Ayreon (Official Thread)

I had to think about this for a while, but I'm putting Ayreon in the Prog Rock section, he has some definite metal influences, but all of his albums are Conceptual so I feel he belongs in here.

Ayreon is the invention of the amazing Arjen Lucassen, he writes a story about his character, "Ayreon", and then adds the music and brings in some of the finest musicians in Europe to record the finished work. I don't know what to say other than he blew me away with the first CD I picked up "The Final Experiment". After listening to this one I got all his other albums, except the latest 3 CD compilation seeing I have all the songs already I felt it was not essential.

If you like concept albums like "Dark Side Of The Moon", "Tales of Mystery & Imagination" for example then you should give Ayreon a listen, the production quality on every album is excellent, the musicians too, I could fill a page with my appreciation of Arjen's creation, but I'll settle for just introducing him for now.

My Collection:

The Final Experiment
Actual Fantasy
Into The Electric Castle
Universal Migrator Pt. 1 & 2
The Human Equation
01011001

The Awareness from "The Final Experiment"

Re: Ayreon



Dude I almost did (started a thread)!! I have everything by Ayreon! Arjen is a genius!

A video here and there doesn't even explain, to those not familiar with this, how great it is.

From singers like Fish from Marillion to Labrie...he does it all.

Metal, Prog, Jazz, Blues, Psychedelia, Folk, Celtic, Pop, Fusion ect. all rolled into one

R.I.P. (Shadow Gallery) Mike Baker



Get the new one Lord...all selected tunes re-mastered and the last song is the final piece to the Ayreon puzzle. Cool story timeline family tree poster too!

Re: Ayreon

Great to see another Knowledgeable fan in here MP.

You are absolutely right, you Have to listen to the complete work,,,anything else is...well uncivilized...

His albums have some of the best guest musicians you would ever want to collaborate with, a sign of the respect Arjen has in Europe.

(I will leave Avantasia for you buddy.)

I have to go shovel snow but I'll be back in a couple of hours.

Re: Ayreon

Looking forward to your next post here!!

So many twists and turns with Ayreon...yup...for those just reading here...most all AYREON discs are double CD's. Alot of musical twists and turns and surprises. Even after multiple listens.

Re: Ayreon

I jumped ahead a bit with the two videos I posted. Since Lord is on The Final Experiment, I'll add a couple cool tracks from that.

Re: Ayreon

I recently discovered Ayreon, and have begun with Final Experiment, which I really have enjoyed so far. I am looking forward to obtaining more albums,,in chronological order, of course

Re: Ayreon

METALPRIEST said:

Get the new one Lord...all selected tunes re-mastered and the last song is the final piece to the Ayreon puzzle. Cool story timeline family tree poster too!

Click to expand...

Really I didn't know that MP, I'll put it on my list then. I find it a little strange that they would insert an important song to the saga on a compilation album, but I have to have it now.

Magic if you like Final Experiment you will enjoy the other CD's as well.

Re: Ayreon

Lord Grendel said:

Really I didn't know that MP, I'll put it on my list then. I find it a little strange that they would insert an important song to the saga on a compilation album, but I have to have it now.

Magic if you like Final Experiment you will enjoy the other CD's as well.

Click to expand...

A TWO Hour DVD included as well. All video promos,live stuff, behind the scenes/interviews and more!!

Re: Ayreon

Thanks for the info.

Re: Ayreon

I really like this band after hearing them! One of the best finds I've encountered here!