AYREON – Into The Electric Castle [20th Anniversary Edition / 2018 Remix]

20 years ago, renowned Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen Lucassen with his project AYREON released his universally lauded ‘Into the Electric Castle’ album, and a 20th anniversary edition of the album has just been released on various formats under the title “Into The Electric Castle [20th Anniversary Edition / 2018 Remix]“.
Lucassen himself re-mixed the audio to 21st century standards. He made it clear that it’s a ‘remix’, not a ‘remaster’, saying “Remastering is easier, this remix took me 2 months to complete”.

‘Into the Electric Castle’, the third album by Ayreon was originally released on 30th August 1998 and was an incredible eclectic blend of Prog, Metal, Rock, Pop, Folk, Electronica, Psych, Gothic and with even hints of Blues and Jazz-rock.
Like all Ayreon projects it featured a stellar cast of guests; Robby Valentine, Fish, Clive Nolan, Damian Wilson, Edwards Reekers, Ton Scherpenzeel, Anneke van Giersbergen and many more.

The 20th Anniversary is a significant milestone that deserves to be celebrated by something really special.
Arjen began the long process of remixing by finding the old ADAT tapes from the original recordings and transferring the songs to his studio workstation and over the space of two months he began remixing the album song by song.
The sound quality obtained is clearer then the original in a way most instruments can be heard more defined now.

In addition to this, Ayreon is poised to add another exciting chapter to its live history. The re-release of this classic album makes this the perfect moment to create a live show around Into The Electric Castle.
Ayreon mastermind Arjen Lucassen and keyboardist Joost van den Broek have gathered nearly the entire original cast of ‘Into The Electric Castle’ and several special guests to perform Ayreon’s ‘space opera’ in its entirety as a live show.

Visitors can expect a massive, state-of-the-art live production with a unique decor, visuals and stage effects. While the 2017 ‘Ayreon Universe’ show was a bombastic, full-tilt rock show, musically the ‘Into the Electric Castle’ show will be more dynamic, atmospheric and versatile, translating the original album in the most authentic way possible.
Besides playing the entire album with original cast members, there will be much more to make this show a unique special occasion that Ayreon fans will not want to miss. Additional info and extra surprises will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

There’s several versions of “Into The Electric Castle [20th Anniversary Edition / 2018 Remix]”: Box Set including a framed 3D-sculptured version of the cover, 4 CDs (20th Anniversary Remix + 20th Anniversary Remix Instrumentals), 1 DVD (5.1 Remix + Documentaries), 3 LPs, an Earbook which contains a hard-cover book with archive photos, etc.
All these are a must for fans, expensive collector stuff.
I think with the regular release you are fine: “Into The Electric Castle” is a terrific piece of art by its own.
HIGHLY Recommended

01 – Welcome To The New Dimension (20th Anniversary Remix)
02 – Isis And Osiris (20th Anniversary Remix)
03 – Amazing Flight (20th Anniversary Remix)
04 – Time Beyond Time (20th Anniversary Remix)
05 – The Decision Tree (We’re Alive) (20th Anniversary Remix)
06 – Tunnel Of Light (20th Anniversary Remix)
07 – Across The Rainbow Bridge (20th Anniversary Remix)
08 – The Garden Of Emotions (20th Anniversary Remix)
09 – Valley Of The Queens (20th Anniversary Remix)
10 – The Castle Hall (20th Anniversary Remix)
11 – Tower Of Hope (20th Anniversary Remix)
12 – Cosmic Fusion (20th Anniversary Remix)
13 – The Mirror Maze (20th Anniversary Remix)
14 – Evil Devolution (20th Anniversary Remix)
15 – The Two Gates (20th Anniversary Remix)
16 – “Forever” Of The Stars (20th Anniversary Remix)
17 – Another Time, Another Space (20th Anniversary Remix)

Arjen Anthony Lucassen – Guitars, Mandolin, Bass, Minimoog, Mellotron, Keyboards, Vocals as “The Hippie”
Edwin Balogh – Vocals as Roman
Sharon den Adel – Vocals as Indian
Jay van Feggelen – Vocals as Barbarian
Fish – Vocals as Highlander
Anneke van Giersbergen – Vocals as Egyptian
Edward Reekers – Vocals as Futureman
Damian Wilson – Vocals as Knight
Robert Westerholt and George Oosthoek – Vocals as Death
Peter Daltrey – Vocals as the Voice
Ed Warby – Drums
Ton Scherpenzeel – Keyboard solo (track 5)
Anneke van Giersbergen – Vocals as “The Egyptian”
Robby Valentine – Piano, Keyboards solos (tracks 2-3-11), Mellotron (track 13)
Clive Nolan – Keyboards solo (track 3)
René Merkelbach – Keyboards, Harpsichord
Roland Bakker – Hammond organ
and many more

BUY IT !
ayreon.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-electric-castle-20th-anniversary-edition
www.amazon.co.uk/Into-Electric-Castle-Deluxe-Photobook/dp/B07FPSP2VL
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