The Theory Of Everything

About

the 8th studio album from Arjen Anthony Lucassen's project Ayreon, released on 28 October, 2013 on 2CDs - The Theory of Everything features a stellar cast of guest, with members past and present of Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Kamelot, Genesi, Ye, ELP, Asia, Toehider, Grand Magu, and Ancient Bards (see below) - It is a double album - It begins a completely new story line for the Ayreon universe - It comprises four 20-plus minute “epics” divided into 42 separate tracks - It’s a true Rock Opera with a dramatic, real-world story - It is available in 4 edition, including an exclusive 5-disc limited edition, as well as 2LP vinyl - The DVD for the special and limited editions features two and a half hours of behind the scenes content - Signed copies are available in Arjen’s webshop Arjen ran a series of “guess the musician” contests via Facebook. You can see all of the videos on his Youtube channel. GUEST MUSICIANS Vocalists (in order of appearance) JB (Grand Magus) as The Teacher Sara Squadrani (Ancient Bards) as The Girl Michael Mills (Toehider) as The Father Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) as The Mother Tommy Karevik (Kamelot, Seventh Wonder) as The Prodigy Marco Hietala (Nightwish, Tarot) as The Rival John Wetton (Asia, King Crimson) as The Psychiatrist Instrumentalists Ed Warby (Hail of Bullet, Gorefest) – drums Rick Wakeman (Yes) – keyboards Keith Emerson (Emerson Lake and Palmer) – keyboards Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) – keyboards Steve Hackett (Genesis) – lead guitar Troy Donockley (Nightwish) – Whistle, Uilleann pipes Ben Mathot (Dis) –violin Maaike Peterse (Kingfisher Sky) – cello Jeroen Goossens (Flairck) – flute , bass flute, piccolo, bamboo flute and contrabass flute Siddharta Barnhoorn – orchestrations Michael Mills (Toehider) – Irish Bouzouki Wilmer Waarbroek – backing vocals Arjen Anthony Lucassen – electric and acoustic guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, analog synthesizer, Hammond, Solina Strings Track Listing CD 1 PHASE I: SINGULARITY (23:29) 1 Prologue: The Blackboard 2 The Theory of Everything part 1 3 Patterns 4 The Prodigy’s World 5 The Teacher’s Discovery 6 Love and Envy 7 Progressive Waves 8 The Gift 9 The Eleventh Dimension 10 Inertia 11 The Theory of Everything part 2 PHASE II: SYMMETRY (21:31) 12 The Consultation 13 Diagnosis 14 The Argument 1 15The Rival’s Dilemma 16 Surface Tension 17A Reason To Live 18 Potential 19 Quantum Chaos 20 Dark Medicine 21 Alive! 22 The Prediction CD 2 PHASE III: ENTANGLEMENT (22:34) 1 Fluctuations 2 Transformation 3 Collision 4 Side Effects 5 Frequency Modulation 6 Magnetism 7 Quid Pro Quo 8 String Theory 9 Fortune? PHASE IV: UNIFICATION (22:20) 10 Mirror Of Dreams 11 The Lighthouse 12 The Argument 2 13 The Parting 14 The Visitation 15 The Breakthrough 16 The Note 17 The Uncertainty Principle 18 Dark Energy 19 The Theory of Everything part 3 20 The Blackboard (reprise) DVD Content (special and limited editions only) - Feature: The Making of The Theory of Everything (47:49) - Full length interviews with Arjen, Cristina Scabbia, Tommy Karevik, JB, Sara Squadrani, Marco Hietala, Mike Mill, and Ed Warby (Total time 1:31:19) - Time lapse clips of recording sessions (total time 12:56) The artwork for the album cover (top of page) was painted by Belgian artist Jef Bertel, who has painted all of the Ayreon covers since Into the Electric Castle. Additional artwork for the album booklet is by Christophe Dessaigne, who also designed the Star One “Victims of the Modern Age” and Guilt Machine “On this Perfect Day.” .

via Last.fm

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