The Final Experiment
Encyclopedia
The Final Experiment is a progressive metal
/rock opera
album released in 1995 by Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen A. Lucassen
. Originally penned Ayreon: The Final Experiment with no artist noted, at the suggestion of the record label the subject was later detached, and used as the name for what was to be Lucassen's Ayreon
project.
In 2004, Arjen moved to a new record label, InsideOut
- with this move came re-issues of all the previous Ayreon releases, including The Final Experiment. This re-issue includes a bonus CD featuring nine re-worked recordings of tracks (or segments of tracks) found on the original album with different singers and all acoustic instrumentation.
The Final Experiment introduces several concepts which appear in future Ayreon albums, such as mankind's propensity for war ("Waracle"), polluting earth's environment ("Listen to the Waves"), or the gratuitous use of technology and computers in human society ("Computer-Reign (Game Over)"). The latter concept appears overtly in the tracks "Computer Eyes" from Actual Fantasy
, and "Web of Lies" from 01011001
, as well as "Evil Devolution" from Into the Electric Castle
.
in 1992, Arjen began working on writing and recording some solo material, with his newfound creative freedom. Finding motivation to commercialize the new music from his record company, Arjen released his first solo album in 1993 under his middle name, Anthony, entitled Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy. The album lacked a musical direction, and became a heterogeneous mixture of styles and genres. While the album was not commercially successful, it formed the groundwork for the Ayreon
project to come.
A number of albums from the 1960s and 70s featuring common stylistic threads made a lifelong impact on Arjen. The dynamic and exciting music, emotionally driven lyrics, and an ensemble cast found in albums such as Andrew Lloyd Webber's
Jesus Christ Superstar
and The Who's
Tommy
, commonly referred to as rock operas
, inspired Arjen to create one of his own. Working in an environment where he could develop an album exactly as he wanted, Arjen intended to create his vision, making no compromises along the way. His vision manifested itself in The Final Experiment and, after being rejected by several different record labels, was picked up by a small Dutch record label. The project was financially burdensome, but through some subsidization from his father, it was seen through to completion, and was successful enough to warrant another Ayreon release.
Instrumentalists
Bonus disc instrumentalists (2005 reissue only)
Artwork
Technical
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
/rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
album released in 1995 by Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen A. Lucassen
Arjen Anthony Lucassen
Arjen Anthony "Oswold Jr." Lucassen is a progressive metal/rock composer, singer and musician from the Netherlands, best known for his long-running progressive opera project titled Ayreon....
. Originally penned Ayreon: The Final Experiment with no artist noted, at the suggestion of the record label the subject was later detached, and used as the name for what was to be Lucassen's Ayreon
Ayreon
Ayreon is a project by Dutch composer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen.Ayreon's musical style derives mostly from heavy metal and progressive rock, but combines them with genres like folk, classical and electronica...
project.
In 2004, Arjen moved to a new record label, InsideOut
InsideOut Music
Inside Out Music is a German independent record label based in Kleve, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles music albums.-History:...
- with this move came re-issues of all the previous Ayreon releases, including The Final Experiment. This re-issue includes a bonus CD featuring nine re-worked recordings of tracks (or segments of tracks) found on the original album with different singers and all acoustic instrumentation.
The Final Experiment introduces several concepts which appear in future Ayreon albums, such as mankind's propensity for war ("Waracle"), polluting earth's environment ("Listen to the Waves"), or the gratuitous use of technology and computers in human society ("Computer-Reign (Game Over)"). The latter concept appears overtly in the tracks "Computer Eyes" from Actual Fantasy
Actual Fantasy
Actual Fantasy is a progressive metal album released in 1996 by Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen A. Lucassen and is the second album of his Ayreon project...
, and "Web of Lies" from 01011001
01011001
01011001 is the seventh studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. "01011001" is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter Y...
, as well as "Evil Devolution" from Into the Electric Castle
Into the Electric Castle
Into the Electric Castle is a progressive metal two-disc album released in 1998 by Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen A. Lucassen. It is the third album of his Ayreon project....
.
Creation
After leaving VengeanceVengeance (band)
Vengeance is a metal band from the Netherlands formed in 1983. Arjen Anthony Lucassen, the head of Ayreon and other progressive metal projects, played in the band from its formation until 1992, when he left to pursue a solo career....
in 1992, Arjen began working on writing and recording some solo material, with his newfound creative freedom. Finding motivation to commercialize the new music from his record company, Arjen released his first solo album in 1993 under his middle name, Anthony, entitled Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy. The album lacked a musical direction, and became a heterogeneous mixture of styles and genres. While the album was not commercially successful, it formed the groundwork for the Ayreon
Ayreon
Ayreon is a project by Dutch composer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen.Ayreon's musical style derives mostly from heavy metal and progressive rock, but combines them with genres like folk, classical and electronica...
project to come.
A number of albums from the 1960s and 70s featuring common stylistic threads made a lifelong impact on Arjen. The dynamic and exciting music, emotionally driven lyrics, and an ensemble cast found in albums such as Andrew Lloyd Webber's
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
and The Who's
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
, commonly referred to as rock operas
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
, inspired Arjen to create one of his own. Working in an environment where he could develop an album exactly as he wanted, Arjen intended to create his vision, making no compromises along the way. His vision manifested itself in The Final Experiment and, after being rejected by several different record labels, was picked up by a small Dutch record label. The project was financially burdensome, but through some subsidization from his father, it was seen through to completion, and was successful enough to warrant another Ayreon release.
Track listing
Personnel
Vocalists- Arjen LucassenArjen Anthony LucassenArjen Anthony "Oswold Jr." Lucassen is a progressive metal/rock composer, singer and musician from the Netherlands, best known for his long-running progressive opera project titled Ayreon....
as Ayreon on "Nature’s Dance," "Listen To The Waves," "Magic Ride" and "Ayreon’s Fate". - Barry HayBarry HayBarry Andrew Hay is the vocalist/frontman for Dutch rock band Golden Earring.-Biography:Hay was born in Faizabad, India, and moved to the Netherlands at the age of eight. He lived in Amsterdam and later in The Hague. In the summer of 1967, he joined the Golden Earrings, as they were then called,...
as Ayreon on "Sail Away To Avalon." - Edward ReekersEdward ReekersEdward Reekers is a Dutch singer. Most notable is his work as lead singer for Dutch progressive rock band Kayak.Having been a fan of the band for years, Reekers joined Kayak in 1978. He replaced Max Werner, who became the band's drummer. With Reekers as the new lead singer, Kayak immediately...
as Merlin on "Prologue," "The Awareness" and "Ayreon’s Fate;" as Ayreon on "The Awareness" and "Ayreon’s Fate". - Ian Parry as Nobleman on "Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy," as Ayreon on "Computer Reign" and as Merlin on "Ayreon’s Fate".
- Jan-Chris de KoeijerJan-Chris de KoeijerJan-Chris de Koeijer or Jan Chris de Koeyer is a Dutch bass player and singer. He is best known for his position in Gorefest...
as Ayreon on "The Banishment". - Jay van Feggelen as Ayreon on "Waracle" and as Merlin on "Ayreon's Fate".
- Lenny WolfLenny WolfLenny Wolf is the frontman for the band Kingdom Come. In addition to being the lead vocalist, he has also played multiple instruments on various Kingdom Come albums. He also collaborated on the song "Eyes of Time", from The Final Experiment, the debut album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's project...
as Ayreon on "Eyes Of Time". - Leon Goewie as Merlin on "Merlin's Will" and "Ayreon's Fate;" as Ayreon on "Ayreon's Fate".
- Robert Soeterboek as Villagers on "The Banishment" and as Merlin on "Ayreon's Fate".
- Ruud Houweling as Ayreon on "The Charm Of The Seer".
- Debby Schreuder as Merlin, Women and Villagers on "Ayreon's Fate;" as Chorus on several tracks.
- Mirjam van Doorn as Merlin, Women and Villagers on "Ayreon's Fate;" as Chorus on several tracks.
- Lucy Hillen as Ayreon on "The Charm Of The Seer;" as Chorus on several tracks.
Instrumentalists
- Arjen Anthony Lucassen – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, keyboardsMusical keyboardA musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones... - Cleem Determeijer – keyboards
- Ernst van Ee – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Jan Bijlsma – bass
- Jolanda Verduijn – bass
- Peter Vink – bass
- Rene Merkelbach – keyboard
Bonus disc instrumentalists (2005 reissue only)
- Arjen Anthony Lucassen – acoustic, electric, and bass guitars, drums, percussion and timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
- Davy MickersDavy MickersDavy Mickers was the drummer of progressive metal band Stream of Passion.He also played on the special edition bonus-disc of Ayreon's debut album, The Final Experiment.-External links:*...
– drums - Peter Vink – acoustic bass guitar
- Marieke van der Heyden – cello
- Ewa Albering – flute
- Lori LinstruthLori LinstruthLori Linstruth is a guitarist. She currently resides in the Netherlands where she lives with Arjen Lucassen.-Warbride:Linstruth first came to prominence in the late eighties when she was featured in Mike Varney's "Spotlight" column in Guitar Player magazine...
– electric guitar solos - Jeroen Goossens – assorted wind instruments
- Dewi Kerstens – cello
- Robby ValentineRobby ValentineRobby Valentine is a Dutch singer and multi-instrumentalist who started his professional career in the eighties, and is the frontman of his band Valentine.-Biography:...
– piano
Artwork
- Arjen Anthony Lucassen
- Ruud Houweling
- Richelle Rijst
- Jacoby Peters
Technical
- Arjen Anthony Lucassen – producer
- Oscar Holleman – engineer