Ayreon Universe

Until this release, Ayreon has been a studio-only project of Dutch mastermind Arjen Lucassen, for some 20-odd years. What we have here is a record of 3 very special one-off concerts in Tilburg, and ignoring the Theatre Equation release, the first performance of a selection of Ayreon tracks, here selected from throughout the Ayreon catalogue.The care and artistry put into the whole production and release is evident. One of the great achievements is for the cast of players and singers to slot into their roles. You might be concerned that the absence of some of the many original metal and prog luminaries who have contributed to Ayreon's albums would detract from the live performance. But you needn't worry, whilst the cast is predominantly the Dutch and continental contributors, the whole performance is stunning.Highlights for me are atmospheric "The Druids Turn to Stone", the delicately beautiful "Valley of the Queens", and the bombastic "Abbey of Synn" and "Dawn of a Million Souls". For those uninitiated to Ayreon, think prog-metal space opera, with, yes, cheesy lyrics and concept, bonkers but somehow it works due to the conviction and strength of the music.To be honest I wasn't taken with the overly wordy "Theory of Everything" release, but Universe has reignited my interest and i'll be going in search of the first Star One album and the latest "The Source" to complete my collection.Buy it, you won't regret it, as the chances of catching another Ayreon gig are remote, given Arjen's self-confessed stage fright, and the sheer immensity of collecting together so many talented musicians to faithfully deliver. Glad I forked out a couple of extra quid for the Blu-Ray version.

Superb live show. A concert of epic proportions involving 16 renowned European rock singers, an eight-piece band and some extraordinary graphics projected on to a huge rear-of-stage screen. Held over three nights in Tilburg in the Netherlands in 2017 and attended by – and this is the point of this review – more than 9,000 fans from FIFTY FOUR countries. The music, and the clear love of the fans for the man himself, transcended borders and boundaries – and wouldn’t it be incredible, in this fractured, divisive world if real people’s need to care for other real people could transcend our leaders’ need to keep us divided!

If you like good solid progressive rock then this is a worth while experience.The quality of performance by the eclectic range of artists is outstanding.Visually entertaining though not the most stunning of presentations.The music makes up for that in bounds.

This is just wonderful Arjen Lucassen is a recent discovery of mine this Guy is a genius The Whole Blu ray is superb in video and Audio production, it blows me away with each play 10 out of 10 cannot say anything other than if you are into progressive music this Dutchman will give you a total bonus

Fantastic release. Collection of brilliant musicians playing great music. If you love Ayreon you.must get this. The joy of all involved is infectious and you end still wanting more. The sound is phenomenal and extras are very interesting. Arjen must be extremely proud.

A fantastic collection of songs with only a couple of omissions I would have liked to have seen in there. There is a definite change in the mixing of the vinyl when compared to the blu-ray. Treble doesn’t seem as high and some of the vocals get lost in the mix, but a solid and wonderful album. Maggy Luyten covered Russell Allen’s vocals on Intergalactic Space Crusaders brilliantly. Essential for any Ayreon fan.

I'm a big yes fan and I needed something different to listen to ' this is ! Love this triple album ,and it's a great vinyl pressing as well, this is a new direction im going in , fantastic music

This group of people make wonderfull music it tells a story