Ayreon – Elected

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InsideOut Music
Produced by Arjen Lucassen

This new Ayreon EP came about after the metal press tried to generate much controversy over the same-day release of Arjen Lucassen’s latest Ayreon rock opera 01011001 and Edguy front-man Tobias Sammet’s latest Avantasia rock opera The Scarecrow.

Both men became increasingly tired of being asked about the other in interviews that they decided to email each other and eventually came up with the idea of recording an Alice Cooper song together. Arjen was jealous of Tobias for getting Cooper to guest on his album, while Tobias was at the same time jealous of Arjen who had Iron Maiden‘s Bruce Dickinson sing on his Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator album.

The result is a hugely powerful cover of Elected with trademark Lucassen metal guitars, Sammet wails and an excellent Alice Cooper impression by Arjen. More of an Ayreon cover version with Sammet as guest singer, they’ve managed to retain all of the fun of the original, but have given it a much harder edge.

The two non-album tracks included (Ride The Comet is the same version as appears on 01011001) are stripped-down live versions of E=mc² from 01011001 and Day Six: Childhood from previous Ayreon album The Human Equation recorded at promotional events for the new album. Both feature Marjan Welman on vocals, while the latter also features long-time Ayreon collaborator Joost van den Broek on piano. Both recordings are very raw, but because of that they demonstrate the raw talent of the people involved.

This is another excellent release for Ayreon fans who get a brand new track as well as new, very different versions of tracks they already know, which for progressive music fans, is always a joy.

“ harder edge ”

Tracklist: Elected / E=mc² (Live Acoustic) / Ride The Comet / Day Six: Childhood (Live Acoustic)

Written by Andy Lye
More: EPs, Progressive, Ayreon