Origin: Netherlands  
Genres: Progressive Metal
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Page online: January 24, 2009
Last update/review: May 4, 2017

Ayreon

Arjen Lucassen is one of the Netherlands' most respected progressive rock/metal musicians, first making a name for himself in the eighties with more traditionally metal-minded bands such as Bodine and Vengeance. But Ayreon is what he's known for, an ambitious science fiction-based solo project that has spanned well over a decade and which has featured an incredible array of prog metal musicians as special guests. On just the recent 01011001 album the list of guest vocalists is stunning, including (among others) Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), Daniel Gildenlow (Pain Of Salvation), Thomas Englund (Evergrey), Jonas Renske (Katatonia), Jørn Lande (Masterplan and others), Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering), Floor Jansen (After Forever), Simone Simons (Epica), and Ty Tabor (King's X). This is top-notch classic progressive rock/metal, the arrangements befitting the all-star vocals that accompany the music.

Current Members

Arjen Lucassen

guitars (ex-Bodine)

Former Members/Guests

(various guests)

other (Ozzy Osbourne)


Discography



The Final Experiment  
1995 Transmission
  1. Prologue
  2. The Awareness
  3. Eyes Of Time
  4. The Banishment
  5. Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy
  6. Sail Away To 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
  • Arjen Lucassen
  • (various guests)
1995 Readers' Album #61



Actual Fantasy  
1996 Transmission
  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
  • Arjen Lucassen
  • (various guests)


Into The Electric Castle  
1998 Transmission
  1. Welcome to the New Dimension
  2. Isis and Osiris (Let the Journey Begin - The Hall of Isis & Osiris - Strange Constellations - Reprise)
  3. Amazing Flight (Amazing Flight in Space - Stardance - Flying Colours)
  4. Time Beyond Time
  5. The Decision Tree (We're Alive)
  6. Tunnel of Light
  7. Across The Rainbow Bridge
  8. The Garden of Emotions (In the Garden of Emotions - Voices in the Sky - The Aggression Factor)
  9. Valley of the Queens
  10. The Castle Hall
  11. Tower of Hope
  12. Cosmic Fusion (Soar on the Breeze - Death's Grunt - The Passing of an Eagle)
  13. The Mirror Maze (Inside the Mirror Maze - Through the Mirror)
  14. Evil Devolution
  15. The Two Gates
  16. ''Forever'' of the Stars
  17. Another Time, Another Space
  • Arjen Lucassen
  • (various guests)
1998 Readers' Album #38



The Universal Migrator Part I  
2000 Transmission
  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 Turn to Stone
  10. The First Man on Earth
  11. The Dream Sequencer Reprise
  • Arjen Lucassen
  • (various guests)


The Universal Migrator Part II  
2000 Transmission
  1. Chaos
  2. Dawn of a Million Souls
  3. Journey on the Waves of Time
  4. To the Quasar (The Taurus Pulsar - Quasar 3C273)
  5. Into the Black Hole (The Eye of the Universe - Halo of Darkness - The Final Door)
  6. Through the Wormhole
  7. Out of the White Hole (M31 - Planet Y - The Search Continues)
  8. To the Solar System (Planet of Blue - System Alert)
  9. The New Migrator (Metamorphosis - Sleeper Awake)
  • Arjen Lucassen
  • (various guests)


Ayreonauts Only  COMPILATION
2000 Transmission
  1. Into the Black Hole
  2. Out of the White Hole
  3. Through the Wormhole
  4. Carpe Diem (Chaos) (demo)
  5. Temple of the Cat (acoustic version)
  6. Original Hippie's Amazing Trip (medley)
  7. Beyond the Last Horizon
  8. The Charm of the Seer (demo)
  9. Eyes of Time
  10. Nature's Dance (demo)
  11. Cold Metal (performed by Ambeon)


The Human Equation  
2004 Inside Out
  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
  12. Day Twelve: Trauma
  13. Day Thirteen: Sign
  14. Day Fourteen: Pride
  15. Day Fifteen: Betrayal
  16. Day Sixteen: Loser
  17. Day Seventeen: Accident?
  18. Day Eighteen: Realization
  19. Day Nineteen: Disclosure
  20. Day Twenty: Confrontation
  • Arjen Lucassen
  • (various guests)


01011001  
2008 Inside Out
  1. Age of Shadows
  2. Comatose
  3. Liquid Eternity
  4. Connect the Dots
  5. Beneath the Waves (Beneath the Waves - Face the Facts - But a Memory... - World Without Walls - Reality Bleeds)
  6. Newborn Race (The Incentive - The Vision - The Procedure - Another Life - Newborn Race - The Conclusion)
  7. Ride the Comet
  8. Web of Lies
  9. The Fifth Extinction (Glimmer of Hope - World of Tomorrow Dreams - Collision Course - From the Ashes - Glimmer of Hope (Reprise))
  10. Waking Dreams
  11. The Truth is in Here
  12. Unnatural Selection
  13. River of Time
  14. E=MC2
  15. The Sixth Extinction (Echoes on the Wind - Radioactive Grave - 2085 - To the Planet of Red - Spirit on the Wind - Complete the Circle)
  • Arjen Lucassen
  • (various guests)
2008 Readers' Album #26



Timeline  COMPILATION
2008 Inside Out
  1. Prologue
  2. The Awareness
  3. Eyes of Time
  4. The Accusation (acoustic version taken from the Special Edition)
  5. Sail Away to Avalon (single version)
  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
  13. The Garden of Emotions
  14. The Castle Hall
  15. The Mirror Maze
  16. The Two Gates
  17. The Shooting Company of Captain Frans B Cocq
  18. Dawn of a Million Souls
  19. And the Druids Turned to Stone
  20. Into the Black Hole
  21. The First Man on Earth
  22. Day Two: Isolation
  23. Day Three: Pain
  24. Day Six: Childhood
  25. Day Twelve: Trauma
  26. Day Sixteen: Loser
  27. Day Seventeen: Accident?
  28. Age of Shadows (edit)
  29. Ride the Comet
  30. The Fifth Extinction
  31. Waking Dreams
  32. The Sixth Extinction
  33. Epilogue: The Memory Remains


Elected  EP
2008 Inside Out
  1. Elected
  2. E=MC2
  3. Ride The Comet
  4. Day Six: Childhood


The Theory Of Everything  
2013 Inside Out
  1. Prologue: The Blackboard
  2. The Theory of Everything Part 1
  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 2
  12. The Consultation
  13. Diagnosis
  14. The Argument 1
  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
  23. Fluctuations
  24. Transformations
  25. Collision
  26. Side Effects
  27. Frequency Modulation
  28. Magnetism
  29. Quid pro quo
  30. String Theory
  31. Fortune?
  32. Mirror of Dreams
  33. The Lighthouse
  34. The Argument 2
  35. The Parting
  36. The Visitation
  37. The Breakthrough
  38. The Note
  39. The Uncertainty Principle
  40. Dark Energy
  41. The Theory of Everything Part 3
  42. The Blackboard (Reprise)
  • Arjen Lucassen
  • (various guests)
2013 Readers' Album #53



The Source  
2017
  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
  8. Aquatic Race
  9. The Dream Dissolves
  10. Deathcry of a Race
  11. Into the Ocean
  12. Bay of Dreams
  13. Planet Y Is Alive!
  14. The Source Will Flow
  15. Journey to Forever
  16. The Human Compulsion
  17. March of the Machines
2017 Readers' Album #32



Ayreon Universe - Best Of Ayreon Live  LIVE
2018


Electric Castle Live And Other Tales  LIVE
2020



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