Each Ayreon album tells a different story, but all, with the exceptions of Actual Fantasy, The Theory of Everything, and Transitus, take place in the same fictional, science fiction universe; additionally, Lucassen's solo album Lost in the New Real is also set in the Ayreon universe. Ayreon's music is characterized by the use of traditional instruments in rock music (guitars, bass guitar, drums, analogue synthesizers, electric organs) mixed with instruments more native to folk and classical music (e.g. mandolins, violins, violas, celli, flutes, sitars and didgeridoos). Lucassen writes the music and the lyrics, sings and plays most of the instruments on all of the Ayreon albums, alongside many guest musicians. His most regular collaborator is drummer Ed Warby.
Due to the project's particular nature, Ayreon live performances are rare, and no official Ayreon live show took place until 2017. Several Ayreon songs were first included in two live albums by other Lucassen bands: Live on Earth by Star One (2003) and Live in the Real World by Stream of Passion (2006).
Origins: The Final Experiment and Actual Fantasy (1995–1998)
The first Ayreon CD, released in 1995, is The Final Experiment, which has a mixture of science fiction and medieval themes. The album features thirteen singers and seven instrumentalists, most of them Dutch. The Final Experiment is often mentioned as one of the first metal operas. The album was originally titled Ayreon: The Final Experiment, with the artist listed as Arjen Lucassen, but upon re-release, the title was changed to The Final Experiment, and the artist was changed to Ayreon.
Actual Fantasy from 1996 is the only Ayreon album without a continuous story. With its individual fantasy stories, it can still be considered a concept album, though. There are only three singers and three instrumentalists on Actual Fantasy. Themes inspired by songs on this album can be found on later Ayreon releases, particularly the two Universal Migrator albums. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor.
Continuation of the Ayreon storyline (1998–2008)
The double album Into the Electric Castle followed in 1998, continuing the Ayreon storyline from The Final Experiment. The album features eight singers, each playing a role of a single character, and eleven instrumentalists. Arjen has stated that he wanted this particular album to be a more flight-and-fancy-free record, or "pure escapism" than the previous albums' more serious tones, and portrayed his characters in more of a B movie light. The album was a huge success and is widely regarded as one of Ayreon's best albums.
The twin Universal Migrator albums were released in 2000. The first album, The Dream Sequencer consists of soft, atmospheric progressive rock, whereas the second album, Flight of the Migrator, consists of a more heavy-metal theme. Both of the albums feature around ten singers supported by many instrumentalists. One of the more notable guests was Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, who made an appearance on the Flight of the Migrator album.
Shortly following Universal Migrator came Ayreonauts Only, an album generally meant to be only for diehard fans of Ayreon. The album itself was the second to not follow a specific storyline; it instead contained alternate versions (With different vocalists or instrumentalists) of existing songs, or the original demos used when recording them. In addition, it contained a preview of Arjen's then-upcoming project, Ambeon. It is the only Ayreon album not to see re-release on InsideOut.
In 2004 came The Human Equation. As on Into the Electric Castle, there are several singers, each playing their own role. With The Human Equation, Ayreon turned away from the usual science fiction and fantasy themes with a seemingly semi-normal psychological theme.
Starting in 2004, after changing from Transmission Records to InsideOut, Arjen began rereleasing his Ayreon catalog on the new label, with enhancements ranging from basic (The Universal Migrator, issued as a two-disc set instead of two separate albums) to drastic (Actual Fantasy, "Revisited" with completely re-recorded drums, bass, synth and flute). In 2005, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Ayreon, The Final Experiment was reissued with a bonus semi-acoustic disc.
At the end of September 2006, when Arjen's new studio was finished, he began making a new album entitled 01011001, which was released on 23 January 2008. This album was noticeably darker than previous Ayreon releases, Lucassen attributes this to a depression and his divorce in the preceding year.
On 25 April 2008, Arjen released a new Ayreon EP named Elected. The EP features two tracks from 01011001, one from The Human Equation and an Alice Cooper cover (Elected), with vocals by Arjen and Tobias Sammet.
On 16 September 2008, Arjen announced in his official website the release of Timeline, his second compilation album, that will reunite selected songs from all Ayreon albums and an unreleased one in three CDs and a DVD. The album was released on 7 November 2008 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and all of the EU on 17 November 2008. It was released in America on 13 January 2009.
Hiatus (2008–2012)
Arjen took a break from Ayreon and completed a new side project, Guilt Machine, in 2009. He also went on to release a second Star One album in 2010, and then a solo album under his own name in 2012.
The Theory of Everything and The Source (2012–2017)
The Theory of Everything was released on 28 October 2013. In 2015, The Human Equation was performed in its entirety live in an unofficial full-scale theatrical production called The Theater Equation, with Lucassen making an appearance and helping promote the project. It was performed four times, all at the Nieuwe Luxor theater in Rotterdam between 18 and 20 September. Although produced as an unofficial series of performances, it was recorded and released in June of the following year as an official Ayreon release, The Theater Equation, produced and mixed by Lucassen himself.
The Source was released on 28 April 2017, marking a return to science fiction and the Ayreon storyline. It is Lucassen's first album under his new label, Mascot Label Group.
Focus on live performances (2017–2020)
In November 2016, Lucassen announced the first ever official Ayreon concerts for September 2017, entitled Ayreon Universe. The show featured 16 singers and 11 instrumentalists, all of which had previously worked together with Lucassen on his studio albums. Unlike The Theater Equation, it consisted of unrelated songs from Ayreon performed after each other as in a traditional concert, with a few songs from Star One featured as well. One of the performances was released as a live album/DVD on March 30, 2018, titled Ayreon Universe – The Best of Ayreon Live.
On December 7, 2017, Lucassen stated that a new Ayreon concert would take place on June 22, 2018 at Graspop Metal Meeting, where they would headline the Marquee stage. It featured the same instrumentalists as the Ayreon Universe shows and most of its vocalists, along with Simone Simons and Tom S. Englund, who had never performed live with Ayreon before, and Mark Jansen and Barry Hay, who had never collaborated with Lucassen before; Lucassen himself also performed a few songs.
Between September 13 and 15 of 2019, the album Into the Electric Castle was performed in Tilburg in its entirety similarly to The Theater Equation in 2015, this time as official Ayreon performances. Fish, Anneke van Giersbergen, Damian Wilson, Edward Reekers, Edwin Balogh, and George Oosthoek returned from the original cast, alongside Ed Warby and flutist Thijs van Leer, who also performed on the original album. Simone Simons and Mark Jansen of Epica, Praying Mantis singer John Jaycee Cuijpers, Marcela Bovio, Bovio's husband and VUUR bassist Johan van Stratum, and Ex Libris members Dianne van Giersbergen and Bob Wijtsma were also featured, with actor John de Lancie acting as narrator. One of the performances was released as the live album Electric Castle Live and Other Tales on March 27, 2020.
Ayreon was supposed to headline the Night of the Prog Festival in Germany on July 18, 2020 to perform Into the Electric Castle once again, however the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Transitus (2020–present)
On May 8, 2020, Lucassen revealed on his YouTube channel that his next album would be an Ayreon album, titled Transitus and to be released the same year; the album will be released alongside a tie-in comic book.
On May 13, 2020, he announced the first member of the cast, actor Tom Baker, providing spoken vocals as the character of "The Storyteller". The rest of the cast was announced during the following week, also including Tommy Karevik of Kamelot and Seventh Wonder as the lead character of Daniel, Cammie Gilbert of Oceans of Slumber as Abby, Michael "Mike" Mills of Toehider as The Statue, Amanda Somerville as Lavinia, Paul Manzi of Arena and The Sweet as Henry, Dianne van Giersbergen of Ex Libris as The Soprano, Threshold drummer Johanne James as Abraham, Simone Simons of Epica as The Angel of Death, and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister as Daniel's Father; Marcela Bovio of MaYaN (and Lucassen's former band Stream of Passion) and Caroline Westendorp of The Charm the Fury portray a duo of characters known as the Furies.
Featured musicians include Joe Satriani and former Megadeth member Marty Friedman on lead guitars and YouTube musician Patty Gurdy on the hurdy-gurdy. Keyboardist Joost van den Broek, violonist Ben Mathot, and flutist Jeroen Goossens, all of whom had been featured on every Ayreon album since 2007's 01011001, are also returning. Juan van Emmerloot acted as drummer, making Transitus Ayreon's second album after 2000's Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer not to have Ed Warby on drums, as Lucassen stated that he did not originally conceive Transitus as an Ayreon album, and felt like it would need a completely different style of drummer. Although they had long lost track of each other, the he and Van Emmerloot had worked together 35 years prior, when Lucassen was part of Vengeance and Van Emmerloot was a session drummer; after becoming curious about what had happened to Van Emmerloot since their last meeting, Lucassen looked his drumming videos on YouTube and realized he would be a perfect fit for Transitus.
Etymology
Lucassen said, "Though I do like the similarity of the sound of my own name Arjen and the project name Ayreon, this is purely coincidental. Yet no one seems to believe that! Originally I called the leading character of the first Ayreon album 'Aries'. But then I had to change it because it had to fit the meter of the song. I wanted the new name to sound old fashioned because of the medieval influences, so I used the old-English sounding 'AY' (Aylesbury, Ayrshire). But I also wanted it to sound modern because of the futuristic parts ("2084") so I used 'ON' (electron, neutron, etc.), hence 'Ayreon'."
To the Solar System
Ayreon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can feel the sun burning on my skin
I can feel the sun from deep within
I can hear the earth calling out my name
I can hear the earth crying out in pain
I'm coming home to the planet of blue
I'm reaching out to the planet of blue
Can you see me fly?
Can you feel me die?
I can almost touch the glorious rings of Saturn
But then I feel them slip away
I can almost see the yellow clouds of Venus
But then the sequence slowly fades
I'm coming home to the planet of blue
Is this the end, can it be true?
I'm reaching out to the planet of blue
Can you see me try?
Can you feel me die?
(b)System Alert Dream Sequencer system alert
warning - core processor buffer overload
please abort Universal Migrator sequence
System failure imminent
return to consciousness, return to consciousness, return to consciousness...
(a) Ayreon's "To the Solar System" is a captivating song that conveys the story of a journey home to Earth, the "planet of blue". The song begins with the singer feeling the warmth of the sun on their skin and acknowledging the connection they have with the planet. They hear the earth calling out their name, symbolizing their longing to return home. However, the earth is also crying out in pain, perhaps representing the environmental destruction caused by humans.
The chorus speaks to the singer's desire to return home and the uncertainty that comes with it. They reach out to Earth, asking if it can see them fly and feel them die, suggesting that the journey back may not be easy or guaranteed. The second verse is filled with vivid images of Saturn's rings and Venus's clouds, but these descriptions slowly fade away, signifying the singer's distance from these celestial bodies.
The theme of the song highlights the connection between humans and their planet, the environmental destruction caused by our actions, and the importance of returning to our home. It captures the feelings of longing and uncertainty that many of us feel in our own lives.
Line by Line Meaning
I can feel the sun burning on my skin
I can feel the intense heat of the sun on my skin, causing discomfort.
I can feel the sun from deep within
I can feel the sun's radiation penetrating deeply within my body.
I can hear the earth calling out my name
I can feel a strong spiritual connection with the Earth, as if it is communicating with me.
I can hear the earth crying out in pain
I can sense the Earth's distress and agony caused by human negligence and exploitation.
I'm coming home to the planet of blue
I'm returning to planet Earth, known as the blue planet due to its abundant water.
Our own sun is coming into view
As I approach Earth, the familiar bright and warm sun appears in my line of sight.
I'm reaching out to the planet of blue
I'm trying to establish a connection with Earth, as if it were a conscious entity.
Can you see me fly?
Am I visible to anyone on Earth as I fly towards it?
Can you feel me die?
Am I going to die upon entering Earth's atmosphere, and will my impact be felt?
I can almost touch the glorious rings of Saturn
I am observing the beautiful rings of Saturn from a close distance, but can't quite reach them.
But then I feel them slip away
Suddenly, I lose sight of the Saturnian rings and am left with a feeling of loss.
I can almost see the yellow clouds of Venus
I am able to see the distinctive yellow clouds surrounding Venus from a far-off vantage point.
But then the sequence slowly fades
However, my view of Venus becomes blurry and fades away as I continue on my journey.
System alert, dream sequencer system alert
There is a warning message from the dream-world machine that controls my consciousness.
Warning - core processor buffer overload
My mind is experiencing an overload or overstimulation caused by the dream-manipulating device.
Please abort Universal Migrator sequence
The system requests that I stop the dream-voyage because it has become too intense.
System failure imminent
The dream-machine is about to crash and cause system failure.
Return to consciousness, return to consciousness, return to consciousness...
The system is forcing me to wake up from the dream-state and return to reality.
Contributed by Brody W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Leiana Emília
Portuguese Lyrics ;-)
Para o Sistema Solar
"Finalmente estamos nos aproximando do nosso sistema solar familiar. Mas há algo errado. A realidade começa a romper a ilusão. Eu tenho uma premonição inquietante que mesmo aqui dentro da minha jornada virtual eu nunca alcançarei a Terra ... "
[Robert Soeterboek]
[A. PLANETA DE AZUL]
Eu posso sentir o sol queimando na minha pele
Eu posso sentir o sol profundamente por dentro
Eu posso ouvir a Terra chamando meu nome
Eu posso ouvir a Terra gritando de dor
Eu estou voltando para o planeta do azul
Nosso próprio sol está aparecendo
Estou chegando ao planeta do azul
Você pode me ver voar?
Você pode me sentir morrer?
Eu quase posso tocar os anéis gloriosos de Saturno
Mas então eu sinto eles escaparem
Eu quase posso ver as nuvens amarelas de Vênus
Mas então a sequência desaparece lentamente
Eu estou voltando para o planeta do azul
Este é o fim, pode ser verdade?
Estou chegando ao planeta do azul
Você pode me ver tentar?
Você pode me sentir morrer?
Eu estou voltando para o planeta do azul
Este é o fim, pode ser verdade?
Estou chegando ao planeta do azul
Você pode me ver tentar?
Você pode me sentir morrer?
[B. ALERTA DO SISTEMA]
Alerta do sistema Sequenciador de Sonhos
aviso - sobrecarga do amortecedor do processador principal
por favor aborte a sequência do Migrador Universal
Falha do sistema iminente
volte à consciência, volte à consciência, volte à consciência ...
Tomasz Czarkowski
APP (Ayreon Polonisation Project): ,,Kosmiczny Migrator - Część II: Lot Migratora''
A. ,,Błękitna Planeta''
Czuję słońce, grzejące moją skórę
Czuję słońce, palące mnie z wewnątrz
Słyszę Ziemię, wzywającą mnie po imieniu
Słyszę Ziemię, krzyczącą w bólu
Wracam do domu, na błękitną planetę
Nasze słońce w zasięgu wzroku
Sięgam ku błękitnej planecie
Czy widzisz jak nadlatuję?
Czy widzisz jak umieram?
Prawie dotykam sławnych pierścieni Saturna
Lecz umykają mej dłoni
Prawie widzę żółte chmury Wenus
Lecz iluzja powoli gaśnie
Wracam do domu, na błękitną planetę
Nasze słońce w zasięgu wzroku
Sięgam ku błękitnej planecie
Czy widzisz jak próbuję?
Czy widzisz jak umieram?
B. ,,Ostrzeżenie Systemowe''
Ostrzeżenie systemowe Sekwencera Snów
Uwaga - przepełnienie bufora głównego procesora
Proszę zatrzymać program Kosmicznego Migratora
Załamanie systemu jest blisko
Proszę powrócić do świadomości, powrócić do świadomości,powrócić do świadomości...
Io Io
Lyrics in italiano:
"Finalmente raggiungiamo il nostro famigliare sistema solare.
Ma c'è qualcosa di strano.
La realtà si fa strada attraverso l'illusione.
Ho un'inquietante premonizione che anche nel mio viaggio virtuale
non riuscirò a raggiungere la Terra"
[A. Un pianeta di tristezza]
Posso sentire il sole riscaldare la mia pella
Posso sentire il sole nel profondo
Posso sentire la Terra chiamare il mio nome
Posso sentire la Terra gridare nel dolore
Ritorno a casa nel pianeta della tristezza
il nostro sole è in vista
Sto raggiungendo il pianeta della tristezza
Puoi vedermi volare?
Puoi sentirmi morire?
Posso quasi toccare i gloriosi anelli di Saturno
ma poi li sento sfuggire
Posso quasi vedere la gialle nubi di Venere
Ma poi la sequenza svanisce lentamente
Ritorno a casa nel pianeta della tristezza
il nostro sole è in vista
Sto raggiungendo il pianeta della tristezza
Puoi vedermi volare?
Puoi sentirmi morire?
Ritorno a casa nel pianeta della tristezza
il nostro sole è in vista
Sto raggiungendo il pianeta della tristezza
Puoi vedermi volare?
Puoi sentirmi morire?
[B. Allarme di sistema]
Dream Sequencer system alert
Attenzione - processore del nucleo sovraccarico
prego, terminare la sequenza dell'Universal Migrator
systema Failure imminente
Ritorno allo stato di coscienza,
ritorno allo stato di coscienza,
ritorno allo stato di coscienza...
Chris Lastname
Arjen is a modern genius, there is NO ONE doing this kind of music at this level. IMHO there isnt a bad song on this or indeed any of his albums
Bob Raymond Kars
This song gives me the chills every. time. I play it.
Leiana Emília
Portuguese Lyrics ;-)
Para o Sistema Solar
"Finalmente estamos nos aproximando do nosso sistema solar familiar. Mas há algo errado. A realidade começa a romper a ilusão. Eu tenho uma premonição inquietante que mesmo aqui dentro da minha jornada virtual eu nunca alcançarei a Terra ... "
[Robert Soeterboek]
[A. PLANETA DE AZUL]
Eu posso sentir o sol queimando na minha pele
Eu posso sentir o sol profundamente por dentro
Eu posso ouvir a Terra chamando meu nome
Eu posso ouvir a Terra gritando de dor
Eu estou voltando para o planeta do azul
Nosso próprio sol está aparecendo
Estou chegando ao planeta do azul
Você pode me ver voar?
Você pode me sentir morrer?
Eu quase posso tocar os anéis gloriosos de Saturno
Mas então eu sinto eles escaparem
Eu quase posso ver as nuvens amarelas de Vênus
Mas então a sequência desaparece lentamente
Eu estou voltando para o planeta do azul
Este é o fim, pode ser verdade?
Estou chegando ao planeta do azul
Você pode me ver tentar?
Você pode me sentir morrer?
Eu estou voltando para o planeta do azul
Este é o fim, pode ser verdade?
Estou chegando ao planeta do azul
Você pode me ver tentar?
Você pode me sentir morrer?
[B. ALERTA DO SISTEMA]
Alerta do sistema Sequenciador de Sonhos
aviso - sobrecarga do amortecedor do processador principal
por favor aborte a sequência do Migrador Universal
Falha do sistema iminente
volte à consciência, volte à consciência, volte à consciência ...
Iamnotacleverman
This music still makes me think of a dragon breaking slowly out of a mountain range. Not just the one mountain, it’s so large it’s over a whole range
CeloHunter
i remember i was playing spore when i found the solar system in the game and all i could think was about this music...
Tomasz Czarkowski
APP (Ayreon Polonisation Project): ,,Kosmiczny Migrator - Część II: Lot Migratora''
A. ,,Błękitna Planeta''
Czuję słońce, grzejące moją skórę
Czuję słońce, palące mnie z wewnątrz
Słyszę Ziemię, wzywającą mnie po imieniu
Słyszę Ziemię, krzyczącą w bólu
Wracam do domu, na błękitną planetę
Nasze słońce w zasięgu wzroku
Sięgam ku błękitnej planecie
Czy widzisz jak nadlatuję?
Czy widzisz jak umieram?
Prawie dotykam sławnych pierścieni Saturna
Lecz umykają mej dłoni
Prawie widzę żółte chmury Wenus
Lecz iluzja powoli gaśnie
Wracam do domu, na błękitną planetę
Nasze słońce w zasięgu wzroku
Sięgam ku błękitnej planecie
Czy widzisz jak próbuję?
Czy widzisz jak umieram?
B. ,,Ostrzeżenie Systemowe''
Ostrzeżenie systemowe Sekwencera Snów
Uwaga - przepełnienie bufora głównego procesora
Proszę zatrzymać program Kosmicznego Migratora
Załamanie systemu jest blisko
Proszę powrócić do świadomości, powrócić do świadomości,powrócić do świadomości...
cardestio
If I may, add this track to my Solar System playlist!!
David da Costa
5:00 chills everytime i listen
Normaschthewanderer
Best track of the album.
Io Io
Lyrics in italiano:
"Finalmente raggiungiamo il nostro famigliare sistema solare.
Ma c'è qualcosa di strano.
La realtà si fa strada attraverso l'illusione.
Ho un'inquietante premonizione che anche nel mio viaggio virtuale
non riuscirò a raggiungere la Terra"
[A. Un pianeta di tristezza]
Posso sentire il sole riscaldare la mia pella
Posso sentire il sole nel profondo
Posso sentire la Terra chiamare il mio nome
Posso sentire la Terra gridare nel dolore
Ritorno a casa nel pianeta della tristezza
il nostro sole è in vista
Sto raggiungendo il pianeta della tristezza
Puoi vedermi volare?
Puoi sentirmi morire?
Posso quasi toccare i gloriosi anelli di Saturno
ma poi li sento sfuggire
Posso quasi vedere la gialle nubi di Venere
Ma poi la sequenza svanisce lentamente
Ritorno a casa nel pianeta della tristezza
il nostro sole è in vista
Sto raggiungendo il pianeta della tristezza
Puoi vedermi volare?
Puoi sentirmi morire?
Ritorno a casa nel pianeta della tristezza
il nostro sole è in vista
Sto raggiungendo il pianeta della tristezza
Puoi vedermi volare?
Puoi sentirmi morire?
[B. Allarme di sistema]
Dream Sequencer system alert
Attenzione - processore del nucleo sovraccarico
prego, terminare la sequenza dell'Universal Migrator
systema Failure imminente
Ritorno allo stato di coscienza,
ritorno allo stato di coscienza,
ritorno allo stato di coscienza...