2018 marks the 20th Anniversary of the phenomenal ‘Into The Electric Castle’ by AYREON and to celebrate this Arjen Lucassen has remixed the entire album, which will be released on various formats on 26th October 2018, via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group.
Watch the lyric video for “Across The Rainbow Bridge” here:
Arjen Lucassen on the video:
”In honor of the 20th anniversary re-release of ‘Into The Electric Castle’ we proudly present you this cool lyric video for the newly mixed version of ‘Across the Rainbow Bridge’! It’s created once again by the amazing Wayne Joyner, I think it really captures the right mood. Hope you enjoy it too, despite that weird Hippie-dude :-)”
After The Final Experiment and Actual Fantasy (Revisited), it’s time for part 3 in the Ayreon-on-vinyl saga. The stunning 20th Anniversary Limited Edition Box Set of ‘Into The Electric Castle’ will include a framed 3D-sculptured version of the cover, 4 CDs (20th Anniversary Remix + 20th Anniversary Remix Instrumentals), 1 DVD (5.1 Remix + Documentaries) and 3 LPs on exclusive gold marbled vinyl (original mix) + download card for the 20th Anniversary Remix plus a certificate of authenticity, signed by Arjen Lucassen.
Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group will be releasing ‘Ayreon Universe – The Best of Ayreon Live’ on 30 March, and today AYREON unleash yet another new video “And The Druids Turned To Stone” from the album. Watch it below.
Arjen Lucassen on “And The Druids Turned To Stone”:
“ Hi all, here is the last full song preview we’ll give you from the upcoming Ayreon Universe DVD/BD. This is my own personal favorite: And The Druids Turned To Stone. Mainly because of Damian’s amazing performance, he totally owns the stage here. Despite this being a relatively quiet atmospheric track, for me this was one of the highlights of the show. Hope you agree, enjoy!”
Also watch the full live video for ‘Valley of the Queens’, released in February:
On 15, 16, 17 September 2017, AYREON played live for the first time ever, bringing together 16 guest singers and 11 Musicians, playing 28 songs with performances by Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Damian Wilson (Headspace), Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), Anneke Van Giersbergen (Vuur), Marco Hietala (Nightwish), Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Edward Reekers (Kayak) and many more.
‘Ayreon Universe – The Best of Ayreon Live’ will be available on 3LP + MP3, 3LP + MP3 (Limited Colored Vinyl), 2CD, 5 disc Earbook, plus 2DVD and Blu-ray with 90 minutes of exclusive behind the scenes footage and interviews with the whole cast.
“Ayreon Universe-The Best Of Ayreon Live” Tracklist:
Prologue
Dreamtime
Abbey Of Synn
River Of Time
The Blackboard
The Theory Of Everything
Merlins Will
Waking Dreams
Dawn Of A Million Souls
Valley Of The Queens
Ride The Comet
Star Of Sirrah
Comatose
Day Sixteen Loser
And The Druids Turned To Stone
The Two Gates
Into The Black Hole
Actual Fantasy
Computer Eyes
Magnetism
Age Of Shadows
Intergalactic Space Crusaders
Collision
Everybody Dies
The Castle Hall0
Amazing Flight In Space
Day Eleven Love
The Eye Of Ra
Earlier this month AYREON mastermind Arjen Lucassen brought “Ayreon Universe” on stage at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands, choosing the best songs from the AYREON albums and Star One to create these three exclusive live shows ( 15th, 16th and 17th September).
The 15th September show was performed by the very best original Ayreon vocalists and instrumentalists including Floor Jansen and Marco Hietala from Nightwish, Praying Mantis’ John ‘Jaycee’ Cuijpers (who replaced Russell Allen), Damian Wilson (Threshold), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gentle Storm), and many other original Ayreon singers on stage, as well as an appearance by Arjen Lucassen himself.
Arjen Lucassen has the following recap:
“I don’t even know how to begin to thank you for the warm welcome you gave us at the first official Ayreon shows in 22 years. As I said on stage, it truly was an emotional rollercoaster for me. It was a huge transition from my simple, nerdy, reclusive life to this huge warm shower of love that you poured over us.
I have to admit it’s sort of a double feeling for me. Firstly I’m having difficulties dealing with all the attention, simply because I don’t think I deserve it. But at the same time it’s an amazingly satisfying feeling to be able to make so many thousands of people so happy.
Right now I’m totally exhausted. Would you believe I lost over 4 kilos in these last sleepless weeks? But I have to admit I’m quite proud of myself for having conquered (at least for a few days) my two biggest fears: playing live and talking in public. But I swear… it’s all totally been worth it.
Sorry for this dramatic sappy message, but it comes from the heart. So… no silly jokes this time, no exclamation marks or smileys… just a lot of love to all of you. And special hugs to those who couldn’t be there, I’m so sorry for not playing live more often. We’ll make it up to you with a great DVD/Bluray.
As melodramatic as it sounds, having been face to face with you again I REALLY think you’re the best audience in the world. Please give me some time to answer your hundreds of sweet messages… I’ll get to them all, I promise! Look, there’s an exclamation mark after all 🙂 And a smiley!”
The setlist was as follows:
“Dreamtime”
“Abbey of Synn”
“River of Time”
“Prologue: The Blackboard”
“The Theory of Everything, Part 1”
“Merlin’s Will”
“Waking Dreams”
“Dawn of a Million Souls”
“Valley of the Queens”
“Ride the Comet”
“Star of Sirrah”
“Comatose”
“Day Sixteen: Loser”
“And the Druids Turn to Stone”
“The Two Gates”
“Into the Black Hole”
“Actual Fantasy”
“Computer Eyes”
“Magnetism”
“Age of Shadows”
“Intergalactic Space Crusaders (Star One cover)
“Collision”
“Everybody Dies”
“The Castle Hall”
– Arjen’s Speech –
“Amazing Flight”
“Day Eleven: Love”
“The Eye of Ra” (Star One cover)
Ayreon Universe was fully organized and arranged by Arjen Lucassen personally, assisted by Joost van den Broek.
Photo by Cristel Brouwer
Prior to the release of “The Source”(out April 28th via Mascot Label group/Music Theories Recordings), Metal Shock Finland‘s Tarja Virmakari had a huge honor to interview Arjen, talking about his new masterpiece “The Source”, in detail, as well as Ayreon Universe show. Join the chat below. Enjoy!
AYREON mastermind Arjen Lucassen chose the best songs from the AYREON albums and Star One to create an exclusive live Ayreon show: Ayreon Universe, issues Bravewords.com. The show was performed over three nights at the 013 venue in Tilburg by the very best original Ayreon vocalists and instrumentalists including Floor Jansen and Marco Hietala from Nightwish, Praying Mantis’ John ‘Jaycee’ Cuijpers(who replaced Russell Allen), Damian Wilson (Threshold), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gentle Storm), and many other original Ayreon singers on stage, as well as an appearance by Arjen Lucassen himself.
Fan-filmed video from the show is available below.
The setlist was as follows:
“Dreamtime”
“Abbey of Synn”
“River of Time”
“Prologue: The Blackboard”
“The Theory of Everything, Part 1”
“Merlin’s Will”
“Waking Dreams”
“Dawn of a Million Souls”
“Valley of the Queens”
“Ride the Comet”
“Star of Sirrah”
“Comatose”
“Day Sixteen: Loser”
“And the Druids Turn to Stone”
“The Two Gates”
“Into the Black Hole”
“Actual Fantasy”
“Computer Eyes”
“Magnetism
“Age of Shadows”
“Intergalactic Space Crusaders (Star One cover)
“Collision”
“Everybody Dies”
“The Castle Hall”
– Arjen’s Speech –
“Amazing Flight”
“Day Eleven: Love”
In contrast to The Theater Equation, Ayreon Universe was fully organized and arranged by Arjen Lucassen personally, assisted by Joost van den Broek.
“After the huge success of the four sold-out Ayreon theater shows in 2015, Joost and I decided to boldly go even bigger,” says Arjen. “This is a full-on ‘best of Ayreon’ rock show in a big venue with as many original Ayreon singers and musicians as possible. We’re calling it Ayreon Universe, and as you might guess, it’s a huge undertaking. We’ve had an entire team working on it for over a year already. Ayreon fans have high expectations, and we want to be sure to give them an once-in-a-lifetime experience that they’ll never forget.”
There were 16 original Ayreon singers: Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Russell Allen (Symphony X), Damian Wilson (Threshold), Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), Marco Hietala (Nightwish), Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Mike Mills (Toehider), Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gentle Storm), Marcela Bovio (Stream of Passion), Irene Jansen, Robert Soeterboek (Star One), Edward Reekers (Kayak), Jan van Feggelen, Magali Luyten (Nightmare) and Lisette Marije (Scarlet Stories). The hand-picked band of 8 of Arjen’s favorite Ayreon instrumentalists includes Ed Warby (drums), Johan van Stratum (bass), Marcel Coenen (lead guitar), Ferry Duijsens (guitar), Joost van den Broek (keyboards), Ben Mathot (violin), Jeroen Goossens (flutes, woodwinds) and Maaike Peterse (cello).
On 28th April, ARJEN LUCASSEN released the next chapter of the AYREON saga, “The Source”, via Mascot Label Group/Music Theories Recordings. New album by the musical genius who singlehandedly brought the rock opera back to life in the mid 90’s.
Now Arjen Lucassen has unleashed a new lyric video for the song “Run! Apocalypse! Run!”, watch it here:
THE SOURCE is an exciting new chapter in the Ayreon saga, with contributions from renowned vocalists like James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Simone Simons (Epica), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia), and Russell Allen (Symphony X).
Also watch below “Star Of Sirrah” and “Everybody Dies” which Metal Shock Finland premiered recently:
Metal Shock Finland had a pleasure to interview Arjen Lucassen in March, talking about his new masterpiece “The Source”, in detail. If you missed it, you find the chat here.
Highly acclaimed AYREON with their mastermind Arjen Lucassen have teamed up, once again, with Metal Shock Finland to premiere, for Finnish territory, the new lyric video “Star Of Sirrah”, taken from AYREON‘s new masterpiece “The Source”, coming out April 28th, via Mascot Label Group/Music Theories Recordings!
Arjen Lucassen on new video: “Here’s the second lyric video from ‘The Source’! It’s one of my favorite tracks on the album, the huge epic ‘Star of Sirrah’. It features James LaBrie, Russell Allen, Hansi Kürsch, Tobias Sammet, Nils K Rue, Tommy Rogers, Michael Eriksen, Floor Jansen and an amazing guitar solo by Paul Gilbert.”
Comments Tarja Virmakari, Metal Shock Finland‘s CEO/Founder/President: “What an extreme pleasure to premiere another great lyric video, “Star Of Sirrah”, from Ayreon’s outstanding album “The Source”! “Star Of Sirrah” is a breathtaking track with a top level cast! Get aboard and enjoy the epic journey!”
Furthermore, Metal Shock Finland had a pleasure to interview Arjen Lucassen in March, talking about his new masterpiece “The Source”, in detail. If you missed it, you find the chat here.
While Ayreon’s ‘Forever/Planet Y’ saga seemed to have reached its conclusion with the album 01011001, it’s clear that Arjen Lucassen’s creative muses had other plans. The new Ayreon album “The Source” revisits the Forever saga, adding a whole new chapter to Lucassen’s impressive body of work. With its top-flight cast of singers and musicians, compelling songs, overwhelming sound, and intriguing story, The Source offers everything that has gained Lucassen dedicated fans worldwide since he laid the foundations of Ayreon back in the mid 90’s.
“Whenever I start something new, I usually have a solo album in mind”, Arjen Lucassen explains. “It gives me the freedom to go any direction I want. All options are still open, with regards to sound and style. This time around I initially felt that a new Star One album was appearing on the horizon because the guitars were so dominant. But after the first flutes and violins showed up, I realized I had a new Ayreon album in the making.”
This album saw Lucassen’s creative process take an unusual twist. Normally, finding and assembling the album artwork comes very late in the process, long after the music is finished. But to gain inspiration he began looking for artwork very early on, after writing just the first few songs.
“While Googling I found the website of the French artist Yann Souetre. Right from the start I was fascinated by his imagery. It was industrial and futuristic at the same time. I was particularly captivated and inspired by a portrait of a woman under water, hooked up to various tubes. Not long after that I had an overall theme, a story line, and a visual aesthetic for the album. I contacted Yann, and after we agreed that his artwork would be available for the album, I continued composing songs with confidence and a clear vision.”
Special guests of “The Source” are: James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Tommy Giles Rogers (Between the Buried and Me), Simone Simons (Epica), Mike Mills (Toehider), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Michael Eriksen (Circus Maximus), Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia), Nils K. Rue (Pagan’s Mind), Zaher Zorgati (Myrath), Tommy Karevik (Kamelot) and Russell Allen (Symphony X). Special contributions were offered by guitarists Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big), Guthrie Govan (The Aristocrats, Asia, Steven Wilson), Marcel Coenen and keyboard player Mark Kelly (Marillion).
2017 will be a particularly exciting year for Ayreon fans thanks to a unique chance to actually see Ayreon live. Limited to three exclusive performances, “The Ayreon Universe” will take place in September in the prestigious 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland. This unprecedented live event features the best of twenty years of Ayreon music, brought to life by a top cast of musicians such as Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Russell Allen (Symphony X), Damian Wilson (Threshold), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Anneke van Giersbergen and various others. The reclusive Arjen Lucassen himself is also expected to make a rare appearance on stage. The tickets for all concerts – 9000 in total – sold out within a day, proving once again that the Ayreon magic is still very much alive and kicking.
The Source is the first Ayreon album to be released by the renowned Dutch record company Mascot Label Group/Music Theories Recordings, which could be considered a new beginning for all things Ayreon. “Let me start by saying that I always make every effort to create the best Ayreon album possible. This time was no exception. I really wanted to deliver the goods, and I hope I did! I’ve got a very good feeling about it, mainly because of the way everything seemed to fall easily into place with this album. I’ve only experienced that twice before, with Into The Electric Castle and The Human Equation. The music, the story, the artwork and most of all the fantastic guest musicians just came together very naturally.”
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2018 marks the 20th Anniversary of the phenomenal ‘Into The Electric Castle’ by AYREON and to celebrate this Arjen Lucassen has remixed the entire album, which will be released on various formats on 26th October 2018, via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group.
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 