ON THIS PERFECT DAY (E), + dvd

On This Perfect Day is the debut album by Arjen Lucassen's side project Guilt Machine. The album consists of a CD and a DVD. The latter features some radio edits as well as ‘the making of’ and the interpretation of The Stranger Song (Leonard Cohen) by singer Jasper Steverlinck. One can also find an old pop tune by Jimmy Campbell from the sixties band the 23rd Turnoff, then titled Michael Angelo. It's now sung and interpreted by Lucassen as Michelangelo. Most of the other fan messages can be heard over some beautiful electronic music from the album Fate Of A Dreamer (2001) by Ambeon and last but not least there’s a full version of Perfect? with Arjen’s guiding vocals. The first track of the album opens with the sound of telephone-buttons being pressed and a Dutch voice asking 'ben ik schuldig?' (am I guilty?). A low synthesizer and an echoing clean guitar, some effects and percussion bring a Floydian atmosphere. Steverlinck begins to sing which he does with great ease and a lot of emotion. More instruments like the bass guitar and sometimes the Mellotron are added and a at some point there’s a passage with the distorted voice of Steverlinck. After another fan message we hear the same melodies as in the first part, but more powerful. Smooth transitions between the Floydian sounds and more pop-orientated style of singing by Steverlinck, remind me sometimes of The Beatles in Strawberry Fields Forever. One of the key melodies is sung with a distorted voice. A bit further that same melody is sung with a clean voice and an octave higher. The end of the first part is as Floydian as it began. The music goes on with a much more powerful part and again with bits of a distorted voice. Choruses and riffs remind of the music of Star One and the obvious contributions of Lori Linstruth's distinctive guitars are leaving a good impression. Steverlinck proves his versatility and impresses me with his vocal chords. He's capable of singing very gently, poppy and also with much more power as well as emotion. Leland Street also has two faces. The verses are very atmospheric and almost a bit psychedelic. The slide guitars sound a lot like the way David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) plays them. However, the choruses are more rock-metal orientated and again Steverlinck is delivering power and emotion. Halfway dark synthesizers and subtle but sweeping guitars by Lori Linstruth can be heard, followed by clean solos accompanied by organ. Next is a fairly heavy side step with heavy guitars and close harmony singing via some more fan messages and then back to the atmospheric, slightly psychedelic stuff. Nice ending with an acoustic guitar and a synthesizer playing the lead. There are lots of keyboards at the beginning of Green And Cream but as soon as Steverlinck starts to sing, the music goes more in the direction of a good pop song. The choruses, including their consecutive instrumental passages, are far more heavier. In the middle there’s a section with distorted vocals, acoustic and clean guitars and a nice full-bodied sound of the bass. Steverlinck is subsequently singing with his alter ego, repeating his own lead-lines. In the heavier part you'll hear some stunning guitar work by Linstruth. Maybe some people don’t like this style of playing, but luckily for me, I do! Seasons Of Denial has an almost electronic opening followed by a slow piece with clean guitars, Mellotron, some bass and laidback drumming. In some of the instrumental parts there are some folk influences because of the mandolin and some classical influences due to the violin. The choruses feature multi-track vocals by Steverlinck and heavy guitars. Some great melodies, first heavy, than much more subtle with an acoustic guitar and keyboards and then again, building up to a climax, very bombastic and heavy: pure delight!! The last part of this track is reminding me again of The Beatles. Over is blending a lot of Arjen’s influences: Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Tangerine Dream and Uriah Heep, modern day singer-songwriter and so on. A Floydian overture, then accompaniment in synthi-pop-electronic music (EM) style and vocals more in the vein of pop music and the choruses are reminiscent of bands like Uriah Heep, with the Hammond in full swing. For obvious reasons by the way, Arjen invited drummer Chris Maitland (ex-Porcupine Tree) to play on the album. Maitland uses his tremendous skills to the full. From sophisticated and subtle percussion or inventive jazzy drumming to the more powerful, but still varied styles of drumming, Chris masters them all and even succeeded in putting in a different rhythm than Arjen had planned: in the last track Perfection? Maitland comes up with a marsh-rhythm! In the other parts of this impressive apotheosis we can hear a mix of styles: almost a sort of summary of all influences on this album and still a lot of Ayreon. Once more Steverlinck's voice, fluent English and a perfect pronunciation, a very good choice and I will not be the only one who’s going to check out his band Arid from Belgium! For me the heavy instrumental theme is the climax of this album; it's very much in the vein of Ayreon. This must have been one of Arjen's finest brainwaves.The album ends with a fan message, from a girl from eastern Europe probably, saying 'thanks, have a good day'. She hangs up and the phone is giving the busy tone. Well, the times I’ve listened to this album I had a good day indeed. On This Perfect Day contains the ultimate fusion of progressive rock, heavy metal, pop, rock, electronic music and space rock!