Ayreon - The Universal Migrator 1 & 2 [Special Edition] (2004)

Following the monumental release in early 2004 of The Human Equation, Arjen A. Lucassen, mastermind of the Ayreon project, has remastered and rereleased special editions of all 5 of the previous Ayreon masterpieces, in reverse order. All of them have updated artwork and multimedia extras, one has a DVD, one has an extra CD. As with The Human Equation, every Ayreon album has a plethora of guest singers and musicians, with Arjen playing everything but drums. Literally. Many of the singers come from prog rock/metal bands but some come from other walks of music-life. All of the Ayreon albums are a journey. Yes, that cliched music-reviewers term really does apply. Every album is complex, varied and tells a story, complete with characters and locations that stretch the imagination and merge an impossible number of musical styles into one coherent piece. No one else produces albums like this. No one else tackles projects of this magnitude for every release he puts out and includes this many musicians on each one. No one else is Arjen Anthony Lucassen. And no one else can create Ayreon.