical and electronica...
fame. Unlike Ayreon, the band did not follow one storyline; instead, each song was a different story with a sci-fi concept, most of the tracks based on existing movies and series.
Origins and first album: 2002-2003
Star One was born out of the remnants of an abandoned collaboration between Lucassen and Iron MaidenIron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
frontman Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson
Paul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....
.
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.
When asked on the "Ask Arjen Anything" channel of communication if there would be another Star One album, Lucassen simply stated "Probably". However, he has since stated that he does not want to make another Star One album:
"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."
Second album: (2009-present)
In an interview conducted by Ragnarok Radio in October 2009 Arjen stated Star One is "definitely not dead."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", 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.
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.
In August of the same year, Arjen revealed the title of this second album, Victims of the Modern Age
Victims of the Modern Age
Victims of the Modern Age is the second studio album by Star One released on the recording label Inside Out on October 25, 2010 in the United States...
, and announced that it was ready. The album was released in October 2010.
Music
The music of Star One is heavier than that of Lucassen's progressive rockProgressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
/metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
opera project Ayreon, drawing influences from seventies
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
and blending them with modern progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
. 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.
Current members
- Arjen Anthony LucassenArjen Anthony LucassenArjen Anthony "Oswold Jr." Lucassen is a progressive metal/rock composer, singer and musician from the Netherlands, best known for his long-running progressive opera project titled Ayreon....
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s, Hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
(2002-present) - Ed WarbyEd WarbyEdward R. Warby was born and raised in Rotterdam and is best known as the drummer for Gorefest and Ayreon.He also appeared in the band Agressor in 1982 and joined the Eindhoven-based prog-outfit Elegy in 1987...
(GorefestGorefestGorefest was a Dutch band from the Zeeland region of the Netherlands which was founded in 1988 as a death metal outfit by De Koeyer, Harthoorn, van Schaik and Hoogendoorn.-History:...
) - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(2002-present) - Joost van den BroekJoost van den BroekJoost van den Broek was a keyboardist in the metal band After Forever. On the album After Forever, Joost had the opportunity to collaborate on the composition and production of the album alongside other band members. Van den Broek will appear on the Sinbreed album When Worlds Collide...
(After ForeverAfter ForeverAfter Forever was a Dutch symphonic metal band with strong progressive metal influences. The band relied on the use of both soprano vocals and death grunts. In February 2009, it was announced that After Forever had disbanded.-Biography:...
) - keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s (2002-present) - Peter Vink - BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(2002-present) - Russell AllenRussell AllenRussell Allen is the singer of the American progressive metal band Symphony X.-Biography:Before working with a rock band, he was a jouster at a Medieval Times Dinner Theater. He was introduced to the band Symphony X by former singer Rod Tyler...
(Symphony XSymphony XSymphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey.Founded in 1994 by guitarist Michael Romeo, their albums The Divine Wings of Tragedy and V: The New Mythology Suite have given the band considerable attention within the progressive metal community...
) - vocals (2002-present) - Damian WilsonDamian WilsonDamian Wilson is a singer known in the progressive rock genre. He is lead singer with the band Headspace along with Adam Wakeman and is lead singer for Threshold....
- vocals (2002-present) - Dan SwanöDan SwanöDan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...
(NightingaleNightingale (band)The band's latest album is White Darkness and it was released 4 June 2007.-Line-up:*Dan Swanö : Vocals, guitars, keyboards...
, Edge of SanityEdge of SanityEdge of Sanity was a Swedish death metal band. Edge of Sanity are regarded alongside Opeth as being the first to fuse extreme metal styles like death and black metal with progressive rock.- History :...
) - vocals (2002-present) - Floor JansenFloor JansenFloor Jansen is a Dutch singer, who was the lead singer of the symphonic metal band After Forever which disbanded in 2009, and is the current singer for ReVamp.-After Forever:...
(After Forever, ReVamp) - vocals (2002-present)
Live members
(The band toured in 2003 only. The only member of the studio line-up who wasn't present was Dan Swanö.- Robert Soeterboek - Vocals (Dan Swanö vocal parts)
- Irene Jansen - Vocals (only sang her sister's backing vocals part along her)
- Ewa Albering (a.k.a. Ewa Smarzyńska) - FluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
Additional musicians
- Jens JohanssonJens JohanssonJens Ola Johansson is a Swedish power metal keyboardist and pianist. He is notable for his high-speed neoclassical and fusion style.-Biography:...
(StratovariusStratovariusStratovarius are a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1984. Since their formation they have released 13 studio albums and one live album. Along with Helloween, Blind Guardian, Rhapsody of Fire and Gamma Ray, Stratovarius are considered one of the leading groups of the power metal and symphonic...
) - keyboards - Erik NorlanderErik NorlanderErik Norlander is an American musician who describes himself as a 'keyboardist, composer, producer and engineer'. Norlander has produced albums for Rocket Scientists and his wife, Lana Lane. He also has a progressive rock solo project titled simply Erik Norlander...
(Rocket ScientistsRocket ScientistsRocket Scientists is a progressive rock band formed in the late 1980s by keyboardist Erik Norlander and vocalist / guitarist Mark McCrite. The band released their first CD, Earthbound, in 1993 joined by session bassist Don Schiff...
) - keyboards - Gary WehrkampGary WehrkampGary Wehrkamp is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is most notably a member of the American progressive rock band Shadow Gallery.-Personal life:...
(Shadow GalleryShadow GalleryShadow Gallery is an American progressive metal band formed in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, United States, during the early 1980s, originally under the name Sorcerer. After changing their name to Shadow Gallery and recording a short 8-track demo, the band was signed to Magna Carta Records in 1991...
) - guitar - Robert Soeterboek (Cotton Soeterboek Band) - backing vocals
- Dave BrockDave BrockDavid Anthony "Dave" Brock is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He plays electric guitar, synthesizer, bass and oscillators. He is best known as being one of the founders and musical focus of the English space rock group Hawkwind...
(HawkwindHawkwindHawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
) - lead and backing vocals ("Hawkwind Medley" only) - Tony Martin - vocals
Discography
- Space MetalSpace Metal (Star One album)Space Metal is an album by Star One released on the recording label Inside Out in 2002. It was issued in two versions, a standard version containing just the first CD and a limited edition version with more elaborate packaging and both CDs....
(2002) - Live on EarthLive On EarthLive on Earth is the first live CD and DVD by Dutch band Star One. It features not only songs from their debut album, Space Metal, but also songs from Ayreon, another musical project by Arjen Anthony Lucassen...
(2003, live album) - Victims of the Modern AgeVictims of the Modern AgeVictims of the Modern Age is the second studio album by Star One released on the recording label Inside Out on October 25, 2010 in the United States...
(2010)