Tarnation – Gentle Creatures

Astonishingly daring debut album, not as focused or overpowering as King Crimson's first but still crashing down barriers and steamrolling expectations. The mix of medieval … Full Descriptionharmonies and electric rock got stronger on subsequent albums, but the music here is still pretty jarring…

Beethoven was commissioned to write his first stage work- a ballet score for Die Geschopfe des Prometheus (‘The Creatures of Prometheus’)- for the dancer and choreographer Salvatore Vigano, nephew of composer Luigi Boccherini. In the myth, Prometheus is punished by Zeus for stealing fire for the benefit of mankind; in the allegorical ballet, Prometheus brings Enlightenment ideas of art and science to humanity. The overture remains popular and the finale- the theme of which Beethoven was later to use in his ‘Eroica’ Symphony- offers a heroic conclusion.

In the past, Anneke van Giersbergen, former singer of The Gathering and mastermind of the Agua De Annique, featured on two Ayreon's albums: Into The Electric Castle and 01011001. The Gentle Storm is one of the many side projects of the Dutch multi-instrumentist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Officially they are the only two band members, but in their first release they feature Ed Warby at drums, who was also in Into The Electric Castle and Johan Van Stratum (Stream Of Passion) at bass. The album is actually offered in two contrasting interpretations in the one package, a "Gentle" version that presents the pieces in a prettier and frequently orchestrated format, and a "Storm" version of the same core tracks that adds the heavier rock guitars perhaps more associated with Lucassen.