Into the Electric Castle

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Professional reviews
Into The Electric Castle

Studio album by Ayreon
Released	1998 (re-released 2004)
Recorded	?
Genre	Progressive Metal Rock Opera
Length	1:44:47
Label	Transmission InsideOut Music
Producer(s)	Arjen Lucassen
All Music Guide (4/5) link
Ayreon chronology
Actual Fantasy (1996)	Into the Electric Castle (1998)	The Dream Sequencer (2000)

Into The Electric Castle is an Ayreon album released in 1998 by Transmission Records and re-released in 2004 by InsideOut Music. It is a "space opera" and its lyrics are based on science fiction, as the previous albums were; The Final Experiment excluded.

As a result of his previous album not selling as well as he'd hoped, Arjen Lucasson decided to make a flight-of-fancy space opera starring many clichéd characters based off old TV shows and B-films, as well as incorporating several different styles to the music, including prog rock, heavy metal, psychedelic, electronica, and even some blues and jazz. The end result sold very well, was "Album of the Year" in many music magazines, and is considered to be Ayreon's best album.

1 Plot
2 Track listing
3 Personnel
- 3.1 Vocals
- 3.2 Instruments

[edit] Plot

The story begins with a strange voice calling out to the various 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 grants them with a task, to reach The Electric Castle and find out what's inside of it.

Upon their arrival, the Highlander (Fish) claims that it is Hell, and he is there to pay for his sins; the Indian (Sharon den Adel) tells that it's a journey. The Knight (Damian Wilson) believes that this place is the Island of Avalon and he is there to find the Holy Grail; the Roman (Edwin Balogh) believes it to be the underworld; the Egyptian (Anneke van Giersbergen) believes that it is the divine afterlife.

The voice urges them (or rather, forces them) to continue, wherein the Barbarian (Jay van Fegellen) claims that the place is cursed, and he must be there for a quest; and the Hippie (Arjen Anthony Lucassen) only claims that he doesn't care, since he is stoned.

Futureman (Edward Reekers) meets the Knight, and contemplates what he is experiencing; a virtual reality, or is he in another dimension. The Knight insists that it is Avalon. The Roman claims that they should go forward to reach Elysium, but since they can't, he despairs.

The heroes come to The Decision Tree; wherein the voice tells them one of them must die. The Barbarian talks about his own glory, and tells that he won't be the one to die. The Highlander is much more pessimistic, while all the others claim they will survive. The Barbarian takes a stab at the Highlander, telling that since he has no pride, he should be the one. Highlander replies by telling the Barbarian that it's only stories he tells and he has no real honor either. The decision is made; The Highlander is the one to die.

The voice urges the rest to go into The Tunnel of Light, and they continue their journey with joy and determination, the Highlander, left behind, accepts his death slowly, and lays himself down to die while the others continue.

The heroes arrive at The Rainbow Bridge, which they must cross in order to get to The Electric Castle. The Knight muses about his lost love, and about his determination to go back, return to his time in order to meet her again. The Roman is much more passionate in the quest while The Hippie is lost, still high, but following The Roman and The Knight nevertheless.

The heroes come to The Garden of Emotions, a garden in front of The Electric Castle. The voice tells them that they must go through The Garden in order to reach The Castle. The Hippie, now awakened, is overjoyed by the sights he has seen; the magical world that surrounds him. The Egyptian's words grow more morbid, as if she senses something. Meanwhile, The Roman and The Barbarian argue on who will take the lead and take the rest through The Garden. The Indian contemplates the morbid situation; of trusting a voice coming from nowhere. The Indian and The Knight allude to the arising emotions; while The Futureman urges them to stand as a team, because it is the only way of getting out of (what he think is a) virtual reality.

The Egyptian, separated from the rest of the group, wanders alone until she lays herself down and dies as well.

The remaining ones enter The Electric Castle, The Knight and The Barbarian proceeding first to go through The Castle Hall; where, the voice says, "The astral realm becomes flesh once again". The Barbarian and The Knight struggle through the horrific ghosts, ghouls and demons that manifest in the hall.

While The Knight and The Barbarian engage the spectors in The Castle Hall, The Hippie and The Futureman go up the stairs of The Tower of Hope. While The Hippie is overjoyed, The Futureman is still despaired; insisting on this being a virtual reality.

The Indian, The Roman and The Futureman, at the high towers of The Electric Castle, remain where a breeze takes The Indian away. The Futureman and The Roman, while despairing, also speak of their hope. On the breeze, The Indian encounters Death (George Oosthoek and Robert Westerholt).

The remaining heroes come to The Mirror Maze. The Hippie talks about his past, what made him the way he is. The Futureman urges The Hippie on to continue. The Knight and The Roman, meanwhile, struggle with their own desperation; with The Knight being more optimistic and helping The Roman to go through. In the end, the heroes clear The Mirror Maze.

The Futureman, then reveals the future; wherein a cyber-brain was devised as the final chain of digitalization, and this has lead to the extermination of the human race; wherein emotions were nullified. They continue.

The heroes arrive at The Two Gates; one opening to oblivion and death, the other, to the desired time of the heroes. The voice alludes to the fact that, one of them must go through the one that opens to oblivion. The Barbarian, in his arrogance and pride, walks through the gate opening to oblivion and fades. The others succeed in passing through the other door, wherein The Knight wonders what it was all about, and about the outcome of their journey.

The mystical voice then reveals its identity as "Forever of the Stars". It claims that, his kind (Whatever that is) has lived for a long time, and as a result of such extensive life, they had lost all emotions "eons ago". It alludes to the fact that its kind made the evolution on Earth happen ("We vanquished the dinosaurs with the careless trajectory of a child's lost meteorite. We peopled your planet to experience your emotions - such feelings lost to us aeons ago."). Forever also states that their lives, and the planet Earth was their experiment in understanding and/or rediscovering emotions. Forever tells them to go on ahead and open the door; and that they won't remember what happened there.

Back in their real time, the heroes all wonder what had happened. The Hippie claims that it was a "trip"; the Futureman isn't even sure if he has witnessed it or not; the Roman claims that whatever it was, it has helped him become whole; the Knight alludes to finding the grail, and completing his task.

In the end, Forever of the Stars asks them all to remember forever, silently.

[edit] Track listing

01 - Welcome To The New Dimension [3:05]
02 - Isis And Osiris [11:11]
- a) Let The Journey Begin
- b) The Hall Of Isis And Osiris
- c) Strange Constellations
- d) Reprise
03 - Amazing Flight [10:15]
- a) Amazing Flight In Space
- b) Stardance
- c) Flying Colours
04 - Time Beyond Time [6:05]
05 - The Decision Tree (We're Alive) [6:24]
06 - Tunnel Of Light [4:05]
07 - Across The Rainbow Bridge [6:20]
08 - The Garden Of Emotions [9:40]
- a) In The Garden Of Emotions
- b) Voices In The Sky
- c) The Aggression Factor
09 - Valley Of The Queens [2:25]
10 - The Castle Hall [5:49]
11 - Tower Of Hope [4:54]
12 - Cosmic Fusion [7:27]
- a) I Soar On The Breeze
- b) Death's Grunt
- c) The Passing Of An Eagle
13 - The Mirror Maze [6:34]
- a) Inside The Mirror Maze
- b) Through The Mirror
14 - Evil Devolution [6:31]
15 - The Two Gates [6:38]
16 - "Forever" Of The Stars [2:02]
17 - Another Time, Another Space [5:20]

All songs by Arjen Anthony Lucassen except:

Fish wrote lyrics for Highlander on tracks 2, 5 and 6
Jay van Feggelen wrote lyrics for Barbarian on track 3
Anneke van Giersbergen wrote melody line for Egyptian on track 6
P. Daltrey wrote the lyrics for track 1 and 15 and all narration

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Vocals

Edwin Balogh (ex-(Omega) as Roman
Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation) as Indian
Jay van Feggelen (ex-Bodine) as Barbarian
Fish (ex-Marillion)as Highlander
Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering) as Egyptian
Arjen Anthony Lucassen as Hippie
Edward Reekers (ex-Kayak) as Futureman
Damian Wilson (ex-Rick Wakeman, Threshold, Landmarq) as Knight
Robert Westerholt (Within Temptation) and George Oosthoek (Orphanage) as Death
Peter Daltrey (ex-Kaleidoscope) as Forever of the Stars

[edit] Instruments

Roland Bakker - all Hammonds
Taco Kooistra - celli
Arjen Anthony Lucassen - all electric and acoustic guitars, mandoline, bassguitar, Minimoog, Mellotron and keyboards
Rene Merkelbach - synth solos on track 5, 14 and harpsichord on track 9
Clive Nolan - synth solos on track 3 part C
Ernö Olah - violins
Jack Pisters - sitar
Ton Scherpenzeel - synth solos on 12 part C
Robby Valentine - all pianos, synth solos on 2 part A, 3 part A and 11 and Mellotron on track 13 part A
Thijs van Leer - flute on track 3 part C, 4, 9 and 10
Ed Warby - all drums