Rebel Rousers

After the seriousness of Ayreon and Star One, Arjen Lucassen is ready to let his hair down with Supersonic Revolution. The Dutch polymath is shaking things up and heading back to the 70s for some serious fun, and he's gathered together a fantastic group of musicians to help him.

- Jerry Ewing

“I suppose it will turn some people off. It’s not a typical prog album. It’s not Yes or Genesis. But it’s not a metal album either. The concept is the 70s!”

Arjen Lucassen chooses his words carefully. But, as always, the towering Dutch prog rocker is spot on. We’re discussing The Golden Age Of Music, the debut album from Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution, a new quintet Lucassen has put together to celebrate an era of music that has left an indelible mark on the musician: the 70s.

However this time there’s a difference. Unlike the long list of projects that Lucassen has delighted prog fans with over the years – Ayreon, Guilt Machine, Star One, The Gentle Storm, Stream Of Passion, Ambeon – Supersonic Revolution feels different. True, as Lucassen states, it’s not wholly a prog record. But then neither is it a metal album. Yet there’s enough within the record’s 11 tracks (not to mention a bonus disc featuring covers of 70s songs by T. Rex, ZZ Top, Roger Glover and Earth, Wind & Fire) to satisfy fans of both. Put simply, if you enjoyed Pink Beatles In A Purple Zeppelin, the second track from Lucassen’s 2012 solo album Lost In The New Real, then you’ll probably enjoy Supersonic Revolution’s The Golden Age Of Music too.

“For me the 70s were the golden age of music,” Lucassen enthuses. “But that’s purely personal! If I’d been born 10 years later, I guess it could have been the 80s. I used to lie in bed under the blankets and secretly listen to pirate radio stations like Radio Caroline on a little transistor radio. Those pirate stations played all kinds of weird underground music and I loved it! I also loved 70s fashion, with the colourful shirts and bell bottom jeans.”