Musician/Producer Reacts to "The Day That The World Breaks Down" by Ayreon

[@chriso6719]

Hey Jeff, so glad you enjoyed this. And Thank You for checking it out. Ayreon is mostly a studio project, but there have been a few live shows put together, with another scheduled for fall 2023. I see from the beginning of your video that you looked up all the vocalists and what bands they sang in. Can't go wrong checking out any of those bands. One of the important people to Ayreon is Sir Joost van den Broek, whom you saw playing grand piano. Joost is a producer as well as a musician, and does a lot with Arjen in Ayreon and another project called Star One. Joost was a member of After Forever ('04-'09) with Floor, played with Floor in ReVamp, and has produced the last 3 EPICA albums. Mike Mills character is a machine, and the binary he sings translates to Trust Th-1. 'Th' for his band Toehider. If you're interested in the live shows, the Ayreon Universe was a good one , kind of a best of Ayreon and Star One, with songs like Everybody Dies, Star of Sirrah, Valley of the Queens, and the closer Eye of Ra with all 16 singers on stage. Again ,Thanks for checking this out. 🤘🤘

[@StrateleStudios]

Really nice suggestion Chris, thank you!

[@chriso6719]

@@StrateleStudios You're most Welcome, glad you enjoyed.

[@MrJuzam]

I love seeing reacti0ns to Ayreon, and I will be attending as many of the concerts in september this year as I can. Got tickets for the sunday night show atm

[@johnjohn37371]

@@chriso6719 I'm not sure which reactor I saw watch this first, but I immediately looked up Mike Mills afterwards and have become a huge Toehider fan. The music is so unique and has so many different influences, and his voice is absolutely ridiculous. I also really enjoy Andrew's artwork...talented dudes, both.

[@chadbennett7873]

Wow, I didn't realize you hadn't reviewed this yet! What took you so long? Hahaha = welcome to the genius that is Arjen Anthony Luccasson! This dear mastermind doesn't do anything that isn't pure masterpiece. First clue is that every highest level musician and vocalist in Europe, and sometimes outside, line up to work with him. Second clue: He discovered Floor at sixteen. Third: Just watch and listen to his production. Glad you're here, and I'll be along for this ride too! BTW: You need to hear "Everybody Dies" live as soon as humanly possible. It's from the same album, but the live performance is completely out of this realm! Also, research the singers on this track, you'll find nothing but the greatest European bands. He only works with the creme de la creme! Thanks so much, Jeff!

[@malmkwaks]

I concur!

[@metalmanny666]

Don’t forget Tommy Rogers is not from a European one. But from a US one called “Between The Buried And Me”

[@chadbennett7873]

@@metalmanny666 Yeah, every blue moon the US comes up with a band who breaks away from the Record Industry's narrow-minded idea of what music sells and does some good stuff, but rarely enough to overlook it. You're right, Tommy is excellent!

[@TimoArula]

The wonderful and awesome Master Arjen, and my favorite Space Hippie !!!! This Reaction was awesome, Thank you !!! Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electronica, experimental and classical music. The majority of Ayreon's albums are dubbed "rock operas" because the albums contain complex storylines featuring a host of characters, usually with each one being represented by a unique vocalist. Each Ayreon album tells a different story, but all, with the exceptions of Actual Fantasy, The Theory of Everything, and Transitus, take place in the same fictional, science fiction universe; additionally, Lucassen's solo album Lost in the New Real is also set in the Ayreon universe. Ayreon's music is characterized by the use of traditional instruments in rock music mixed with instruments more native to folk and classical music. Lucassen writes the music and the lyrics, sings and plays most of the instruments on all of the Ayreon albums, alongside many guest musicians. His most regular collaborator is drummer Ed Warby. Progressive metal is a fusion between progressive rock and heavy metal. It is one of heavy metal's more complex genres, due to its use of unusual and dynamic time signatures, long compositions, complex compositional structures, and skilled instrumental playing, where instrumental solos are detailed and extended. Space metal, a derivative of progressive metal, blends progressive metal with space rock. Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Star One is the main pioneer of this genre with their album, Space Metal. Well....This is very Deep Rabbit hole !!!! NWSU/Ayreonaut/Epican ✌😎🤘.

[@StrateleStudios]

Great comment, my friend!

[@peterkoeppl1186]

Congrats Chris. Good choice!

[@zvolencan1]

What I really like about this music is that you can´t get bored by it easily. You can listen to it 50 times, and you´ll still find something new and interesting. Unbelievably creative. For me, Ayreon has been the greatest discovery through reaction channels, and I´m so thankful to all who insisted that reactors listen to this. For the next song: It was said that Ayreon music can´t be played live because it´s too complicated. This myth has been debunked. :) But it takes the best musicians to actually do it. The perfect example is the song Everybody Dies (from the same album as this song): kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3KkiaeLmbJqrqc

[@ironkim3998]

You know I love this song! All the elements and artists that make me happy. Wow and thanks to Chris O for suggesting it! And wow to you for a badass reaction! Thank You!❤🤗❤🤗

[@chriso6719]

🤘🤘

[@obud3777]

The drummer is Ed Warby, he is also a member of Arjen's heavy metal band Star One, as is Floor Jansen.

[@Rackelhane]

Arjen is the coolest and nicest guy Thank you!

[@MisterJ56]

FYI: Arjen Lucassen - Composer - Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon. SINGERS: James Labrie - Lead singer for Dream Theatre. Tommy Karevik - Lead singer of Kamelot and Seventh Wonder. Tommy Rodgers - Lead singer of Between the Buried and Me. Simone Simons - Lead singer of Epica. Nils K. Rue - Lead singer of Pagan's Mind and also worked with Eidolon. Tobias Sammet - Lead singer of Edguy & Avantasia. Hansi Kürsch - Lead singer of Blind Guardian and Demons & Wizards. Mike Mills - Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and main songwriter for Toehider. Russell Allen - Lead singer of Symphony X (Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Allen/Lande). Michael Eriksen - Lead singer of Circus Maximus. Floor Jansen - Lead singer of After Forever, ReVamp & now Nightwish. INSTRUMENTALISTS: Joost van den Broek (ex-After Forever) - grand piano and electric piano, Maaike Peterse (Kingfisher Sky) - cello, Ed Warby - (Gorefest) drums, Ben Mathot - violin, Jeroen Goossens (ex-Pater Moeskroen) - flute and wind instruments, Arjen Anthony Lucassen - electric and acoustic guitars, all other instruments

[@StrateleStudios]

Thanks for the great info!

[@javadan]

James Labrie, Tommy Karevek, Simone Simons and Floor Jansen all in the same performance. Pure Ecstasy - hard to beat that!

[@jeffsouza4213]

Everything about this video is awesome! The commentary he provides is entertaining and informative. All the players and singers are so good and the writing excellent!

[@obud3777]

Next Ayreon song: "Everybody Dies" Live!

[@basicguy5785]

Nah, lets try something without Floor.

[@susanjw7763]

Marco and Hansi Beth and Michael? Michael steals the show in “everybody dies”

[@markclements7767]

I love this song 😊 I wish other artists would create mini documentaries like this, very informative and entertaining

[@StrateleStudios]

Me too

[@vogel2280]

Just a minute into the video: excellent!!!! You will not be disappointed!

[@martinklaus2203]

Absolutely fantastic!!

[@pdutchie4924]

Such a great composition , the whole live ‘Universe ‘ concert is so epic❣️

[@susanjw7763]

I concur

[@tribblefluffer]

Glad you made it to this one. What an amazing composition and definitely an inspiration for anyone who loves music. Thanks for taking the time to share this with us.

[@bbeckett5103]

I really thought you already did this track! I didn't know either you liked dream theater, so do I 🤟🏻 thanks for the reaction

[@theglanconer6463]

This was a fantastic reaction :) Cheers from the Netherlands my friend !

[@wilksy2008]

This was great, I’m really appreciating longer song forms recently for some reason, so this really was cool! 🤩 That bit with Floor broke my mind (in the best possible way! 👀), I also really love the vocals from the dude from Myrath, they cut straight through me 🤩

[@reactionsaccount3955]

Here is a list of the composer and singers in order of appearance: Arjen Lucassen - Composer - Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon. James Labrie - Lead singer for Dream Theater. Tommy Karevik - Lead singer of Kamelot and Seventh Wonder. Tommy Rodgers - Lead singer of Between the Buried and Me. Simone Simons - Lead singer of Epica. Nils K. Rue - Lead singer of Pagan's Mind and also worked with Eidolon. Tobias Sammet - Lead singer of Edguy & Avantasia. Hansi Kürsch - Lead singer of Blind Guardian and Demons & Wizards. Mike Mills - Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and main songwriter for Toehider. Russell Allen - Lead singer of Symphony X and Allen/Lande. Michael Eriksen - Lead singer of Circus Maximus. Floor Jansen - Lead singer of After Forever, ReVamp & now Nightwish. Instrumentalists Joost van den Broek (ex-After Forever) - grand piano and electric piano Maaike Peterse (Kingfisher Sky) - cello Ed Warby - drums Ben Mathot - violin Jeroen Goossens (ex-Pater Moeskroen) - flute, wind instruments Arjen Anthony Lucassen - electric and acoustic guitars, all other instruments (composer) Next I would suggest reacting to the performances at Ayreon Universe concert, especially the following Intergalactic Space Crusaders, River of Time, Merlin's Will, Valley of the Queens, Ride the Comet, Star of Sirrah, And the Druids Turn to Stone, Age of Shadows & Everybody Dies.

[@mandje2002]

The cool thing about Ayreon is that all the albums sort of tie into the same story. 'The Source' (the album which this song is from) is technically the start of the story. It's about a race of humans that give control of their planet to a computer (the 'frame) to help solve an environmental catastrophe, but the computer determines that the best course of action is to eliminate the humans. Ten humans and the robot TH-1 escape the planet on the only interstellar ship they have (the 'Starblade') along with the ships crew and head to an ocean planet. The chemist creates a drug ('The Source', aka 'Liquid Eternity') that allows them to evolve into an 'aquatic race'. The drug also makes them basically immortal and allows them to communicate telepathically. The album ends with the survivors (ten plus the ships small crew) living on their new planet ('Planet Y') in relative peace, but in the final track we learn that TH-1 is becoming a new version of the 'frame deep in the ocean. The next album in the timeline, 01011001 ('Y') tells us how machines have now taken over this new planet, and the humans have basically merged with the machines are losing their emotions and sense of time. They now call themselves 'The Forever', since they are essentially ageless drones at this point. We also learn about how they seeded a comet with DNA and sent it to Earth, where it creates human life on our planet. The Forever believe they can live through us telepathically and that they may regain their emotions by doing so. Some of The Forever believe that we need to advance more quickly, and use their telepathy to give us medicine/technology, but this results in us advancing quicker than our morality can cope with. Eventually The Forever realize humanity is doomed and has to decide if they will give them the technology to reverse their past mistakes. Somewhere in the timeline sits the album 'The Electric Castle'From a summary by Arjen: "At the end of the journey those that successfully dealt with their personal demons find out that the voice belongs to an alien named 'Forever of the Stars', a member of an alien race living in a distant galaxy. These aliens created planet Earth and its people as an experiment so they could study, and hopefully one day experience emotions, as they themselves lost feelings eons ago." That's only three albums (less than half!) but I believe those three give you a solid foundation for how the story plays out. Also, I highly recommend any of the Electric Castle Live videos; They are just so fun to watch, plus John de Lancie ('Q' from Star Trek) plays the 'Forever of the Stars' character, which Arjen said he originally based on Q.

[@zemkluth9427]

Arjen watches reaction videos of his songs... don't be surprised if he shows up here eventually and thanks you. One of the classiest, most wickedly talented musician/producers ever, in my opinion.

[@RolandDeschain1]

The Mike Mills part may be the greatest thing I have ever seen a musician do.

[@andykereztury1450]

You must watch the entire Ayreon Universe concert - every song is a gem!

[@tahaaltamro4622]

Amazing reaction ❤

[@honorarythamesman5732]

Hi Jeff. And there was me thinking you had covered Arjen's stuff already! Knew you'd love it. As I've suggested to a number of other reactors to this in the past - I've got to give a shout out to Tommy Karevik (Kamelot) who you were impressed with near the beginning - now I am team Floor all the way but in this song Tommy impressed me the most. He has such a velvety, silky smooth texture to his voice. Like others before me I heartily recommend 'Everybody Dies' from the live show - truly impressive! Mike Mills (binary guy) is particularly impressive in the live show. And of course if you ever wanted to check out more Tommy some time in the future - I suggest 'Sacrimony' by Kamelot live! As always, take good care of yourself 😃

[@StrateleStudios]

I haven't heard a lot of Kamelot but what I have heard I've really liked!

[@orangeguppie6897]

😂😂😂 i never heard the words organ and nasty in one sentence, but in this song😂😂😂😂😂 you are so right, thanks for reacting to this, quote: "bastard of a song" unquote" . And i really loved your reaction, Bye!!

[@StrateleStudios]

Hahaha, thank you!

[@jeffsouza4213]

I really enjoyed this, so entertaining!

[@noelsmyth1020]

You mentioned Kansas a couple of times, I was half expecting you to reference again when Michael Eriksen came in. Always think of Kansas when his part comes in.

[@StrateleStudios]

:)

[@caprise-music6722]

Awesome! I love the sound of the drums. This Ed guy is great! p.s wow did not expect to see mike from Toehider here. That’s a crazy band btw But what an ensamble of musicians. Insane!

[@danettecrossley7912]

Ayreon song valley of the queens is a beautiful song, floor has been in a lot of his songs FYI her sister also sings in some of his videos God bless

[@Robert_Herring]

Great reaction, sir! Arjen is a magnificent musician, who knows how to find the best singers for his characters. You mentioned being a software engineer. The binary part made me think of the band The Warning, and their song "Error". It would be a fantastic reaction. They are a phenomenal young group of sisters from Mexico.

[@sagebooker]

this video is pure joy ! Arjen Lukas is a genius. And I enjoy a lot that you enjoy Tommy Karevic's voice; maybe a reaction to Kamelott next ?

[@Thorgrim247]

I thought you might like this one. i love all of his creations. so unique. I hear Kansas in many of his songs as well.

[@dbcanada]

Thanks, Jeff. Great song; great singers! Fun fact: At 9:56 the binary actually translates to "trust TH1".

[@StrateleStudios]

hahaha so cool!

[@peterkoeppl1186]

Kinda kick*** of blending and sound melding. Most interesting!

[@fabrizio_prina]

Hello @StrateleStudios. Arjen is a musical genius and this song is a masterpiece. And what about the magnificent musicians and singers who performed in this video? Absolutely great ! Thank you for your reaction !

[@StrateleStudios]

Thank you Fabrizio!

[@Ireksojkowski]

Hi, great response, you should listen to other Ayreon projects, they are great too, best regards

[@lynsmith1096]

Another good reaction Jeff.

[@StrateleStudios]

Thanks Lyn!

[@mandje2002]

1:13 phonetically it sounds like "AIR-ree-on" Buckle up because we are going on a trip into the world of Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Ayreon, Ambeon, Star One, Guilt Machine, Gentle Storm, Stream of Passion) aka Ayreon Universe. (about 100 artists thick) ….. Enjoy the music!!

[@StrateleStudios]

Thx

[@Brendo2386]

@@StrateleStudios that "Kansas lick" is almost replica of Hendrix's "Hey Joe" haha :D

[@jewfish68]

That was a fun reaction. Right away I knew you would appreciate this one. Hey I didn't know you are a software engineer. BTW that binary Mike Mills sings is ascii with a secret message ;)

[@572Btriode]

Extended ASCII I believe, normally a commentator does the translation but in this specific instance then we'll just leave Jeff to it being a computer professional. . . . . . . . . . .

[@StrateleStudios]

hahaha, someone beat me to the punch and already translated it. :)

[@peterkoeppl1186]

Great video!!!!

[@TheMateriaalkunde]

It is a rabbit hole and a bunch of opera's at the same time. Indeed, "Everybody dies " and "Star of Sirrah" are live in the Ayreon Universe on YT. They're from the album "The Source," which has the story of the humans escaping from planet Alpha. The next station is the aquatic planet "Y" where the alphans become immortal by not aging. However, the alphans, now called the Forever, lose their emotions in life and to get them back they board a travelling comet on an intergalactic course to planet Earth, where the Forever create a race of mortals from their and local DNA. Target is to tap the emotions. Live songs are Age of Shadows and Ride the Comet.

[@StrateleStudios]

Great comment, thank you!

[@NorbertPueschel]

Fun fact: Arjen is officially the greatest professional musician on this planet. As in Guiness world record official. ;-) Ok, I should probably have said „tallest musician“ to not mislead you. 😮 There is a picture of him and Floor side by side and Floor just reaches up to his shoulder…

[@StrateleStudios]

Hahaha!

[@Tarkus_]

Very cool to see this one pop up on your channel! Surprised you hadn't already done it. Such a great composition and video. Pretty much a must-watch for reactors. Would love to see you react to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, at some point. It's also a must-watch. kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5_YgHSoesukfdE

[@peterkoeppl1186]

Agree

[@mcsm75]

so bad, like shown on the listing of singers, that many forget, that Tommy Karevik IS the singer of one of my fave prog metal bands, Seventh Wonder, since 2005/6

[@shirazzza]

Lol you also never know, Arjen might pop in to day hi. Mike Mills is a top guy, I've seen him in the crowd at many local gigs

[@StrateleStudios]

😃😃😃

[@randalljones4370]

If you want to have some fun AND help out the guitar community, maybe you could do a breakdown of the guitar riffs and solos in this one. And if you REALLY want to go crazy, try the same same with the little solo bits in "Everybody Dies".... lol, just don't get hurt. The musicians Arjen uses for the live stuff are just amazing, and not well known in the Americas.

[@jasonmarshall7572]

Welcome to Ayreon. Arjen is a super clever man and tells many great stories in his musical compasitions. Two of the singers Tobias and Floor have also done some music together. Also translate the zeros and ones the Binary youll be even happier. Arjen has introduced me to many great musicians and groups i would have discovered. Its like a nice cheese board with some fine wine very nice.

[@StrateleStudios]

hahaha :)

[@lucassilvabarros6623]

Hey!! Your Channel is very good! Please react Alessandro Penezzi. he is a brazilian guitarist. I'll be very happy to watch this video because I'm Brazilian and I'm a big fan of this guitarist. I suggest listening to the song "Quando me Lembro"

[@syyneater]

I know I’m late to the comments, but I just found your channel and the infosec geek in me really enjoyed you getting into the binary section. Michael Mills is crazy talented, as is everyone on this, but he absolutely destroyed the binary section!

[@ascensionenergetics85]

Floor is the last singer. There was no “preacher character” in this song.

[@StrateleStudios]

Thx...I grabbed that info from a comment in the original video. Guess they were wrong.

[@chriso6719]

Those are the credits for the entire album. the preacher character appears in other songs on the record.

[@StrateleStudios]

@@chriso6719 ah thank you for clearing that up!

[@vogel2280]

If you're lucky the man himself might stop by on your channel.

[@StrateleStudios]

That would be nice :)

[@stephaneboisvert8990]

You can decode the binary code to ascii .. it says something meaningful to the song

[@StrateleStudios]

Someone already beat me too it, hahaha. I saw it in the comments.

[@djdoubleyouab3568]

Figured the code out yet ?😁

[@StrateleStudios]

Hahaha! Yes it’s the core engine for Instacart. I just ordered two dozen Tomahawk steaks for free! 🤣🥩

[@02TEN]

@@StrateleStudios trustTH1

[@PK--ITA]

Well, since you've already fallen down this rabbit hole with Arjen, I recommend you other of their (his) songs, he's a genius so you have to try... I don't give titles because I'm sure you've already received them in the comments. Apart from that, I recommend the achievements of Symphony X, Blind Guardian. I don't recommend Dream Theater because - I personally don't like them, not anymore. After two songs, they become terribly boring, but to boost the statistics, yes, you can listen to them. Bye bye, Ted