Ayreon-Transitus

I've yet to listen to it but its long trailer seems fun.

Only listened to the first disc so far, but it seems pretty much `business as usual', ie very reliable bombastic symphonic prog with touches of metal, with very grand vocals, all given a lavish production in the manner of all the previous Ayreon works. Can't imagine any Ayreon fans being disappointed by it.

It reminded me a lot of Rick Wakeman's `Centre of the Earth' albums in that there is narration (from classic era Doctor Who star Tom Baker) at the start or end of every single track (not given its own track either, literally part of every actual music track), so it's essentially acting as a story where the words introduce what is about to happen in the song/music. I'm not really a big fan of the approach, but it absolutely highlights the `storytelling' aspect of the set.

I will have one little grumble, though: No lyric book in the standard CD edition!! I think the enhanced deluxe sets and maybe the vinyl include one (apparently one version comes with a comic book of the story that has the words in it?), but I'm not quite such a massive fan of Ayreon that I would spend a ton more on such editions.

Well what about Into the Electric Castle? In my mind, that's a masterpiece of both music and storytelling, and it has a narrator that chimes in occasionally.

TheUniversalMigrator wrote: I'm a big fan of Ayreon.

octopus-4 wrote: Not bad, but effectively the narrator (Arjen hiself) is not as effective as it was i.e. in Journey to the Centre of Earth.

FatherChristmas wrote: TheUniversalMigrator wrote: I'm a big fan of Ayreon Aren't we all?....

I never got into Ayreon.

Mormegil wrote: octopus-4 wrote: Not bad, but effectively the narrator (Arjen hiself) is not as effective as it was i.e. in Journey to the Centre of Earth.  Tom Baker (the 4th Doctor) is the narrator on this one, and I dig it!

I am, however, a big fan of Tom Baker, so I might just give this a listen. Sometimes when Ive heard Tom Baker's voice in something I've assumed that it was Jon Culshaw (rather than the other way around).

Sorry, off topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-inrExbDeI

Edited by Logan - October 28 2020 at 11:28

Zeph wrote: I can still appreciate what he's creating, it's not that interesting anymore. I'd rather put on The Human Equation, 001001010111 or On This Perfect Day (Guilt Machine) than some of his newer stuff. Nostalgia and all that.

While I liked The Source, I agree that The Human Equation and 01 were better. In general, I LIKE most of his work, but he has a very special few albums that I think are just awesome.

The Universal Migrator
01
The Human Equation
Into the Electric Castle
and The Final Experiment

Order changes depending on the day.

octopus-4 wrote: Not bad, but effectively the narrator (Arjen hiself) is not as effective as it was i.e. in Journey to the Centre of Earth.

For me, Transitus is good but isn't a top album. I prefer Into The Electric Castle and all the other CDs of Ayreon.

Psychedelic Paul wrote: It's good to see Father Christmas is back in time for Christmas, and count me in for the new Ayreon album, especially if it's narrated by Doctor Who.