Ayreon (Metal from the Dutch side of life)

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Who is this man and why does he have a headache? What is this Ayreon you speak of? These are all questions we are going to answer but first I would like to ask of you one little thing. Look at that. On top of the questions I am now giving you demands hidden as favours. Preposterous!​

Would it be conceivable for me to acquire from you one tiny little thing? What I ask for is a moment of your time. I feel that a thread about music should also involve music. So pretty please! Press this button and then leave the song running as you delve deeper into this thread.​

Okay! So hopefully you now have some very much relevant music for this particular thread playing through your speakers/headset. It is kinda amazing when one thinks about it. As I am writing this and you reading it we are hearing the same thing. I might as well go out and say that if you are not that very familiar with this kind of music then it is advisable to turn down the volume to 30-50 procent.​

Alright! Let's cut to the chase here shall we? What the flying guinea pig is this "Ayreon?" Ayreon is a quite peculiar metal project created by the same man you can see looking all sexy up above.​

Arjen Anthony Lucassen from the Netherlands is a songwriter, singer and musician all in one package. Bascially he is a Dutch superman.​

This man is the one that took the iniative and created this project, the sole reason Ayreon exists today is because of him.​

- Arjen Anthony Lucassen, in an interview.

This little piece shows you that Arjen went into the Aryeon project with full creative freedom, unbridled of pressure from any external force.​

The Ayreon project is filled with many distinctive styles, so it is therfore difficult to label it. Some fans have gone and dubbed the albums as "rock operas."​

Every new full-length album offers a new line up of artists invited by Arjen, and this shows. I've never seen such a diversity coming out from a single brand. Throughout the albums you will find heavy and progressive metal, folk and classical music and more. It is all usually rounded off with a hint of electronical elements. One of the stronger points that I have found out about Arjen while listening to his work, is that he takes into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of the artists that is performing for him. Strong and soft voices, he utilizes them perfectly in my opinion.​

I believe that a conventional band with a fixed amount of members wouldn't be able to go the same distance as a project such as Aryeon since there are obvious limitations working with a set amount of people. Mainly thinking about the vocal parts. There are some gifted people out there, but having a large range of artists all with different styles, to choose from would make the job so much easier.​

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Ayreon's debut album was released back in 1995 under the name The Final Experiment. It was a result of the work from twenty four gifted musicians and artists, including Arjen himself. Everyone had a certain part in making the album. From playing the instruments, singing or creating artwork for the cd. The 2005 reissue would make the number of people involved reach over thirthy.​

This is the beginning of Ayreon saga. It starts out with scientists in the year 2084 sending back information about earth's destruction with a new techonolgy using telepathy. These messages are picked up by a blind minstrel living back in 6th century Britain.​

It is not until 2008, in the album in 01011001 we get to see how the human race is coming to an end in a quite intresting way. Will mankind be saved? This we don't know. Arjen stated in an interview that I sadly can't find anymore that although he was pleased with latest album he felt that if he ever would return to Ayreon he would go a different approach. He feels that the music has become somewhat predictable.​

I really don't know where to go with this thread right now. I just wanted to give a shout-out to what is one of my favourite musician, I think I have done this now. If you already knew about Ayreon then all I have to say to you is keep being awesome. If you didn't know about Ayreon then I hope that I have introduced you to something that will give you many eargasms throughout the time you spend listening to it.​

If you really don't like this sort of music then that is obviously also all fine! Diversity is such a beautiful thing, we can learn so much from each other. Hopefully you have found this somewhat informative at least.​

- Arjen Anthony Lucassen, upon the release of Ayreon timeline.