Ayreon Compilation Albums
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Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer
Arjen Anthony Lucassen Arjen Anthony Lucassen (born 3 April 1960) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer, best known for his long-running progressive metal/ rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as t ...
. Ayreon's music is described as
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
,
progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...
and
power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...
sometimes combined with genres such as
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...
,
electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
,
experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...
and
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
. The majority of Ayreon's albums are dubbed "rock operas" (or "metal operas") because the albums contain complex storylines featuring a host of characters, usually with each one being represented by a unique vocalist. Each Ayreon album tells a different story, but all, with the exception of ''
Actual Fantasy ''Actual Fantasy'' is an album released in 1996 by Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen A. Lucassen and is the second album of his Ayreon project. It is the only Ayreon release that does not feature a single overarching story concept, but instead dr ...
'', '' The Theory of Everything'', and ''
Transitus In Western Christianity, the Transitus (''translation'' from Ecclesiastical Latin: crossing) refers to "the time of passage through death to life". The Christian theologian German Martinez writes that: Observance With reference to various ...
'', take place in the same fictional,
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
universe; additionally, Lucassen's solo album ''
Lost in the New Real ''Lost in the New Real'' (also referred to as ''Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Lost in the New Real'') is the second solo studio album by Dutch songwriter, producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released on 23 April 2012. ...
'' is also set in the Ayreon universe. Ayreon's music is characterized by the use of traditional instruments in rock music (guitars, bass guitar, drums,
analogue synthesizer An analog synthesizer () is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of vacuum-tube (t ...
s,
electric organ An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has since develop ...
s) mixed with instruments more native to folk and classical music (e.g.
mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
s, violins,
viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
s, celli,
flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
s,
sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...
s and
didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...
s). Lucassen writes the music and the lyrics, sings and plays most of the instruments on all of the Ayreon albums, alongside many guest musicians. His most regular collaborator is drummer
Ed Warby Edward R. Warby (born 7 March 1968) is a Dutch musician, best known as the drummer for death metal band Gorefest and progressive rock/metal project Ayreon. He also appeared in the band Agressor in 1982 and joined the Eindhoven-based metal band ...
. Due to the project's particular nature, Ayreon live performances are rare. Several Ayreon songs were first included in two
live albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...
by other Lucassen bands: '' Live on Earth'' by
Star One Star One was an Indian pay television channel based in Mumbai and owned by Star TV, with worldwide distribution handled by Fox International Channels. Launched on 1 November 2004, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky in November 2006. Sta ...
(2003) and ''
Live in the Real World ''Live in the Real World'' is the first live CD and DVD album by Dutch/ Mexican progressive metal band Stream of Passion, created by Arjen Anthony Lucassen. It features not only songs from their debut album '' Embrace the Storm'', but also songs ...
'' by
Stream of Passion Stream of Passion is a Dutch progressive metal band with symphonic and gothic influences founded by guitarist and composer Arjen Anthony Lucassen and Mexican singer, violinist, and lyricist Marcela Bovio. They have released four studio albums. ...
(2006).


History


Origins: ''The Final Experiment'' and ''Actual Fantasy'' (1995–1998)

The first Ayreon CD, released in 1995, is ''
The Final Experiment ''The Final Experiment'' is the debut studio album by the Dutch progressive metal project Ayreon, released in 1995. Originally released with no artist noted as ''Ayreon: The Final Experiment'', the unexpected success of the album lead project lea ...
'', which has a mixture of science fiction and medieval themes. The album features thirteen singers and seven instrumentalists, most of them Dutch. ''The Final Experiment'' is often mentioned as one of the first
metal opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
s. The album was originally titled ''Ayreon: The Final Experiment'', with the artist listed as Arjen Lucassen, but upon re-release, the title was changed to ''
The Final Experiment ''The Final Experiment'' is the debut studio album by the Dutch progressive metal project Ayreon, released in 1995. Originally released with no artist noted as ''Ayreon: The Final Experiment'', the unexpected success of the album lead project lea ...
'', and the artist was changed to Ayreon. ''
Actual Fantasy ''Actual Fantasy'' is an album released in 1996 by Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen A. Lucassen and is the second album of his Ayreon project. It is the only Ayreon release that does not feature a single overarching story concept, but instead dr ...
'' from 1996 is the only Ayreon album without a continuous story. With its individual
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
stories, it can still be considered a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
, though. There are only three singers and three instrumentalists on Actual Fantasy. Themes inspired by songs on this album can be found on later Ayreon releases, particularly the two Universal Migrator albums. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor.


Continuation of the Ayreon storyline (1998–2008)

The
double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...
''
Into the Electric Castle ''Into the Electric Castle – A Space Opera'' is the third album of the progressive metal project Ayreon by Dutch singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Released in 1998, it was the band's first double albu ...
'' followed in 1998, continuing the Ayreon storyline from ''The Final Experiment''. The album features eight singers, each playing a role of a single character, and eleven instrumentalists. Arjen has stated that he wanted this particular album to be a more flight-and-fancy-free record, or "pure escapism" than the previous albums' more serious tones, and portrayed his characters in more of a
B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...
light. The album was a huge success and is widely regarded as one of Ayreon's best albums. The twin ''Universal Migrator'' albums were released in 2000. The first album, '' The Dream Sequencer'' consists of soft, atmospheric progressive rock, whereas the second album, '' Flight of the Migrator'', consists of a more heavy-metal theme. Both of the albums feature around ten singers supported by many instrumentalists. One of the more notable guests was
Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Dickinson has performed in the band across two stints, from 1981 to 1993 and from 1999 to the present d ...
of
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...
, who made an appearance on the ''Flight of the Migrator'' album. Shortly following ''Universal Migrator'' came ''
Ayreonauts Only ''Ayreonauts Only'' is the first compilation album by Dutch progressive metal project Ayreon by Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released in 2000. Although categorized as a compilation album, it consists only of previously unreleased material, with alternat ...
'', an album generally meant to be only for diehard fans of Ayreon. The album itself was the second to not follow a specific storyline; it instead contained alternate versions (With different vocalists or instrumentalists) of existing songs, or the original demos used when recording them. In addition, it contained a preview of Arjen's then-upcoming project,
Ambeon ''Fate of a Dreamer'' is an album by Dutch singer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen under the name Ambeon, released in 2001 by Dutch music label Transmission Records. All of the ten tracks feature Sampling (music), samples from and arrangements ...
. It is the only Ayreon album not to see re-release on InsideOut. In 2004 came ''
The Human Equation ''The Human Equation'' is the sixth album from the progressive rock project Ayreon by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released on 25 May 2004 via Inside Out Music. As with other Ayreon albums, it features guest appearances from several m ...
''. As on ''Into the Electric Castle'', there are several singers, each playing their own role. With ''The Human Equation'', Ayreon turned away from the usual science fiction and fantasy themes with a seemingly semi-normal
psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
theme. 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 the 10th anniversary of Ayreon, ''The Final Experiment'' was reissued with a bonus semi-acoustic disc. At the end of September 2006, when Arjen's new studio was finished, he began making a new album entitled ''
01011001 ''01011001'' is the seventh studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. The title is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter ''Y''. ''01011001'' is a concept album that tells the story of aliens ca ...
'', which was released on 23 January 2008. This album was noticeably darker than previous Ayreon releases, Lucassen attributes this to a depression and his divorce in the preceding year. On 25 April 2008, Arjen released a new Ayreon EP named ''
Elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...
''. The EP features two tracks from ''01011001'', one from ''The Human Equation'' and an
Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
cover (''Elected''), with vocals by Arjen and
Tobias Sammet Tobias Sammet (born 21 November 1977) is a German musician, songwriter, and music producer. He is the singer and primary songwriter of the power metal band Edguy, and the founder of the metal opera project Avantasia. Career Sammet founded Edgu ...
. On 16 September 2008, Arjen announced in his official website the release of ''
Timeline A timeline is a list of events displayed in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any suitable scale representing t ...
'', his second compilation album, that will reunite selected songs from all Ayreon albums and an unreleased one in three CDs and a DVD. The album was released on 7 November 2008 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and all of the EU on 17 November 2008. It was released in America on 13 January 2009.


Hiatus (2008–2012)

Arjen took a break from Ayreon and completed a new side project,
Guilt Machine Guilt Machine is a musical project by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, owner of other musical projects such as Star One, Ayreon and Ambeon. The project's debut release, '' On This Perfect Day'', was released in August 2009. Biography B ...
, in 2009. He also went on to release a second
Star One Star One was an Indian pay television channel based in Mumbai and owned by Star TV, with worldwide distribution handled by Fox International Channels. Launched on 1 November 2004, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky in November 2006. Sta ...
album in 2010, and then a solo album under his own name in 2012.


''The Theory of Everything'' and ''The Source'' (2012–2017)

''The Theory of Everything'' was released on 28 October 2013. In 2015, ''
The Human Equation ''The Human Equation'' is the sixth album from the progressive rock project Ayreon by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released on 25 May 2004 via Inside Out Music. As with other Ayreon albums, it features guest appearances from several m ...
'' was performed in its entirety live in an unofficial full-scale theatrical production called ''The Theater Equation'', with Lucassen making an appearance and helping promote the project. It was performed four times, all at the Nieuwe Luxor theater in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
between 18 and 20 September. Although produced as an unofficial series of performances, it was recorded and released in June of the following year as an official Ayreon release, '' The Theater Equation'', produced and mixed by Lucassen himself. ''
The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...
'' was released on 28 April 2017, marking a return to
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
and the Ayreon storyline. It is Lucassen's first album under his new label,
Mascot Label Group Mascot Label Group is an independently owned record label founded in 1989 in The Netherlands under the name Mascot Records. The company was renamed Mascot-Provogue in 1999 and since 2010 has been known as the Mascot Label Group. The company is bas ...
.


Focus on live performances (2017–2020)

In November 2016, Lucassen announced the first ever official Ayreon concerts for September 2017, entitled ''Ayreon Universe''. The show featured 16 singers and 11 instrumentalists, all of which had previously worked together with Lucassen on his studio albums. Unlike ''The Theater Equation'', it consisted of unrelated songs from Ayreon performed after each other as in a traditional concert, with a few songs from
Star One Star One was an Indian pay television channel based in Mumbai and owned by Star TV, with worldwide distribution handled by Fox International Channels. Launched on 1 November 2004, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky in November 2006. Sta ...
featured as well. One of the performances was released as a live album/DVD on 30 March 2018, titled ''
Ayreon Universe – The Best of Ayreon Live ''Ayreon Universe – The Best of Ayreon Live'', alternatively known as ''Ayreon Universe – Best of Ayreon Live'' or simply ''Ayreon Universe'', is a live album and DVD/Blu-ray by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's progressive rock/metal rock opera project ...
''. On 7 December 2017, Lucassen stated that a new Ayreon concert would take place on 22 June 2018 at
Graspop Metal Meeting Graspop Metal Meeting is a Belgian heavy metal festival held in Dessel each year since 1996, excluding 2020 and 2021 due to covid restrictions. Despite the small size of the festival grounds (upholding a perimeter of only ~4 km) the festiv ...
, where they would headline the Marquee stage. It featured the same instrumentalists as the Ayreon Universe shows and most of its vocalists, along with
Simone Simons Simone Johanna Maria Simons (born 17 January 1985) is a Dutch singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, which she joined at the age of seventeen, releasing nine studio albums and touring the world ...
and Tom S. Englund, who had never performed live with Ayreon before, and
Mark Jansen Markus Hubertus Johannes Jansen (born 15 December 1978) is a Dutch guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. A prominent figure in the symphonic metal subgenre, he is known for his work with the bands After Forever (1995–2002), Epica (2002–pr ...
, who had never collaborated with Lucassen before, and
Barry Hay Barry Andrew Hay (born 16 August 1948) is an Indian-born Dutch musician; he was the lead vocalist and frontman of Dutch rock band Golden Earring from 1967 until their disbandment in 2021. He has also released three solo albums. Early life and ...
; Lucassen himself also performed a few songs. Between 13 and 15 September 2019, the album ''
Into the Electric Castle ''Into the Electric Castle – A Space Opera'' is the third album of the progressive metal project Ayreon by Dutch singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Released in 1998, it was the band's first double albu ...
'' was performed in
Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...
in its entirety similarly to ''The Theater Equation'' in 2015, this time as official Ayreon performances.
Fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
,
Anneke van Giersbergen Anna Maria "Anneke" van Giersbergen (born 8 March 1973) is a Dutch singer, songwriter and guitarist who became known worldwide as the lead singer for the rock band The Gathering between 1994 and 2007. She also has a solo career. The project wa ...
,
Damian Wilson Damian Wilson (born 11 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Wilson works in the progressive metal genre and was the lead singer of Headspace (band), Headspace and Threshold (band), Threshold. He sang and toured with ban ...
,
Edward Reekers Kayak is a Dutch rock band formed by Ton Scherpenzeel and Pim Koopman in Hilversum in 1972. In 1973, their debut album '' See See the Sun'' was released, including three hit singles. Their popularity was mainly in the Netherlands, with their top ...
, Edwin Balogh, and George Oosthoek returned from the original cast, alongside Ed Warby and flutist
Thijs van Leer Thijs van Leer (; born 31 March 1948) is a Dutch singer and keyboardist, best known as the founding member of the rock band Focus as its primary vocalist, keyboardist, and flautist. Born and raised in Amsterdam among a musical family, van Leer ...
, who also performed on the original album.
Simone Simons Simone Johanna Maria Simons (born 17 January 1985) is a Dutch singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, which she joined at the age of seventeen, releasing nine studio albums and touring the world ...
and
Mark Jansen Markus Hubertus Johannes Jansen (born 15 December 1978) is a Dutch guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. A prominent figure in the symphonic metal subgenre, he is known for his work with the bands After Forever (1995–2002), Epica (2002–pr ...
of
Epica Epica or EPICA may refer to: * Epica (band), a Dutch symphonic metal band * ''Epica'' (Kamelot album), 2003 * ''Epica'' (Audiomachine album), 2012 * The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) * The Epica Awards (International Adver ...
,
Praying Mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate ...
singer
John Jaycee Cuijpers Praying Mantis are an English Rock music, rock band. Originally part of the new wave of British heavy metal, they pursued a musical direction more melodic and AOR (genre), AOR-sounding than their contemporaries Iron Maiden and Saxon (band), Sa ...
,
Marcela Bovio Marcela Alejandra Bovio García (born October 17, 1979) is a Mexican singer and violinist who is currently a member of the Dutch symphonic metal bands Stream of Passion and MaYaN. In 1995, she joined Hydra, a Mexican metal band, singing and ...
, Bovio's husband and VUUR bassist
Johan van Stratum Johan van Stratum (born 15 April 1982) is a Dutch bassist, currently playing live for German power metal band Blind Guardian and Ayreon. He was the bassist of Stream of Passion, and one of the two founding members to stay in the band until it di ...
, and Ex Libris members
Dianne van Giersbergen Dianne van Giersbergen (born 3 June 1985) is a Dutch spinto soprano singer. She is the founder and frontwoman of the progressive metal band Ex Libris,Erwin Van Dijk, Sept. 2012, Ex LibrisInterview : Dianne van Giersbergen – Ex Libris (2010 ...
and Bob Wijtsma were also featured, with actor
John de Lancie John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, best known for his role as Q in various ''Star Trek'' series, beginning with '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' in 1987 and leading up to the third season of '' Star Tre ...
acting as narrator. One of the performances was released as the live album ''
Electric Castle Live and Other Tales ''Electric Castle Live and Other Tales'' is a live album and DVD/Blu-ray by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's progressive rock/metal rock opera project Ayreon, released on 27 March 2020. It is a live version of the 1998 studio album '' Into the Electric Cas ...
'' on 27 March 2020. Ayreon was supposed to headline the Night of the Prog Festival in Germany on 18 July 2020 to perform ''Into the Electric Castle'' once again, however the event was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


''Transitus'' and continued live performances (2020–present)

On 8 May 2020, Lucassen revealed on his YouTube channel that his next album would be an Ayreon album, titled ''Transitus'' and to be released the same year; the album would be released alongside a tie-in comic book. On 13 May 2020, he announced the first member of the cast, actor
Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for having played the Fourth Doctor, fourth and longest-serving incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television ...
, providing spoken vocals as the character of "The Storyteller". The rest of the cast was announced during the following week, also including
Tommy Karevik Tommy Karevik (born 1 November 1981) is a Swedish Heavy metal music, metal vocalist. He is the lead singer of Kamelot and former lead vocalist of Seventh Wonder from 2005 to 2023. He also appeared on Ayreon's 2013 album ''The Theory of Everythi ...
of
Kamelot Kamelot is an American power metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed by Thomas Youngblood in 1987. The Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album '' Siége Perilous'', and shared songwriting credit with Youngblood until his departure in A ...
and
Seventh Wonder Seventh Wonder is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 2000. History Seventh Wonder was formed in 2000 by bass player Andreas Blomqvist, guitarist Johan Liefvendahl and drummer Johnny Sandin after their previous band fell ...
as the lead character of Daniel, Cammie Gilbert of Oceans of Slumber as Abby, Micheal "Mike" Mills of
Toehider Toehider are a progressive rock band from Melbourne, Australia that also identifies as a "collab project between musician and illustrator". Their influences include progressive rock, pop, hard rock, metal and folk. Toehider was founded in 2008 b ...
as The Statue,
Amanda Somerville Amanda Somerville (born March 7, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and vocal coach who resides in Wolfsburg, Germany. She is known primarily for her work with many European symphonic metal bands. Biography Personal life Somerville was ...
as Lavinia, Paul Manzi of
Arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
and
The Sweet Sweet (known as the Sweet until the early 1970s) are a British glam rock band who rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best-known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott and drummer ...
as Henry,
Dianne van Giersbergen Dianne van Giersbergen (born 3 June 1985) is a Dutch spinto soprano singer. She is the founder and frontwoman of the progressive metal band Ex Libris,Erwin Van Dijk, Sept. 2012, Ex LibrisInterview : Dianne van Giersbergen – Ex Libris (2010 ...
of Ex Libris as The Soprano,
Threshold Threshold may refer to: Science Biology * Threshold (reference value) * Absolute threshold * Absolute threshold of hearing * Action potential * Aerobic threshold * Anaerobic threshold * Dark adaptation threshold * Epidemic threshold * Flicke ...
drummer
Johanne James Johanne James is the drummer for United Kingdom, British progressive metal band Threshold (band), Threshold. He joined the band officially, replacing Mark Heaney, in 2001, to record the album ''Hypothetical (album), Hypothetical'', which occurred ...
as Abraham,
Simone Simons Simone Johanna Maria Simons (born 17 January 1985) is a Dutch singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, which she joined at the age of seventeen, releasing nine studio albums and touring the world ...
of
Epica Epica or EPICA may refer to: * Epica (band), a Dutch symphonic metal band * ''Epica'' (Kamelot album), 2003 * ''Epica'' (Audiomachine album), 2012 * The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) * The Epica Awards (International Adver ...
as The Angel of Death, and
Dee Snider Daniel "Dee" SniderTayler, LettaTwisted Sister's Dee Snider remembers his challenging Long Island upbringing "Newsday", March 15, 2016Archived here/ref> (born March 15, 1955) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and songwriter o ...
of
Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...
as Daniel's Father;
Marcela Bovio Marcela Alejandra Bovio García (born October 17, 1979) is a Mexican singer and violinist who is currently a member of the Dutch symphonic metal bands Stream of Passion and MaYaN. In 1995, she joined Hydra, a Mexican metal band, singing and ...
of
MaYaN Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
(and Lucassen's former band
Stream of Passion Stream of Passion is a Dutch progressive metal band with symphonic and gothic influences founded by guitarist and composer Arjen Anthony Lucassen and Mexican singer, violinist, and lyricist Marcela Bovio. They have released four studio albums. ...
) and Caroline Westendorp of
The Charm the Fury The Charm The Fury was a Dutch metal band from Amsterdam, formed in 2010. In 2013 The Charm The Fury released their first album, '' A Shade of My Former Self,'' throughout Listenable Records, after independently releasing the EP The Social Me ...
portray a duo of characters known as the Furies. Featured musicians include
Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...
and former
Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...
member
Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...
on lead guitars and
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
musician
Patty Gurdy Patricia Büchler (born 1997), known professionally as Patty Gurdy, is a German hurdy-gurdy musician, singer, songwriter and YouTuber. Early life and career Büchler was born in 1997. She lived in Düsseldorf while she studied there and graduat ...
on the
hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...
. Keyboardist Joost van den Broek, violinist Ben Mathot, and flutist Jeroen Goossens, all of whom had been featured on every Ayreon album since 2008's ''
01011001 ''01011001'' is the seventh studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. The title is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter ''Y''. ''01011001'' is a concept album that tells the story of aliens ca ...
'', are also returning. Juan van Emmerloot acted as drummer, making ''Transitus'' Ayreon's second album after 2000's '' Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer'' not to have
Ed Warby Edward R. Warby (born 7 March 1968) is a Dutch musician, best known as the drummer for death metal band Gorefest and progressive rock/metal project Ayreon. He also appeared in the band Agressor in 1982 and joined the Eindhoven-based metal band ...
on drums, as Lucassen stated that he did not originally conceive ''Transitus'' as an Ayreon album, and felt like it would need a completely different style of drummer. Although they had long lost track of each other, he and Van Emmerloot had worked together 35 years prior, when Lucassen was part of
Vengeance Vengeance may refer to: *Vengeance (concept) or revenge, a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance Film * ''Vengeance'' (1930 film), action adventure film directed by Archie Mayo * ''Vengeance'' (1937 film) or ''W ...
and Van Emmerloot was a session drummer; after becoming curious about what had happened to Van Emmerloot since their last meeting, Lucassen looked his drumming videos on YouTube and realized he would be a perfect fit for ''Transitus''. ''Transitus'' was released on 25 September 2020. On 13 October 2022, Lucassen announced more Ayreon concerts in September 2023 in Tilburg, in which the studio album ''01011001'' was performed in its entirety. The shows were recorded for a live album titled ''01011001 - Live Beneath the Waves'', to be released on 17 May 2024.


Etymology

Lucassen said, "Though I do like the similarity of the sound of my own name Arjen and the project name Ayreon, this is purely coincidental. Yet no one seems to believe that! Originally I called the leading character of the first Ayreon album 'Aries'. But then I had to change it because it had to fit the meter of the song. I wanted the new name to sound old fashioned because of the medieval influences, so I used the old-English sounding 'AY' (Aylesbury, Ayrshire). But I also wanted it to sound modern because of the futuristic parts ("2084") so I used 'ON' (electron, neutron, etc.), hence 'Ayreon'."


Most regular collaborators

*
Ed Warby Edward R. Warby (born 7 March 1968) is a Dutch musician, best known as the drummer for death metal band Gorefest and progressive rock/metal project Ayreon. He also appeared in the band Agressor in 1982 and joined the Eindhoven-based metal band ...
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
,
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
(1998–present) *Joost van den Broek –
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
,
synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
(2004–present) *Jeroen Goossens –
flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
s (2004–present) *Ben Mathot –
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
(2007–present) *Johan van Stratum –
bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
(2015–present) (Live shows) For guest members, see
List of Ayreon guest musicians This is a list of musicians who have contributed to the Arjen Anthony Lucassen's rock opera project known as Ayreon. Vocals Bass *Armand van der Hoff (ex-Bodine) *Jan Bijlsma (ex-Vengeance) *Jolanda Verduijn *Peter Vink (ex-Finch) *Rheno Xero ...
.


Discography


Studio albums


EPs


Singles


Compilation albums


Live albums


Music videos

*"The Stranger From Within" (1996) *" Day Eleven: Love" (2004) *" Loser" (2004) *" Come Back to Me" (2004) *"Beneath the Waves" (2008) *"The Day That the World Breaks Down" (2017) *"Get Out!" (2020) *"This Human Equation" (2020) *"Hopelessly Slipping Away" (2020) *"Talk of the Town" (2020) *"Daniel's Descent into Transitus Medley" ("Listen to My Story") (2020)


See also

*
Ambeon ''Fate of a Dreamer'' is an album by Dutch singer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen under the name Ambeon, released in 2001 by Dutch music label Transmission Records. All of the ten tracks feature Sampling (music), samples from and arrangements ...
*
Guilt Machine Guilt Machine is a musical project by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, owner of other musical projects such as Star One, Ayreon and Ambeon. The project's debut release, '' On This Perfect Day'', was released in August 2009. Biography B ...
*
Star One Star One was an Indian pay television channel based in Mumbai and owned by Star TV, with worldwide distribution handled by Fox International Channels. Launched on 1 November 2004, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky in November 2006. Sta ...
*
Stream of Passion Stream of Passion is a Dutch progressive metal band with symphonic and gothic influences founded by guitarist and composer Arjen Anthony Lucassen and Mexican singer, violinist, and lyricist Marcela Bovio. They have released four studio albums. ...
*
The Gentle Storm The Gentle Storm is a Dutch musical project unveiled in 2014 by singer and lyricist Anneke van Giersbergen and composer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, founder and leader of other musical projects such as Star One, Ayreon, Guilt Machine and A ...


References


External links


Official Ayreon website

An interview with Arjen Anthony Lucassen @ ME Metalhour
*

* ttp://www.lebmetal.com/2009/10/22/interview-with-arjen-lucassen/ Interview with Lucassen on Lebmetal.com October 2009*
Interview with Lucassen on Omega Tau published Feb 2014
{{Authority control Dutch heavy metal musical groups Dutch symphonic metal musical groups Dutch progressive metal musical groups Heavy metal supergroups Musical groups established in 1995 1995 establishments in the Netherlands