@@JenniferGlatzhofer not a bad suggestion. A lot of people have done that song. I'm a huuuge Ayreon fan I'd suggest something of The Human Equation which features singers such as James Labrie (Dream Theater) Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) and Devin Townsend. Arjen Lucassen is very friendly and often does interviews. That album is the pinnacle of Ayreon music in my opinion beautiful folk Bard style ballads and heavy powerful screams.
Composer Arjen Lucassen - Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon. Singers in order of appearance Mike Mills - Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and main songwriter for Toehider. Hansi Kürsch - Lead singer of Blind Guardian. Tommy Karevik - Lead singer of Kamelot. Maggy Luyten - One of Belgium's leading female rock singers. Floor Jansen - Lead singer of After Forever, ReVamp & now Nightwish. Backup singers Irene Jansen - Younger sister of Floor, usually sings backup vocals for Ayreon shows. Lisette Van den Berg - Dutch vocalist mostly known for her work with Scarlet Stories. Marcella Bovio - Mexican singer, violinist, songwriter, and vocal teacher, who is currently a member of the Dutch symphonic death metal band MaYaN. Next I would suggest reacting to the performances at Ayreon Universe concert, especially the following Intergalactic Space Crusaders, River of Time, Merlin's Will, Valley of the Queens, Ride the Comet, Star of Sirrah, And the Druids Turn to Stone, Age of Shadows & The Eye Of Ra.
I guess you've figured out by now that Ayreon is not a band but a musical project by the Dutch Musical Mastermind Arjen Anthony Lucassen. He's a tall, skinny, hippy dude that creates musical masterpieces and then gets some of the worlds best musicians and singers to come play with him, and record this amazing music and then many of these same artists will be part of a limited number of concerts where the music is presented to the public. Pretty much anything that has Arjen's name attached to it is going to be an unforgettable musical experience. I got to tell you that you make reaction videos fun. Love it. Keep on doing what you're doing.
@@JenniferGlatzhofer Arjen Lucassen is a musical veteran and has contacts all over the world. They're all in his little black book and he calls on them to have part in his compositions. He spotted Floor when she was very young and she's been part of *the Ayreon family* ever since. Floor also introduced Marko Hietala (former basist and vocals of NightWish). Mike Mills (the guy with the wires on his head) is an Australian vocalist and multi instumentalist (like Arjen himself). But there's so many people involved. The live shows ( Ayreon Universe) are sung by different people sometimes, if an artist can't (or won't) be available.
It was my first time this song hearing and fell of my chair as I recognized Hansi Kürsch of Blind Guardian. This is a rabbit hole! I spent 3 Hrs discovering Ayreon without notice how time passed by. Holy smokes! It all began with your analyse of valley of the queen. Thanks for showing me/us new music.
Loved your reaction, Jen! You can get some more details about Ayreon and how Arjen puts these things together by watching "The Day That The World Breaks Down." Be warned, it's long, and it's different, but no musician can do anything but love it.
That was delightful! So happy that you enjoyed this so much. This project is pumped full of top quality musicians and vocalists. I'll let others suggest where you should go next. You will enjoy whatever you choose. With Arjen, he always leaves us wanting more.
Yes, Ayreon! I love it, that you will analyse them. There are real good singers in that wonderful concert, composed by the musical mastermind Arjen Lucassen.
You may have reacted to this already but, "The Day The World Breaks Down" would normally be the first of the Ayreon project, at least from my take. Then after "Everybody Dies" would come "The Eye of Ra", I think is the name. Note: the backing vocalists, the lady at the far left (of those vocalists) is Floor's sister Irene. Jen, I just LOVE your enthusiasm and the quality of your reactions keeps me returning for more. I'm looking forward to your next commentary of the Ayreon series.
I concur with everyone else 'The Day that the World Breaks Down' , is a must for vocal analysis. Mike Mills shows his absolute mastery again. Floor's in there, Simone from Epica. Even though I'm forever team Floor, my absolute favourite (for the aforementioned song) is Tommy Karevik of 'Kamelot' who Arjen Lucassen (the writer) admits to being brought to tears when he heard Tommy's vocal tracks for this song. He has such a gorgeous rich and smooth velvety voice - you heard a little from him in Everybody Dies as the first call and response guy and then his own bit at the end just before Mike and Floor. Happy New Year by the way. I have so many more vocal athletes to recommend but I'm guessing you're already snowed under. Btw, I come from a sacred music background, singing in Cathedral Choirs etc , but in terms of concerts I've always been a metal head 😆- I firmly believe the 2 styles are very closely linked! Can't wait for more! Take good care of yourself 😃
So many people say "Its Floor!" when her sister Irene is one of the 3 backing singers for the whole song. In the same concert Floor & Irene sing together on stage too. So many Dutch & Scandinavian singers & musicians in this project.
Aryeon is a project band. The vocalists and musicians invited to record on an Aryon project reads like a who’s who of Euro Metal. Everybody in this rock opera performance is a recognized name in their own right. Each have their own bands and albums.
@@wulfy951 More like especially the backup singers, all backing vocalists in Ayreon are lead singers in their own bands, looks like it is a requirement.
You are going to love Arjen's stuff there is a basic musical theatre backbone to the concept albums he produces. On top of that he is able to incorporate many of the best voices from the heavier music scene and they are happy to show their chops. The live performances are more of events than tours so there is an available pool of outstanding singers and musicians to pull from for a week or two to set it up so they are always massive and fun.
I am so happy someone on the Theatre side of UA-cam has finally found Ayreon! Arjen is the mastermind and writer, and over the last twenty plus years he has been weaving a complex story commenting on the human condition and its relationship to technological advance. He writes complex rock operas to tell his story as opposed to writing novels. The Album this is from is Called The Source, and trying to explain Ayreon lore in a UA-cam is a fool's errand. When he writes these parts, he then "casts" his friends and people in the General Prog Metal community in the roles he has written. It is actually a game in the community to guess the vocalist from a ten second clip as his reveal method. I made this concert the central focus of my last trip overseas. It was a true spectacle of live music that brought together a fan base spanning over fifty countries to see their favorite artist live. The energy of the crowd was absolutely MAGNETIC! One of the greatest live shows I have ever been to. As a musical Theatre person, you should find Electric Castle Live. While the show you reacted to is more of a Greatest Hits compilation, Electric Castle Live is one of his space operas performed in a manner similar to the Les Mis Anniversary Concert. I unfortunately could not make it to that one, but my friend went and bought me the Blu-Ray recording. (FUN FACT- That friend went to star in a music for another one of Arjen's projects! They're playing Genghis!) They are having another one of these shows next week, and I am heading on a plane once again to attend this event. It is for the Album 01011001, and I will be back with updates.
Hi Jen, great reaction, great that you stopped a lot to show and explain things. I really learned new things about a song that I had heard many times before!
@@JenniferGlatzhofer By the way, they're both lead vocalists of legendary bands, Kamelot and Blind Guardian respectively. Hansi has been doing this since 1984 and BG are one of the most admired metal bands since the early 90s. His versatility is almost unmatched. Take a look at The Bard's Song and Valhalla ua-cam.com/video/i-IcX_bccFc/v-deo.html. Since you like dramatics, you can also check out Kamelot with Elize Ryd and Alissa White-Gluz in Sacrimony. ua-cam.com/video/1WvWbUgCcJw/v-deo.html Tommy is their second vocalist.
Jen, if by now you haven't realised it, you MUST react to 'The Day That the World Breaks Down. This will give you a fantastic overview who Arjen is, and his song writing abilities. Great reaction btw. Kevin from Wiltshire
This was a Monday treat I didn’t know I needed. I won’t go on about how amazing this all is, as everyone else has already mentioned it, but I absolutely enjoyed your reaction to the brilliance that is Ayreon!
Most of the soloists here sing particular characters in the story-song of "The Day That The World Breaks Down." That really needs to be your next dip into Ayreon because it gives the context for the whole universe, plus you get Arjen's personal insights as well.
Ayreon might have been made for vocal coach reactors. So many voices to analyse in single songs , looking forward to more from Jennifer as I think she is going to adore the show like production.
The three background vocalists are (from left to right): 1. Irene Jansen [The Human Equation] (Floor Jansens' sister) 2. Lisette van den Berg [Scarlet Stories] 3. Marcela Bovio [MaYa] Vocalists in order: 1. Michael Mills [Toehider] 2. Tommy Karevik [Kamelot] (the left one) and Hansi Kürsch [Blind Guardian] (obviously the one on the right 😅) 3. Maggy Luyten [Nightmare] 4. Floor Jansen [Nightwish] The song itself is from the album The Source, which tells a story of a civilisation that depends too much on an artificial intelligence, which turns out to be bad eventually. The album features (if I recall correctly) 13 vocalists which each play a different role. For example Floor Jansen is singing the part of the biologist, Tommy Karevik sings the role of the opposition leader and Michael Mills sings the part of TH-1, the artificial intelligence, hence his weird helmet ;-) In a nutshell Arjen Anthony Lucassen, the musical mastermind behind Aeryon, tends to write what you could call progressive rock musicals but (as far as I known) doesn't sing himself, so he invites vocalists he likes to perform on his tracks (as well as he invites several musicians to play all kinds of instruments on the tracks).
Nice and professional reaction here. This is a nine singer song. Dig in to the Ayreon rabbit hole Jen. Suggestion her is Cosmic Fusion from the same show. Is not quite like this but shows the geniality from Arjan Lucassen the mastermind behind this. Keep digging. Singers are Mike Mills (four octave register), Maggie Luijten, Tommy Karavik, Hansi Kursch and Floor Jansen (3 octave female register) And of course the Ayreon Angels Irene Jansen (sister of Floor), Lisette van den Berg and Marcelo Bavio.🤘🤘
Ayreon most resembles an Opera build-up. A leading story, and roles filled in by the singers. Everybody Dies is only a song from the main story, the Alphans needing to leave their planet or die from the terror of the computers. There are various side stories. If a very rare concert is done, the songs often originate from various opera stories. "Into the Electric Castle" is quite popular too.
Great reaction Jennifer! Recommended follow ups from this concert are: Merlin’s will Valley of the queens Age of Shadows Dawn of a million souls The theory of everything The eye of Ra In the last song the whole cast is on stage including Arjen himself.
Agreed, and I would add Castle Hall and Amazing Flight, since Arjen joins in on them. In the Two Gates you get a band-introduction by Irene (edit: not floor this time.. Floor) Jansen. Magnetism and Day 16: Love are very Musical Theater like. Thinking of it, Star Of Syrrah, too. I guess my recommendation would be to do The Day That The World Breaks Down next if you want some more background information, or simply start a video series and go through the whole concert.. 😃
I watched this for the first time yesterday and was amazed. Isn't it great to be pleasantly surprised by something new? I'm quite certain will we see more of Ayreon on your channel in the future.😉 I'm definitely going to check out more! This was fun!❤
🤘Hey Jen, 73 years old hippie from the Netherlands reporting: Very ...very nice reaction. Another adventure for you into the Metal/ProgRock scene in the Netherlands. Enjoy the ride ... Go for "The Day The World Breaks Down", it's featuring 11 singers, for you to get aquainted to. 🤘
I blundered across Ayreon during lock down and fell in love, each of their albums is a story with each song a part of it, with, as you said, its like watching a show, because you are, you're watching the people of the story be the singers. The guy at the start is the villain of this story, he's the AI that runs this civilisation, and basically its decided that humanity shouldn't survive.
I highly recommend "The Eye Of Ra" as well as "And The Druids Turned To Stone" from the same show and the studio version of "The Day That The World Breaks Down.
The overall instrumental Dynamic from bass all the way up to the keyboard is extremely reminiscent of Emerson Lake and Palmer the 1970s progressive rock band....
If you enjoyed the vocalists (#2 and #3) they have amazing bands, Tommy Karevik singer in Kamelot and Hansi Kürsch from Blind Guardian. Kamelot - Sacremony live performance with Elize Ryd and Alissa White-Gluz (ua-cam.com/video/1WvWbUgCcJw/v-deo.html) is still one of my favorites on youtube. So is Bard's Song by Blind Guardian and if you check out the Wacken performance you also get to hear Hansi's amazing voice with the double feature Vallhalla. (ua-cam.com/video/i-IcX_bccFc/v-deo.html)
"The Day That the World Breaks Down" is an obvious choice to inspect. If you want to see more of them live, the videos " Ayreon Universe - Age of Shadows Live at Tilburg 2017" and " Ayreon - Intergalactic Space Crusaders (Universe)" are interesting alternatives that both showcase slightly different sides to this project. The first of these featuring another vocalist you may be familiar with from other settings than Ayreon too.
Ayreon is a great fusion of symphonic and progressive metal with musical theater and rock opera. You ARE watching a show, Arjen is the metal Andrew Lloyd Webber. But he manages to get all the absolutely top studio musicians and name/genius vocalists on his debuts or at least his tours!
Hi from the UK 👋 🇬🇧 check out Ayreon twisted coil ( electric castle and other tails) But be careful not to fall off your chair This song is sung by the Knight of the round table inside this fantastic show
lead vocals on the everybody dies song are, Mike Mills, Tommy Karevik, Hansi Kürsch, Maggy Luyten and Floor jansen. the 3 femal back up singers are Marcela Bovio, Lisette van den Berg and Irene Jansen ( yes the younger sister of Floor Jansen) Ayreon was created by Arjen Anthony Lucassen. his albums are Rock/metal operas. he mostly uses 5 main band members for the music, but likes to use a wide variety of singers to tell the lyrical side off the story. and whne ayrean plays live, wich is not very often. he asks all the singers from previous albums iff they wanna join in on the live shows.
Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electronica, experimental and classical music. The majority of Ayreon's albums are dubbed "rock operas" because the albums contain complex storylines featuring a host of characters, usually with each one being represented by a unique vocalist. 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 mixed with instruments more native to folk and classical music. 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. This song is from Ayreon ninth studio album "The Source", prequel to album "01011001" . This DVD is awesome , absolute fire performance by everyone 🤘🔥🤘. And to see Floor with her sister Irene ( one of the backup singers , close to the drums ) on the same stage , is absolutely magical 🥰. Instrumentalists • Ed Warby - drums (Star One) • Johan van Stratum (Blind Guardian, VUUR, ex-Stream of Passion) - bass • Marcel Coenen (Lemur Voice, Sun Caged) - lead guitar • Ferry Duijsens (Dear Mother, VUUR) - guitar • Sir - Joost van den Broek (Star One, ex-After Forever) - keyboards Vocalists • Mike Mills (Toehider) • Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian) • Tommy Karevik (Kamelot, Seventh Wonder) • Maggy Luyten (ex -Nightmare) • Floor Jansen (Star one, Nightwish, ex-After Forever, ex-ReVamp) Backup Vocalists • Irene Jansen (Star One) • Lisette van den Berg (Scarlet Stories) • Marcela Bovio (Star One, MaYaN, ex-Stream of Passion, ex-Elfonía) NWSU/Ayreonaut ✌😁🤘
You really need to watch 'The Day The World Breaks Down' as he introduces most of these vocalists and explains why he chose them, and the musicians, for his project
21:17 ... you like Floor? Check the smallest backup singer...yes, she with the wine red hair... Marcella Bovio..... She is a powerhouse, lesser known, sadly.. she is the only one the whole time on stage as is Arjen Lukassen... He formed a band to her voice.. Stream of Passion, ,, look her up, you'll be surprised ....
Here is the link to the song new 'Ayreonauts' usually are introduced to the Universes created by Arjen Lucassen, The Day the World Breaks Down: ua-cam.com/video/oFuMKdrzPqU/v-deo.html
Studio: The Day That The World Breaks Down Live: Day Eleven: Love, The Theory of Everything, Amazing Flight in Space, Intergalactic Space Crusaders, Into the Black Hole, and last but not least Merlin's Will 😁 Thanks for a great video and have a fantastic New Year 🤘😎🎸
A few things (IF no one has beat me saying this): Ayreon is NOT a band, but a project. A super group, if you will. The only member is Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Arjen Lucassen has truly built a universe of more than excellent musicians around him. Lately, he even had a few songs re-issued with none other than Bruce Dickinson (yes, from Iron Maiden, with whom he initially wanted to launch this project anyway but got in trouble with after he released a few snippets from their debut release). Also, Ayreon is Arjen's main project now, with other side projects releasing material on the same basis (Guilt Machine, Star One) but this project being the only one with a continuous story throughout the album. Then there is the issue of Arjen having stage fright, so he doesn't appear that often on stage (he does, however, sometimes). Another noticeable thing to mention: Arjen was the one who discovered Floor's singing talent, and that's part of the reason why he likes to include Floor in many of his songs/albums. Because Arjen works with the best of the best in metal/prog, the project can't perform that often live. However, since 2018 or so, they do have 3 or 4 shows in 1 weekend every 2 years, in Tilburg, Netherlands. While Tuomas Holopainen has the nickname Mozart of Metal, Arjen has meanwhile earned the title Beethoven of prog rock. This Universe concert was the first official concert by Ayreon. There has been 1 concert a few years before that, but initially without the knowledge or certificate of approval by Arjen himself (that was the Theater Equation). This concert was called Universe, as u know, but the second concert - 2 years later - was called Electric Castle (narrated by none other than John DeLancie who played Q in the Star Trek Next Generation series. Next September (2023) is the next time there will be a series of a few concerts, once again in Tilburg - and also sold out completely! I think you should react to the whole concert, song by song. If you're amazed already, you'll be speechless and flabbergasted once you've gone through the whole concert!
I feel it6 really refresghing that not TDttwbd was the First Song of this Project. All 3 of the Ladies giving the Choire were and actual be Leadsingers in Bands, every other Artist on Stage are from absolute great Bands, and they all urge to be Part of Ayreon:) if you really into this Symp Rock/Metal/Jazz STory Style, you opened an real great Tin:) i would surely be here to watch it:) Oh, you asked: Whole Album: Vocalists Floor Jansen (Nightwish, ex-After Forever, ex-ReVamp) Damian Wilson (Headspace, ex-Threshold) Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian) Tommy Karevik (Kamelot, Seventh Wonder) Anneke van Giersbergen (Anneke van Giersbergen, The Gentle Storm, VUUR, ex-The Gathering) Marko Hietala (ex-Nightwish, ex-Tarot) Jonas Renkse (Katatonia, Bloodbath, ex-October Tide) Mike Mills (Toehider) Marcela Bovio (MaYaN, ex-Stream of Passion, ex-Elfonía) Irene Jansen Robert Soeterboek (ex-Erik Norlander) John Jaycee Cuijpers (Praying Mantis) Edward Reekers (ex-Kayak) Jay van Feggelen (ex-Bodine) Maggy Luyten (Nightmare) Lisette van den Berg (Scarlet Stories) Musician: Ed Warby - drums except on "Comatose" and "And the Druids Turned to Stone", additional vocals in "Day Eleven: Love" Johan van Stratum (VUUR, ex-Stream of Passion) - bass, except on "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" Peter Vink - bass in "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" Marcel Coenen (Lemur Voice, Sun Caged) - lead guitar Ferry Duijsens - guitar Joost van den Broek (ex-After Forever) - keyboards Ben Mathot - violin Jeroen Goossens - flutes, woodwinds Maaike Peterse - cello Rob Snijders - percussion in "Comatose" and drums on "And the Druids Turned to Stone" Arjen Anthony Lucassen - additional guitar and vocals in "Amazing Flight in Space" and "The Eye of Ra"
Boy are you gonna love "Day that the World Breaks Down" official video with the backstory and over a dozen fantastic voices, and "Valley of the Queens" live. Floor is in both. She seems to show up for Arjens best tracks.
Interesting reaction Jennifer, thanks. Since you liked Mike Mills, I would strongly suggest listening to his band, Toehider. Stylistically his music is really diverse, but for vocal fireworks I would go for the live versions of “Whatever makes you feel super” or “How do ghosts work”. As for Ayreon, I’m going to fight against the tide and suggest zeroing in on one singer, Damian Wilson: his live performance of “Twisted coil” is spectacularly good.
Arjen Anthony Lucasson draws a lot of the inspiration for his music from sci-fi moves, shows, and books. Most of what he does with Ayreon are original stories developed by him and turned into rock operas that are absolutely amazing. But he does have another band called Star One, similar in performance, but the lyrics are all based on existing sci-fi stories like Stargate, Blakes7, Alien, Star Wars, etc... also absolutely amazing.
At first I was a bit mad at people who recommended this song as the entry point to Ayreon, but your love for theatrical performances made it easier for you to digest everything, and it was so much fun to watch you. :) As others said, the usual first Ayreon song is The Day That The World Breaks Down, enjoy! ua-cam.com/video/oFuMKdrzPqU/v-deo.html
The high backing vocals are probably done by Marcella Bovio, the redhead on the left (viewers right). She's quite underrated but an absolute vocal monster and valued as an associate by Arjen Antony Lucassen who often uses her to sing the demos of the parts as well as have her arrange parts of the songs.
Ayreon is a multi-album Sci-Fi concept set across hundreds of years that is highly theatrical in nature, incorporating many guest singers and musicians per album. Ayreon Universe was a massive live show of most of the main themes from across the entire Ayreon mythos.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Ayreon, from the glorious mind of Arjen Lucassen. Each Ayreon album is a progressive rock opera, most of which are tied to teh same backstory about the history of humanity. Arjen is very famous within the European metal scene it is a great honor to be asked by him to sing on his projects. Because there are so many guests live shows are very rare. This concert, Universe Live, is composed of mostly songs from The Source album, which is the origin story of the Ayreon Universe. Highly recommend you do The Day That the World Breaks Down next which is a great introduction to the Ayreon universe and the first track off The Source. This song is number 3 on the album and is basically the Alphans talking about he end of their planet and how only a small set of them will be able to leave their planet and survive. The first male singer, Michael Mills from the band Toehider, is playing the role of TH-1, an android (thus the headpiece with lasers) who is helping the Alphans aginst the Frame (main computers run amuck). When you watch TDTTWBD you will see why he is called the Digital Pavarotti. Some other singers you heard include Tommy Karevik of Kamelot and Seventh Wonder and Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian. Both are amazing singers and their bands are definitely worth checking out. Kamelot - Sacrimony ua-cam.com/video/1WvWbUgCcJw/v-deo.html Kamelot - Under Grey Skies ua-cam.com/video/e4b1SkQfgUA/v-deo.html Blind Guardian - The Bard's Song & Valhalla ua-cam.com/video/i-IcX_bccFc/v-deo.html Ayreon is like a gateway drug to lots of really great singers and bands. Others have mentioned the 3 ladies singing back up. Note that you can see Floor and Irene sing together in the Eye of Ra from this concert. One of my favorites of Floor and Irene is this performance from 2003 in a Star One concert (another Arjen project) with Damian Wilson of Into the Black Hole (which is actually an Ayreon song). ua-cam.com/video/oriR8CpI-Io/v-deo.html. I must give a shout out to Marcela Bovio. She is one of my favorite singers and is very similar to Floor in that she is incredibly versatile and powerful. Very underappreciated and under reacted to. One of my favorite songs by her is the song Here to Stay from her Through Their Eyes album. Her previous solo album was crowdfunded by her fans and one of the tiers for that funding campaign was that Marcela would write a song based on a theme or concept submitted by the fan. The patron's so loved their songs that they encouraged her to release them and the album Through Their Eyes was the result. Here to Stay was based on a fan's experience of being told he might have cancer while undergoing medical tests. After the testing was completed it turned out he didn't have cancer and the song was about the relief and joy he felt afterwards. Unfortunately about a year after the album's release Marcela was diagnosed with cancer herself. About a year later she announced that she had beaten it and was cancer free so you can imagine Here to Stay has even more meaning for her. This video is a live playthrough in her home studio a few months after finding out she was cancer free. ua-cam.com/video/joSDTT4ZWYs/v-deo.html. Such a beautiful and emotional performance and the lyrics are stunning. One of my favorite songs by any performer. More Marcela favorites Out in the Real World - ua-cam.com/video/Rtrkpxq3dOA/v-deo.html Stream of Passion song performed at the Ayreon Electric Castle Live concert. MaYan - Rebirth from Despair ua-cam.com/video/u5TQqUD74OE/v-deo.html To see her versatility. Loneliness #1 - ua-cam.com/video/PABQZrIVPpg/v-deo.html Loneliness #2 - ua-cam.com/video/1GXNK1aY4dI/v-deo.html Cool video explaining how she layered her vocals for Loneliness #1's chorus. ua-cam.com/video/CQY0IJC2O34/v-deo.html
for some more Mike Mills magic from this concert then the next song could be Day Sixteen Loser as it is also a lot of fun. Everybody Dies is from the album - The Source. All of Ayreons albums are like mini progressive rock operas with each singer representing a character in an ongoing story that is loosely linked across all the albums.
Arjen, the project mastermind calls this Space Metal, theatrical and musical drama with progressive metal. Most of the vocalist are from established bands as well as the musicians.
Check out Day Eleven "Love: also from this concert. You will get to hear the redhead on the right sing with another great male singer. A sweet love at first sight ballad. Then all of the singers will stand stage front and sing the song out acappella. It will make the hair on your body stand on end. So beautiful. I have never seen you have this much fun reviewing a song. Good Job!
A second step into Ayreon's realm? I'd suggest Day 2: Isolation from the rock opera The Human Equation. The live rendition (2015) of this opera was called "The Theater Equation". You'll once again encounter several gifted singers (most were the ones on the album). I love Floor's sister, Irene, performance. She's a powerhouse when given the chance. 🙂 (ua-cam.com/video/0zaJlvmpLrw/v-deo.html&ab_channel=InsideOutMusicTV)
Welcome to the Arjen Anthony Lucassen rabbit hole. Very much looking forward to hearing your excellent analysis as you delve into the genius of the maestro. I'm sure others will make recommendations of where to go to next. Enjoy !!
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Not sure if the facial expression in the thumbnail is for Michael's intro or when Maggie starts singing. 😁 Looking forward to your analysis and hope to make it to me premiere.
@@JenniferGlatzhofer I'm glad you had fun with this one. The two male singers doing the conversational part are Tommy Karevik from Kamelot and Hansi Kürsch from Blind Guardian (I suggested one of their songs under your last reaction if I remember correctly). I'll try and give a short summary about Ayreon: It is one of the projects from Arjen Anthony Lucassen and it consits of many concept albums in the form of Rock-Operas that play in the larger Ayreon Universe. The overarching storyline follows "The Forever", our ancestors from the Andromeda galaxy, and the timeline reaches from the beginning of the universe to 2084, iirc. Every album tells a story in this universe. For most albums there is one singer for every character in the story. That and Arjen's composing are where you get the Musical-Theater vibes from. The only outlier is Transitus that was planned as a movie, but then the pandemic happened and it was transformed into an Ayreon Album. The Ayreon Universe concert was the first live performance after 22 years and a best of show with songs from different albums and even a few from the Star One Project. In Star One each song of an album are inspired by a SciFi movie or series. In the studio recordings, Arjen plays many of the instruments himself with some guest musicians, but for the live shows he recruits this amazing band since he suffers from serious stage fright and doesn't really like playing live. And how he gets all those amazing singers to work with him is an unsolved mystery 😉 I suggest his interview with Elisabeth from The Charismatic Voice. If you do The Day That The World Breaks Down next, as many have already suggested, you'll get text pop-ups from Arjen with some background information on the production, singers and story of that album (The Source from 2017).
Buckle up because we are going on a trip into the world of Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Ayreon, Ambeon, Star One, Guilt Machine, Gentle Storm, Stream of Passion) aka Ayreon Universe. (about 100 artists thick) ….. Enjoy the music!!
Super great reaction and analysis! I'll add my little recommendations, 'Ride the comet' for amazing work from backing vocalists. 'Age of shadows' and 'River of time' for my two favourite boys Hansi and Marko (hoping a little that you'll react to Blind Guardian in the future :p) All from Ayreon Universe concert. Have a great day!
Jen, you know you're in for a ride when the opening (synth) percussion mimics the human heartbeat (a swung, "lub-dub, lub-dub") and then it ENDS on the first "Everybody Dies". Others can tell you about Arjen and his project ("Ayreon"). All I can tell you is there's quite a bit more to look at : "The Day the World Breaks Down" ( oFuMKdrzPqU ), and LIVE versions of Intergallactic Space Crusaders, Twisted Coil ... there's lots.
If you like lots of singers, try the "Eye of Ra" from this same performance. The video called "The Day hat the World Breaks Down" will introduce many of these singers. Enjoyed the reaction, welcome to another rabbit hole.
This song is from the album 'The Source' which like all Ayreon albums is a concept album telling a story, and interconnects with other Ayreon albums that make up a Universe. The album starts with 'The Day the World Breaks Down'. There is a video of it where Arjen gives a lot of background info and properly introduces all the main characters (singers) of the story. Except for Magali (Maggie) Luyten the singers of this video are among them. The Ayreon Universe concert is actually a 'Best of Ayreon' collection with 16 (!) singers. By the way the left backing vocalist is Floor's sister Irene.
Arjen is an amazing musician he creates really great music with the best singers of the genre. You should check "Cosmic Fusion" with Simone Simons another beautiful and talented singer.
Jen- Your next visit with Ayreon should be "The day the world breaks down". Similar to this but a studio version with many of the same singers. Enjoy!
Thank you😊
@@JenniferGlatzhofer On this one you'll have to pause a lot more. Hard work and taking in lots of info it will be.
Yep, this is a popular one for reacts but for good reason!
Also notice that the man behind Ayreon, Arjan Anthony Lucassen plays the bass, guitar, Hammond and synth parts on the studio version.
@@JenniferGlatzhofer not a bad suggestion. A lot of people have done that song. I'm a huuuge Ayreon fan I'd suggest something of The Human Equation which features singers such as James Labrie (Dream Theater) Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) and Devin Townsend.
Arjen Lucassen is very friendly and often does interviews. That album is the pinnacle of Ayreon music in my opinion beautiful folk Bard style ballads and heavy powerful screams.
The back line of singers are “Ayreon’s Angels”, featuring Irene Jansen (Floor’s sister), Lisette Van Den Berg, and Marcela Bovio.
Really like Marcela’s vocals and her colors.
Composer
Arjen Lucassen - Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon.
Singers in order of appearance
Mike Mills - Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and main songwriter for Toehider.
Hansi Kürsch - Lead singer of Blind Guardian.
Tommy Karevik - Lead singer of Kamelot.
Maggy Luyten - One of Belgium's leading female rock singers.
Floor Jansen - Lead singer of After Forever, ReVamp & now Nightwish.
Backup singers
Irene Jansen - Younger sister of Floor, usually sings backup vocals for Ayreon shows.
Lisette Van den Berg - Dutch vocalist mostly known for her work with Scarlet Stories.
Marcella Bovio - Mexican singer, violinist, songwriter, and vocal teacher, who is currently a member of the Dutch symphonic death metal band MaYaN.
Next I would suggest reacting to the performances at Ayreon Universe concert, especially the following Intergalactic Space Crusaders, River of Time, Merlin's Will, Valley of the Queens, Ride the Comet, Star of Sirrah, And the Druids Turn to Stone, Age of Shadows & The Eye Of Ra.
I guess you've figured out by now that Ayreon is not a band but a musical project by the Dutch Musical Mastermind Arjen Anthony Lucassen. He's a tall, skinny, hippy dude that creates musical masterpieces and then gets some of the worlds best musicians and singers to come play with him, and record this amazing music and then many of these same artists will be part of a limited number of concerts where the music is presented to the public. Pretty much anything that has Arjen's name attached to it is going to be an unforgettable musical experience. I got to tell you that you make reaction videos fun. Love it. Keep on doing what you're doing.
I can’t wait to dive into more 😁😁
@@JenniferGlatzhoferWe all can’t wait for it either! =}
@@JenniferGlatzhofer Arjen Lucassen is a musical veteran and has contacts all over the world. They're all in his little black book and he calls on them to have part in his compositions. He spotted Floor when she was very young and she's been part of *the Ayreon family* ever since. Floor also introduced Marko Hietala (former basist and vocals of NightWish). Mike Mills (the guy with the wires on his head) is an Australian vocalist and multi instumentalist (like Arjen himself). But there's so many people involved. The live shows ( Ayreon Universe) are sung by different people sometimes, if an artist can't (or won't) be available.
It was my first time this song hearing and fell of my chair as I recognized Hansi Kürsch of Blind Guardian. This is a rabbit hole! I spent 3 Hrs discovering Ayreon without notice how time passed by. Holy smokes! It all began with your analyse of valley of the queen. Thanks for showing me/us new music.
Loved your reaction, Jen! You can get some more details about Ayreon and how Arjen puts these things together by watching "The Day That The World Breaks Down." Be warned, it's long, and it's different, but no musician can do anything but love it.
Mike Mills is the lead singer from Toehider, and he has an absolutely ridiculous range. Check out "Whatever Makes You Feel Superior".
This ^
He is Toehider. It's all him.
Plus, Been so happy here in the water us another gem.
I didn't know them until today. Thank you for expanding my musical universe. What a show this was. I'm in awe.
That was delightful! So happy that you enjoyed this so much. This project is pumped full of top quality musicians and vocalists. I'll let others suggest where you should go next. You will enjoy whatever you choose. With Arjen, he always leaves us wanting more.
Yes, Ayreon! I love it, that you will analyse them. There are real good singers in that wonderful concert, composed by the musical mastermind Arjen Lucassen.
There are only very good singers in those concerts. A requirement for becoming a background vocalist in Ayreon is being a lead singer in a band.
You may have reacted to this already but, "The Day The World Breaks Down" would normally be the first of the Ayreon project, at least from my take. Then after "Everybody Dies" would come "The Eye of Ra", I think is the name. Note: the backing vocalists, the lady at the far left (of those vocalists) is Floor's sister Irene. Jen, I just LOVE your enthusiasm and the quality of your reactions keeps me returning for more. I'm looking forward to your next commentary of the Ayreon series.
Thank you! I can't wait to dive into some more Ayreon :)
If diving deep into the Ayreon rabbithole, "The Eye Of Ra" should definitely be the last one.
The eye of ra is absolutely phenomenal, definitely check it out last. Its so good.
The world breaks down is definitely a good idea, it helps explain the project and has even more talented people 👍
I concur with everyone else 'The Day that the World Breaks Down' , is a must for vocal analysis. Mike Mills shows his absolute mastery again. Floor's in there, Simone from Epica. Even though I'm forever team Floor, my absolute favourite (for the aforementioned song) is Tommy Karevik of 'Kamelot' who Arjen Lucassen (the writer) admits to being brought to tears when he heard Tommy's vocal tracks for this song. He has such a gorgeous rich and smooth velvety voice - you heard a little from him in Everybody Dies as the first call and response guy and then his own bit at the end just before Mike and Floor. Happy New Year by the way. I have so many more vocal athletes to recommend but I'm guessing you're already snowed under. Btw, I come from a sacred music background, singing in Cathedral Choirs etc , but in terms of concerts I've always been a metal head 😆- I firmly believe the 2 styles are very closely linked! Can't wait for more! Take good care of yourself 😃
So many people say "Its Floor!" when her sister Irene is one of the 3 backing singers for the whole song. In the same concert Floor & Irene sing together on stage too. So many Dutch & Scandinavian singers & musicians in this project.
Aryeon is a project band. The vocalists and musicians invited to record on an Aryon project reads like a who’s who of Euro Metal. Everybody in this rock opera performance is a recognized name in their own right. Each have their own bands and albums.
"Each have their own bands and albums." Even the backup singers. :)
@@wulfy951 More like especially the backup singers, all backing vocalists in Ayreon are lead singers in their own bands, looks like it is a requirement.
It was funny how your brain melted right in the beginning seconds of the song; that's Ayreon for ya! I loved this reaction and your excitement!
Thank you😁
You are going to love Arjen's stuff there is a basic musical theatre backbone to the concept albums he produces. On top of that he is able to incorporate many of the best voices from the heavier music scene and they are happy to show their chops. The live performances are more of events than tours so there is an available pool of outstanding singers and musicians to pull from for a week or two to set it up so they are always massive and fun.
I am so happy someone on the Theatre side of UA-cam has finally found Ayreon! Arjen is the mastermind and writer, and over the last twenty plus years he has been weaving a complex story commenting on the human condition and its relationship to technological advance.
He writes complex rock operas to tell his story as opposed to writing novels. The Album this is from is Called The Source, and trying to explain Ayreon lore in a UA-cam is a fool's errand.
When he writes these parts, he then "casts" his friends and people in the General Prog Metal community in the roles he has written. It is actually a game in the community to guess the vocalist from a ten second clip as his reveal method.
I made this concert the central focus of my last trip overseas. It was a true spectacle of live music that brought together a fan base spanning over fifty countries to see their favorite artist live. The energy of the crowd was absolutely MAGNETIC! One of the greatest live shows I have ever been to.
As a musical Theatre person, you should find Electric Castle Live. While the show you reacted to is more of a Greatest Hits compilation, Electric Castle Live is one of his space operas performed in a manner similar to the Les Mis Anniversary Concert. I unfortunately could not make it to that one, but my friend went and bought me the Blu-Ray recording. (FUN FACT- That friend went to star in a music for another one of Arjen's projects! They're playing Genghis!)
They are having another one of these shows next week, and I am heading on a plane once again to attend this event. It is for the Album 01011001, and I will be back with updates.
Irene Jansen (Floor her sister) was one of the backing vocalists. She can sing as well, but made different choices in life.
Hi Jen, great reaction, great that you stopped a lot to show and explain things. I really learned new things about a song that I had heard many times before!
Thank you😁
The two male singers doing the call and response after Mike Mills’ intro are Tommy Karevik and Hansi Kirsch.
Thank you!
And if you want to see some more outstanding vocals from Tommy; check out 'Into The Black Hole' from the same concert.
When I first heard that call-and-response section, I was immediately put in mind of Gilbert and Sullivan!
@@JenniferGlatzhofer By the way, they're both lead vocalists of legendary bands, Kamelot and Blind Guardian respectively. Hansi has been doing this since 1984 and BG are one of the most admired metal bands since the early 90s. His versatility is almost unmatched. Take a look at The Bard's Song and Valhalla ua-cam.com/video/i-IcX_bccFc/v-deo.html.
Since you like dramatics, you can also check out Kamelot with Elize Ryd and Alissa White-Gluz in Sacrimony. ua-cam.com/video/1WvWbUgCcJw/v-deo.html Tommy is their second vocalist.
The day that the world breaks down next please but prepare its a 14 minutes song 😅😅😅
Got it hahah!
Jen, if by now you haven't realised it, you MUST react to 'The Day That the World Breaks Down. This will give you a fantastic overview who Arjen is, and his song writing abilities. Great reaction btw. Kevin from Wiltshire
This was a Monday treat I didn’t know I needed. I won’t go on about how amazing this all is, as everyone else has already mentioned it, but I absolutely enjoyed your reaction to the brilliance that is Ayreon!
Thanks so much!
That's our Jenn, starting the reaction by telling the naysayers to, cheekily, "click off!" 😁
😂😁
Most of the soloists here sing particular characters in the story-song of "The Day That The World Breaks Down." That really needs to be your next dip into Ayreon because it gives the context for the whole universe, plus you get Arjen's personal insights as well.
that guitar double for wow wow was Michael Mills.
Both live concerts: "Ayreon Universe" and "The Electric Castle Live" are just incredible... every song is awesome!
Ayreon might have been made for vocal coach reactors. So many voices to analyse in single songs , looking forward to more from Jennifer as I think she is going to adore the show like production.
For sure 😁
The three background vocalists are (from left to right):
1. Irene Jansen [The Human Equation] (Floor Jansens' sister)
2. Lisette van den Berg [Scarlet Stories]
3. Marcela Bovio [MaYa]
Vocalists in order:
1. Michael Mills [Toehider]
2. Tommy Karevik [Kamelot] (the left one) and Hansi Kürsch [Blind Guardian] (obviously the one on the right 😅)
3. Maggy Luyten [Nightmare]
4. Floor Jansen [Nightwish]
The song itself is from the album The Source, which tells a story of a civilisation that depends too much on an artificial intelligence, which turns out to be bad eventually. The album features (if I recall correctly) 13 vocalists which each play a different role. For example Floor Jansen is singing the part of the biologist, Tommy Karevik sings the role of the opposition leader and Michael Mills sings the part of TH-1, the artificial intelligence, hence his weird helmet ;-)
In a nutshell Arjen Anthony Lucassen, the musical mastermind behind Aeryon, tends to write what you could call progressive rock musicals but (as far as I known) doesn't sing himself, so he invites vocalists he likes to perform on his tracks (as well as he invites several musicians to play all kinds of instruments on the tracks).
Nice and professional reaction here. This is a nine singer song. Dig in to the Ayreon rabbit hole Jen. Suggestion her is Cosmic Fusion from the same show. Is not quite like this but shows the geniality from Arjan Lucassen the mastermind behind this. Keep digging. Singers are Mike Mills (four octave register), Maggie Luijten, Tommy Karavik, Hansi Kursch and Floor Jansen (3 octave female register) And of course the Ayreon Angels Irene Jansen (sister of Floor), Lisette van den Berg and Marcelo Bavio.🤘🤘
Hi Jennifer hope you are having an great and awesome day ❤️
Ayreon most resembles an Opera build-up. A leading story, and roles filled in by the singers. Everybody Dies is only a song from the main story, the Alphans needing to leave their planet or die from the terror of the computers. There are various side stories. If a very rare concert is done, the songs often originate from various opera stories. "Into the Electric Castle" is quite popular too.
Great reaction Jennifer!
Recommended follow ups from this concert are:
Merlin’s will
Valley of the queens
Age of Shadows
Dawn of a million souls
The theory of everything
The eye of Ra
In the last song the whole cast is on stage including Arjen himself.
Thank you :)
Agreed, and I would add Castle Hall and Amazing Flight, since Arjen joins in on them. In the Two Gates you get a band-introduction by Irene (edit: not floor this time.. Floor) Jansen. Magnetism and Day 16: Love are very Musical Theater like. Thinking of it, Star Of Syrrah, too.
I guess my recommendation would be to do The Day That The World Breaks Down next if you want some more background information, or simply start a video series and go through the whole concert.. 😃
And Intergalactic Space Crusaders. And Ride the comet.
@ The intro is by Irene, not Floor.
@@johnlindquist1784 Thanks for the correction. Of course Irene. Don't know why I got confused there...
I guess, I need more coffee.. 😆
I watched this for the first time yesterday and was amazed. Isn't it great to be pleasantly surprised by something new?
I'm quite certain will we see more of Ayreon on your channel in the future.😉 I'm definitely going to check out more!
This was fun!❤
Yes, I will definitely do more! Thank you 😁
🤘Hey Jen, 73 years old hippie from the Netherlands reporting: Very ...very nice reaction. Another adventure for you into the Metal/ProgRock scene in the Netherlands. Enjoy the ride ... Go for "The Day The World Breaks Down", it's featuring 11 singers, for you to get aquainted to. 🤘
Love to see more Aryeon! Intergalactic Space Crusaders from the same concept as this one is a personal favorite of mine!
Mine too
it's soooooooo good, and Damien's voice is so pleasing in the song, especially in contrast with Maggie's grit
That song is just like diving into a pool of cheese haha Love it
I blundered across Ayreon during lock down and fell in love, each of their albums is a story with each song a part of it, with, as you said, its like watching a show, because you are, you're watching the people of the story be the singers. The guy at the start is the villain of this story, he's the AI that runs this civilisation, and basically its decided that humanity shouldn't survive.
So happy you have arrived on the Ayreon train. It's rewarding!
You need to start with The Day The World Breaks Down, and I will watch every Ayeron clip with you!
Please react to: Ayreon - Twisted Coil (Live)
You won't regret it!
Imagine having the luxury as a composer to have backing vocalists who could easily each be doing the leads in their own right.
Great choice, thank you!
This has got to be the most thorough reaction/analysis ever done on this song. Very enjoyable to watch. Thanks!
Aw thank you😊
I highly recommend "The Eye Of Ra" as well as "And The Druids Turned To Stone" from the same show and the studio version of "The Day That The World Breaks Down.
I was there during that concert..... Next sunday I will be again!...... Been a fan for 25 years
Jennifer - 19:19 the top harmony will be Marcela Bovio, the petite red haired backing singer; with a huge voice.
The Choir girls are :
Marcela Bovio (red hair)
Lissette Van Den Berg (mid position)
Irene Jansen (yes, she is!!!)
The overall instrumental Dynamic from bass all the way up to the keyboard is extremely reminiscent of Emerson Lake and Palmer the 1970s progressive rock band....
You're truth 💜🔥🔥💜 and fire 🙏🏼
If you enjoyed the vocalists (#2 and #3) they have amazing bands, Tommy Karevik singer in Kamelot and Hansi Kürsch from Blind Guardian. Kamelot - Sacremony live performance with Elize Ryd and Alissa White-Gluz (ua-cam.com/video/1WvWbUgCcJw/v-deo.html) is still one of my favorites on youtube. So is Bard's Song by Blind Guardian and if you check out the Wacken performance you also get to hear Hansi's amazing voice with the double feature Vallhalla. (ua-cam.com/video/i-IcX_bccFc/v-deo.html)
Top-notch metal vocalists at the top of their game all in one place!
"The Day That the World Breaks Down" is an obvious choice to inspect. If you want to see more of them live, the videos " Ayreon Universe - Age of Shadows Live at Tilburg 2017" and " Ayreon - Intergalactic Space Crusaders (Universe)" are interesting alternatives that both showcase slightly different sides to this project. The first of these featuring another vocalist you may be familiar with from other settings than Ayreon too.
Ayreon is a great fusion of symphonic and progressive metal with musical theater and rock opera. You ARE watching a show, Arjen is the metal Andrew Lloyd Webber. But he manages to get all the absolutely top studio musicians and name/genius vocalists on his debuts or at least his tours!
Hi from the UK 👋 🇬🇧 check out Ayreon twisted coil ( electric castle and other tails)
But be careful not to fall off your chair
This song is sung by the Knight of the round table inside this fantastic show
lead vocals on the everybody dies song are, Mike Mills, Tommy Karevik, Hansi Kürsch, Maggy Luyten and Floor jansen. the 3 femal back up singers are Marcela Bovio, Lisette van den Berg and Irene Jansen ( yes the younger sister of Floor Jansen) Ayreon was created by Arjen Anthony Lucassen. his albums are Rock/metal operas. he mostly uses 5 main band members for the music, but likes to use a wide variety of singers to tell the lyrical side off the story. and whne ayrean plays live, wich is not very often. he asks all the singers from previous albums iff they wanna join in on the live shows.
Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electronica, experimental and classical music. The majority of Ayreon's albums are dubbed "rock operas" because the albums contain complex storylines featuring a host of characters, usually with each one being represented by a unique vocalist.
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 mixed with instruments more native to folk and classical music. 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.
This song is from Ayreon ninth studio album "The Source", prequel to album "01011001" .
This DVD is awesome , absolute fire performance by everyone 🤘🔥🤘. And to see Floor with her sister Irene ( one of the backup singers , close to the drums ) on the same stage , is absolutely magical 🥰.
Instrumentalists
• Ed Warby - drums (Star One)
• Johan van Stratum (Blind Guardian, VUUR, ex-Stream of Passion) - bass
• Marcel Coenen (Lemur Voice, Sun Caged) - lead guitar
• Ferry Duijsens (Dear Mother, VUUR) - guitar
• Sir - Joost van den Broek (Star One, ex-After Forever) - keyboards
Vocalists
• Mike Mills (Toehider)
• Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian)
• Tommy Karevik (Kamelot, Seventh Wonder)
• Maggy Luyten (ex -Nightmare)
• Floor Jansen (Star one, Nightwish, ex-After Forever, ex-ReVamp)
Backup Vocalists
• Irene Jansen (Star One)
• Lisette van den Berg (Scarlet Stories)
• Marcela Bovio (Star One, MaYaN, ex-Stream of Passion, ex-Elfonía)
NWSU/Ayreonaut ✌😁🤘
You really need to watch 'The Day The World Breaks Down' as he introduces most of these vocalists and explains why he chose them, and the musicians, for his project
21:17 ... you like Floor? Check the smallest backup singer...yes, she with the wine red hair... Marcella Bovio..... She is a powerhouse, lesser known, sadly.. she is the only one the whole time on stage as is Arjen Lukassen... He formed a band to her voice.. Stream of Passion, ,, look her up, you'll be surprised ....
Here is the link to the song new 'Ayreonauts' usually are introduced to the Universes created by Arjen Lucassen, The Day the World Breaks Down: ua-cam.com/video/oFuMKdrzPqU/v-deo.html
Studio: The Day That The World Breaks Down
Live: Day Eleven: Love, The Theory of Everything, Amazing Flight in Space, Intergalactic Space Crusaders, Into the Black Hole, and last but not least Merlin's Will 😁
Thanks for a great video and have a fantastic New Year 🤘😎🎸
Oh wow!
A few things (IF no one has beat me saying this):
Ayreon is NOT a band, but a project. A super group, if you will. The only member is Arjen Anthony Lucassen.
Arjen Lucassen has truly built a universe of more than excellent musicians around him. Lately, he even had a few songs re-issued with none other than Bruce Dickinson (yes, from Iron Maiden, with whom he initially wanted to launch this project anyway but got in trouble with after he released a few snippets from their debut release).
Also, Ayreon is Arjen's main project now, with other side projects releasing material on the same basis (Guilt Machine, Star One) but this project being the only one with a continuous story throughout the album.
Then there is the issue of Arjen having stage fright, so he doesn't appear that often on stage (he does, however, sometimes).
Another noticeable thing to mention: Arjen was the one who discovered Floor's singing talent, and that's part of the reason why he likes to include Floor in many of his songs/albums.
Because Arjen works with the best of the best in metal/prog, the project can't perform that often live. However, since 2018 or so, they do have 3 or 4 shows in 1 weekend every 2 years, in Tilburg, Netherlands.
While Tuomas Holopainen has the nickname Mozart of Metal, Arjen has meanwhile earned the title Beethoven of prog rock.
This Universe concert was the first official concert by Ayreon. There has been 1 concert a few years before that, but initially without the knowledge or certificate of approval by Arjen himself (that was the Theater Equation).
This concert was called Universe, as u know, but the second concert - 2 years later - was called Electric Castle (narrated by none other than John DeLancie who played Q in the Star Trek Next Generation series.
Next September (2023) is the next time there will be a series of a few concerts, once again in Tilburg - and also sold out completely!
I think you should react to the whole concert, song by song. If you're amazed already, you'll be speechless and flabbergasted once you've gone through the whole concert!
Thank you for this info! Definitely learning more as I read more up on it. Will be returning soon! 😊
I feel it6 really refresghing that not TDttwbd was the First Song of this Project.
All 3 of the Ladies giving the Choire were and actual be Leadsingers in Bands, every other Artist on Stage are from absolute great Bands, and they all urge to be Part of Ayreon:) if you really into this Symp Rock/Metal/Jazz STory Style, you opened an real great Tin:) i would surely be here to watch it:)
Oh, you asked:
Whole Album:
Vocalists
Floor Jansen (Nightwish, ex-After Forever, ex-ReVamp)
Damian Wilson (Headspace, ex-Threshold)
Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian)
Tommy Karevik (Kamelot, Seventh Wonder)
Anneke van Giersbergen (Anneke van Giersbergen, The Gentle Storm, VUUR, ex-The Gathering)
Marko Hietala (ex-Nightwish, ex-Tarot)
Jonas Renkse (Katatonia, Bloodbath, ex-October Tide)
Mike Mills (Toehider)
Marcela Bovio (MaYaN, ex-Stream of Passion, ex-Elfonía)
Irene Jansen
Robert Soeterboek (ex-Erik Norlander)
John Jaycee Cuijpers (Praying Mantis)
Edward Reekers (ex-Kayak)
Jay van Feggelen (ex-Bodine)
Maggy Luyten (Nightmare)
Lisette van den Berg (Scarlet Stories)
Musician:
Ed Warby - drums except on "Comatose" and "And the Druids Turned to Stone", additional vocals in "Day Eleven: Love"
Johan van Stratum (VUUR, ex-Stream of Passion) - bass, except on "Intergalactic Space Crusaders"
Peter Vink - bass in "Intergalactic Space Crusaders"
Marcel Coenen (Lemur Voice, Sun Caged) - lead guitar
Ferry Duijsens - guitar
Joost van den Broek (ex-After Forever) - keyboards
Ben Mathot - violin
Jeroen Goossens - flutes, woodwinds
Maaike Peterse - cello
Rob Snijders - percussion in "Comatose" and drums on "And the Druids Turned to Stone"
Arjen Anthony Lucassen - additional guitar and vocals in "Amazing Flight in Space" and "The Eye of Ra"
Boy are you gonna love "Day that the World Breaks Down" official video with the backstory and over a dozen fantastic voices, and "Valley of the Queens" live. Floor is in both. She seems to show up for Arjens best tracks.
The first back up vocalist is Irene Jansen Floor Jansens sister.
Now it's better to watch The Day The World Break Down, then you will find out who those singers are..
Interesting reaction Jennifer, thanks. Since you liked Mike Mills, I would strongly suggest listening to his band, Toehider. Stylistically his music is really diverse, but for vocal fireworks I would go for the live versions of “Whatever makes you feel super” or “How do ghosts work”. As for Ayreon, I’m going to fight against the tide and suggest zeroing in on one singer, Damian Wilson: his live performance of “Twisted coil” is spectacularly good.
Arjen Anthony Lucasson draws a lot of the inspiration for his music from sci-fi moves, shows, and books. Most of what he does with Ayreon are original stories developed by him and turned into rock operas that are absolutely amazing. But he does have another band called Star One, similar in performance, but the lyrics are all based on existing sci-fi stories like Stargate, Blakes7, Alien, Star Wars, etc... also absolutely amazing.
At first I was a bit mad at people who recommended this song as the entry point to Ayreon, but your love for theatrical performances made it easier for you to digest everything, and it was so much fun to watch you. :) As others said, the usual first Ayreon song is The Day That The World Breaks Down, enjoy! ua-cam.com/video/oFuMKdrzPqU/v-deo.html
Ayron Valley Of The Queens
The high backing vocals are probably done by Marcella Bovio, the redhead on the left (viewers right).
She's quite underrated but an absolute vocal monster and valued as an associate by Arjen Antony Lucassen who often uses her to sing the demos of the parts as well as have her arrange parts of the songs.
I'm quite surprised Arjen himself is not yet in the comments. This was a very skilled breakdown.
Floors sister, Irene is one of the background vocalist. I would recommend watching the whole concert and more Ayreon.
Ayreon is a multi-album Sci-Fi concept set across hundreds of years that is highly theatrical in nature, incorporating many guest singers and musicians per album. Ayreon Universe was a massive live show of most of the main themes from across the entire Ayreon mythos.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Ayreon, from the glorious mind of Arjen Lucassen. Each Ayreon album is a progressive rock opera, most of which are tied to teh same backstory about the history of humanity. Arjen is very famous within the European metal scene it is a great honor to be asked by him to sing on his projects. Because there are so many guests live shows are very rare. This concert, Universe Live, is composed of mostly songs from The Source album, which is the origin story of the Ayreon Universe. Highly recommend you do The Day That the World Breaks Down next which is a great introduction to the Ayreon universe and the first track off The Source. This song is number 3 on the album and is basically the Alphans talking about he end of their planet and how only a small set of them will be able to leave their planet and survive. The first male singer, Michael Mills from the band Toehider, is playing the role of TH-1, an android (thus the headpiece with lasers) who is helping the Alphans aginst the Frame (main computers run amuck). When you watch TDTTWBD you will see why he is called the Digital Pavarotti. Some other singers you heard include Tommy Karevik of Kamelot and Seventh Wonder and Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian. Both are amazing singers and their bands are definitely worth checking out.
Kamelot - Sacrimony ua-cam.com/video/1WvWbUgCcJw/v-deo.html
Kamelot - Under Grey Skies ua-cam.com/video/e4b1SkQfgUA/v-deo.html
Blind Guardian - The Bard's Song & Valhalla ua-cam.com/video/i-IcX_bccFc/v-deo.html
Ayreon is like a gateway drug to lots of really great singers and bands. Others have mentioned the 3 ladies singing back up. Note that you can see Floor and Irene sing together in the Eye of Ra from this concert. One of my favorites of Floor and Irene is this performance from 2003 in a Star One concert (another Arjen project) with Damian Wilson of Into the Black Hole (which is actually an Ayreon song). ua-cam.com/video/oriR8CpI-Io/v-deo.html.
I must give a shout out to Marcela Bovio. She is one of my favorite singers and is very similar to Floor in that she is incredibly versatile and powerful. Very underappreciated and under reacted to. One of my favorite songs by her is the song Here to Stay from her Through Their Eyes album. Her previous solo album was crowdfunded by her fans and one of the tiers for that funding campaign was that Marcela would write a song based on a theme or concept submitted by the fan. The patron's so loved their songs that they encouraged her to release them and the album Through Their Eyes was the result. Here to Stay was based on a fan's experience of being told he might have cancer while undergoing medical tests. After the testing was completed it turned out he didn't have cancer and the song was about the relief and joy he felt afterwards. Unfortunately about a year after the album's release Marcela was diagnosed with cancer herself. About a year later she announced that she had beaten it and was cancer free so you can imagine Here to Stay has even more meaning for her. This video is a live playthrough in her home studio a few months after finding out she was cancer free. ua-cam.com/video/joSDTT4ZWYs/v-deo.html. Such a beautiful and emotional performance and the lyrics are stunning. One of my favorite songs by any performer.
More Marcela favorites
Out in the Real World - ua-cam.com/video/Rtrkpxq3dOA/v-deo.html Stream of Passion song performed at the Ayreon Electric Castle Live concert.
MaYan - Rebirth from Despair ua-cam.com/video/u5TQqUD74OE/v-deo.html To see her versatility.
Loneliness #1 - ua-cam.com/video/PABQZrIVPpg/v-deo.html
Loneliness #2 - ua-cam.com/video/1GXNK1aY4dI/v-deo.html
Cool video explaining how she layered her vocals for Loneliness #1's chorus. ua-cam.com/video/CQY0IJC2O34/v-deo.html
When Floor appears ……everyone becomes happy
for some more Mike Mills magic from this concert then the next song could be Day Sixteen Loser as it is also a lot of fun. Everybody Dies is from the album - The Source. All of Ayreons albums are like mini progressive rock operas with each singer representing a character in an ongoing story that is loosely linked across all the albums.
lol..Garden of emotions, twisted coil, waking dreams and druids turned to stone are all amazing as well
Arjen, the project mastermind calls this Space Metal, theatrical and musical drama with progressive metal.
Most of the vocalist are from established bands as well as the musicians.
Check out Day Eleven "Love: also from this concert. You will get to hear the redhead on the right sing with another great male singer. A sweet love at first sight ballad. Then all of the singers will stand stage front and sing the song out acappella. It will make the hair on your body stand on end. So beautiful. I have never seen you have this much fun reviewing a song. Good Job!
A second step into Ayreon's realm? I'd suggest Day 2: Isolation from the rock opera The Human Equation. The live rendition (2015) of this opera was called "The Theater Equation". You'll once again encounter several gifted singers (most were the ones on the album). I love Floor's sister, Irene, performance. She's a powerhouse when given the chance. 🙂 (ua-cam.com/video/0zaJlvmpLrw/v-deo.html&ab_channel=InsideOutMusicTV)
Welcome to the Arjen Anthony Lucassen rabbit hole. Very much looking forward to hearing your excellent analysis as you delve into the genius of the maestro. I'm sure others will make recommendations of where to go to next. Enjoy !!
Not sure if the facial expression in the thumbnail is for Michael's intro or when Maggie starts singing. 😁
Looking forward to your analysis and hope to make it to me premiere.
Thank you 😁😁
@@JenniferGlatzhofer I'm glad you had fun with this one. The two male singers doing the conversational part are Tommy Karevik from Kamelot and Hansi Kürsch from Blind Guardian (I suggested one of their songs under your last reaction if I remember correctly).
I'll try and give a short summary about Ayreon:
It is one of the projects from Arjen Anthony Lucassen and it consits of many concept albums in the form of Rock-Operas that play in the larger Ayreon Universe. The overarching storyline follows "The Forever", our ancestors from the Andromeda galaxy, and the timeline reaches from the beginning of the universe to 2084, iirc. Every album tells a story in this universe. For most albums there is one singer for every character in the story. That and Arjen's composing are where you get the Musical-Theater vibes from. The only outlier is Transitus that was planned as a movie, but then the pandemic happened and it was transformed into an Ayreon Album.
The Ayreon Universe concert was the first live performance after 22 years and a best of show with songs from different albums and even a few from the Star One Project. In Star One each song of an album are inspired by a SciFi movie or series.
In the studio recordings, Arjen plays many of the instruments himself with some guest musicians, but for the live shows he recruits this amazing band since he suffers from serious stage fright and doesn't really like playing live. And how he gets all those amazing singers to work with him is an unsolved mystery 😉
I suggest his interview with Elisabeth from The Charismatic Voice.
If you do The Day That The World Breaks Down next, as many have already suggested, you'll get text pop-ups from Arjen with some background information on the production, singers and story of that album (The Source from 2017).
You are going to love Ayreon. Amazing music, story, and incredible voices everywhere.
I think I already do😊
Surely already said, but of course the proper next step should be The Day That the World Breaks Down...
Great fun Jen, please keep it up!
rl
🤘👹🤘
I had to laugh at the number of times your facial expression mirrored the one in the sketch on your desk. Super reaction, btw.
Hahah😂😂
I feel like you'd REALLY enjoy Intergalactic Space Crusaders with your background.
Other Reactors have said the back and forth parts remind them of Pirates of Penzance "Modern Major General"
Buckle up because we are going on a trip into the world of Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Ayreon, Ambeon, Star One, Guilt Machine, Gentle Storm, Stream of Passion) aka Ayreon Universe. (about 100 artists thick) ….. Enjoy the music!!
Arjen's Star One - Fate of Man has a singer you have not yet experienced but she is one that you should.
They always save Floor for last because, let's face it, who wants to follow her. 🤘😊
Pretty sure the B4 you called out was from Maggie Luten (sp) the dark haired female lead.
Try also Valley of the Queens.....quiet but very beautiful.....
Super great reaction and analysis!
I'll add my little recommendations,
'Ride the comet' for amazing work from backing vocalists.
'Age of shadows' and 'River of time' for my two favourite boys Hansi and Marko (hoping a little that you'll react to Blind Guardian in the future :p)
All from Ayreon Universe concert.
Have a great day!
Jen, you know you're in for a ride when the opening (synth) percussion mimics the human heartbeat (a swung, "lub-dub, lub-dub") and then it ENDS on the first "Everybody Dies".
Others can tell you about Arjen and his project ("Ayreon").
All I can tell you is there's quite a bit more to look at : "The Day the World Breaks Down" ( oFuMKdrzPqU ), and LIVE versions of Intergallactic Space Crusaders, Twisted Coil ... there's lots.
If you like lots of singers, try the "Eye of Ra" from this same performance. The video called "The Day hat the World Breaks Down" will introduce many of these singers. Enjoyed the reaction, welcome to another rabbit hole.
I love seeing people gush over Ayreon songs! Please do "Staring At The Sun" by Threshold, sung by regular Ayreon vocalist Damian Wilson.
This song is from the album 'The Source' which like all Ayreon albums is a concept album telling a story, and interconnects with other Ayreon albums that make up a Universe. The album starts with 'The Day the World Breaks Down'. There is a video of it where Arjen gives a lot of background info and properly introduces all the main characters (singers) of the story. Except for Magali (Maggie) Luyten the singers of this video are among them. The Ayreon Universe concert is actually a 'Best of Ayreon' collection with 16 (!) singers.
By the way the left backing vocalist is Floor's sister Irene.
And I like your map of my country behind you 😉😁
Arjen is an amazing musician he creates really great music with the best singers of the genre. You should check "Cosmic Fusion" with Simone Simons another beautiful and talented singer.