I NEED MORE! // Ayreon - Age Of Shadows / We Are Forever // Composer Reaction & Analysis 

You heard it right. The singer was Jonas Renkse, the singer of Katatonia. Ayreon is more of a project, not a band and there are many famous metal/rock singers featuring the songs.

BTW, the first operatic singer was Floor Jansen, the second female singer was Anneke van Giersbergen.

Hey Bryan! So, Ayreon is a lot. Each album is a concept album with a new super group of singers like you mentioned. The man behind it all is Arjen Lucassen who records all of the instruments except drums and sings guide vocals for all parts for the singers aswell as recruiting the singers themselves for each album. 01011001 sticks out with having, even for Ayreon, a huge number of singers (17 in total). The double album is separated into two parts between the cast of singers playing the alien race Forever on the planet Y (01011001 is binary for the letter Y) and the human cast on Earth. The album also fits into the greater Ayreon cosmology where the Forever play a prominent role as an alien race who gave up the ability to feel emotions in exchange for eternal life. They create the human race as a way to vicariously live out the emotions they can no longer feel which plays out during this album. The album for sure has its odd moments but I would definitely recommend it for a full listen. There's another album, Into the Electric Castle, which is simply fantastic that I would love to see a full analysis of.

I loved this reaction, and it makes me happy that Ayreon is now in your life. There's no going back!

The Masters of prog rock "opera", all of their albums are brilliant. Complex, but still catchy Please go down this rabbit hole, you will not regret doing it

Instant sub after watching this. I was at the live show and it blew my mind, absolutely fantastic. The videos for the show are now getting released (the music videos are already out). If you prefer to stick to the studio version, then I recommend you to go to Taycott's channel. This person has done an incredible job in highlighting every vocalist while they are singing. And yes, the album is absolutely worth complete review (as is, in my humble opinion, anything that Arjen Lucassen does). I would also like you to watch the live show of Into the Electric Castle.

That whole album is a masterpiece.

Arjen Anthony Lucassen is the mastermind behind Ayreon. He's the composer, producer, and lyricist. He also plays many of the instruments and does some vocals too. I forgot about this album. It's the only Ayreon album I've listened to, but I remember enjoying the entire thing, even if there were definitely highs and lows, this first track being one of the highlights I remember for sure.Checked out the track list to jog my memory though and a bunch stood out as positive memories. The whole thing is an epic, dramatic, prog electronic metal opera. Normally I am not into this style of pop/metal as find it uninteresting and uninspired, but this is done so well with the countless vocalists, the amount of effort put into the compositions and production. It's truly a feat.

One day something called Space Metal popped up on my husband's youtube reccomendations. He clicked. It was Star One, one of Arjen's other projects. It's all songs about scifi movies/shows. The Stargate one is one of my favorites. Eventually that led us to this album, and yeah, been an Arjen fan ever since. That dude is awesome, and tbh, kind of adorable, lol. I can't tell if this is yiur first Ayreon exposure, so I'm gonna see if you did The Day That The World Breaks Down.. if not-DO IT!!! It really shows you Arjen's character and the kind of star power he pulls. So happy to see someone do this song, my first Ayreon song. It *does* change you.

Yes you found Ayreon, this is one of the best prog rabbit holes, Arjen Lukassen is a humble genius with many great projects. They did a bunch of live shows last year with the entire ensemble playing the full album. It's out on dvd and blu-ray (don't get the bluray tho because it's a faultybatch right now).

that last singer ad-libbing all over the place is Jørn Lande, who you got a taste of back in your Ark "Heal the Waters" reaction. Plus you had the singers from Blind Guardian, Pain of Salvation, and Evergrey, amongst others.

yeah I really want you to check out the whole album now, loved watching this reaction! It's all very symphonic-prog-metal-space-opera coded, but it seems like you're into that :D I know I had a lot of fun with this as a kid, hearing all those artists come together to create something truly epic was just amazing. definitely my favourite Ayreon album

Ayreon is incredible not only because of the music but also because it is all an overarching story told through conceptual albums. It's the only music I can just sit down on my couch, put the headphones on and actively listen through the whole albums like it's a movie or a play.

They just released the bluray of this album. They played it live in its entirety. Check it out. It’s magnificent

Absolutely check out more from Ayreon. Whole album listens are so satisfying.

You can also check Into the Electric Castle, also by Ayreon. I think that CD might be of your liking. BTW: I was happy to see you are reacting to Ayreon, I searched in your channel looking for any analysis of this project and finally got something. And glad you like it.

I remember downloading this album on a whim for a road trip like 15 years ago, and it kinda cracked my teenage brain open

Another vote for Into the Electric Castle full album review! Best one from them hands down, though this one is a close second for me, the singers' lineup here is just prog/power metal heaven.

I'm all here for your honorable fanboying, if you please I would very much enjoy listening to the rest of the album with you as well, your comments about this favorite musical story are well appreciated. I'm so glad you didn't start with a stage performance like everyone else does.

You have to check the official live versions that are out there.

Hi, 74 years old hippie from the Netherlands =Floor, Irene, Simone, Anneke, Dianne, Charlotte, Sharon, Marcella, Joost(LUL) & Arjen(Ayreon) Country= reporting in: Luv your reaction, the album is not only in audio but last year they did this live ... Keep on going into this rabid hole, you'll luv it ... Shine on my friend ...🤘

I appreciate the in depth analysis of Age of Shadows and We Are Forever and would love to hear even more Ayreon songs analyzed in this way. Some songs included in the most popular concert Ayreon Universe Live have been shortened - solos and other instrumental parts removed to make more of them fit into the concert. That concert was an amazing experience, but if you are interested in listening to the whole song, I appreciate you listening to the full album version and not just listen to the shortened live versions. Despite how well made they are. Each Ayreon song is its own thing, some are intricate and epic, others have a stripped down arrangement. They all fit into their concept albums like chapters in a book or acts in a play/film. Very high replay value for the entire albums. What makes Ayreon stand out is a blend of many types of music and singing. It's very much a modern rock opera, each singer plays a different character in the story. Many songs are catchy (as you said poppy sound) and could be radio friendly songs, some have more progressive influence, that makes them less instantly gratifying. Acoustic folk, classic heavy metal, power and symphonic metal, progressive rock, some jazz influences and electronica and vocals ranging from clean singing and operatic to rock belts to growls and shrieks. But all is done tastefully, not to show off just for the sake of showing off, but as the tools to tell the story. The album of course starts with a banger of a song, but as any story (concept album) continues, it has many peaks and valleys and all are important to keep the landscape fresh and interesting. You can check the album versions of this album on the channel named Taycott. He took the official album versions from Ayreon RU-vid page and added pictures of all the singers that light up every time they sing and they have a bubble with the lyrics next to them. That way it's easier to see which singer is singing or which singers are blending at any time. The creator of Ayreon project himself congratulated Taycott on his RU-vid page for his effords, it's well deserved. Overarching story is about a race of humans in a distant part of the universe that lean too much into the technology and it destroys their planet. A few (10) with one loyal robot manage to escape to a different planet. In order to survive living in a water planet, they change their bodies with a chemical substance. This also gives them powers of telepathy and an eternal life. Their robot is left to fend for itself and it eventually also evolves and starts producing technology and machines (this is where the album 01011001 starts with Age of Shadows). The surviving few former humans, now known as Forever, live for millenia and more, but that slowly leads to apathy, almost a catatonic state of mind in some of them (second song Comatose). They have to decide if they want their minds to fade. Not able to leave the watery planet themselves, they decide to place their DNA on a frozen comet that travels through space and crashes into the Earth, causing The Fifth Extinction. Eventually, the humans populate the Earth and Forever use them a bit like the emotional vampires, living telepathically through the human lives. Forever grow concerned about the progress of humanity and their physical fragility and telepathically plant ideas of progress into humans, creating more harm then good, which ends with The Sixth Extinction. Forever are devastated that humans are gone and the millions of years of wait and work has been ultimately for nothing. The album ends with Forever deciding to free themselves from the limitations of their watery planet, using "Universal Migrator". A force (god?) that "travels" through the universe(s) and creates/brings live as it passes by. Sorry for the ridiculously long essay, I guess I let myself carried away too much and I'm not sure if you are interested in reading all that. Much more detailed Ayreon appreciation analysis tends to bring out the rambling.

Ayreon's music is CHOCK FULL of poppy vocal collabs like this. After you get done with this album, you'll want to look next at the Ayreon album, The Source, and in particular the work of Mike Mills on that album. Also, unrelated, but.....peep that new Leprous single. ^_^

Not all of 01011001 is as good as this, but it does have a few that are just as good if not better. You should definitely give it a listen.

OMG! This album is so good.

This is a great track, it's heavy and has a catchy chorus, but the real highlight is Anneke van Giersbergen doing the million layered vocals harmonizing with herself. She was the singer of The Gathering from 1995 -2007, not many people knows this band but I'm pretty sure her last album with them (Home 2005) influenced a lot the melodies she chose for the We Are Forever section in this track.

I use "metabolize music", because it's not simply digesting the music. It's decomposing and elaborating every single part (molecules) of the song

Great reaction. Welcome to the Ayreon universe. Once you hear more, nothing will sound as good

Nice analysis! Although 01011001 is indeed 89 in decimal, it is more meaningful to the story that is also the letter Y in most single-byte character encodings (and ASCII in particular). Y is the name of the aquatic planet orbiting Alpha Pegasi where the "depressed fish race" (:D) known as Forever lives.

Glad you liked it, Ayreon have some fantastic stuff to explore.

Damn. This knocked my socks off.

Daniel Gildenlow (sp) is from Pain of Salvation. I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I think you’d enjoy a lot of Ayreon. Arjen does have singers playing characters, yes. Many reactors do The Day that the World Breaks Down from The Source. Its video may distract you because it has pop-up notes w/ behind-the-scenes info going through the whole song. Cool, but maybe a lot for your brain to handle at once. You could do the recently released live version. My other suggestion is the last track from same album as Age of Shadows: The Sixth Extinction, also recently released live. Finally, Arjen has been known to help reactors resolve blocks, and he sometimes comments on the videos as well. I suspect he’d enjoy your breakdown if he finds it.

this song so satisfyng, you are so right. no wonder i never payed attention to the rest of the album.

Oooh, instant follow! Loved your reaction, thanks for doing it! It would be super fun if you got the chance to see the version they did on their last tour. There's no official release online yet of that one so audio is usually not ideal, but the one from the Ayreon Universe tour (from 2017) is definitely worthy too, some cool different musical choices to contrast with this one, and it's easier to tell the guest singers apart that way haha! but yes, I agree with the other comments, anything by ayreon is super cool, either live or album versions! Most of the stuff you can't tell if its keys or guitars is usually both, they like to double up! To get some background info you can check their mv of The Day that the World Breaks Down, the mastermind of this project, Arjen Lucassen, throws in some cool trivia in there. It's from The Source album, prequel to the story on this one you did. It's not exactly merging with AI, but it's a very neat story!

Anneke!!! Oh man how much I love the build and the duett of two of metals most unique vocalists....

So great to see you enjoying Ayreon. I can attest to the quality of the rest of the album. It's so good and quite varied. I can also recommend The Source album.

Devin townsend made a bunch of pop metal with the second female singer (Anneke) who did the binary bit. Some of the best pop metal ever IMO, with rediculous top 40 choruses. Check out the song Supercrush!

You need to listen to the whole album, pronto!

Buckle up because we are going on a trip into the world of Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Ayreon, Ambeon, Star One, Supersonic Revolution, Guilt Machine, Gentle Storm, Stream of Passion) aka Ayreon Universe. (about 100+ artists thick) ….. Enjoy the music!! The live version is even better Ayreon - Age Of Shadows (01011001 - Live Beneath The Waves (2023)) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DsjATiDcNH4.htmlsi=IXLlFJrjZBRNENcD

Fun facts: 1) Arjen Lucassen (the genius behind the Ayreon project) doesn't first write the lyrics, but first he finds a vocalist and only then he writes lyrics particularly for that vocalist! 2) Arjen and Tuomas Holopainen are both mentioned as the two geniuses of rock and metal! 3) Ayreon ONLY plays live once every 2 years, and ONLY in Tilburg, Netherlands. With so many contributing artists, touring would be HELL at best! And Arjen is virtually a recluse. 4) Ayreon started out after Arjen and the management of none other than BRUCE DICKINSON got into an argument while Arjen and Bruce were still working on the project. The Dickinson management was far from pleased when Arjen already released some sneak peaks while still on the editing table. So Arjen started his Ayreon project, WITHOUT Bruce contributing. Much later, in 2022 or 2023, Bruce did record a few Ayreon songs once again together with Arjen anyway. So Bruce and Arjen are friends once again. 5) By now, Ayreon is so well-known in the scene, that when Arjen calls you as a musician, you DAMN WELL pick up the phone! THAT is how eager musicians are to work with Arjen.

This album belongs to my most loved ones. Great mixture of metal, industrial and proggy sides. And it all serves the storytelling so well. You should definitely check out the rest of the album. I too tend to like longer tracks, so I recommend you should react to Beneath the Waves from this album.

You need more? Here's a small AYREON (live) list: *_“Everybody Dies”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9AAXtUdM7xE.html (Michael Mills, Tommy Karevik, Hansi Kürsch, Maggy Luyten, Floor Jansen) *_”Intergalactic Space Crusaders”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mDjomu33Xzc.html (Damien Wilson & Maggy Luyten) *_”The Eye Of Ra”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-odcO0SciTUY.html (Damien Wilson, John Jaycee Cuijpers, the sisters Floor & Irene Jansen ….. and the whole bunch at the end) *_”Star Of Sirrah”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3dEHQNAZsIo.html (Michael Mills, Maggie Luyten, Hansi Kürsch & Floor Jansen) *_”Valley Of The Queens”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TbebO5BZi-I.html (Floor Jansen, Anneke van Giersbergen & Marcela Bovio) *_”Amazing Flight In Space”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-r6cGPsE168c.html (Arjen singing & Jay van Feggelen) *_”Magnetism”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4V3lGTA8Mpo.html (Marco Hietala, Tommy Karevik & Anneke van Giersbergen) *_”And The Druids Turned To Stone”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lR-foGKsus0.html (Damian Wilson) *_”The Castle Hall”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iKGaeQ9f-cY.html&ab_channel=KekkosenSiitt%C3%A4m%C3%A4Pualucca (Michael Mills, Robert Soeterbroek, Damien Wilson) *_”Isis and Osiris”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Z6YFbgMzkZY.html&ab_channel=ShaylonCarvalho (John de Lancie, Damien Wilson, Simone Simons, Anneke van Giersbergen, Derek William Dick (aka Fish), Edwin Balogh) *_”The Theory Of Everything”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-L3TxOaCZv0w.html (Michael Mills & Marcela Bovio) *_”Abbey Of Synn”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZsBKElbl5dQ.html (Robert Soeterboek) *_”River Of Time”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-j7zxZdfQpuM.html (Hansi Kürsch & Marco Hietala) *_”Songs Of The Ocean”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oAEjDlE7UZQ.html (a lot of singers) *_”Garden of Emotions”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-w6rBHaOmXMo.html (John de Lancie, Arjen Lucassen, Anneke van Giersbergen, Edwin Balogh, John Jaycee Cuijpers, Damian Wilson, Simone Simons, Edward Reekers) *_”Day Sixteen Loser”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-D6riG9RcM0o.html&ab_channel=Ricamros (Michael Mills) *_”Age Of Shadows”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aci08VQ4ch4.html (Marco Hietala, Hansi Kürsch & Floor Jansen) *_”Into The Black Hole”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LIvnxsb83No.html&ab_channel=Ricamros (Tommy Karevik) *_“Ride the Comet”_* : m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wMkcKKyC0Ag.html (Jonas Renkse, Maggy Luyten and The Ayreon Angels - Irene Jansen, Marcela Bovio and Lisette van den Berg) *_”Twisted Coil”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gcHn0kCgmAs.html&ab_channel=ArjenAnthonyLucassen (Damien Wilson, Mike Scott) (2020) *_”Hopelessly Slipping Away”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JeeVX6rbVMc.html&ab_channel=ArjenAnthonyLucassen (Tom Baker, Cammie Gilbert, Tommy Karevik) (2020) *_”This Human Equation”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lKwaBJmSUps.html (Simone Simons) (2020) *_”Daniel’s Descent Into Transitus Medley”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ozmTXh2CBWw.html (Tommy Karevik & Simone Simons) (2020) *_”Talk of the Town”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-miotXaqJ-Cs.html (Tom Baker, Paul Manzi, Tommy Karevik and Cammie Gilbert) Perhaps you are also interested in one of Arjen’s other projects like: STAR ONE (2022) *_”Revel In Time”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--fHN4Qceip4.html (ft. Brandon Yeagley, Adrian Vandenberg) STAR ONE (2022) *_”Fate Of Man”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vn7P3oVMnys.html (ft. Brittney Slayes, Michael Romeo) STAR ONE (2022) *_”Prescient”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ff4dFzMXYsM.html (ft. Micheal Mills, Ross Jennings) STAR ONE (2022) *_”Lost Children Of The Universe”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6ADV7NYDfQs.html (ft. Roy Khan, Tony Martin, Marcela Bovio, Irene Jansen, Steve Vai) PLAN NINE (2023) -*”Before The Morning Comes (The Long Lost Songs)”*_ : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2l0-yHau5QY.html (Robert Soeterboek) STAR ONE (2024) *_”Fate of Man (01011001 - Live Beneath The Waves)”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Qt9A4g2whCo.html (Brittney Slayes) STAR ONE (2024) *_”The Sixth Extinction (01011001 - Live Beneath The Waves)”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HAJ0zTMLClQ.html (a lot of singers) STAR ONE (2024) *_”The Day That The World Breaks Down (01011001 - Live Beneath The Waves)”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ei4QjMN1y5g.html SUPERSONIC REVOLUTION (2023) *_”Golden Age Of Music”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7nymQkZHs1k.html SUPERSONIC REVOLUTION (2023) *_”The Glamattack”_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q3Fo7WtU4hI.html And Arjen's most reacted song on RU-vid: *_"The Day That The Workd Breaks Down"_* : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oFuMKdrzPqU.html (11 singers)!

I hope you do an album listen of The Human Equation by Ayreon, incredible album

Best Ayreon album and an awesome track (no, but it was my first, so, special... and the first song I ever heard was actually Ride the Comet!). This would truly be great for an album review! ;) It's absolutely a bombastic start but the flow is so good, there are many, many amazing songs throughout the record, and it absolutely explodes by the end again. It's also a story (and an interconnected one between most of the project's albums as you suspected)! And yes, an Avengers assemble of some really cool metal scene voices (different for the albums with returning people and instrumentalists). Ayreon is a whole world, it's so good, so inspiring, and Arjen the mastermind (composer, organizer, plays many instruments too) is just the loveliest guy. Oh yeah, another vote for an Electric Castle listen-through, if not this album. That one is also genius. And The Human Equation. That album is like a whole metal-rock-opera in my head, a full theatre performance (and they actually did it live as well like that!)

Great, now I need to go relisten to all of Ayreon again. This song is pretty representative of what Ayreon sounds like, so I'm pretty sure you need to go listen to a few albums even if it's not in reaction format.

Surprised you hadn't found Ayreon before. They're awesome. I recommend the video he did for The Day That The World Breaks Down for The Source album. It kind of breaks down a lot of stuff that Arjen does for the band and who all the singers are and the characters they all play for the story. Then it also has a lot of behind the scenes info too. I'm sure you'd enjoy the song on top of all the neat info he puts in the vid. I think it'd be a neat reaction too since you're getting the behind the scenes info straight from the video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oFuMKdrzPqU.htmlsi=pMcDxCYbyoLCeUhp

most of the singers he gets are from well known prog and symphonic metal bands.

the newer ayreon stuff is a bit hit and miss with me, but human equation, 01 and electric castle are absolute wall to wall bangers and i cannot recommend it enough, if you liked this then you are in for a wild ride checking out more p.s both human equation and 01 had bonus dvd behind the scenes about the writing and recording process, choosing the singers etc really cool stuff

Still have to listen to your analysis, but I can ensure you the album worh a listen. The part 1 is all like the first song, every song has its unique sound, but AI related. The part 2 is just an elevation of all of the first part, less easy to listen, more complicated, proggy, but a pure gem. Ayreon just played the whole album 01011001 live the last September, you could react to the last song of this masterpiece, live (The Sixth Extinction)!

01011001 and The Source are fantastic albums.

Hi! Love Ayreon so much. And while i know it's clearer for analysis when you listen to the studio album I highly recommend the live concert version of any of their songs including this:) Also, the song The Day the World Breaks Down has kind of an MV where Arjen who is the mastermind of this project explains all the elements as they get added to the song in a very fun way:) You should really check it out!

You've been listening to a lot of bands I love and since I've never seen you listen to Ayreon I thought you just knew about them before the channel. You can check out anything from Ayreon and I'm sure there will be (at least) large parts of it you will love. If you want a classic from them, check out the song "amazing flight", but Ayreon work better as albums. And hey, Arjen likes to drop comments on youtube sometimes, maybe you'll luck into him!

Yeah, Ayreon is this good, their best material is both sophisticated and immediately captivating In my opinion this is the best song of the album but the rest is up there as well I like that you came to this completely blind so you didn't even know what the project is about lol

Why not a live version?

Ayreon Maiden😂