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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 |
|---|
| 1. Age of Shadows (incl. We Are Forever) |
| 2. Comatose |
| 3. Liquid Eternity |
| 4. Connect the Dots |
| 5. Beneath the Waves (a) |
| 6. Newborn Race (a) |
| 7. Ride the Comet |
| 8. Web of Lies |
| Disc: 2 |
| 1. The Fifth Extinction (a) |
| 2. Waking Dreams |
| 3. The Truth Is In Here |
| 4. Unnatural Selection |
| 5. River of Time |
| 6. E=MC² |
| 7. The Sixth Extinction (a) |
Product Description
Album Description
Through technological advancement, 'Forever', a race of aquatic beings living on Planet Y, has found the secret of longevity. They have advanced to the point that they have become completely dependent on machines and are losing their emotions. A passing comet on a collision course with Planet Earth provides the opportunity to revitalize their race; 'Forever' harness the comet to carry their DNA to a new home on Earth. When the comet and Earth collide, the cataclysmic impact exterminates the dinosaurs (the Fifth Extinction), but from the ashes of destruction, humans arise. At first, the experiment with seeded DNA seems successful: through the humans 'Forever' vicariously relive the emotions they experienced before the age of machines. In order to help mankind overcome their physical ailments and mental limitations, 'Forever' speeds up human evolution. But the result is tragic: people develop a similar technological dependency with their emotions waning just like 'Forever' and moral development not keeping pace with their capacity to invent. 'Forever' must find a way to save mankind from its imminent self-destruction... or should they?
Guest artists include:
Tom Englund ( Evergrey)
Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation)
Hansi Kursch ( Blind Guardian)
Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering)
Jonas Renkse (Katatonia)
Bob Catley ( Magnum)
Ty Tabor (Kings X)
Simone Simons (Epica)
Tomas Bodin (Flower Kings)
Michael Romeo (Symphony x)
About the Artist
Ayreon is a project by Dutch composer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's musical style derives mostly from heavy metal and progressive rock, but combines them with genres like folk, classical and electronica to form what some call a completely new style of music. The progressive metal outfit Ayreon is essentially just Dutch multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Arjen Anthony Lucassen (formerly of the more mainstream metal band Vengeance), plus a revolving-door cast of collaborators and guest musicians that changes from project to project. Ayreon albums are usually large-scale concept epics and sometimes rock operas, in the latter case featuring a different vocalist for each character. Lucassen formed Ayreon in 1994 and released its first album, The Final Experiment, the following year. The more ethereal Actual Fantasy followed in 1996, and from there Ayreon only got more elaborate. 1998's Into the Electric Castle was a campy, sci-fi concept work spanning two discs and featuring guests like ex-Marillion singer Fish and the Gathering's Anneke van Giersbergen. Next up was Universal Migrator, another double-disc set whose volumes were issued separately under the subtitles Part I: The Dream Sequencer and Part II: Flight of the Migrator. These featured even more guest appearances, most notably Tiamat's Johan Edlund and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, plus current and former members of Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, Helloween, Stratovarius, and Symphony X; musicians included Rocket Scientist's Erik Norlander and ex-Gorefest drummer Ed Warby.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I have been listening with interest to the releases from Ayreon over the past few years. With each subsequent album he has managed to diversify the sound and further hone his distinctive reputation as one of Europe's most prolific talents.
His last release - 'The Human Equation' had moments of brilliance (the contribution from Devin Townsend for example) that were sadly disturbed with pointless and repetitive instrumentally laden fillers. It wasn't a bad album by any means, however it lacked the flow and continuity of previous releases such as The Universal Migrator - which is a fantastic space-prog-rock experience. The Human Equation also suffered from some overly hammy vocals from James LaBrie.
Thankfully this latest release is much more refined and focused and manages successfully to deliver a solid and epic soundscape of ideas and emotions. The choice of guest musicians is inspired, notably the contribution of Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) fits the track perfectly, using his smooth melodic vocal range to full effect. Bob Catley belts out a ridiculously great performance and the female additions are particularly well executed.
As always with Ayreon, the lyrical content and themes need to be accepted for what they are. Sure, there will be moments when listening to this album where you may crack a smile or even laugh aloud...but that is what i LOVE about Ayreon! It really is an enjoyable romp of a listen which successfully manages to be a believale epic rock project while not taking itself too seriously.
The guitar work is exemplary and the general musical score is constantly engaging and dynamic. The opening 3 tracks are good indicators of the tone of the album as a whole.
Production wise, the sound is thicker and broader than ever and as always, the vocal sound on this album is simply stunning.
A word of advice - Buy the deluxe edition, for the extra couple of pounds you'll get yourself a fantastic package, it really is a lovely item to own.
This album is definitely up there with the likes of Universal Migrator, Star One and Electric Castle. Certainly a contender for album of the year.
His last release - 'The Human Equation' had moments of brilliance (the contribution from Devin Townsend for example) that were sadly disturbed with pointless and repetitive instrumentally laden fillers. It wasn't a bad album by any means, however it lacked the flow and continuity of previous releases such as The Universal Migrator - which is a fantastic space-prog-rock experience. The Human Equation also suffered from some overly hammy vocals from James LaBrie.
Thankfully this latest release is much more refined and focused and manages successfully to deliver a solid and epic soundscape of ideas and emotions. The choice of guest musicians is inspired, notably the contribution of Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) fits the track perfectly, using his smooth melodic vocal range to full effect. Bob Catley belts out a ridiculously great performance and the female additions are particularly well executed.
As always with Ayreon, the lyrical content and themes need to be accepted for what they are. Sure, there will be moments when listening to this album where you may crack a smile or even laugh aloud...but that is what i LOVE about Ayreon! It really is an enjoyable romp of a listen which successfully manages to be a believale epic rock project while not taking itself too seriously.
The guitar work is exemplary and the general musical score is constantly engaging and dynamic. The opening 3 tracks are good indicators of the tone of the album as a whole.
Production wise, the sound is thicker and broader than ever and as always, the vocal sound on this album is simply stunning.
A word of advice - Buy the deluxe edition, for the extra couple of pounds you'll get yourself a fantastic package, it really is a lovely item to own.
This album is definitely up there with the likes of Universal Migrator, Star One and Electric Castle. Certainly a contender for album of the year.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
i love the feel of this man's albumns,this new offering is just so easy to listen too,heavy at times,and i just did'nt want the songs to end,if your going on a long car journey then get this mans three previous albumns and this one ,i gaurentee you will not be bored, superb production and vocals ,and those guitars ! Turn it up and lose yourself in the storyline and let the music speak to you,excellent.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
WELL! I am a huge fan of power metal and the like, and when i got this after hearing some of the people that were singin on this i thought i was going to have some kind of avantasia like power metal feast. i was wrong and also dissappointed. But then i listened to it again and i realised just how brilliant this music is. This is barely metal: there is the occasional riff every now and again, but most of the time the guitar is buried underneath atmospheric keyboards: this is not a complaint, though: the keyboards here are phenomonal and just create, along with the production, such an epic feel that you truly wont believe what you are hearing.
The actual vocal and all around melodies on the album range from power/melodic metallish (Age of shadows) to slightly emo-tinged emotional almost psychedellic electronica (the stunning connect the dots)and hard rock (unnatural selection) though more often than not it is usually mid-paced melodic light vocals building up to a big chorus: HOWEVER, you cannot describe the myriad maze of styles represented in this album: there is simply to much going on here to accurately describe the sound, but if i were to sum it up in a few words id describe it as "Progressive Electronic Rock/Metal"...
My personal fave songs are AGE OF SHADOWS - 10/10 - which has an undeniably powerful chorus, and the composition of the track as a whole is pretty stunning: a maze of styles that really does fit and sounds brilliant at the same time: maybe the rockiest "heaviest" track on the album. COMATOSE - 10/10 - An almost entirely electronic track, it has maybe one of the most haunting electronic melodies i have ever heard (starting around the 25 second moment)that leads into a stunningly beautiful vocal performance from Female singer Anneke Van Giersbergen and an also startingly efective vocal performance from one of my fave metal/rock singers, Mr Jorn Lande. CONNECT THE DOTS - 10/10 - I Genuinly cannot describe the style of this song: it is undeniably electronic, with only drums there to serve as an actual physical instrument (apart from at the chorus): but why go into it so much? il just say that it is a stunning song with a stunning vocal performance and a somehow even more stunning chorus. NEWBORN RACE - 09/10 - As a whole the song is not the best, but the melody of the acoustic guitar (if that is indeed what is being played) at the start is lovely and hauntingly emotionally touching, worth buying the album just to hear the acoustic guitar in this song: this is probably just a personal highlight though. THE TRUTH IS IN HERE - 10/10 - The main composer, Mr Arjen himself takes center stage on this song, serving as vocalist and doing brilliantly at it: a perfect representation of the album, really: Great melodies, wonderful performances, and nothing big to complain about.
So, Overall, if you are not afraid of trying something different and are not averse to hugely-prog influenced keyboard-driven music, and simply adore Stunningly complex pieces of music, buy this, if you want a quick blast of melodic metal or pwoer metal or whatever, stay well clear!
The actual vocal and all around melodies on the album range from power/melodic metallish (Age of shadows) to slightly emo-tinged emotional almost psychedellic electronica (the stunning connect the dots)and hard rock (unnatural selection) though more often than not it is usually mid-paced melodic light vocals building up to a big chorus: HOWEVER, you cannot describe the myriad maze of styles represented in this album: there is simply to much going on here to accurately describe the sound, but if i were to sum it up in a few words id describe it as "Progressive Electronic Rock/Metal"...
My personal fave songs are AGE OF SHADOWS - 10/10 - which has an undeniably powerful chorus, and the composition of the track as a whole is pretty stunning: a maze of styles that really does fit and sounds brilliant at the same time: maybe the rockiest "heaviest" track on the album. COMATOSE - 10/10 - An almost entirely electronic track, it has maybe one of the most haunting electronic melodies i have ever heard (starting around the 25 second moment)that leads into a stunningly beautiful vocal performance from Female singer Anneke Van Giersbergen and an also startingly efective vocal performance from one of my fave metal/rock singers, Mr Jorn Lande. CONNECT THE DOTS - 10/10 - I Genuinly cannot describe the style of this song: it is undeniably electronic, with only drums there to serve as an actual physical instrument (apart from at the chorus): but why go into it so much? il just say that it is a stunning song with a stunning vocal performance and a somehow even more stunning chorus. NEWBORN RACE - 09/10 - As a whole the song is not the best, but the melody of the acoustic guitar (if that is indeed what is being played) at the start is lovely and hauntingly emotionally touching, worth buying the album just to hear the acoustic guitar in this song: this is probably just a personal highlight though. THE TRUTH IS IN HERE - 10/10 - The main composer, Mr Arjen himself takes center stage on this song, serving as vocalist and doing brilliantly at it: a perfect representation of the album, really: Great melodies, wonderful performances, and nothing big to complain about.
So, Overall, if you are not afraid of trying something different and are not averse to hugely-prog influenced keyboard-driven music, and simply adore Stunningly complex pieces of music, buy this, if you want a quick blast of melodic metal or pwoer metal or whatever, stay well clear!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great but takes a while to get into
Just like J. White I came to Ayreon after being a huge fan of Avantasia and thought that this would be something similar. At first I was severely disappointed. Read more
Published 12 months ago by SacredFire
01011001
I bought this album due to the fact I am an avid Magnum fan and Bob is on this. The album is a revelation. Prog rock at it's finest. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Glass Shadow
Dune
Despite what others have said I find this a great filler in the history of the Dune universe
Published 22 months ago by C. Goddard
Ayreon Strikes again
A prog opera of the highest order with Arjen once again selecting a group of extremely talented musicians on a journey of musical wonder. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2010 by Mr. R. W. Robinson
Just adding my thoughts real quick..
A lot of albums get the sentence "Best album of all time" added to it, but I think the title derves to go to Ayreon's 01011001 album. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2009 by Rich
A superb Metal Opera!
Having heard a couple of the tracks on Youtube i went ahead and bought this album and i am so glad I did as it is superb in ever way. Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2009 by Ronnie Bradley
The Best Album of 2008
2008 was a great year for metal music but this hands down was the best release of the whole year and easily in Ayreon's top 3 albums to date. Read more
Published on 31 May 2009 by Adam Gardiner
I'm a new Ayreon fan
Hi! I decided to share my opinion since the existing all came from people who had expectations. I, for myself, can tell that I had none. Read more
Published on 12 Oct 2008 by MBarbosa
Disappointing effort
Very disappointed in this. If you are a fan of the Human Equation or Into the Electric Castle you'll also be disappointed
Too many tracks lacking a change of pace with heavy... Read more
Too many tracks lacking a change of pace with heavy... Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2008 by David Seddon
Quite Bizzare
This is an odd one. If I had to categorise it, I'd call it Techno Prog Folk Space Metal.
For me it's just trying to be too many things to too many people (or species... Read more
For me it's just trying to be too many things to too many people (or species... Read more
Published on 18 May 2008 by R. W.
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