On This Perfect Day was mainly built around singer Jasper Steverlinck, guitarist Lori Linstruth and ex-Porcupine Tree drummer Chris Maitland, along with the bandleader's multi-instrumental contributions.

Lucassen says: "Zero-One was a logistic and financial nightmare. That's why I wanted to keep On This Perfect Day on a manageable scale. Working with a small group of people also provided a welcome new challenge.

"People sometimes tell me how hard they think it must be to write parts for the huge cast of vocalists on an Ayreon release. Actually it's easy - I can choose vocalists who are specialised for each particular emotion that I want to express.