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Ayreon
The progressive metal outfit Ayreon is essentially just Dutch multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Arjen Anthony Lucassen (formerly of the more mainstream metal band Vengeance), plus a revolving-door cast of collaborators and guest musicians that changes from project to project. Ayreon albums are usually large-scale concept epics and sometimes rock operas, in the latter case featuring a different vocalist for each character. Lucassen formed Ayreon in 1994 and released its first album, The Final Experiment, the following year. The more ethereal Actual Fantasy followed in 1996, and from there Ayreon only got more elaborate. 1998's Into the Electric Castle was a campy, sci-fi concept work spanning two discs and featuring guests like ex-Marillion singer Fish and the Gathering's Anneke van Giersbergen. Next up was Universal Migrator, another double-disc set whose volumes were issued separately under the subtitles Part I: The Dream Sequencer and Part II: Flight of the Migrator. These featured even more guest appearances, most notably Tiamat's Johan Edlund and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, plus current and former members of Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, Helloween, Stratovarius, and Symphony X; musicians included Rocket Scientist's Erik Norlander and ex-Gorefest drummer Ed Warby. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi
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Great stuff and it opens many doors to all sorts of other artists if you follow their threads and if you don't know them already. Enjoy with an open mind!
Edit: Picked up copies of The Human Equation and 01011001.
Anyways, I just picked up Timeline yesterday, which appears to be a fairly lengthy selection of music from his previous albums (33 tracks, for about the same price as the other double albums go for).
"In 2005, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Ayreon, The Final Experiment was reissued with a bonus semi-acousti c disc.
At the end of September 2006, when Arjen's new studio was finished, he began making a new album entitled 01011001, which was released on January 25th, 2008."
The dates are for the re-releases, as noted in WikiPedia:
"Starting in 2004, after changing from Transmission Records to InsideOut, Arjen began rereleasing his Ayreon catalog on the new label, with enhancements ranging from basic (The Universal Migrator, issued as a two-disc set instead of two separate albums) to drastic (Actual Fantasy, "Revisited" with completely re-recorded drums, bass, synth and flute). In 2005, to coincide with
And it's also their best that I've heard. Looking forward to getting hold of The Electric Castle. I LOVE Ayreon!
Honestly,Arj e n ' s CD's take you away to another "other world" with fluid creativity,s e n s u a l sonics,extre m e l y well crafted arrangements and desperately tasty dynam
All you need to know:
Ayreon is simply the best if you are looking for concept metal. You can't go wrong with any of Arjen's albums. Electric castle was my first, and I've heard all 100 minutes of it several dozen times...it is still good.