Ayreon

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.^[3][4][5]

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 25 January 2008. This album was noticeably darker than previous Ayreon releases, Lucassen attributes this to a depression and his divorce in the preceding year.^[6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.

Revival and first live performances (2012–present)

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. It was performed four times, all at the Nieuwe Luxor theater in Rotterdam between 18 and 20 September.

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.^[9]

From 15 to 17 September 2017, the first ever official Ayreon concerts, titled Ayreon Universe, took place in Tilburg. The performance featured 16 singers, all of whom had previously worked together with Lucassen on his studio albums.^[10] They also performed a festival show at Graspop on 22 June 2018.^[11]

List of guests in Ayreon

• List of Ayreon guest musicians

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Compilation albums

Live albums

Music videos

• "The Stranger From Within" (1996)
• "Day Eleven: Love" (2004)
• "Loser" (2004)
• "Come Back to Me" (2004)
• "Beneath the Waves" (2008)
• "The Day That the World Breaks Down" (2017)
• "Everybody Dies" (lyric video) (2017)
• "Star of Sirrah" (lyric video) (2017)
• "Run! Apocalypse! Run!" (lyric video) (2017)