Ayreon
Universe - Best of Ayreon Live

Arjen Anthony Lucassen has been quite busy lately with three releases in the last three years and this time it is a live release. It is the first time that Ayreon officially is brought to the stage; The Theatre Equation was released as an Ayreon thing but the concerts was not marketed as such. This time they had three sold out shows with people from all over the world visiting and the tracklist is an impressive showcase of what is possibly the best discography in the world. And I have looked at the mediabook release that holds CDs, DVDs and a blu-ray disk and I have been watching the latter a few times now. But it is not only the content, the book itself is really nice with good graphics and pictures, it looks great and is almost worth getting for the package alone.

Yes, it is a big production on all accounts. Big stage, super big screen, robots, 18 singers, 11 instrumentalists, 30 cameras and almost two and a half hour of Ayreon and Star One songs. And I can’t help singing along when I get to the brilliant River of Time from what is possibly my favourite Ayreon album 01011001 and I am pleased to see that there are quite a few songs from that album to be found here. I am also pleased to hear Merlin’s Will even though it comes in a very different style than it was on The Final Experiment but floor really own the stage when she does that song. The variation of songs fit this show perfectly as it becomes a very dynamic show where you never loose interest during the two hours and more it goes on. And one has to point out that the performances are quite brilliant from all artists that appear.

Really strong production the sound is excellent, perhaps the backup singers get too loud on a few occasions but other than that I cannot really complain. Perhaps Arjen’s speech is a bit on the long side as well but in such a strong show you can live with that. The video is quite excellent as well, well filmed and cut very well. There are some flaws in colour on some parts but not really much enough to be very disturbing. I think it is one of the best looking video productions I have written about, it may not have the same charm and intensity as I think the Live on Earth by Star One has but it is certainly a higher quality production. And it is hard to see that a live album with better musicians and track-list exists, perhaps it is somewhat rivalled by that Star One live release.

Energetic and great album and certainly a competitor for the top spot of the year, one of the best live albums of all time and certainly highly recommended. No real weaknesses, the small niggles I mentioned in the earlier paragraph are easily overlooked. And I think all singers do it brilliantly and own the stage for their parts but some of them perhaps stand out a little bit more and make big lasting impression. The first I come to think of is the duet between Hansi and Marko Hietala in River of Time but they are perhaps not standing out in person, like Floor Jansen who just owns the stage every time she comes on. And on the subject of the ladies, Maggy Luyten is another one that stand out in this collection of amazing singers. And there is one guy as well, Damian Wilson is quite excellent as well. It is just a wow-experience to listen to this brilliant album, Edward Reekers and Marcela Bovio are also great especially in Day Eleven: Love.

On the subject of the songs I think that River of Time is my highlight of the album but that is a position it holds in stiff competition because all of the songs are quite amazing. But if I were to pick out half a dozen that stand out a bit extra in my view I think that we should besides River of Time also mention Ride the Comet, Merlin’s Will, The Two Gates, Dawn of a Million Souls and Intergalactic Space Crusaders – but that is not an easy list to pick out as all of what we hear on this album are amazing songs. A plus also for ending with The Eye of Ra which feels like a great way to end an album like this – an album that is certainly a great showcase of what Ayreon has to offer, a good way to make a best of. It is also really an album and video that has way too much to be able to break it down into a short text, and it will certainly be up there when the best albums of 2018 shall be summarised.

Now, this is without a doubt the longest review I have written this year, but it is hard to keep it short due to the amount of content and brilliance this Ayreon Universe has to offer. It comes in great packaging, it sounds and looks great and I can also recommend the “behind the scenes” documentary with good interviews and insights that adds a lot to the one who likes Ayreon – it is very well worth watching and the same goes for this show. Excellent stuff and highly recommended for anyone who like the progressive rock/metal and especially to the one who likes Ayreon. It is an album you shouldn’t miss.

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