The story begins with a strange voice (John de Lancie) calling out to the eight characters that are taken from various planes of time. The mysterious voice tells them they are in a place of "no-time and no-space". Urging them to continue, the voice gives them a task: to reach The Electric Castle and find out what's inside. After various steps, they come to the Decision Tree where the voice tells them one of them must die. They must then go through the Tunnel of Light, but the Highlander (Fish) refuses to reach the light, stays behind, accepts his death slowly, and lays himself down to die while the others continue. Then in the Garden of Emotions, the Egyptian (Anneke van Giersbergen), overwhelmed by her emotions, becomes convinced that Amon-Ra is coming to seal her fate.[ She loses her will to continue and wanders alone until she lays herself down and dies as well. The surviving characters finally reach the Electric Castle, penetrating the Castle Hall. On the Tower of Hope a breeze draws the attention of the Indian (Simone Simons) , luring her away towards the sun despite the warning of the Knight (Damian Wilson) and the Futureman (Edward Reekers). On the breeze, she encounters Death ( Mark Jansen and George Oosthoek) itself who takes her while she screams. The characters then come to their final test: the voice tells them that beyond them stand two gates, with one of them leading to oblivion and the second to the desired time of the heroes. One of the gates is old, deteriorated, and ugly, and the other made of gold and appears at first glance to be paradise. The Barbarian (John Jaycee Cuijpers), everyone wants a clean toilet. !!choice, and falls into oblivion forever. Finally, the Knight, the Roman (Edwin Balogh), the Hippie (Arjen Anthony Lucassen) and the Futureman, who had chosen the right gate, discover the true nature of the voice: it is called "Forever of the Stars", and claims that its kind is an alien race who lost all emotions. It also claims its kind caused the emergence of humanity on Earth, and that the eight heroes were in an experiment in understanding and/or rediscovering emotions. Feeling tired, the voice tells them to go on ahead and open the door, and that they won't remember what has happened. Back in their real time, the heroes all wonder what has happened, with the Hippie asking himself if this journey was the result of his drug abuse, the Futureman wondering if his memory has been erased, the Roman feeling stronger and the Knight thinking he found the Grail in a magic dream. The voice of the Forever of the Stars is then heard, asking them all to remember Forever.
@@AmericansLearnHi Lauren, just a little addition to @mandje2002 already very good explanation: Since all characters come from different eras in time, they all have a different background in terms of culture, religion and knowledge and therefore have different views on where they are and what that means. Still all of them came there alone, so the background singers are a musical element here, but do not represent a group of characters. Hope to see more Ayreon 🎸🤘🏻!
..a little addition too: The Egyptian lays herself down after the Garden of Emotions in the beautiful song Valley of the Queens. After Isis and Osiris, where five contestants are featured, another song follows in this 2019 sequence: Amazing Flight, where we meet the Barbarian and the Hippie. After their presentation, the beat changes into syncopic which was very characteristic for the Dutch progrock group Focus playing in the 1970s. From that group, the singer/keyboardist/flutist, now well preserved, shows he still can play the flute...
John de Lancie narrating that he is an immortal being who has plucked each character out of different time periods is a play on his role as 'Q' in Star Trek: The next Generation, where he did that multiple times throughout the series.
This is the opening track of the story and we meet 6 of the 9 characters. Cast in order of appearance that we see them on this video. Narrator - John De Lancie The Highlander - Fish The Indian - Simone Simons The Knight - Damian Wilson The Roman - Edwin Balogh The Egyptian - Anneke Van Giersbergen
ปีที่แล้ว +11
Glad you liked it so much. The first singer (Fish from Marillion) is The Highlander. If you are interested in following the story, I strongly suggest either the Lyric video of the whole album or the playlist for the concert. The next two songs of the album/concert introduce the missing characters of the story and after that the story gets going. Before this song is a prologue that explains a little bit of context, too. I myself like the live version better because I love how John de Lancie is portraying Forever. He brought so mus character to the narration. And the Other Tales after the Electric Castle story are great, too. Links: Playlist to full concert: th-cam.com/play/PLBw9in18G_7rS82fF7KrvUxiQTtbzE1UA.html Lyric video of the Album part 1 : th-cam.com/video/tdNBNpM_MXY/w-d-xo.html Lyric video of the Album part 2: th-cam.com/video/LycxXWaHppc/w-d-xo.html
At 8:55 Ayreon Angel Marcela Bovio says hi tt camera.. Reminded me of a quote from a movie classic: "She was giving me a look I could feel in my hip pocket." 😎 Am I looking fwd to Ayreon's upcoming Live Beneath The Waves concert? Yup! 🤘
Maybe Arjen chose Fish (vocalist of Marillion in the eighties) for this part as the Highlander because he is not a metal vocalist, but more prog rock. Arjen has a good taste for choosing artists for the various roles in these space metal opera's.
Into The Electric Castle was my introduction into Ayreon and what an intro. The album is a huge story and its fantastic, I was hooked on my first listen. Id recommend it for a listen.
Same here. My record dealer (is that the word?) knew I likes Yes, so he asked if I would be interested in a new Ayreon record that just came out. I looked at the list of musicians and saw that among others Fish and Thijs van Leer were on it, that was so unexpected that I of course bought the album. Fan ever since. Such a great way of being introduced to many singers and bands. Thanks Arjen.
Great reaction... again! 🙂 This whole concert is such a great journey, I have it on dvd and at least every two months I put it on. And Ayreon (and other projects of Arjen Lucassen) has a lot more like this... I'm lucky to go to see the next concert of him and surely looking forward to!!! 😊😊🙂
An answer to your question: the narrator and every singer are characters of the story. The narrator (John de Lancie) plays the part of "Forever" an ancient alien entity that started this game where he took eight human beings coming from different eras of the human history and brought them into another dimension. The humans have to find the Electric Castle and survive to it in order to return home. The human character are, in order of appearance: The Highlander, played by Fish. His character comes from Scotland as it was in the middle ages The Indian, played by Simone Simons. Her character comes from the great plains of North America in the pre-colombian era The Knight, played by Damian Wilson. His character comes from the Arthurian Britain The Roman, played by Edwin Balogh. His character comes from Rome during the Roman Empire The Egyptian, played by Anneke Van Giersbergen. Her character comes from the ancient Egypt. The other character of the story are: The Barbarian, played by John Jaycee Cuijpers. His character comes from the last period of the Roman Empire with the Barbaric invasion The Hippie, played by Arjen Lucassen himself. His character comes from the 1960's These two characters will appear in the following song: "Amazing Flight" The Futureman, played by Edward Reekers. His character comes from the second half of the 21st century. This last character will appear in "Time Beyond Time" (the song following "Amazing Flight") The point in this Metal Opera is: describing the feelings of each character; what's the reaction after being eradicated from their own lives and how they decide to face the challenge of finding the Electric Castle and survive to it in order to go home. Obviously, during this task, "some may die"... but I won't tell you more ;) Enjoy :)
I'm still reacting to this along with you Lauren, but I will share these thoughts as they come to me; The 'Highlander' is played by the Scottish ex-frontman of the English Neo-Progressive rock band Marillion. His professional stage name is 'Fish' (born Derek W Dick) but has been a solo artist since 1987. The Knight is played by Englishman Damian Wilson who has appeared on numerous Ayreon & Star One tours. On we go.....
confirm Ayreon fandom the plot is that all eight characters wonder why they're here, not quite understanding what 'here' is. The Highlander thinks they're in hell, whereas the Indian says it's a journey that has long been foretold. The Knight believes they're at the gates of Avalon to find the holy grail. The Roman, like the Highlander, believes they're dead and in the underworld. The Egyptian also thinks they're dead - but she says it's a good thing, as they have been chosen to enter the great hall of Isis and Osiris. The Highlander, being unable to recognise the stars, wonders how they are to find their way if they can't tell what constellations there are, and where. Vocalists (Live Concert 2019) • John de Lancie - Narrator • - Fish (ex-Marillion) - Highlander • - Simone Simons (Epica) - Indian • - Damian Wilson (Headspace, Maiden uniteD, ex-Threshold) - Knight • - Edwin Balogh - Roman • - Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gentle Storm, VUUR, ex-The Gathering) - Egyptian • - Marcela Bovio (Stream of Passion, Mayan) - Backing vocals, lead vocals on "Out in the Real World" • - Dianne van Giersbergen (Ex Libris, ex-Xandria) - Backing vocals • - Jan Willem Ketelaers - Backing vocals Other songs: • John Jaycee Cuijpers - Barbarian • Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Hippie • Edward Reekers (ex-Kayak) - Futureman • George Oosthoek - Death • Mark Jansen (Epica, Mayan, ex-After Forever) - Death • Robert Soeterboek - Vocals on "Songs of the Ocean" • Michael Mills (Toehider) - TH-1 (recorded intro to Other Tales section) • Rutger Hauer - Voight Kampff (recorded intro to "Pink Beatles in a Purple Zeppelin")
The trouble with listening to a track in isolation from a lengthy concept piece is you don't get the full picture. You wouldn't start to read a book from chaper 6 and know the full story and it is the same with the Ayreon albums.
Fair enough. That does make sense. I'll do a bit more research in the future to listen to these things in order. Because you're right. I can't even start a non-serialized tv show from the middle, I have to watch it from the beginning .
@@AmericansLearn These may come in handy? Playlist of this 2019 concert: "Ayreon Into the Electric Castle and Other Tales complete" Playlist of the 2017 concert: "Ayreon - Universe Full Concert" Could provide the l!nks, but YT tends to nuke my comments whenever I try. Cheers!
John De Lancie is an American born actor is the gentleman you mentioned on the start Narrating this show. I remember him on Days of our lives t.v. show and on Star Trek As Q. And was the first time the Borgs where introduced. Great talented man.
There is no they in Aryeon. It’s the brain child of one man Arjen Antonny Luccasson, who is a producer,composer,multi-instrumentalist who is just a super talented musician and a down to earth all right guy who loves prog.
Me again....OK, I will try and be kind to Fish, but the reason his vocal parts are so quiet is simply for the reason that his voice is completely shot. Years of performing mixed with a litany of substance and alcohol abuse has taken it's toll on poor Derek's voice, and as a fan of his work with Marillion from 1982 to 87 when he left, I really wish he hadn't reprised his role from the original 1996 recording. Were you to listen to the original album, his lines are sung an octave higher and with power and precision. Here, he is a shadow of his former self....
AFAIK Arjen wanted as much as possible the original performers back for this production. I still like Fish's diction, perhaps not as powerful in volume, but the messaging is still clear.
I'm sure Arjen was aware of the fact Fisk's voice was shot, but still took a chance om him for the life performance. One must admire the loyalty shown.
The story begins with a strange voice (John de Lancie) calling out to the eight characters that are taken from various planes of time. The mysterious voice tells them they are in a place of "no-time and no-space". Urging them to continue, the voice gives them a task: to reach The Electric Castle and find out what's inside.
After various steps, they come to the Decision Tree where the voice tells them one of them must die. They must then go through the Tunnel of Light, but the Highlander (Fish) refuses to reach the light, stays behind, accepts his death slowly, and lays himself down to die while the others continue. Then in the Garden of Emotions, the Egyptian (Anneke van Giersbergen), overwhelmed by her emotions, becomes convinced that Amon-Ra is coming to seal her fate.[ She loses her will to continue and wanders alone until she lays herself down and dies as well.
The surviving characters finally reach the Electric Castle, penetrating the Castle Hall. On the Tower of Hope a breeze draws the attention of the Indian (Simone Simons) , luring her away towards the sun despite the warning of the Knight (Damian Wilson) and the Futureman (Edward Reekers). On the breeze, she encounters Death ( Mark Jansen and George Oosthoek) itself who takes her while she screams.
The characters then come to their final test: the voice tells them that beyond them stand two gates, with one of them leading to oblivion and the second to the desired time of the heroes. One of the gates is old, deteriorated, and ugly, and the other made of gold and appears at first glance to be paradise. The Barbarian (John Jaycee Cuijpers), everyone wants a clean toilet. !!choice, and falls into oblivion forever.
Finally, the Knight, the Roman (Edwin Balogh), the Hippie (Arjen Anthony Lucassen) and the Futureman, who had chosen the right gate, discover the true nature of the voice: it is called "Forever of the Stars", and claims that its kind is an alien race who lost all emotions. It also claims its kind caused the emergence of humanity on Earth, and that the eight heroes were in an experiment in understanding and/or rediscovering emotions. Feeling tired, the voice tells them to go on ahead and open the door, and that they won't remember what has happened.
Back in their real time, the heroes all wonder what has happened, with the Hippie asking himself if this journey was the result of his drug abuse, the Futureman wondering if his memory has been erased, the Roman feeling stronger and the Knight thinking he found the Grail in a magic dream. The voice of the Forever of the Stars is then heard, asking them all to remember Forever.
Oh wow, thanks for that explanation! That's really cool
@@AmericansLearnHi Lauren, just a little addition to @mandje2002 already very good explanation: Since all characters come from different eras in time, they all have a different background in terms of culture, religion and knowledge and therefore have different views on where they are and what that means.
Still all of them came there alone, so the background singers are a musical element here, but do not represent a group of characters.
Hope to see more Ayreon 🎸🤘🏻!
I concur
..a little addition too: The Egyptian lays herself down after the Garden of Emotions in the beautiful song Valley of the Queens. After Isis and Osiris, where five contestants are featured, another song follows in this 2019 sequence: Amazing Flight, where we meet the Barbarian and the Hippie. After their presentation, the beat changes into syncopic which was very characteristic for the Dutch progrock group Focus playing in the 1970s. From that group, the singer/keyboardist/flutist, now well preserved, shows he still can play the flute...
From the same concert, The Knight ( Damian Wilson ) with an epic performance.th-cam.com/video/gcHn0kCgmAs/w-d-xo.html
John de Lancie narrating that he is an immortal being who has plucked each character out of different time periods is a play on his role as 'Q' in Star Trek: The next Generation, where he did that multiple times throughout the series.
This is the opening track of the story and we meet 6 of the 9 characters.
Cast in order of appearance that we see them on this video.
Narrator - John De Lancie
The Highlander - Fish
The Indian - Simone Simons
The Knight - Damian Wilson
The Roman - Edwin Balogh
The Egyptian - Anneke Van Giersbergen
Glad you liked it so much. The first singer (Fish from Marillion) is The Highlander. If you are interested in following the story, I strongly suggest either the Lyric video of the whole album or the playlist for the concert. The next two songs of the album/concert introduce the missing characters of the story and after that the story gets going. Before this song is a prologue that explains a little bit of context, too. I myself like the live version better because I love how John de Lancie is portraying Forever. He brought so mus character to the narration. And the Other Tales after the Electric Castle story are great, too.
Links:
Playlist to full concert: th-cam.com/play/PLBw9in18G_7rS82fF7KrvUxiQTtbzE1UA.html
Lyric video of the Album part 1 : th-cam.com/video/tdNBNpM_MXY/w-d-xo.html
Lyric video of the Album part 2: th-cam.com/video/LycxXWaHppc/w-d-xo.html
At 8:55 Ayreon Angel Marcela Bovio says hi tt camera.. Reminded me of a quote from a movie classic: "She was giving me a look I could feel in my hip pocket." 😎
Am I looking fwd to Ayreon's upcoming Live Beneath The Waves concert? Yup! 🤘
I am so jealous you get to see them live next month.
The tall dude is Fish right? From the band Marillion
Correct
He plays the role of 'The Highlander'
Thanks for clearing that up for me guys, I've actually seen Fish performing live in when I lived in Scotland play a tribute to Peter Gabriel.
Maybe Arjen chose Fish (vocalist of Marillion in the eighties) for this part as the Highlander because he is not a metal vocalist, but more prog rock. Arjen has a good taste for choosing artists for the various roles in these space metal opera's.
She is simone simons
Into The Electric Castle was my introduction into Ayreon and what an intro. The album is a huge story and its fantastic, I was hooked on my first listen. Id recommend it for a listen.
Mine too
Same here. My record dealer (is that the word?) knew I likes Yes, so he asked if I would be interested in a new Ayreon record that just came out. I looked at the list of musicians and saw that among others Fish and Thijs van Leer were on it, that was so unexpected that I of course bought the album. Fan ever since. Such a great way of being introduced to many singers and bands. Thanks Arjen.
The Highlander is lost in time, place and in life. He is questioning his existence and why he has lived the life he has and fought the wars he fought.
Great reaction... again! 🙂
This whole concert is such a great journey, I have it on dvd and at least every two months I put it on.
And Ayreon (and other projects of Arjen Lucassen) has a lot more like this... I'm lucky to go to see the next concert of him and surely looking forward to!!! 😊😊🙂
An answer to your question: the narrator and every singer are characters of the story.
The narrator (John de Lancie) plays the part of "Forever" an ancient alien entity that started this game where he took eight human beings coming from different eras of the human history and brought them into another dimension. The humans have to find the Electric Castle and survive to it in order to return home.
The human character are, in order of appearance:
The Highlander, played by Fish. His character comes from Scotland as it was in the middle ages
The Indian, played by Simone Simons. Her character comes from the great plains of North America in the pre-colombian era
The Knight, played by Damian Wilson. His character comes from the Arthurian Britain
The Roman, played by Edwin Balogh. His character comes from Rome during the Roman Empire
The Egyptian, played by Anneke Van Giersbergen. Her character comes from the ancient Egypt.
The other character of the story are:
The Barbarian, played by John Jaycee Cuijpers. His character comes from the last period of the Roman Empire with the Barbaric invasion
The Hippie, played by Arjen Lucassen himself. His character comes from the 1960's
These two characters will appear in the following song: "Amazing Flight"
The Futureman, played by Edward Reekers. His character comes from the second half of the 21st century.
This last character will appear in "Time Beyond Time" (the song following "Amazing Flight")
The point in this Metal Opera is: describing the feelings of each character; what's the reaction after being eradicated from their own lives and how they decide to face the challenge of finding the Electric Castle and survive to it in order to go home.
Obviously, during this task, "some may die"... but I won't tell you more ;)
Enjoy :)
Simone, Marcela, Anneke...the very best of female singers.
I'm still reacting to this along with you Lauren, but I will share these thoughts as they come to me; The 'Highlander' is played by the Scottish ex-frontman of the English Neo-Progressive rock band Marillion. His professional stage name is 'Fish' (born Derek W Dick) but has been a solo artist since 1987. The Knight is played by Englishman Damian Wilson who has appeared on numerous Ayreon & Star One tours. On we go.....
You should watch the whole show from start to finish but you are getting the right idea.
Next reaction anything live by ayreon 😅😅😅
confirm Ayreon fandom the plot is that all eight characters wonder why they're here, not quite understanding what 'here' is. The Highlander thinks they're in hell, whereas the Indian says it's a journey that has long been foretold. The Knight believes they're at the gates of Avalon to find the holy grail. The Roman, like the Highlander, believes they're dead and in the underworld. The Egyptian also thinks they're dead - but she says it's a good thing, as they have been chosen to enter the great hall of Isis and Osiris. The Highlander, being unable to recognise the stars, wonders how they are to find their way if they can't tell what constellations there are, and where.
Vocalists (Live Concert 2019)
• John de Lancie - Narrator
• - Fish (ex-Marillion) - Highlander
• - Simone Simons (Epica) - Indian
• - Damian Wilson (Headspace, Maiden uniteD, ex-Threshold) - Knight
• - Edwin Balogh - Roman
• - Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gentle Storm, VUUR, ex-The Gathering) - Egyptian
• - Marcela Bovio (Stream of Passion, Mayan) - Backing vocals, lead vocals on "Out in the Real World"
• - Dianne van Giersbergen (Ex Libris, ex-Xandria) - Backing vocals
• - Jan Willem Ketelaers - Backing vocals
Other songs:
• John Jaycee Cuijpers - Barbarian
• Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Hippie
• Edward Reekers (ex-Kayak) - Futureman
• George Oosthoek - Death
• Mark Jansen (Epica, Mayan, ex-After Forever) - Death
• Robert Soeterboek - Vocals on "Songs of the Ocean"
• Michael Mills (Toehider) - TH-1 (recorded intro to Other Tales section)
• Rutger Hauer - Voight Kampff (recorded intro to "Pink Beatles in a Purple Zeppelin")
Great summary. Small correction: the concert was in 2019.
The trouble with listening to a track in isolation from a lengthy concept piece is you don't get the full picture. You wouldn't start to read a book from chaper 6 and know the full story and it is the same with the Ayreon albums.
Fair enough. That does make sense. I'll do a bit more research in the future to listen to these things in order. Because you're right. I can't even start a non-serialized tv show from the middle, I have to watch it from the beginning .
@@AmericansLearn These may come in handy?
Playlist of this 2019 concert: "Ayreon Into the Electric Castle and Other Tales complete"
Playlist of the 2017 concert: "Ayreon - Universe Full Concert"
Could provide the l!nks, but YT tends to nuke my comments whenever I try. Cheers!
If no one has mentioned this before: the narrator, John DeLancie, played Q in Star Trek Next Generation and ST Voyager
Great invention: The Egyptian and the Roman settling a religious dispute by yelling aaahs to each other.....
one of my favorites😀
John De Lancie is an American born actor is the gentleman you mentioned on the start Narrating this show. I remember him on Days of our lives t.v. show and on Star Trek As Q. And was the first time the Borgs where introduced. Great talented man.
Listen to the first four Marillion albums , and you know why "Fish" sings these kinds of parts ;) Great reaction , thank you!
this is one of the best
Great reaction and analysis .Greetings from nwAse Sweden
There is no they in Aryeon. It’s the brain child of one man Arjen Antonny Luccasson, who is a producer,composer,multi-instrumentalist who is just a super talented musician and a down to earth all right guy who loves prog.
More Ayreon reactions please. Loved it
Me again....OK, I will try and be kind to Fish, but the reason his vocal parts are so quiet is simply for the reason that his voice is completely shot. Years of performing mixed with a litany of substance and alcohol abuse has taken it's toll on poor Derek's voice, and as a fan of his work with Marillion from 1982 to 87 when he left, I really wish he hadn't reprised his role from the original 1996 recording. Were you to listen to the original album, his lines are sung an octave higher and with power and precision. Here, he is a shadow of his former self....
AFAIK Arjen wanted as much as possible the original performers back for this production. I still like Fish's diction, perhaps not as powerful in volume, but the messaging is still clear.
I'm sure Arjen was aware of the fact Fisk's voice was shot, but still took a chance om him for the life performance. One must admire the loyalty shown.
@@roykliffen9674 I appreciate your feedback Roy. Take care mon ami
Not 2016 but 2019 . . .
It draws you in 😊
Fish is 1.95 tall