Into the Electric Castle

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Into The Electric Castle
Into The Electric Castle cover
Studio album by Ayreon
Released 1998 (re-released 2004)
Recorded The Electric Castle, Holland
Genre Progressive Metal
Rock Opera
Length 1:44:47
Label Transmission
InsideOut Music
Producer(s) Arjen Lucassen
Professional reviews
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 by many to be the best Ayreon album.

Contents

[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; the Hippie (Arjen Anthony Lucassen) only seems to enjoy his surroundings, believing he's in a drug-induced stupor.

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. Nevertheless, the decision is made; The Highlander stays behind.

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, enjoying his colorful rainbow surroundings while still high, but following The Roman and The Knight regardless.

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 thinks is) a virtual reality.

The Egyptian, overwhelmed by her emotions, loses her will to continue. She trails off from the rest of the group, and 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". Those who live by the sword will have the most difficult time passing through. The Barbarian and The Knight struggle through the horrific ghosts, ghouls and demons of those they've slain, 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 draws the attention of The Indian, luring her away toward the sun. The Futureman and The Roman, while despairing, also speak of their hope. They attempt to stop the Indian from being lured into following the path to impending death, however, the Indian appears to be oblivious to the danger she's in. On the breeze, The Indian encounters Death itself (George Oosthoek and Robert Westerholt); who first appears to her claiming to be several elements of her salvation, until finally claiming her soul.

The remaining heroes come to The Mirror Maze. The Hippie reflects on his past, talking to his reflection in the mirrors about what made him the way he is ("he's aware that no one cares/and life's unfair/so he grows his hair/and takes a trip into eternity"). 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.

They arrive at the door of the future. The Futureman recognizes its visions and explains how 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 mentions that it is a brave soul who makes the first choice. One of the gates is old, deteriorated, and ugly; the other is made of gold and appears at first glance to be paradise. The Barbarian, in his arrogance and pride, walks through the golden gate, which in reality is the gate to death. The Barbarian passes through the gate and fades into oblivion. 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's voice grows weaker as it reflects on how it has grown weary and tired over its long life, and that it too is "far from home". It 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, believing that the memories may have been implanted in his computerized memory; the Roman claims that whatever it was, it has helped him become whole; the Knight speaks of finding the grail - which was within himself all along - 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

[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
  • Ernő Oláh - 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

[edit] External Links

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