Ayreon - "The Source"

Ayreon - The Source
2017, Mascot

DISC ONE:
1. The Day That The World Breaks Down
2. Sea of Machines
3. Everybody Dies
4. Star of Sirrah
5. All That Was
6. Run! Apocalypse! Run!
7. Condemned To Live

DISC TWO
1. Aquatic Race
2. The Dream Dissolves
3. Deathcry of a Race
4. Into the Ocean
5. Bay of Dreams
6. Planet Y Is Alive!
7. The Source Will Flow
8. Journey To Forever
9. The Human Compulsion
10. March of the Machines

So let's talk about comics for a second, yeah? If you're a fan you'll know that every so often a comic book series will kind of "start over" either totally with a new number one issue or just sort of clear the way with a simple story. These are usually intended to be jumping on points for new readers. They're designed to be read without having to know all the lore beforehand. I bring this up because I think The Source is...you guessed it... a great jumping on point for new listeners. It's sound is quintessential Ayreon. If you know someone who's every been curious, you can hand them this album and they'll get an excellent overview of what Ayeron is all about.

Some of the reason I say this is because the music is a bit more accessible as well. As a whole I don't think it's as long as previous Ayreon albums (not that that's a bad thing). It's also a bit more traditional in structure with a lot of anthemic choruses and catchy riffs. The focus of this album seems to be two-fold: more guitar and heavier guitar. In fact, I think this is the band's heaviest album to date. This is in stark contrast to the more melodic and progressive The Theory of Everything. While I say this album is the heaviest I don't mean to say there aren't slower, melodic parts because there are - and they go well with the crushingly heavy riffs the album is built around. There's also a lot of faster paced, full on metal songs like, "Everybody Dies," "Run! Apocalypse! Run," and "Planet Y Is Alive!." Arjen said that he thought this album would originally be a Star One album because it was so heavy but that he came up with too many proggy, slow parts for it to really be a Star One disc. He's also said that every album is a reaction to the previous album, which I've said was the more complex Theory. I don't think I've ever been disappointed by an Ayreon album and that still holds true with The Source. So to all you Ayreon-ignorant people out there - the train is pulling up to the station. It's time to get on and experience the wonderfulness that is Ayreon.

Useless Fact: Arjen usually records the vocalists in his own studio, The Electric Castle. However, this time more of the vocalists couldn't do that due to time restraints so only a few of the artists recorded at the Castle. The rest worked in their own studios.

Ayreon - "The Theory of Everything"

Ayreon - The Theory of Everything
2013, Inside Out

Disc One:
1. Prologue: The Blackboard
2. The Theory of Everything, Part I
3. Patterns
4. The Prodigy's World
5. The Teacher's Discovery
6. Love and Envy
7. Progressive Waves
8. The Gift
9. The Eleventh Dimension
10. Inertia
11. The Theory of Everything, Part II
12. The Consultation
13. Diagnosis
14. The Argument I
15. The Rival's Dilemma
16. Surface Tension
17. A Reason to Live
18. Potential
19. Quantum Chaos
20. Dark Medicine
21. Alive!
22. The Prediction

Disc Two:
1. Fluctuations
2. Transformation
3. Collision
4. Side Effects
5. Frequency Modulation
6. Magnetism
7. Quid Pro Quo
8. String Theory
9. Fortune?
10. Mirror Of Dreams
11. The Lighthouse
12. The Argument 2
13. The Parting
14. The Visitation
15. The Breakthrough
16. The Note
17. The Uncertainty Principle
18. Dark Energy
19. The Theory of Everything, Part III
20. The Blackboard (Reprise)

Yay! New Ayreon! I wasn't sure after 01 that Arjen would want to make another one, but here it is. In my opinion new Ayreon is always good Ayreon. The Theory of Everything is no different. This album is a little bit different than the previous outings. Instead of twenty or so longer tracks this one has forty-two tracks. Actually, scratch that, the album is only four songs. Four twenty minute songs that are broken up into forty-two tracks. Also, there's not a lot of repeating here - very few choruses. As a result it's a little bit harder to digest than most Ayreon stuff but far more rewarding I think. There is so much musical wonderfulness going on here. You'll here some Arjen sonic staples that will remind you of past albums ("Mirror of Dreams" seems like a callback to "Valley of the Queens," for example) but for the most part this album is very unique. Lot's of progressive meat to sink your teeth into. Lovely musicianship, lovely melodies. It's meant to be listened to in one or two sittings at most. Seriously, there might be forty-two tracks but you need to listen to the album as if there were only four. I could go on and on about how good the vocalists are or how good the instrumentation is (notably featuring some of the biggest names in prog rock like Rick Wakeman and Kieth Emerson), but if you're a fan you already know that. If you're not, The Theory of Everything is a great starting point. Get that smoking jacket out friend, you're in for a great ride!

For those who have already listened to the album I'd like to discuss something for a moment. (That was your spoiler warning, folks.) In the "making of" video Arjen says that the lighthouse on the cover represents science lighting the out of the darkness and into enlightenment. I find this odd particularly because is seems science does absolutely jack squat for anybody in the story. Quite the opposite in fact. The Father and The Prodigy are destroyed by their obsession with finishing their formula. The Mother and The Girl's lives are similarly turned upside-down. I would argue that the lighthouse is more a Siren than Beacon, beckoning the characters to crash on the shoals of their obsessions. Moths to the proverbial flame, if you will. It can also be a symbol of isolation. The Prodigy holes himself up there alone to finish his work. These aren't really new themes. In the previous albums the Forever race pursued science so hard they lost their emotions and connection with each other. Now I'm all for an artist interpreting his own work but his comments seem peculiar given the stories he's actually written. I wouldn't say his stories were anti-science, not at all. But I do think they tend to warn of the dangers of obsession. Of letting science destroy what makes life worth living.

Finally, The Father in this album is a lot like the father in The Human Equation. I wonder what Arjen's real father was like?

Useless Fact: The number of tracks on this album is a direct reference to Douglas Adam's Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in which the meaning of life, the universe, and everything was 42.

Ayreon - "Timeline"

Ayreon - Timeline
2008, Inside Out

Disc One:
1. Prologue
2. The Awareness
3. Eyes of Time
4. The Accusation
5. Sail Away to Avalon
6. Listen to the Waves
7. Actual Fantasy
8. Abbey of Synn
9. Computer Eyes
10. Back on Planet Earth
11. Isis and Osiris
12. Amazing Flight

Disc Two
1. The Garden of Emotion
2. The Castle Hall
3. The Mirror Maze
4. The Two Gates
5. The Shooting Company of Captain Frans B. Cocq
6. Dawn of a Million Souls
7. And the Druids Turned to Stone
8. Into the Black Hole
9. The First Man on Earth
10. Day Two: Isolation

Disc Three
1. Day Three: Pain
2. Day Six: Childhood
3. Day Twelve: Trauma
4. Day Sixteen: Loser
5. Day Seventeen: Accident?
6. Age of Shadows
7. Ride the Comet
8. The Fifth Extinction
9. Waking Dreams
10. The Sixth Extinction
11. Epilogue: The Memory Remains

Special thanks go out to my friend Uvulapie who sent me this collection. We had a conversation in which Ayreon came up and he said he had this box set and I could have it if I wanted it. Well, of course I said "yes!" A few days later Timeline appeared in the mail! Class act, that Uvulapie. So anyway, Timeline is essentially an Ayreon retrospective with songs culled from all six releases. There's a decent amount of songs from each album. I can't really complain about the track choices because I don't think I've ever listened to an Ayreon album with a "bad" song on it. Though with this collection an attempt was made to give the listener an overview of the Ayreon story arc and I don't think they did too bad a job. The set also comes with a nice full color booklet with lyrics, liner notes, and other assorted tidbits. There's a poster with the cover art on the front and the story arc timeline on the back. Then there's the DVD which is a collection of Ayreon, Star One, and Stream of Passion videos. It's fun to watch for sure.

There's only one complaint: as awesome as this package is, an avid fan will have just about everything on here. The only new song is "Epilogue: The Memory Remains" (featuring the vocalist for Arjen's Guilt Machine project) and I don't actually like it that much. Some of the videos also appear on Star One's Live From Earth DVD and Stream of Passion's Live in the Real World. There are some other exclusive videos but the bulk of this set is stuff a fan would probably already have. So, as a free gift from a friend Timeline is an awesome package and well worth having in my collection. However, I don't quite know if it's worth the thirty or forty bucks it would cost to have it new.

Useless Fact: Ayreon.... Arjen.... Ayreon... Arjen... OH... they do sound awfully similar don't they? How did I not pick up on that earlier?

Ayreon - "01011001"

Ayreon - 01011001

2008, InsideOut

Disc One: Y

1. Age of Shadows (incl. We Are Forever)

2. Comatose

3. Liquid Eternity

4. Connect the Dots

5. Beneath the Waves

a. Beneath the Waves

b. Face the Facts

c. But a Memory...

d. World Without Walls

e. Reality Bleeds

6. Newborn Race

a. The Incentive

b. The Vision

c. The Procedure

d. Another Life

e. Newborn Race

f. The Conclusion

7. Ride the Comet

8. Web of Lies

Disc Two: Earth

1. The Fifth Extinction

a. Glimmer of Hope

b. World of Tomorrow Dreams

c. Collision Course

d. From the Ashes

e. Glimmer of Hope (reprise)

2. Waking Dreams

3. The Truth is in Here

4. Unnatural Selection

5. River of Time

6. E=mc2

7. The Sixth Extinction

a. Echoes on the Wind

b. Radioactive Grave

c. 2085

d. To the Planet of Red

e. Spirit on the Wind

f. Complete the Circle

Ayreon's latest disc is in much the same vein as The Human Equation. The songs, while epic and progressive, are focused and tight with a lot more emphasis on hook and a lot less wandering. This album is darker than its predecessors and includes murky and moody tunes like "Comatose" and "Waking Dreams." I also like that there's more Celtic influences akin to Equation as well - "River Of Time" is similar to "Day Sixteen: Loser" being almost a folk metal song. I'm told that Arjen Lucassen was going through some rough times which is why the album is so dark both musically and thematically. After all, the album is essentially about the extinction of the human race. We've also got a bevy of cool guests on this album with Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), Ty Tabor (King's X), Tom Englund (Evergrey), Jorn Lande, and hey... look at that... Anneke van Giersbergen is back! Yay! After The Human Equation, this is my next favorite Ayreon disc. Can't wait for the next one!

Useless Fact: Jeff Bertels painted the cover art for this album. He's also painted the art for most of Ayreon's covers all the way back to Electric Castle.

Ayreon - "The Human Equation"

Ayreon - The Human Equation
2004, Inside Out

Disc One:
1. Day One: Vigil
2. Day Two: Isolation
3. Day Three: Pain
4. Day Four: Mystery
5. Day Five: Voices
6. Day Six: Childhood
7. Day Seven: Hope
8. Day Eight: School
9. Day Nine: Playground
10. Day Ten: Memories
11. Day Eleven: Love

Disc Two:
1. Day Twelve: Trauma
2. Day Thirteen: Sign
3. Day Fourteen: Pride
4. Day Fifteen: Betrayal
5. Day Sixteen: Loser
6. Day Seventeen: Accident?
7. Day Eighteen: Realization
8. Day Nineteen: Disclosure
9. Day Twenty: Confrontation

I think out of all the Ayreon discs, this is my favorite. It's a return to form after the more experimental Migrator album(s). Overall I'd say The Human Equation is a bit more focused than any Ayreon offering to date as well as being heavier. This is due in large part to the downtuned guitars which give the songs a more modern edge I think. It still makes my metal heart happy though! There are hooks all over the place and it's so chocked full of great guest stars it's not even funny. Let's see, we've got James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Eric Clayton (Saviour Machine), Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad), Mike Baker (Shadow Gallery), Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth), and Devon Graves (Dead Soul Tribe). There's so much talent here it almost threatens to rip a hole in the time space continuum! The story eschews the sci-fi (mostly... wink wink!) that Arjen is so fond of in place of an emotional tale about a man in a coma facing his emotions and dealing with the consequences of the choices he has made.

Useless Fact: My edition came with the extra DVD with the "making of" stuff on it. This album was also a spring board for vocalist Marcela Bovio and Arjen Lucassen to form Stream of Passion a few years later.

Ayreon - "The Universal Migrator, Parts I & II"

Ayreon - The Universal Migrator, Parts I & II

2000, InsideOut

Disc One: The Dream Sequencer

1. The Dream Sequencer

2. My House On Mars

3. 2084

4. One Small Step

5. The Shooting Company of Captain Frans B. Cocq

6. Dragon on the Sea

7. Temple of the Cat

8. Carried By the Wind

9. And the Druids Turned to Stone

10. The First Man on Earth

11. The Dream Sequencer Reprise

Disc Two: The Flight of the Migrator

1. Chaos

2. Dawn of a Million Souls

3. Journey on the Waves of Time

4. To the Quasar

a. The Taurus Pulsar

b. Quasar 3C273

5. Into the Black Hole

a. The Eye of the Universe

b. Halo of Darkness

c. The Final Door

6. Through the Wormhole

7. Out of the While Hole

a. M31

b. Planet Y

c. The Search Continues

8. To the Solar System

a. Planet of Blue

b. System Alert

9. The New Migrator

a. Metamorphosis

b. Sleeper Awake

Ol' Mr. Lucassen tries something different for this album. This collection was actually two seperate albums when it was originally released. The Dream Sequencer was the progressive/psychedelic one where as The Flight of the Migrator was supposed to be the heavy one. He figured fans could just buy the one they liked. I like the idea but it works better in theory than practice. Dream Sequencer is good, but loooong and slow and not exactly overflowing with hooks. "My House On Mars," my favorite tune, is an industrial influenced dirge and my other favorite, "The First Man on Earth" is a sort of a bouncy Beatles-esque song. I like this disc, but it's more background music or "chill out at the end of the night" music than it is something you can jam to in your car. Flight of the Migrator, on the other hand, is friggin' metal from start to finish. From the opening notes of the frenzied "Chaos" to the pounding closing track - it doesn't slow down too much. Bruce Dickenson from Iron Maiden does a stunning job on "Into the Black Hole." I'm not sure who sang "Dawn of a Million Souls" but he's awsome too. Having said all that, I kind of like it better when all Arjen's elements are melded together rather than separated - but that's just me.

Useless Fact: For those who care about the actual story, you'll notice that the Migrator passes over the Planet Y - home to "Forever." You'll also notice that it mentions machines covering up the ground despite the fact that later in 01011001 Y is described as an aquatic planet. All hail nitpicking!

Ayreon - "Into the Electric Castle"

Ayreon - Into the Electric Castle

1998, InsideOut

Disc One:

1. Welcome to the New Dimension

2. Isis and Osiris

a. Let the Journey Begin

b. The Hall of Isis and Osiris

c. Strange Constellations

d. Reprise

3. Amazing Flight

a. Amazing Flight in Space

b. Stardance

c. Flying Colours

4. Time Beyond Time

5. The Decision Tree (We're Alive)

6. Tunnel of Light

7. Across the Rainbow Bridge

Disc Two:

1. The Garden of Emotions

a. In the Garden of Emotions

b. Voices in the Sky

c. The Aggression Factor

2. Valley of the Queens

3. The Castle Hall

4. The Tower of Hope

5. Cosmic Fusion

a. I Soar on the Breeze

b. Death's Grunt

c. The Passing of an Eagle

6. The Mirror Maze

a. Inside the Mirror Maze

b. Through the Mirror

7. Evil Devolution

8. The Two Gates

9. Forever of the Stars

10. Another Time, Another Space

Okay... now this is Ayreon! If you want an album that encapsulates everything that's awesome about the band, this would be it. It is the very definition of progressive metal/rock music. There's heavy parts, slow melodic parts, celtic parts, psychedelic Pink Floyd-y parts - this disc has it all. "The Passing of an Eagle" almost sounds like something out of an old 60's spy movie! What I love is that all this "progressiveness" is built around some solid hooks. There's always a refrain or music interlude that will catch your interest. Not to mention we've got some heavy hitters in the vocal department too. My favorites being Fish, Damien Wilson (ex-Threshold), and the delightful Anneke Van Giersbergen. The music really and truly takes you on an adventure. Arjen goes back to the epic story here too which involves eight stereotype personalities dragged through time and tasked with reaching the titular Electric Castle. I honestly cannot recommend this disc enough!

Useless Fact: My copy is the InsideOut rerelease which is supposed to have some extra content on one of the discs but I was never able to access it. I wonder what happened?

Ayreon - "Actual Fantasy"

Ayreon - Actual Fantasy
1996, InsideOut

1. Actual Fantasy
2. Abbey of Synn
3. The Stranger From Within
4. Computer Eyes
5. Beyond the Last Horizon
6. Farside of the World
7. Back on Planet Earth
8. Forevermore
9. The Dawn of Man

For Ayreon's sophomore album, Arjen backs off from an epic story to present this album with nine songs each telling their own story. It's sill progressive rock but there's a lot more electronica in this one. That's neither bad nor good - it's just what it is. This is another Ayreon disc that I just don't frequent that often and I'm not sure why. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, it just doesnt' grab me right now. Maybe it'll grow on me...

Useless Fact: "Forevermore" is based off of The Neverending Story.

Ayreon - "The Final Experiment"

Ayreon - The Final Experiment

2005, InsideOut (rerelease)

1. Prologue

a. The Time Telepathy Experiment

b. Overture

c. Ayreon's Quest

2. The Awareness

a. The Premonition

b. Dreamtime

c. The Awakening

3. Eyes of Time

a. Eyes of Time

b. Brainwaves

4. The Banishment

a. A New Dawn

b. The Gathering

c. The Accusation

d. The Banishment

e. Oblivion

5. Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy

6. Sail Away From Avalon

7. Nature's Dance

8. Computer Reign (Game Over)

9. Waracle

10. Listen to the Waves

11. Magic Ride

12. Merlin's Will

13. The Charm of the Seer

14. Swan Song

15. Ayreon's Fate

a. Ayreon's Fate

b. Merlin's Prophecy

c. Epilogue

So by the time I got this CD I had been listening to nothing but Ayreon for weeks. Needless to say, this seemed like a step back. Granted, it's got all the elements - an epic story, lots of guest appearances, progressive songs - but it just didn't make an impression. I've listened to this a few times and I still can't remember any song in particular. Not only that, but I never have any desire to go back to it. I suppose if you heard it when it first came out that would be one thing, but hearing this after masterpieces like Electric Castle and The Human Equation it just seems like there's not anything really special here. The edition I got comes with a second CD with a bunch of tracks sung by different vocalists and I'm too lazy to list them because the track list for this disc is too long as it is!

Useless Fact: When Arjen Anthony Lucassen originally shopped this to record labels, they would touch it with a ten foot pole! He's reprinted some of the rejection letters he got in the tray of the CD. It's pretty interesting.