~|The magic words are spoken As we leave the plain in silence Now the circle stands alone And the druids turn to stone|~ ___ ### All right hello Steemains and followers! Today we'll be starting back at the beginning of the alphabet with a progressive collective of musicians and singers. Headlined by the Dutch multi instrumentalist Arjen Lucassen, it's a project that has been releasing concept albums with one turning into a rock opera/musical with a live show! ![ArjenLucassen4.PNG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbbFvY3ytiHEhBZoTf6azDdh4gW5W1NBuCc4xbifBGYSv/ArjenLucassen4.PNG) ##### On every release Arjen manages to collect singers from all over the metal/prog scene, with singers from bands like Opeth, Epica, Dream Theater to name a few. The albums all have a set concept and feel like you're actually living out a story being told through the music. The first record we'll check out today is the third release, "Into The Electric Castle". ##### ___ # Into The Electric Castle ![0IO00667.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPFvEHZWD7jT1hXdHPJcRqa7d7cciDTjLP1ji9vhhRdtw/0IO00667.jpg) ___ ##### This album came out in 1998 and it is a tale of adventurers transported to an unknown realm. The characters feature archetypes such as "the barbaian", "Futureman" and "Highlander" all voiced by different singers. This makes for a varied sound scape, and makes the experience easier to give into. The fact that a dialogue is going on keeps the listeners attention, and makes the tracks feel a bit more unpredictable. ##### The album opens with "Welcome To The New Dimension". An intro track featuring "The Voice" talking to the eight adventurers ripped from their own timelines, explaining the nature of their adventure. It has a very 70s psychedelic floyd feel to it with floating synths and massively delayed guitar screams. ##### The story on this album is very cool, and has a bit of a "Charlie and the chocolate factory" vibe to it, if a bit darker and more medieval. Tracks like "The Mirror Maze" and "Tower of Hope" are both great prog jams, and all the songs show us new facets of the adventurers in the story. ##### For our first track of the day we'll be starting with the third track on this 2 disc album, "Amazing Flight". It's a short intro to the different styles they go through in Ayreon. A band that has a bit of both metal and prog rock, with great melodic sensibilities. I do recommend you check out the album in it's entirety though, it's a great journey! # Amazing Flight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Jmiz7VlDI ![DQmegBvMTpBDPT4bZSgx8ASeL9KZHnKPjSpjKuLjVhuBmdw_1680x8400.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQMn7CX7Zsn765Bt1FbAEufAq9wiDohUTGG3PZXW14Wcw/DQmegBvMTpBDPT4bZSgx8ASeL9KZHnKPjSpjKuLjVhuBmdw_1680x8400.png) # The Human Equation ![0b7823117cc714a240bfeabe8e2da54a.600x600x1.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQ1upaD1hAzyHQMRNFmUQyEpP6Hf9n5s69BupJiSNExKE/0b7823117cc714a240bfeabe8e2da54a.600x600x1.jpg) ___ ##### This 2004 release was my introduction to Ayreon, through my interest in the band Dream Theater. This album features the story of a man stuck inside his own head after a car accident, and his attempts to break out from his own psyche. The album opens with "Day One: Vigil", a short argument between a friend and the wife of our protagonist. A short intro that leads to the next step, "Day Two: Isolation". We finally learn a bit about where we are, and we get to meet the rest of the characters. ##### This record has been turned into a musical with most of the singers being there, this gives the album even more depth, as the story is once again very alluring, with the multiple characters keeping you interested to find out, what has actually happened to "me". Tracks like "Day Seven: Hope" and "Day Eleven: Love" reveal parts of the past, until we find out what is going on behind the scenery. #### The track I wanna show you from this record is one of the later tracks, and it features Devin Townsend from previous reviews as the character "Rage". It's the story of our protagonists upbringing, with all the joys childhood entails. # Day Sixteen: Loser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkOBgT0KT40 ![DQmegBvMTpBDPT4bZSgx8ASeL9KZHnKPjSpjKuLjVhuBmdw_1680x8400.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQMn7CX7Zsn765Bt1FbAEufAq9wiDohUTGG3PZXW14Wcw/DQmegBvMTpBDPT4bZSgx8ASeL9KZHnKPjSpjKuLjVhuBmdw_1680x8400.png) # 01011001 ![R-1971615-1352051373-7536.jpeg.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUJUjCk2tu7FyU3Fw7QmY37nnh7cBzWnrtF6NgcvLorBz/R-1971615-1352051373-7536.jpeg.jpg) ___ ##### This 2008 release shows that you can evolve Prog Rock without removing neither the Prog nor the Rock from the equation. This is a genre bending album, with a futuristic theme of a dystopian society dependent on society. This race called "Forever" are a highly advanced form of life that long for a way to experience emotions, after decades of tinkering with unlimited lifespans. They decide to create life on "earth" to live through the humans there. ##### The album opens with "Age Of Shadows/We Are Forever", a prog metal track that is meant to bring us into the world of forever, a people that hunger for technological advancements that can sustain life forever. The album features singers from bands like Pain of Salvation, Epica and Blind Guardian. This also album has a total of 17 singers, which is more than any record before it. The sound of the album is definitely darker than before, with a more dismissive edge, than the more hopeful records before it. It does however also offer uplifting moments in the story. ##### The track I wanna show off is the first part of the 2nd disc, and the beginning of the first steps towards the "Forever"'s mission to recreate life in their image, destroying the life that was there before. This is "The Fifth Extinction". # The Fifth Extinction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRP2ylxLSEA ![DQmegBvMTpBDPT4bZSgx8ASeL9KZHnKPjSpjKuLjVhuBmdw_1680x8400.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQMn7CX7Zsn765Bt1FbAEufAq9wiDohUTGG3PZXW14Wcw/DQmegBvMTpBDPT4bZSgx8ASeL9KZHnKPjSpjKuLjVhuBmdw_1680x8400.png) ## All right, that's all folks! I hope you enjoyed todays edition of Alphabetical Order, a blog series where I write my opinions on parts of an artists discography. If you liked it or if you hate it, let me know! And if you wanna keep up to date, you can follow me. Until next time, peace out! ### You can get more info or support the artist by checking out these links: https://www.discogs.com/artist/263989-Ayreon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCihO6uVisilu1mn4x2u-HOA http://www.arjenlucassen.com/content/