Clash of the Titans
On January 25th the rock operas of Arjen Lucassen and Tobias Sammet, notably Ayreon’s ‘01011001’ and Avantasia’s ‘The Scarecrow’ were releases simultaneously. The rock press picked up on this ‘Clash Of The Titans’ story, portraying each other as fierce rivals, forcing ‘sound bites’ about each others release. These two guys are better than that. The ‘so called’ rivalry pushed them together. The only bitterness between the two was down to address book jealousy. Arjen managed to get Bruce Dickinson on a previous Ayreon cd, likewise Tobias snared Alice Cooper for ‘The Scarecrow’ project.
Thanks to the press trying to create bitter rivalry, the two hatched a plan to record together. What better than an overblown, over-the-top cover version of Alice Coopers mega 70’s hit ‘Elected’. Both sing alternately, Arjen sounding close to Alice’s original version, complemented by the more metal wailing of Tobias. He is a front-man after all! It’s true to the original but given a right 2000’s modern kick up the backside
The cd is complemented by 2 further Ayreon non-album tracks. Firstly a ‘one take’ acoustic version of E=mc2 which really highlights the vocal talents of Elister’s Marjan Welman. The other is a vastly different version of Day Six:Childhood taken from The Human Equation. Originally sung by Devon Graves and Mikael Akerfeldt and James LaBrie, the new version features piano, bass and vocals only courtesy of Marjan once again
The final track to complement this EP is ‘Ride the Comet’ the track taken from 01011001 featuring a vocal cast of thousands • Jorn Lande, Bob ‘Pointy’ Catley, Floor Jansen, Tom Englund, Jonas Renske, and Magali Luyten.
The result is a must for fans of both camps, but essential for fans of Ayreon. Buy before the end of June and you get a code for some exclusive downloads from the Ayreon web site. What are you waiting for