Ayreon Universe – The Best of Ayreon Live
| Ayreon Universe – Best of Ayreon Live | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 30 March 2018 | |||
| Recorded | 15–16 September 2017 | |||
| Genre | Progressive metal, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 122:38 | |||
| Label | Mascot Label Group / Music Theories | |||
| Producer | Arjen Anthony Lucassen | |||
| Arjen Anthony Lucassen live chronology | ||||
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| Arjen Anthony Lucassen chronology | ||||
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Ayreon Universe – The Best of Ayreon Live, alternatively known as Ayreon Universe – Best of Ayreon Live or simply Ayreon Universe, is a live album and DVD/Blu-ray by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's progressive rock/metal rock opera project Ayreon, released on 30 March 2018.[1] Unlike Ayreon's first live album The Theater Equation, which was a stage performance of the album The Human Equation, Ayreon Universe was performed as a traditional concert, with two additional songs from Star One, another project by Lucassen.[2] It was recorded during a series of concerts in September 2017, which were the first ever official Ayreon concerts, although The Theater Equation was released (but not performed) as an official Ayreon product.[3]
The performance featured 16 singers, all of whom had previously worked together with Lucassen on his studio albums.[4][3]
Production[edit]
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (June 2018) |
Recording[edit]
It was recorded during a series of concerts in September 2017, which were the first ever official Ayreon concerts; over 9000 fans were present in the attendance, with 30 cameras used for the filming.[3]
Promotion[edit]
Lucassen officially announced the album in January 2018.[3]
On 30 January 2018 Lucassen released the video for "Everybody Dies" on YouTube to promote the upcoming release, calling the track "a personal favorite".[5]
Release[edit]
The album was released on seven different formats: single-disc Blu-ray, 2 DVDs, 2 CDs, 3 black LPs, a 3 gold LPs edition limited to 500 copies, a digital download version, and a "Limited Edition" featuring the contents from all first three editions.[3]
Track listing[edit]
All tracks are written by Arjen Anthony Lucassen except where noted
| No. | Title | Lead vocalists1 | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prologue" (from The Final Experiment) | Michael Mills | 3:57 |
| 2. | "Dreamtime" (from The Final Experiment) | Edward Reekers | 2:31 |
| 3. | "Abbey of Synn" (from Actual Fantasy) | Robert Soeterboek | 4:16 |
| 4. | "River of Time" (from 01011001) | Hansi Kürsch, Marko Hietala | 3:58 |
| 5. | "The Blackboard" (from The Theory of Everything; lyrics by Lucassen and Lori Linstruth) | Mills, Marcela Bovio | 1:52 |
| 6. | "The Theory of Everything" (from The Theory of Everything; lyrics by Lucassen and Linstruth) | Mills, Bovio | 4:38 |
| 7. | "Merlin's Will" (from The Final Experiment) | Floor Jansen | 3:10 |
| 8. | "Waking Dreams" (from 01011001; music by Lucassen and Anneke van Giersbergen) | Jonas Renkse, Anneke van Giersbergen | 3:40 |
| 9. | "Dawn of a Million Souls" (from Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator) | John Jaycee Cuijpers | 5:08 |
| 10. | "Valley of the Queens" (from Into the Electric Castle) | Van Giersbergen, F. Jansen, Bovio | 2:50 |
| 11. | "Ride the Comet" (from 01011001) | Renkse, Maggy Luyten | 3:41 |
| 12. | "Star of Sirrah" (from The Source) | Mills, Luyten, Kürsch, F. Jansen | 5:56 |
| 13. | "Comatose" (from 01011001) | Van Giersbergen, Renkse | 2:58 |
| 14. | "Day Sixteen: Loser" (from The Human Equation; lyrics by Lucassen and Devin Townsend) | Mills | 4:42 |
| 15. | "And the Druids Turned to Stone" (from Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer) | Damian Wilson | 4:42 |
| 16. | "The Two Gates" (from Into the Electric Castle) | Cuijpers, Wilson; spoken vocals by Irene Jansen | 6:00 |
| 17. | "Into the Black Hole" (from Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator) | Tommy Karevik | 6:11 |
| 18. | "Actual Fantasy" (from Actual Fantasy) | Reekers | 1:25 |
| 19. | "Computer Eyes" (from Actual Fantasy) | Reekers, Soeterboek | 4:35 |
| 20. | "Magnetism" (from The Theory of Everything; lyrics by Lucassen and Linstruth) | Karevik, Van Giersbergen, Hietala | 4:45 |
| 21. | "Age of Shadows" (from 01011001; music by Lucassen, Van Giersbergen, and Jonas Renkse) | Hietala, Kürsch, F. Jansen | 4:48 |
| 22. | "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" (from Star One's Space Metal) | Wilson, Luyten | 5:33 |
| 23. | "Collision" (from The Theory of Everything; lyrics by Lucassen and Linstruth) | Karevik, Hietala | 3:36 |
| 24. | "Everybody Dies" (from The Source; lyrics and music by Lucassen and Mike Mills) | Mills, Karevik, Kürsch, Luyten, F. Jansen | 5:01 |
| 25. | "The Castle Hall" (from Into the Electric Castle) | Soeterboek, Wilson | 6:30 |
| 26. | "Amazing Flight in Space" (from Into the Electric Castle) | Jay van Feggelen, Arjen Anthony Lucassen | 6:20 |
| 27. | "Day Eleven: Love" (from The Human Equation) | Reekers, Bovio, Soeterboek, I. Jansen, Lisette van den Berg, Ed Warby | 4:04 |
| 28. | "The Eye of Ra" (from Star One's Space Metal) | Wilson, Cuijpers, I. Jansen, F. Jansen, Kürsch, Karevik, Van Giersbergen, Hietala, Renkse, Mills, Bovio, Soeterboek, Reekers, Van Feggelen, Luyten, Van den Berg, Lucassen | 5:51 |
1In order of appearance.
Personnel[edit]
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Charts[edit]
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[7] | 6 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] | 13 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[9] | 32 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[10] | 39 |
References[edit]
- ^ Lucassen, Arjen Anthony (December 7, 2017). "Big news! Ayreon will be headlining the Marquee tent (capacity 14500) at Graspop, Friday, June 22!". Ayreon's official facebook. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ "Ayreon Universe". 21 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "ARJEN LUCASSEN Reveals Ayreon Universe - The Best of Ayreon Live Album". Knac.com. January 11, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
- ^ "AYREON Universe: The Best Of Ayreon Live, Out March 30". 12 January 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
- ^ "Ayreon Universe premiere live video for Everybody Dies". February 1, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
- ^ "Ayreon Universe – Ayreon onstage live".
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ayreon – Universe - Best of Ayreon Live" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Ayreon – Universe - Best of Ayreon Live" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2018. 14. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Ayreon – Universe - Best of Ayreon Live". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
External links[edit]
- Official Ayreon Website Archived 2009-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
