The Final Experiment | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 27 October 1995 | |||
Recorded | 1995 | |||
Studio | Studio "RS 29" (Waalwijk, Netherlands) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 71:17 | |||
Label |
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Producer | Arjen Anthony Lucassen | |||
Ayreon chronology | ||||
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Arjen Anthony Lucassen chronology | ||||
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The Final Experiment (originally Ayreon: The Final Experiment) is the debut studio album by the Dutch progressive metal project Ayreon, released in 1995. Originally with no artist noted, at the suggestion of the record label the subject was later detached, and used as the name for what was to be Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Ayreon project. [2]
In 2004, Arjen moved to a new record label, Inside Out - with this move came re-issues of all the previous Ayreon releases, including The Final Experiment. This re-issue includes a bonus CD featuring nine re-worked recordings of tracks (or segments of tracks) found on the original album with different singers and all acoustic instrumentation. [2]
The Final Experiment introduces several concepts which appear in future Ayreon albums, such as humanity's propensity for war ("Waracle"), polluting earth's environment ("Listen to the Waves"), or the gratuitous use of technology and computers in human society ("Computer-Reign (Game Over)"). [3] The latter concept appears overtly in the tracks "Computer Eyes" from Actual Fantasy , and "Web of Lies" from 01011001 , as well as "Evil Devolution" from Into the Electric Castle .
After leaving Vengeance in 1992, Arjen began working on writing and recording some solo material, with his newfound creative freedom. Finding motivation to commercialize the new music from his record company, Arjen released his first solo album in 1993 under his middle name, Anthony, entitled Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy. [4] The album lacked a musical direction, and became a heterogeneous mixture of styles and genres. While the album was not commercially successful, it formed the groundwork for the Ayreon project to come. [5]
A number of albums from the 1960s and 70s featuring common stylistic threads made a lifelong impact on Arjen. The dynamic and exciting music, emotionally driven lyrics, and an ensemble cast found in albums such as Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar and The Who's Tommy , commonly referred to as rock operas, inspired Arjen to create one of his own. Working in an environment where he could develop an album exactly as he wanted, Arjen intended to create his vision, making no compromises along the way. His vision manifested itself in The Final Experiment and, after being rejected by several different record labels, was picked up by a small Dutch record label. [6] The project was financially burdensome, but through some subsidization from his father, it was seen through to completion, and was successful enough to warrant another Ayreon release. [7]
In the year 2084 scientists have found a way to send messages back into time using time telepathy. With the Earth nearly destroyed by many different causes, they have one hope for the experiment: warn the past of the future to avert the fate of Earth.
The receiver of the telepathic messages is Ayreon, a blind minstrel living in 6th century Britain. He’s lived his life in darkness from the day he was born, but one fateful day everything changes — Ayreon can see images. The minstrel believes these visions are sent to him by the Lords of Time. Unaware of how much time there is left before Earth is destroyed Ayreon sets out to tell the tale of Earth’s demise singing songs of wars, natural disaster, and computer technology. The terrifying tales frighten the villagers who run him out of town.
Alone, and cast out of his village, Ayreon goes to King Arthur’s castle, and, being a famed minstrel, he is allowed to sing of his visions in the King’s very own court.
Jealous of his ability to foresee the future, Merlin, the court’s wizard, isn’t pleased with Ayreon’s message, convincing the court the minstrel must be a fake.
Merlin believes it is necessary to silence Ayreon forever and curses him. With the curse completed Merlin realizes his error, but it is too late. The wizard then predicts that the message will arrive in the mind of another minstrel at the end of the 20th century… [8]
All tracks are written by Arjen Anthony Lucassen
No. | Title | Vocals | Length |
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1. | "Prologue"
| Edward Reekers | 3:16 |
Total length: | 3:16 |
No. | Title | Vocals | Length |
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2. | "The Awareness"
| Edward Reekers | 6:36 |
3. | "Eyes of Time"
| Lenny Wolf | 5:05 |
4. | "The Banishment"
| Jan-Chris de Koeijer, Robert Soeterboek | 11:08 |
Total length: | 22:49 |
No. | Title | Vocals | Length |
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5. | "Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy" | Ian Parry | 2:45 |
6. | "Sail Away to Avalon" | Barry Hay | 4:02 |
7. | "Nature's Dance" | Arjen Anthony Lucassen | 2:27 |
Total length: | 9:14 |
No. | Title | Vocals | Length |
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8. | "Computer-Reign (Game Over)" | Ian Parry | 3:24 |
9. | "Waracle" | Jay Van Feggelen | 6:44 |
10. | "Listen to the Waves" | Arjen Anthony Lucassen | 4:58 |
11. | "Magic Ride" | Arjen Anthony Lucassen | 3:35 |
Total length: | 18:41 |
No. | Title | Vocals | Length |
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12. | "Merlin's Will" | Leon Goewie | 3:20 |
13. | "The Charm of the Seer" | Ruud Houweling, Lucy Hillen | 4:11 |
14. | "Swan Song" | 2:44 | |
15. | "Ayreon's Fate
| Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Edward Reekers, Ian Parry, Jay van Feggelen, Leon Goewie, Robert Soeterboek, Debby Schreuder, Mirjam van Doorn | 6:55 |
Total length: | 17:10 |
No. | Title | Vocals | Length |
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1. | "Dreamtime" | Astrid van der Veen | 4:19 |
2. | "Eyes of Time" | Ruud Houweling | 3:25 |
3. | "The Accusation" | Rodney Blaze | 3:49 |
4. | "Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy" | Esther Ladiges | 2:50 |
5. | "Sail Away to Avalon" | John Jaycee Cuijpers | 3:26 |
6. | "Nature's Dance" | Peter Daltrey | 2:03 |
7. | "Waracle" | Marcela Bovio | 5:16 |
8. | "Merlin's Will" | Irene Jansen | 3:29 |
9. | "The Charm of the Seer" | Robby Valentine | 3:29 |
Total length: | 37:41 |
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Star One is a Dutch progressive metal supergroup/side-project of Arjen Anthony Lucassen of Ayreon fame.
Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electronica, experimental and classical music. The majority of Ayreon's albums are dubbed "rock operas" because the albums contain complex storylines featuring a host of characters, usually with each one being represented by a unique vocalist.
The Human Equation is the sixth album from the progressive rock project Ayreon by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released on 25 May 2004 via Inside Out Music. As with other Ayreon albums, it features guest appearances from several musicians previously unrelated to the project, including James LaBrie of Dream Theater, Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth, Eric Clayton of Saviour Machine, and Devin Townsend, performing music arranged and written by Lucassen.
Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator is the fifth album from Ayreon, a progressive metal/rock opera project by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released in 2000.
Into the Electric Castle – A Space Opera is the third album of the progressive metal project Ayreon by Dutch songwriter, producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Released in 1998, it was the band's first double album.
Arjen Anthony Lucassen is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as the guitarist and backing vocalist of Dutch band Bodine as Iron Anthony, before joining Vengeance in 1984. After eight years he left the band, wanting to go into a more progressive direction, and released two years later an unsuccessful solo album entitled Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy under the nickname Anthony.
Actual Fantasy is an album released in 1996 by Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen A. Lucassen and is the second album of his Ayreon project. It is the only Ayreon release that does not feature a single overarching story concept, but instead draws on science fiction and fantasy films for inspiration, as well as stories written by Arjen himself.
Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer is a progressive rock album released in 2000 by Dutch multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Arjen Lucassen, and is the fourth album of his Ayreon project.
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Lori Von Linstruth is an American guitarist, lyricist and manager. She currently resides in the Netherlands where she lives with her partner and musical collaborator Arjen Anthony Lucassen. She is also his manager.
Timeline is the second compilation album by Dutch progressive metal project Ayreon. It was released in November 2008 in Europe. It was also released in North America in early 2009. The album features three CDs containing selected songs from all Ayreon albums, and a DVD featuring live performances, video clips and behind-the-scenes.
Guilt Machine is a musical project by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, owner of other musical projects such as Star One, Ayreon and Ambeon. The project's debut release, On This Perfect Day, was released in August 2009.
Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy is the debut solo album of Dutch composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released under the name Anthony. He sang leading vocals and played most of the instruments himself. However unlike most of his future works Lucassen doesn't play bass, with Peter Vink playing all bass.
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Lost in the New Real is the second solo studio album by Dutch songwriter, producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released on 23 April 2012. It is Lucassen's first solo album since 1993's Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy, released 18 years earlier under the name Anthony, before he reached fame with his progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen wrote all the songs, sings lead vocals and performs most instruments himself, including all guitars, bass and keyboards.
Arjen Lucassen is a Dutch multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is most known as the creator of progressive metal/rock opera Ayreon.
Irene Jansen is a Dutch singer. She sang on the Ayreon album The Human Equation, portraying the character Passion. She was also the live backing vocalist of Star One during their tour in 2003, and played the character Morgana in two Gary Hughes concept albums. She was the lead singer of a power metal band called Karma. She made her first recordings in more than a decade for the Alarion album Waves of Destruction, released in 2016.
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Ayreonauts Only is the first compilation album by Dutch progressive metal project Ayreon by Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released in 2000. Although categorized as a compilation album, it consists only of previously unreleased material, with alternate versions of Ayreon songs with different singers, demos, and of the song "Cold Metal" from Lucassen's then-upcoming project Ambeon.
The Source is the ninth studio album from Ayreon, a progressive metal/rock opera project by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released on 28 April 2017. It is Lucassen's first album under his new label, Mascot Label Group.