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Arjen Anthony Lucassen: The Theory of Everything |
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Psychedelic Paul 
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Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Offline Points: 43499 |
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 Topic: Arjen Anthony Lucassen: The Theory of EverythingPosted: April 06 2022 at 12:06 |
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Finally, I've realised an Actual Fantasy today On This Perfect Day by posting a tribute thread to the Dutch multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, who is of course best-known for his epic Progressive Space Metal band, Ayreon. In line with The Theory of Everything, I'll also be journeying Into the Electric Castle by way of Arjen's side-projects too, including his three solo albums and his many other works under the various band-names:- Ambeon; The Gentle Storm; Guilt Machine; Star One & Stream of Passion. That's quite a line-up from a truly prolific composer! In The Human Equation, Ayreon also features an impressive cast of guest singers from the world of Metal, including James LaBrie (Dream Theater); Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)l Simone Simons (Epica); & Floor Jansen (After Forever & Nightwish) to name just four. And so, it's time now to Embrace the Storm of Progressive Metal coming our way as we Transitus back in time aboard the Universal Migrator to The Source of Ayreon and their ironically titled debut album, The Final Experiment.
  1995: Ayreon - The Final Experiment - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lxhFKL_PLyTB_i7Cv2hK8qhIp8UBo6JC0 1996: Ayreon - Actual Fantasy - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kuZo0rkJOWSkm1nycw8m--Ny-6TBtvIE0 1998: Ayreon - Into the Electric Castle - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nJN9lXkdyI331mwBfyksfLEdHoUekiH_Y 2000: Ayreon - Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVOsr4GKrzU 2000: Ayreon - Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Navigator - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvWTIYnQcuY 2000: Ayreon - Ayreonauts Only - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF196C3634C5F864D 2004: Ayreon - The Human Equation - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mMpiq68-g_4wYFjlhzTHZ8E5WrH_5hMYA 2008: Ayreon - 01011001 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDp_PtuyOwCYS8mEf7sImnsoSiALQB9R9 2008: Ayreon - Timeline - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDp_PtuyOwCaaIqx6bSc6J8nJdNIGUTL6 2013: Ayreon - The Theory of Everything - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDp_PtuyOwCYgVxUVdExKacfWVz14pEs7 2016: Ayreon - The Theatre Equation - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRPhKLgNffpwY267Kw2NOx5pBMVV7L6iJ 2017: Ayreon - The Source - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k25tw7snlnbdnODw_E00PSEjzap9aJjWw 2018: Ayreon - Ayreon's Universe: Best of Ayreon Live - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJGn3wi7b7b606GfoKAdOgm6rtX9OliRc 2020: Ayreon - Transitus - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nH9h7WoPpVlqXcvYRvJB_p9CyuysIaSqw 1994: Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3A7MsAKmnfIgAWZzQwqyiaxpvjH1Gif0 1996: Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Strange Hobby - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB87CB1D16F331CFF 2012: Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Lost in the New Real - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mHPJknQMxGE9JfUuZ519pzA2DmDQ_VdJQ 2001: Ambeon - Fate of a Dreamer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOH-IdU-vnU 2002: Star One - Space Metal - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mZ0_xdoEGlBYIT0gLBGQ-34qQqTNKUzyE 2003: Star One - Live On Earth - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kJ536zV5hsfESGFVxpswuat2beXSb1HTo 2010: Star One - Victims of the Modern Age - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kpf8Oz4oRysLsns0CififhblhJb4OPPgg 2022: Star One - Revel in Time - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mIwSdZMzm5Tew7mwqgGWbV_v0sNS7C4PM 2005: Stream of Passion - Embrace the Storm - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lKj9pcQq1zUwdl9U-2p84vlYhw-IzSYfs 2009: Guilt Machine - On This Perfect Day - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mpgmV7Z8oI-p7PvKy1_J_EWqRSEWKak4A 2015: The Gentle Storm - The Diary - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ltsoFOe1P4Sp39f9kVQxvOzaiwsa7a9oIEdited by Psychedelic Paul - November 12 2024 at 07:48 |
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jamessavik
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Joined: March 29 2022 Location: Central Mississ Status: Offline Points: 31 |
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Posted: April 06 2022 at 17:34 |
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Thanks for posting this. I'm listening to it now.
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Hugh Manatee
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Posted: April 06 2022 at 18:06 |
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I've listened to a lot of Arjen Anthony Lucassen in the past so I'm on this journey with you.
Listening to "The Final Experiment", it certainly sets up the template of bombast to come, and the spoken word stuff is pretty cringeworthy in my opinion. Musically it's pretty much what I would expect from experience. Edit [after two runthru's of the posted playlist] There's no doubting the earnesty on display. The earnesty can be quite overwhelming at times. From the posted playlist I actually prefer the "acoustic/ semi acoustic" stuff on the end. Heck, it even starts sounding like Jethro Tull at times.
Edited by Hugh Manatee - April 06 2022 at 19:29 |
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I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of uncertain seas |
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Psychedelic Paul
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Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Offline Points: 43499 |
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 01:13 |
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The Final Experiment is one of the first and finest examples of Metal Opera and a foretaste of even greater things to come from Ayreon, although it's hard to improve on a 5-star masterpiece. The album features an impressive ensemble of no less than thirteen (mainly Dutch) singers and seven instrumentalists in this epic production, combining science fiction and medieval themes.   1995: Ayreon - The Final Experiment - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lxhFKL_PLyTB_i7Cv2hK8qhIp8UBo6JC0Merlin's Will (featuring Floor Jansen) Edited by Psychedelic Paul - April 07 2022 at 01:18 |
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Cristi
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Crossover / Prog Metal Teams Joined: July 27 2006 Location: wonderland Status: Offline Points: 45698 |
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 01:48 |
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^ Floor didn't sing on the original album, I hope you know that, she was probably in high school in 1995.
Ayreon Universe was something done recently, with different musicians. Here is the full line up.
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 01:56 |
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Yes, I did know that, but thanks for pointing it out anyway. I could've just posted a studio track from Ayreon's first album, but then you wouldn't have the pleasure of watching Floor Jansen in action.
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Cristi
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 02:00 |
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I don't need to listen to anything, I gave up on Ayreon altogether a little while ago and Transitus literally ruined the band for me for good. I cringe these days to anything Ayreon/Star One and so on.
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 02:16 |
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It's usually me that's in the minority here, so it makes a nice change that you're in a minority in not liking Ayreon.  I was floored by Miss Jansen's performance in the video above, so what is there not to like!?
 Edited by Psychedelic Paul - April 07 2022 at 02:18 |
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Cristi
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 02:33 |
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again, you're a newbie to the world of Ayreon. They're fine when you discover them. But to me they got predictable after a while, same recipe applied over and over again, I got tired. Last three albums were a chore to listen, and the last one was dreadful.  I know I am a minority when it comes to Ayreon. And it's fine. There are also a lot of bands I enjoy that everyone else does not, and that's fine, too.
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 02:45 |
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^ I'm hardly "a newbie" to the wonderful world of Ayreon. I was listening to Progressive Metal while you were still at school in short trousers.
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Cristi
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 02:48 |
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I very much doubt that.
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 02:55 |
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I listened to my first Progressive Metal album thirty years ago in 1992, the same year as it was released, although there's no prizes for guessing which well-known album that was.
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Cristi
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 02:58 |
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what was it that you listened to and how did you discover it?
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 03:12 |
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Dream Theater's Images & Words. I discovered the album in a really bizarre way. My friend's daughter won the album in a radio competition back in 1992, but she was only seven years old at the time, so she was a little too young to appreciate the finer intricacies of Dream Theater and Progressive Metal generally. My friend asked me if I'd like to give her £10 for the album after hearing it for the first time, so obviously, I jumped at the chance and I've been a fan of Dream Theater ever since. It was another twenty years before I discovered Ayreon though.
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BrufordFreak
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 05:43 |
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I remember when Theory of Everything came out I swooped it up with great excitement because of A) the title/subject (I was hoping Arjen & Co, could do it justice), B) the lineup of collaborators (Emerson, Wakeman, Rudess, Wetton), and C) the quality of Arjen's inputs into his projects.
My first impressions were favorable but then the material just didn't keep drawing me back for more, so I gave it up. While I don't think it's my favorite release of his, (that would be The Human Equation) it is up there and far better, in my opinion, than the PA average ratings would have you believe. I think where Arjen suffers is in length: like The Flower Kings, they throw too much at you with each release. At least, however, Arjen's projects usually have a single theme to try to keep you engaged. I mean: 42 songs! 90+ minutes! Especially when you're given a concept album, you want to be able to sit and go with it from start to finish. That's just too hard (for me) with albums over 45 minutes in length. Perhaps its my vinyl LP programming, perhaps its my computer age short attention span, but I find sitting for anything for over 45 minutes is hard! |
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Drew Fisher
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Cristi
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 06:37 |
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cute and strange story, if you are inventing it, you're very creative.  I also discovered DT back in the 90s, 1993 if I remember right, Pull Me Under video got played a bit so I looked for the album. Unlike you, I explored this kind of music ever since then.
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Gentle and Giant
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 07:40 |
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I recall when my wife was in hospital for a while and someone gave me a copy of The Human Equation which I played non-stop every time I drove to an from to see her and I loved it. Nothing else Ayreon has done really gelled with me but I still love The Human Equation a lot.
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Oh, for the wings of any bird, other than a battery hen
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 07:48 |
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^^ That same song pulled me under the spell of Dream Theater too and it still remains their only Top 10 hit.
Edited by Psychedelic Paul - April 07 2022 at 07:48 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 08:03 |
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t's a good thing they didn't give you a Leonard Cohen album instead. In The Human Equation of life, there's something joyously uplifting and optimistic about the music of Ayreon. I became an instant Ayreonaut after hearing My first Ayreon album, which wasn't actually The first Ayreon album, if you follow my meaning.
Edited by Psychedelic Paul - April 07 2022 at 08:04 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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Posted: April 07 2022 at 08:07 |
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Yes, unlike you, I didn't even know there was such a music genre as Progressive Metal until I first went online in 2010.
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Cristi wrote: