Ayreon is the brainchild of the Dutch music-genius Arjen Lucassen. He has previously played with Bodine and Vengeance. He also appear in many other projects, and other artists records, including Ambeon, Anthony, Erik Norlander, Lana Lane, Timo Kotipelto, Ian Parry's Consortium Project, Helloise, Noland & Wakeman and many others. A busy man indeed!

UNIVERSAL MIGRATOR PART 2: FLIGHT OF THE MIGRATOR (2000) TRANSMISSION

  1. Chaos
  2. Dawn Of A Million Souls
  3. Journey On The Waves Of Time
  4. To The Quasar
    1. The Taurus Pulsar
    2. Quasar 3C273
  5. Into The Black Hole
    1. The Eye Of The Universe
    2. Halo Of Darkness
    3. The Final Door
  6. Through The Wormhole
  7. Out Of The White Hole
    1. M31
    2. Planet Y
    3. The Search Continues
  8. To The Solar System
    1. Planet Of Blue
    2. System Alert
  9. The New Migrator
  1. Metamorphosis

  2. Sleeper Awake

Instrumentalists:

Arjen Anthony Lucassen: electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, analog synthesizers, Mellotron, Hammond and additional keyboards

Ed Warby: Drums

Erik Norlander: analog synthesizer, vocoder voice, Taurus pedal, Hammond and additional keyboards

 

Guitar solos:

Arjen Lucassen on 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9

Michael Romeo on 2

Oscar Holleman 2nd solo on 4

Gary (Hey!) Wehrkamo on 6

 

Synth solos/Hammond solos:

Erik Norlander on 1, 3, 4, 5, 7

Rene Merkelbach last solo on 4

Clive Nolan 2nd synth solo on 5

Gary Wehrkamp on 6

Keiko Kumagai on 9

Singers (in order of appearance):

Sir Russel Allen on 2

Ralf Scheepers on 3

Andi Deris on 4

Bruce Dickinson on 5

Fabio Lione on 6

Timo Kotipelto on 7

Robert Soeterboek on 8

Ian Parry on 9

 

Backing vocals: Damian Wilson on 2

Lana Lane on 4, 5, 6, 9 and voice on 1

 

Strings by Peter Siedlach

 

"He breathes new life into the good-old rock opera, has many famous musicians and singers participate in his musical adventures, and sells an impressive number of albums without playing one single gig. To say that Ayreon is an exceptional phenomenon in Dutch rock music is an understatement, to say the least." This is the way Ayreon's own website start to describe the man behind this album. This is the part 2 of the story, and it's the most exiting disc for my. Part 1 is a more softer effort, whereas part 2 is the heavy album. I won this at an internet auction, and bid on part 1 as well. But it just went too high for me to follow. The musical aspect of this album is phenomenal. It's a masterpiece, that nicely ranks alongside Queensr˙che's 'Operation: Mindcrime', Savatage's 'Streets - A Rock Opera' and any other grandiose rock-opera you might think of. Ayreon is much more progressive than those I mentioned, and has more in common with the prog-albums from the 70's (Emerson, Lake and Palmer etc.). But Arjen is of the soft metal school of the 80's, and bringing those influences together, he has made a remarkable album. And remarkable is a word to describe the line-up on this album as well. Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius), Andi Deris (Helloween), Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear, ex-Gamma Ray), Ian Parry (Elegy), Fabio Lione (Rhapsody, Athena, Vision Divine), Michael Romeo and Russel Allen (Symphony X) to name the most known, is a list of stars so impressive, I don't think I've seen anything like it since Hear 'n Aid! The only complaint from me here, is that some of the longer instrumental parts get somewhat tiresome. They are of course well played, but seem to be a bit worn out towards the end. I especially like the way Ralph Scheepers sound here. It suits his voice very well.

Killer tracks: Dawn Of A Million Souls, Journey On The Waves Of Time, Into The Black Hole

Arjen Lucassen guest appearances:

Shadow Gallery - 'Room V'

 

Related artists:

Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden, Symphony X, Andi Deris, Helloween, Stratovarius, Elegy, Rhapsody, Athena, Lab˙rinth, Primal Fear, Gamma Ray