ŦĦΣ ŦĦΣΦɌ¥ ΦƑ ΣVΣɌΨŦĦIΠG

After the release of 01011001, Ayren decided to put Ayreon on hold, because he was not inspired to continue and also because many critics noted that there was nothing new being offered on 01011001 and he turned to other projects. For 5 years we thought that the story of the Universe was closed by that album and the story of Planet Y.

However I fully agree with the critics that the 01011001 is not the best Ayreon album ever made, I would not say that it was the worst either… it has its own share of memorable songs like the “Waking Dreams” or the “River of Time”.

In 2012 Arjen decided that the Ayreon project (if not the story) deserves to be continued, and started working on an album which is a fresh start from the Ayreon storyline developed since Ayreon’s first album The Final Experiment in 1995; in addition, while previous albums which took place in a sci-fi context (with the notable exception of The Human Equation, taking place in a man’s mind), it is set in a realistic world.

He composed all the music for the eights album, and wrote the story and lyrics with his girlfriend Lori Linstruth, making it the first Ayreon album in which he shares lyrics credit for all the songs.

The album received many positive reviews from music critics, and was a commercial success, receiving acclaim from audience and critics, who praised its instrumental sections, songwriting, story, and the performances of the cast.

And here comes my personal opinion… this album is by far the most hard to embrace and even harder to like among all the others. Putting aside that it is the only album that does not fit the Plot of the Universe – which I love very much -, I could not find a single song that really caught my imagination or made me feel… well… anything (except the theme song of course but that had been well known to everyone from the album trailer). It had never ever happened to me before that after listening through an Ayreon album I just did not really remember any of the songs and none of them made me push that “Play” button again… it all seemed dull and uninteresting, the lyrics, the music, the plot, everything…
Ok, ok, the situation is not that grim after all… after playing the album a few times I did discover a few gems for sure, but in case of the previous albums Arjen just threw those gems at me in almost every minute and they hit me by surprise, and to be honest I really got used to that feeling… so there are lots of value in this record, yes, but be prepared that you will really have to dedicate yourself to the cause to find those pieces.

To be honest I always felt Arjen’s solo album “Lost In The New Real” – that was released right before The Theory of Everything – much closer to my hearth. It follows the story of Mr. L, a modern-day man revived in a distant future where everything has changed. Although the story is not a part of the Ayreon storyline, it is set within the same fictional universe…

According to Arjen, the album is “four long tracks divided into various segments”, with each song longer than 20 minutes for a total of almost one hour and a half of music. The complete number of segments is 42, which is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, recognized by Arjen as a direct reference.

Let’s see the story of the album…

The story follows a young prodigy and his family, a girl, a rival, and a teacher, none named.

The first phase…

…opens (“Prologue: The Blackboard”) with a hint of the genius of the prodigy before the story falls back eleven years to the prodigy’s parents (“The Theory of Everything part 1”). The father is working on the titular “Theory of Everything”—a unified theory explaining all the forces of the cosmos. In doing so, he neglects his wife and young child. The main character, the prodigy, is finally introduced (“The Prodigy’s World”) and reveals his genius prevents him from normal social interactions. He frequently lives inside his head and stares off into space. Human life and society bore him and don’t fit into the grand scheme of things—his mental model of the universe.

The story jumps three years (“The Teacher’s Discovery”) where the teacher, a voice from the prologue, discovers the boy’s genius. A rival classmate accuses him of fraud, and a girl rises to his defense (“Love and Envy”). The teacher arranges a meeting with the boy’s father (“The Gift”), where the father learns that his son is more than just an awkward kid who spaces out. A few more years pass (“Inertia”) and the prodigy tries to reach out to his father to no avail. Finally, the father and mother decide the child needs some medical intervention (“The Theory of Everything Part 2”): the mother believes the child needs to fit in with society to have a normal life, and the father finally realizes that his genius son might help him discover the Theory of Everything.

Phase 2…

….deals with the prodigy’s visit to therapy. A drug is introduced that might help him, but the psychiatrist admits that it is very experimental. Even though the father is intrigued, the mother is completely against anything that might endanger their son (“Diagnosis” / “The Argument 1”). His teacher reveals that he could use the child to boost his own popularity; the girl reveals she wants him to open up to her (“Potential”). As the prodigy continues living in his own chaotic world the father wonders if the psychiatrist’s drug really will help (“Quantum Chaos”). The Father wants the child to help with the Theory of Everything, and decides to take the therapist’s drug (“Dark Medicine”) and feed it to the child secretly. The prodigy takes very well to it, as the results are almost immediate and miraculous (“Alive”). The mother is also happy about their son’s drastic improvement, even though she is still unaware that it is due to the drug she was adamantly opposed to (“The Prediction”).

Phase 3… 

…opens as the teacher also notices the changes in the prodigy, but wonders if something unhealthy is occurring. But he is still determined to help the prodigy (“Transformation”). As a result of the drug the prodigy has a great new found confidence and finally confronts his classmate rival (“Collision”). Eventually the psychiatrist tells the father that the drug can cause severe psychosis and delusions and urges him to stop the treatment. The father comes clean to the prodigy about giving him the drug. Feeling betrayed he runs away (“Side Effects”). Eventually, after trying to find the teacher, the prodigy runs into the girl and the rival, and explains to them about what his father did. The prodigy asks if he can stay with the girl, who reciprocates his offer without hesitation or resistance at the behest of the rival who says the prodigy will use her. Undaunted, the girl tries to take care of the prodigy, but without the drug he withdraws into himself again (“Magnetism”). Time passes and the rival reveals he can synthesize the therapist’s drug if the prodigy helps in a bank robbery (“Quid Pro Quo”). When the plan succeeds, the girl tells the prodigy to leave since she is disappointed in his choices, and he is heartbroken that she is gone (“Fortune?”).

Phase 4… 

…opens three months before the prologue, with the girl and the mother revealing their helplessness in the main character’s situation (“Mirror of Dreams”). The prodigy, having nowhere else to turn now, meets the teacher again to resume work on the Theory of Everything. With money now a formality to the prodigy, he buys and resumes his work in a lighthouse (“The Lighthouse”). The father knows his chances for discovering the theory lie with the prodigy, but the mother doesn’t want to hear any more of it (“The Argument 2”). After months of fruitless arguments, the mother tells the father that she is leaving him, he is heartbroken and believes there is only one thing left for him to do (“The Parting”). The prodigy later—only one day before the opening of the story—sees the father in the lighthouse to help unify their efforts and complete the work. They work constantly all throughout the night while the prodigy takes a much larger dose of the drug than usual (“The Visitation” / “The Breakthrough”). Exhausted, the prodigy writes a quick note explaining their success to the teacher (“The Note”).

The next day… 

… – same day as the Prologue—the real nature of the previous day’s events is revealed: the teacher comes to visit the lighthouse and finds the prodigy lying catatonic in the corner, with the note crumpled in his hand. He immediately calls the girl to tell her of the note regarding the breakthrough. As the girl showed up at the lighthouse to meet the teacher, she is already in tears after a phone call with the prodigy’s mother. The girl explains that the father took his own life before the supposed visitation (“The Uncertainty Principle”); he couldn’t have been there with his son for the breakthrough (“Dark Energy”), and it could only be a hallucination from the prodigy. The girl and the mother mourn together the losses of their loved ones, come to an agreement that the world isn’t ready to know the Theory of Everything, and decide to move on with their lives. After everyone else leaves the lighthouse, the teacher examines the blackboard and notices there are two different hand writing styles, as if the father and son had truly completed their theory together (“The Theory of Everything Part 3” / “The Blackboard – Reprise”).

– source: wikipedia – 

How does it fit to the History of The Universe?
Here you can find the answer.