I interpret the album title as a challenge, it is a hint that Ayreon with ambitious claim arise (The Theory of Everything = Universal Theory). Ayreon similar playful and ornate as Dream Theater, but more often with folkloric resources. While on the CD1 of The Theory ... dominate medieval oriental sounds, the songs tend to the CD2 to pathos and grandeur. My favorites are: the beautiful The Theory of Everything (Part 1 + 2), the medieval-like patterns, the fabulous Oriental The Teacher's Discovery, The Eleventh Dimension, the pathetic Magnetism, the dramatic "Diagnosis" and so on ...
Reviewer "Niesrind" is absolutely right: we hear incessantly awesome, awesome awesome ... so where is she now, the universal theory? In Hollywood would have a story that talks about the bush and in the end nothing presented, no chance. The weak story lives solely by the promise that look like a sham. The end does not provide the promised Pointe (World Formula), nor a satisfying happy ending.
The songs are fragmented, they are presented in installments; This is a listening experience on the installment plan. The mini-songs sound like musical fast food like cheeseburgers and hamburgers. They seem to be tailored for superficial listeners who bring neither patience nor time. The direct transitions (with no pause or end to) the dismembered acting Tracks are often ugly, they enforced act and thus destroy the mood that had built up the last piece before. And sure the album would have gained in intensity and tension, if you had thrown out a few weak tracks. The superfluous ballast dilutes the atmosphere.
I want to sugarcoat anything and hurray shout in this treasure is not gold that glitters ...
