''Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer'' (sometimes simply referred as ''The Dream Sequencer'') is a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

album released in 2000 by Dutch multi-instrumentalist and songwriter

Arjen 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 th ...

, and is the fourth album of his

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 music, f ...

project. ''The Dream Sequencer'' features a musical style quite disparate from its counterpart '' Flight of the Migrator'', telling the story of a trip through time from a variety of perspectives, it features a prog-infused atmospheric feeling, with a softer and more melodic sound than that of ''Flight of the Migrator''. Both albums were released simultaneously, sold well and were received positively. In 2004, Lucassen moved to a new record label -

Inside Out Music Inside Out Music is a German progressive rock record label originally based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles. In 2009, it formed a partnership with Cen ...

- and with this move came re-issues of all the previous Ayreon releases, including ''The Dream Sequencer''. The special edition re-issue merged both albums into a single release, titled ''Universal Migrator: Parts I & II''. The album was also released on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

in December 2012.

Creation

After the success of the previous Ayreon release, ''

Into the Electric Castle ''Into the Electric Castle – A Space Opera'' is the third album of the progressive metal project Ayreon by Dutch singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Released in 1998, it was the band's first double albu ...

'', Arjen felt he had to create an album that was a worthy release all on its own, without being derivative or treading on similar ground. To this end, he made some fundamental changes to his previous composition process. Arjen decided to have each vocalist only sing one track each, as opposed to the almost conversational, rock opera-style singing which was utilized in previous albums.Ayreon biography
/ref> As ''Universal Migrator'' had enough content to form a two-CD album, Arjen made a key decision to sell each disc as a separate release. He believed his fans to be fundamentally divided into two groups by genre of choice, being either

or heavy metal fans. ''The Dream Sequencer'' was meant to appeal to the prog enthusiasts, and '' Flight of the Migrator'' to the metal fans, so that each could simply purchase the album of their choice, if so inclined, but to his surprise, fans bought and loved both albums.

Plot background

The story of ''The Dream Sequencer'' continues the plot found in ''

The Final Experiment ''The Final Experiment'' is the debut studio album by the Dutch progressive metal project Ayreon, released in 1995. Originally released with no artist noted as ''Ayreon: The Final Experiment'', the unexpected success of the album lead project lea ...

'', starting in the year 2084, when the final world war wiped out all life on Earth. During the final years of fighting on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, a number of humans escaped to live on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

. These people brought supplies with them, but with Earth ravaged, there was no way to replenish their resources, and soon almost all humans perished. ''The Dream Sequencer'' tells the story of the last human being alive, living alone on the Martian colony.UM Album page
/ref> Born of the earliest settlers on Mars, the colonist never lived on Earth, and could only experience it through a machine known as the Dream Sequencer. Developed by scientists on Mars to curb boredom, the Dream Sequencer uses a form of hypnosis that allows the user to travel back in time to their youth, or even farther beyond, to previous incarnations of their persistent selves. The colonist uses the machine and revisits his own youth, living on Mars, and eventually views many of his past lives: a woman fighting in the war of 2084,

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

overlooking her fleet, a man present at the building of

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...

, and even the first human being to live on Earth, among other lives. Each track on ''The Dream Sequencer'' revisits one of these past lives.

Track Analysis

The Dream Sequencer

The digitized voices on this song were provided by

Lana Lane Lana Lane is an American rock singer. She sings lead in her eponymous band, and has sung backing vocals for the band Rocket Scientists and guest sung on Ayreon and Erik Norlander albums. She is married to music producer Erik Norlander, who co- ...

and

Erik Norlander Erik Norlander (born 26 July 1967) is an American musician known for his work in the progressive rock genre. From 2007 to 2014, he was the touring and recording keyboardist for Asia Featuring John Payne. History Starting in 1993, Norlander's ...

. This song is about the Colonist's preparation to use the Dream Sequencer, and the orders given by the machine. After the spoken words, the Dream Sequencer plays a background music (which is, in fact, the track "The Dream Sequencer") that, supposedly, finishes on the eleventh track, "The Dream Sequencer (Reprise)".Interview with Arjen: Aardschok Magazine (pt. 1)

My House on Mars

Vocals on this song were provided by

Johan Edlund Johan Edlund (born 9 March 1971) is a Swedish singer, guitarist, and keyboardist and leader of the bands Tiamat and Lucyfire. He has also remixed songs for Rammstein and London After Midnight. He was also a guest singer in the Dutch progressive ...

(of

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( or , ) is the primordial sea, mating with Abzû (Apsu), the groundwater, to produce the gods in the Babylonian epic '' Enûma Elish'', which translates as "when on high". She is referred to as a woman, an ...

) and

Floor Jansen Floor Jansen (; born 21 February 1981) is a Dutch singer and songwriter. She is the third and current lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. Jansen first became known as the lead vocalist of symphonic metal band After Forever f ...

(of

After Forever After Forever was a Dutch symphonic metal band with strong progressive metal influences. The band relied on the use of both soprano vocals and death growls. In February 2009, it was announced that After Forever had disbanded. Singer Floor Jan ...

). Edlund is also the composer of the song's vocal melody. The song is apparently about the main character of the story as a child, with his sister, mourning the death of his father in the war on Earth and its destruction in 2084. By the end of the song, he has forgiven his father for leaving him, and breaking his promise to take him to Earth.

2084

Vocals on this song were provided by Lana Lane. This song is about the war which ultimately leads to mankind's destruction, referenced in ''

'', and later in ''

01011001 ''01011001'' is the seventh studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. The title is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter ''Y''. ''01011001'' is a concept album that tells the story of aliens ca ...

''. Still, the character speaking here is not the main protagonist himself, but one of his past lives (as told in "My House on Mars", the protagonist never saw Earth).

One Small Step

According to Arjen Lucassen, the song tells of the events he lived during the first crewed lunar landing—the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

mission. It uses the famous words of

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind". The song contains samples from the voices of astronauts, recorded during Moon landings. Vocals on this song were provided by

Edward Reekers Kayak is a Dutch rock band formed by Ton Scherpenzeel and Pim Koopman in Hilversum in 1972. In 1973, their debut album '' See See the Sun'' was released, including three hit singles. Their popularity was mainly in the Netherlands, with their top ...

and backing vocals were provided by Lana Lane.

The Shooting Company of Captain Frans B. Cocq

This song makes reference to Captain

Frans Banninck Cocq Frans Banninck Cocq (sometimes incorrectly spelled as Banning), ''free lord of Purmerland and Ilpendam'' (February 23, 1605 – January 1, 1655) was a knight, burgemeester (mayor) and military person of Amsterdam in the mid-17th century, the Dutc ...

and his

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, immortalised on the painting ''

The Night Watch ''Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq'', also known as ''The Shooting Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch'', but commonly referred to as ''The Night Watch'' (), is a 1642 painting ...

'' by

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

painter

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

. The painting dates from the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...

, 1642. In the song's title, Arjen Lucassen makes use of a title which is considered the most accurate for the painting. Vocals on this song were provided by

Mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

of Tuesday Child and backing vocals were provided by Lana Lane.

Dragon on the Sea

This song makes reference to

Queen Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

and the "

Speech to the Troops at Tilbury The Speech to the Troops at Tilbury was delivered on 9 August Old Style (19 August New Style) 1588 by Queen Elizabeth I of England to the land forces earlier assembled at Tilbury in Essex in preparation for repelling the expected invasion by th ...

" given by her in July 1588, on the light of an attack by the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

, which consisted of a grand

naval fleet A fleet or naval fleet is a large formation of warships – the largest formation in any navy – controlled by one leader. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land. Purpose In the modern sense, fleets are usually, but no ...

of 130

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

s bearing over 30,000 men. The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

fleet won the battle under the leadership of Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

—the "dragon" on the sea—and

Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

. Vocals on this song were provided by Lana Lane. Erik Norlander is the writer of the song's lyrics.

Temple of the Cat

This song makes reference to the

Mayan civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from Ancient history, antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by Maya architecture#Pyramids and temples, its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script ...

and

Maya mythology Maya mythology or Mayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Maya tales in which personified forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles. The legends of the era have to be ...

, taking place circa the 8th century. According to Arjen Lucassen, it speaks especially about the Jaguar Temple and the city of

Tikal Tikal (; ''Tik'al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Col ...

. Certain samples used on the song come from an authentic Maya festival. Vocals on this song were provided by

Jacqueline Govaert Jacqueline Govaert (; born 20 April 1982) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, and pianist. She is best known as the leader of Dutch band Krezip. After Krezip disbanded in 2009, Govaert started a solo music career. She released her debut album ''Good ...

Krezip Krezip is a Dutch pop rock band from Tilburg, North Brabant, formed in 1997. The band was formed while its members were in high school and has had four consistent core members, centered around lead singer and songwriter Jacqueline Govaert. Sign ...

. Arjen Lucassen has stated that this is his least favorite Ayreon song.Jacqueline Govaert's page at Ayreon.com
/ref>

Carried by the Wind

This song is influenced by Irish

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

, and makes reference to the blind minstrel Ayreon, one of the protagonists from ''

''. Vocals on this song were provided by Arjen Anthony Lucassen himself. According to the lyrics of the song, Ayreon's spirit notices that the Final Experiment has failed, and looks on to Mars for mankind's new hope. This "spirit on the wind" is also referenced in "The Sixth Extinction" on ''01011001''.

And the Druids Turn to Stone

This song makes reference to the

, a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

located near

Amesbury Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settl ...

in the English county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, which is believed to have mainly been built between 2500

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the o ...

and 2000 BCE. Due to the uncertainty regarding the origins of the monument, Arjen Lucassen proposes the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

explanation that a group of

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

s was turned to stone by means of

magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

, and thus became the Stonehenge. Vocals on this song were provided by

Damian Wilson Damian Wilson (born 11 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Wilson works in the progressive metal genre and was the lead singer of Headspace (band), Headspace and Threshold (band), Threshold. He sang and toured with ban ...

The First Man on Earth

This song makes reference to the appearance of the first

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

on Earth, circa 50,000 BCE. Vocals on this song were provided by

Neal Morse Neal Morse (born August 2, 1960) is an American singer, musician and composer based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1992, he formed the progressive rock band Spock's Beard with his brother Alan and released an album which was moderately successful ...

(ex-frontman of

Spock's Beard Spock's Beard is an American progressive rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1992 by brothers Neal (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar) and Alan Morse (guitars), John Ballard (bass), and Nick D'Virgilio (drums). Ballard was replaced by Dave M ...

) and backing vocals were provided by Mark McCrite. Neal Morse, Erik Norlander and Arjen Anthony Lucassen are the composers of the song's lyrics.

The Dream Sequencer Reprise

This is an instrumental track. As no singer sings on this song, some fans believe that this song is the end of the background music played on "The Dream Sequencer" track, after the machine gave all the instructions to the Colonist. Thus, due to the song's end, it can be interpreted as if the Dream Sequencer is turned off. This idea is supported by the fact that, in the beginning of the next album, '' Flight of the Migrator'', the Dream Sequencer speaks again some orders and warnings (there is no background music, the journey commences immediately).

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer Glenn Astarita praised the album, saying that "Basically, Lucassen's strong compositions and alluring arrangements strike an engaging chord as the music and overall production hearken back to the glory days of defiantly inventive progressive rock."

Track listing

Personnel

Vocalists

– backing vocals on tracks 4 and 5, vocals on tracks 1, 3 and 6 *

(

) – track 2 *

(

) – track 2 *

(

Kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

) – track 4 * Mouse – track 5 *

(

) – track 7 *

– track 8 *

( Threshold (band), Threshold) – track 9 *

– track 10 * Mark McCrite – backing vocals on track 10

Instrumentalists

– electric and acoustic

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

analog synthesizer An analog synthesizer () is a synthesizer that uses Analogue electronics, analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a var ...

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

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 Sout ...

, and additional keyboards * Rob Snijders –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

– analog synthesizers,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''vo''ice and en''coder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder wa ...

, Hammond, and additional keyboards *

Clive Nolan Clive Nolan (born 30 June 1961) is a British musician, composer and producer who has played a prominent role in the development of progressive rock. He has been the regular keyboard player in Pendragon (band), Pendragon (1986–present), Shadowla ...

–

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

solo on track 3 * Peter Siedlach –

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

Technical

– producer * Oscar Holleman –

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

* Jef Bertels – cover art

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2000 albums Ayreon albums Science fiction concept albums Rock operas Transmission (record label) albums