Remixed and remastered classic Ayreon album, originally released in 2004, with bonus tracks from the Ayreon archives. The Human Equation was the sixth album from the progressive rock project Ayreon by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen. As with other Ayreon albums, it features guest appearances from several musicians previously unrelated to the project, including James LaBrie of Dream Theater, Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth, Eric Clayton of Saviour Machine, and Devin Townsend, performing music arranged and written by Lucassen. The album explores the idea of psychological rebirth, and follows the story of a man who, after falling into a coma following a car crash, is confronted with his past, his emotions, and his current situation as he lays trapped inside his own mind. The circumstances surrounding the crash are mysterious, as the man ("Me", portrayed by James LaBrie) ploughed into a tree on a deserted road in broad daylight. Following this, he slips into a twenty-day coma, with each day represented by a single song. Each song follows a slightly different format, though there are major common themes, such as the presence of Me's manifest emotions in his dream world including Fear (Mikael Åkerfeldt), Reason (Eric Clayton), and Pride (Magnus Ekwall); the presence of Me's Wife (Marcela Bovio) and Best Friend (Arjen Anthony Lucassen) at his bedside; and the past events that Me is forced to reflect on.
Trackliste
A1 Day One: Vigil
A2 Day Two: Isolation
A3 Day Three: Pain
A4 Day Four: Mystery
B1 Day Five: Voices
B2 Day Six: Childhood
B3 Day Seven: Hope
B4 Day Eight: School
C1 Day Nine: Playground
C2 Day Ten: Memories
C3 Day Eleven: Love
C4 Day Twelve: Trauma
D1 Day Thirteen: Sign
D2 Day Fourteen: Pride
D3 Day Fifteen: Betrayal
D4 Day Sixteen: Loser
E1 Day Seventeen: Accident?
E2 Day Eighteen: Realization
E3 Day Nineteen: Disclosure
E4 Day Twenty: Confrontation
F1 August Fire
F2 No Quarter
F3 Space Oddity
F4 Day Six: Childhood
F5 How You Gonna See Me Now
F6 Bloopers