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| 29.12.2004 | › | Ayreon - The Final Experiment Bonus Disc |
| 07.12.2004 | › | Ayreon - The Final Experiment 10th Anniversary |
| 05.11.2004 | › | Ayreon - Release dates 'Actual Fantasy: Revisited' |
| 27.10.2004 | › | Ayreon - Actual Fantasy Revisited trailer |
| 12.10.2004 | › | Ayreon - "Actual Fantasy: Revisited" |
| 15.09.2004 | › | Ayreon - "Actual Fantasy" re-issue |
| › | Ayreon - "Into the Electric Castle" re-issue | |
| 28.08.2004 | › | Ayreon - Reissue of the old albums by InsideOut |
| 09.06.2004 | › | Ayreon - New single announced |
| 16.03.2004 | › | Ayreon - cover posted online |
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Ayreon - The Final Experiment Bonus Disc
Posted on official website:
We now announce the guest singers who will appear on the semi-acoustic bonus disc that will go with The Final Experiment re-issue. Audioclips, reports and more information coming soon!
The singers:
* Astrid van der Veen - Dreamtime
* Ruud Houweling - Eyes of Time
* Rodney Blaze - The Accusation
* Esther Boer-Ladiges - Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy
* John JayCee Cuijpers - Sail Away to Avalon
* Peter Daltrey- Nature's Dance
* Marcela Bovio - Waracle
* Irene Jansen - Merlin's Will
* Valentine - Charm of the Seer
The instrumentalists:
* Arjen Lucassen - guitars, drums and percussion
* Lori Linstruth ? electric guitar solos
* Davy Mickers ? drums
* Marieke van der Heyden ? cello
* Ewa Albering ? Flute
* Jeroen Goossens ? Wind instruments
* Valentine ? piano
* Peter Vink ? acoustic bass guitar
* Dewi Kerstens ? cello
www.ayreon.com
We now announce the guest singers who will appear on the semi-acoustic bonus disc that will go with The Final Experiment re-issue. Audioclips, reports and more information coming soon!
The singers:
* Astrid van der Veen - Dreamtime
* Ruud Houweling - Eyes of Time
* Rodney Blaze - The Accusation
* Esther Boer-Ladiges - Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy
* John JayCee Cuijpers - Sail Away to Avalon
* Peter Daltrey- Nature's Dance
* Marcela Bovio - Waracle
* Irene Jansen - Merlin's Will
* Valentine - Charm of the Seer
The instrumentalists:
* Arjen Lucassen - guitars, drums and percussion
* Lori Linstruth ? electric guitar solos
* Davy Mickers ? drums
* Marieke van der Heyden ? cello
* Ewa Albering ? Flute
* Jeroen Goossens ? Wind instruments
* Valentine ? piano
* Peter Vink ? acoustic bass guitar
* Dewi Kerstens ? cello
www.ayreon.com
| Band profile: | Ayreon |
Ayreon - The Final Experiment 10th Anniversary
A newsletter came in earlier today:
The Final Experiment 10th aniversary!
The last re-issue in the Ayreon series will be The Final Experiment which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2005! To mark this special occasion Arjen decided to create a bonus album containing over 30 minutes of extra music!
The tracks are completely new arrangements of 9 songs of The Final Experiment featuring drums, bass, cello, flute, electric and acoustic guitars plus 9 different vocalists and various instrumentalists from past, present and future albums.
Arjen is currently having a great time in the studio recording the newly arranged versions of 'Dreamtime', 'Eyes of Time', ' The Accusation', 'Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy', 'Sail Away to Avalon', 'Nature's Dance', 'Waracle', 'Merlin's Will', 'Charm of the Seer'.
This double album will be re-issued February 28, 2005 by InsideOut Music. Stay tuned for more information!
www.ayreon.com
The Final Experiment 10th aniversary!
The last re-issue in the Ayreon series will be The Final Experiment which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2005! To mark this special occasion Arjen decided to create a bonus album containing over 30 minutes of extra music!
The tracks are completely new arrangements of 9 songs of The Final Experiment featuring drums, bass, cello, flute, electric and acoustic guitars plus 9 different vocalists and various instrumentalists from past, present and future albums.
Arjen is currently having a great time in the studio recording the newly arranged versions of 'Dreamtime', 'Eyes of Time', ' The Accusation', 'Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy', 'Sail Away to Avalon', 'Nature's Dance', 'Waracle', 'Merlin's Will', 'Charm of the Seer'.
This double album will be re-issued February 28, 2005 by InsideOut Music. Stay tuned for more information!
www.ayreon.com
| Band profile: | Ayreon |
Ayreon - Release dates 'Actual Fantasy: Revisited'
According to official website:
Now that the album is completely finished, we are happy to announce the release dates for Actual Fantasy: Revisited. Since this release is an audio CD with a bonus DVD, there are two different versions. (It is a region free DVD, but there are two formats!).
Please note: You can already purchase the PAL edition of the new album at the Mega Record and CD fair in Utrecht from Millennium Records on the 20th of November. Arjen will be signing at the stand, and perform at the terrace of the Fair with Robert Soeterboek and Peter Vink.
PAL
* Netherlands: November 25, 2004
* Rest of Europe: December 6, 2004
NTSC
* Through Plato.nl: December 6, 2004 (tentative)
* USA/Canada: January 11, 2005
You can pre-order the album through Plato. Please note the different release dates of the PAL and NTSC versions.
www.ayreon.com
Now that the album is completely finished, we are happy to announce the release dates for Actual Fantasy: Revisited. Since this release is an audio CD with a bonus DVD, there are two different versions. (It is a region free DVD, but there are two formats!).
Please note: You can already purchase the PAL edition of the new album at the Mega Record and CD fair in Utrecht from Millennium Records on the 20th of November. Arjen will be signing at the stand, and perform at the terrace of the Fair with Robert Soeterboek and Peter Vink.
PAL
* Netherlands: November 25, 2004
* Rest of Europe: December 6, 2004
NTSC
* Through Plato.nl: December 6, 2004 (tentative)
* USA/Canada: January 11, 2005
You can pre-order the album through Plato. Please note the different release dates of the PAL and NTSC versions.
www.ayreon.com
| Band profile: | Ayreon |
Ayreon - Actual Fantasy Revisited trailer
Official homepage has news on the upcoming rerelease of the Ayreon's 'Actual Fantasy' album.
By now most of you know that a trailer is the ultimate way for fans to get a first glimpse at what's has been happening behind the scenes of a new release.
And as far as we are all concerned, Actual Fantasy: Revisited in a way is indeed a new album. Arjen is very proud of the results of the 5.1 mix he just finished and can't wait for fans to hear his music coming from all corners of a room: the way music should be heard!
The album will feature both a CD and a bonus DVD. The CD contains the 2004 recording. And the DVD will feature the 5.1 mix of this recording as well as the original 1996 version of Actual Fantasy. There is also a featurette on the 2004 recording process. The album is due out by the end of this year.
www.ayreon.com
www.arjenlucassen.com/news/news.php?news_id=140
By now most of you know that a trailer is the ultimate way for fans to get a first glimpse at what's has been happening behind the scenes of a new release.
And as far as we are all concerned, Actual Fantasy: Revisited in a way is indeed a new album. Arjen is very proud of the results of the 5.1 mix he just finished and can't wait for fans to hear his music coming from all corners of a room: the way music should be heard!
The album will feature both a CD and a bonus DVD. The CD contains the 2004 recording. And the DVD will feature the 5.1 mix of this recording as well as the original 1996 version of Actual Fantasy. There is also a featurette on the 2004 recording process. The album is due out by the end of this year.
www.ayreon.com
www.arjenlucassen.com/news/news.php?news_id=140
| Band profile: | Ayreon |
Ayreon - "Actual Fantasy: Revisited"
A studio report came online earlier today on the official website www.ayreon.com
Arjen is currently putting the finishing touches on the Actual Fantasy 2004 edition named Actual Fantasy: Revisited. It features, among other things, a CD of the 2004 recording and a bonus DVD with a 5.1 surround sound remix of the 2004 recording. At the end of September Ed Warby recorded drums for this edition, and recently Peter Vink recorded bass guitars. Time to catch up with Arjen on how the process of revitalizing the 1996 recording has been so far.
After mixing "Star Child" in dolby pro-logic and "Day Eleven: Love" in 5.1, Arjen couldn't wait to mix an entire album 5.1. The first real opportunity came up when InsideOut began planning their release of the old Ayreon albums. He figured it would be great to give the least selling and seriously overlooked 2nd Ayreon album Actual Fantasy some new attention.
For years Arjen had wondered what Actual Fantasy would sound like with real drums, instead of the drum computer. And when Arjen began working with drummer extra-ordinaire Ed Warby on Ayreon and Star One recordings, the idea grew: wouldn't it be great to record the album with real drums? It was a daunting task that kept Arjen from considering it seriously. However, in order to make a 5.1 mix work for the album he had to re-record a number of elements that were lost, and remaking the album by recording real drums became a serious option.
"After I was finished with 'The Human Equation', I took some time to think it over. I knew it would be a lot of work and would cost a lot of time, effort and money. How could I know it would be worth it? But then I talked it over with Ed, I knew I just had to do this. Of course at the time back in 1996 it was my intention to make the album completely electronic to match the themes of the songs, but what a waste when you have someone like Ed who can really make the album come alive with his drums. In fact Ed himself recently told me that when he heard Actual Fantasy for the first time (we hadn's met yet back then) he told people he should have drummed it instead of a computer!"
"The recording process is completely different from recording a new album. Even though I could replay the guitar and the bass parts, all vocals and most of the keyboards were set in stone. Ed Warby had less room to move and the margin of error was very small, but on the other hand he could now interact with the vocals and solos that were already recorded. As we all know by now Ed is such a skilled drummer and as expected he did a great job. He found enough room to be creative and innovative. I can't begin to describe how great it was to hear the album coming together in a new style in the recording studio."
Read more ››
Arjen is currently putting the finishing touches on the Actual Fantasy 2004 edition named Actual Fantasy: Revisited. It features, among other things, a CD of the 2004 recording and a bonus DVD with a 5.1 surround sound remix of the 2004 recording. At the end of September Ed Warby recorded drums for this edition, and recently Peter Vink recorded bass guitars. Time to catch up with Arjen on how the process of revitalizing the 1996 recording has been so far.
After mixing "Star Child" in dolby pro-logic and "Day Eleven: Love" in 5.1, Arjen couldn't wait to mix an entire album 5.1. The first real opportunity came up when InsideOut began planning their release of the old Ayreon albums. He figured it would be great to give the least selling and seriously overlooked 2nd Ayreon album Actual Fantasy some new attention.
For years Arjen had wondered what Actual Fantasy would sound like with real drums, instead of the drum computer. And when Arjen began working with drummer extra-ordinaire Ed Warby on Ayreon and Star One recordings, the idea grew: wouldn't it be great to record the album with real drums? It was a daunting task that kept Arjen from considering it seriously. However, in order to make a 5.1 mix work for the album he had to re-record a number of elements that were lost, and remaking the album by recording real drums became a serious option.
"After I was finished with 'The Human Equation', I took some time to think it over. I knew it would be a lot of work and would cost a lot of time, effort and money. How could I know it would be worth it? But then I talked it over with Ed, I knew I just had to do this. Of course at the time back in 1996 it was my intention to make the album completely electronic to match the themes of the songs, but what a waste when you have someone like Ed who can really make the album come alive with his drums. In fact Ed himself recently told me that when he heard Actual Fantasy for the first time (we hadn's met yet back then) he told people he should have drummed it instead of a computer!"
"The recording process is completely different from recording a new album. Even though I could replay the guitar and the bass parts, all vocals and most of the keyboards were set in stone. Ed Warby had less room to move and the margin of error was very small, but on the other hand he could now interact with the vocals and solos that were already recorded. As we all know by now Ed is such a skilled drummer and as expected he did a great job. He found enough room to be creative and innovative. I can't begin to describe how great it was to hear the album coming together in a new style in the recording studio."
Read more ››
| Band profile: | Ayreon |
Ayreon - "Actual Fantasy" re-issue
Here is some great news for Ayreonauts everywhere! For the past month and a half Arjen has been hard at work in his studio, piecing together the puzzle of all the recording tapes of Actual Fantasy, Ayreon's second album.
The reason for all this work? Among other things, Arjen wanted to experiment with releasing his music as a 5.1 surround remix, and Actual Fantasy- a little bit of a 'forgotten' album in the Ayreon collection- is sonically and electronically the most extreme release. Furthermore it is hailed by many fellow-musicians as their favorite Ayreon release.
And in order for Arjen to make this 5.1 surround remix- he needed to piece together all recordings and to separate the parts that had been 'glued together' in the studio at the time of the recording... This meant re-recording some parts as well.
Well, once he knew he had to go through all that trouble... why not immediately re-record that what was an 'ear-sore' for Arjen all along? The drums! The drums on Actual Fantasy are generated by a drum computer, which bothers Arjen to this day! And... well... why stop there and really make it truly challenging and exciting project?
For this purpose Ayreon drummer extra-ordinaire Ed Warby will enter the studio next week to record drums for the Actual Fantasy re-issue. After this, Star One bassist Peter Vink will replay all bass guitar, and Arjen will re-record nearly all guitar and keyboard parts, and then rework the vocal performances- essentially making this album a new Ayreon release of sorts.
The new and improved Actual Fantasy (including the 5.1 remix) won't hit stores until early 2005. After this release, The Final Experiment re-issue with some special added elements, will be released soon after that!
www.ayreon.com
The reason for all this work? Among other things, Arjen wanted to experiment with releasing his music as a 5.1 surround remix, and Actual Fantasy- a little bit of a 'forgotten' album in the Ayreon collection- is sonically and electronically the most extreme release. Furthermore it is hailed by many fellow-musicians as their favorite Ayreon release.
And in order for Arjen to make this 5.1 surround remix- he needed to piece together all recordings and to separate the parts that had been 'glued together' in the studio at the time of the recording... This meant re-recording some parts as well.
Well, once he knew he had to go through all that trouble... why not immediately re-record that what was an 'ear-sore' for Arjen all along? The drums! The drums on Actual Fantasy are generated by a drum computer, which bothers Arjen to this day! And... well... why stop there and really make it truly challenging and exciting project?
For this purpose Ayreon drummer extra-ordinaire Ed Warby will enter the studio next week to record drums for the Actual Fantasy re-issue. After this, Star One bassist Peter Vink will replay all bass guitar, and Arjen will re-record nearly all guitar and keyboard parts, and then rework the vocal performances- essentially making this album a new Ayreon release of sorts.
The new and improved Actual Fantasy (including the 5.1 remix) won't hit stores until early 2005. After this release, The Final Experiment re-issue with some special added elements, will be released soon after that!
www.ayreon.com
| Band profile: | Ayreon |
Ayreon - "Into the Electric Castle" re-issue
The re-issue of The Universal Migrator Part 1 & 2 is already in stores everywhere and the next re-issue by the InsideOut label is already on our doorstep. The long awaited 'Into the Electric Castle', Ayreon's best seller double album will be available (again) in stores on September 27th, 2004 in Europe, and October 12th, 2004 in the United States.
The re-issue features revamped artwork and also linernotes written by Arjen.
On top of this, the release comes with two CD-ROM tracks (Quicktime movie), one on each disc, in which Arjen tells you about what went into making this stellar album.
Among other things, you get to hear stand-alone vocal performances of each of the vocalists as well as some instrumentalist sections. Total duration of the CD-ROM tracks is 30 minutes!
www.ayreon.com
The re-issue features revamped artwork and also linernotes written by Arjen.
On top of this, the release comes with two CD-ROM tracks (Quicktime movie), one on each disc, in which Arjen tells you about what went into making this stellar album.
Among other things, you get to hear stand-alone vocal performances of each of the vocalists as well as some instrumentalist sections. Total duration of the CD-ROM tracks is 30 minutes!
www.ayreon.com
| Band profile: | Ayreon |
Ayreon - Reissue of the old albums by InsideOut
For Ayreon fans the first news is the re-issues of the old Ayreon albums by InsideOut. One re-issue is already available in stores. The Universal Migrator Part 1 & Part 2 are no longer sold seperately, but as a special double CD edition for a single CD price. Check your stores now! Next re-issue will be 'Into the Electric Castle' with a bonus multi-media file and improved artwork.
As a sidenote. A third single is to be released early fall, 2004.
As a sidenote. A third single is to be released early fall, 2004.
| Source: | ayreon.com |
| Band profile: | Ayreon |
Ayreon - New single announced
From Ayreon web page:
"Due to the huge chart success of Ayreon - The Human Equation, we are happy to announce the next single to be released is an alternative version of 'Day Sixteen: Loser' called 'Loser'. It will be the so-called 'Star One version'. Joost van den Broek (Star One, After Forever) and Arjen Lucassen battle it out in a true-to-form keyboard versus guitar battle, with electric violin by Robert Baba thrown in for good measure. Also Peter Vink (Star One) recorded new bass guitar especially for the single. And Ed Warby added some extra 'zing' to his performance also.
Of course, there will also be some really special bonus tracks to make this single even more worth your while to get! More information to come!
Release dates to be announced."
"Due to the huge chart success of Ayreon - The Human Equation, we are happy to announce the next single to be released is an alternative version of 'Day Sixteen: Loser' called 'Loser'. It will be the so-called 'Star One version'. Joost van den Broek (Star One, After Forever) and Arjen Lucassen battle it out in a true-to-form keyboard versus guitar battle, with electric violin by Robert Baba thrown in for good measure. Also Peter Vink (Star One) recorded new bass guitar especially for the single. And Ed Warby added some extra 'zing' to his performance also.
Of course, there will also be some really special bonus tracks to make this single even more worth your while to get! More information to come!
Release dates to be announced."
| Source: | ayreon.com |
| Band profile: | Ayreon |
Ayreon - cover posted online
AYREON, the brainchild of Dutch guitarist Arjen Lucassen (ex-BODINE, VENGEANCE), have posted the cover artwork for the "Limited Deluxe" edition of their latest CD, "Ayreon: The Human Equation", here.
"Ayreon: The Human Equation" is due in Europe on May 24 through InsideOut Music. The U.S. will receive the album one day later (May 25). Release dates for other countries will follow shortly. A single containing the radio edit of the song "Day Eleven: Love" plus the full album track "Day Two: Isolation" will precede the album.
In other news, AYREON have announced the "The Human Equation pre-release party" on Sunday, April 18, from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. at Stairway to Heaven in Utrecht, the Netherlands. "There will be a special preview of the album, a showing 'Behind the Scenes' documentary from 'The Human Equation' bonus DVD," according to a post on AYREON's web site. "You can buy the single and all sorts of other stuff before it hits the stores and pre-order the album on the spot!"
Also on the Lucassen-related front, Arjen has agreed to perform "Valley of the Queens" (which originally appeared on AYREON's 1998 release, "Into the Electric Castle") once more with sisters Floor (AFTER FOREVER) and Irene Jansen (KARMA) live. This performance will be part of Floor Jansen's graduation project for the Rock Academy, as she will be the support act for AFTER FOREVER on April 17 at 013 in Tilburg.
Read more ››
"Ayreon: The Human Equation" is due in Europe on May 24 through InsideOut Music. The U.S. will receive the album one day later (May 25). Release dates for other countries will follow shortly. A single containing the radio edit of the song "Day Eleven: Love" plus the full album track "Day Two: Isolation" will precede the album.
In other news, AYREON have announced the "The Human Equation pre-release party" on Sunday, April 18, from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. at Stairway to Heaven in Utrecht, the Netherlands. "There will be a special preview of the album, a showing 'Behind the Scenes' documentary from 'The Human Equation' bonus DVD," according to a post on AYREON's web site. "You can buy the single and all sorts of other stuff before it hits the stores and pre-order the album on the spot!"
Also on the Lucassen-related front, Arjen has agreed to perform "Valley of the Queens" (which originally appeared on AYREON's 1998 release, "Into the Electric Castle") once more with sisters Floor (AFTER FOREVER) and Irene Jansen (KARMA) live. This performance will be part of Floor Jansen's graduation project for the Rock Academy, as she will be the support act for AFTER FOREVER on April 17 at 013 in Tilburg.
Read more ››
| Band profile: | Ayreon |