Warthur Ayreon's second album shows some improvement over The Final Experiment. Avoiding the rock opera format this time around means that Lucassen doesn't have to hammer his musical ideas into that constricting format and doesn't feel the need to add any filler to provide narration or context for the story.

That said, like much of Ayreon's back catalogue it didn't immediately grab me, and despite the lack of an overarching concept, there's still a certain theatrical flair to proceedings which nudges this more towards the pomp and spectacle side of prog metal; getting across mini-narratives is more important here than showing off technical flair. It's a release which has grown on me somewhat over the years - Lucassen's use of synthesiser is particularly exciting and futuristic - and perhaps is more digestible than Ayreon's more customary concept album fare.

AtomicCrimsonRush I have heard this album from one of my favourite prog artists a number of times but can't for the life of me remember a single song. I remember I enjoyed the album while it played but there are no songs that stand out at all, and it will be some time before Ayreon becomes a dominant force recruiting varied singers from their respective bands to enhance the music. Arjen decided to revisit the album to remix it to a better standard. For me, in any form, this early album was a substandard affair, enjoyable but nothing as innovative or creative as Ayreon would become in later years. I would definitely not begin the Ayreon journey with this album if you are new to the band, rather start with some of the awesome experiences of 'The Human Equation' or 'Into The Electric Castle'. 'Actual Fantasy' will work better as a bonus addition to these albums. I found it a bit of an empty experience but still give it 3 stars as the music is always a delight, with Arjen excellent on guitars.

adg211288 Actual Fantasy is the second album from Arjen Lucassen as a part of his Ayreon project. The album was originally released in 1996. A new version, Actual Fantasy Revisited, was released in 2004. There are some significant differences between both such as the computerised instruments being removed in favour of real ones (the first version of the album did not even have proper drums on it) and some changes in the actual music here and there, basically the parts that Arjen Lucassen did not like about the original have now been corrected. There is also an extra track, The Dawn of Man, which although featured on a 1998 reissue of the album, did not appear on the original 1996 version.

Ayreon began as progressive metal with the first album of what is commonly known as the ‘metal opera’ genre. Arjen Lucassen used many different singers are came up with an elaborate plot to make an amazing concept album. This is the follow-up to that ground breaking album and it is a huge departure in nearly every way possible. It’s still progressive metal of course, but with the compositions being perhaps more progressively inclined than on the previous album. There are also less singers. Only three to be exact with Arjen Lucassen making a single vocal appearance in Forevermore. But what a three they are. Returning to Ayreon is Edward Reekers and Robert Soeterboek and also appearing is Okkie Huysdens in his first and to date only appearance with Ayreon. What we have here is three men whose voice are all different from each other and it is easy to tell them from each other. This more than makes up for the small amount of vocalists.

Lyrically this has nothing to do with the concept behind the other Ayreon albums. Instead we find a selection of short stories but with songs that are anything but short. Excluding the title track which serves as an intro to the album the shortest song on here is 6:31 with an average of over seven minutes for most of the album. The trouble that there are a couple of moments in the songs that could use a bit of trimming down. Some songs are good but just that bit too long and they move into slightly boring territories. It’s not a major fault because it's only on a few rare occasions that I feel like this, but it is really the one thing that is keeping Actual Fantasy’s score lower than what I would give the other Ayreon albums. There’s not really anything else to complain about other than that, aside that it is not what I would have expected of an Ayreon album and therefore I just don’t enjoy it so much. But it has good guitar playing and some great lyrics and progressive elements.

Overall Actual Fantasy is probably the weakest of Arjen Lucassen's Ayreon discography, but it' still a nice solid album that betters many albums by other artists and as always a worthy addition to anyone's Lucassen collection.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)

bonnek Actual Fantasy represents a side of Ayreon that is different from the rock-opera sound of his debut. The influences from Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream dominate above those from Yes and ELP. It's a more relaxed and reflective album, less heavy then the debut, devoid of any metal, and keeping clear of Ayreon’s usual opera bombast. The lush spacey sound, use of drum computers and a slight melancholic mood brings the ambience of Porcupine Tree's Up The Downstairs and Hawkwind’s 90’s albums to mind. All these features generally make it into a less loved album with the fanbase.

After a short intro, the album opens strongly with Abbey of Sin, it starts with a 2 minute long soft brooding intro. A Tangerine Dream inspired sequence sets a slow pace that is occasionally accented with a distorted guitar chord. It’s a lovely song with strong melodies, warm vocals and great solos, both for guitar and synths.

The Stranger From Within is a grooving piece with an entrancing rhythm. The atmosphere is a bit gloomy and heavy on synths, bringing early 80’s synth pop to mind. It features nice touches of Hammond organ, both in the ELP-type solo and the outro.

More Tangerine Dream sounds and Gilmouresque guitars create the intro for Computer Eyes, another enjoyable symphonic epic. After 3 minutes, drum computers and background palm muted heavy guitars create a hypnotic pace similar to the previous song.

The quality level of the previous tracks is not continued through the entire album. Both Beyond the Last Horizon and Far Side of the World are decidedly less interesting, the first one even featuring an average poppy chorus and the second feeling like a long-stretched intro that never gets going. It ends with nice spacey Hawkwind synths though.

Back On Planet Earth continues the momentum of the opening tracks with another captivating dark spacerock song. Forevermore is a folksy moment with acoustic guitars and violin. The melodies are a bit too weak to make it memorable. The Dawn of Man is an average outro, especially the first 4 uninspired minutes. The majestic orchestral synths at the end are better.

Actual Fantasy sits close to Arjen Lucassen’s later project Ambeon, but it is musically more intricate then the latter. With a good half hour of excellent songs and another 30 minutes of average material it's a nice 3.5 stars.

kluseba Ayreon's second full length output is a quite unique piece of music from this project. For the first and last time, the Dutch mastermind Arjen Lucassen decided to not invite a high number of guest musicians but did something like a solo project where he played all instruments and invited one main singer as well as one supplementary vocalist. The project feels more like a band in here and this album sounds quite homogenous. It's also the project's shortest full length release and gets quickly to the point. Everything sounds coherent and seems promising. To keep it short, the new project's project happens to be a band project. That's a pretty original statement, isn't it?

But the final result is by far not as brilliant as it could have been. The songs are all very long and surpass all the six minute mark apart of the short introduction. I feel that some of the tracks are artificially stretched and are not varied enough to justify such a length. That wouldn't be much of a problem if the songs had at least a great atmosphere, a gripping passage and some catchy elements but that's just not the case. The songs are mostly calm and slow paced and copy the progressive rock acts of the seventies without reaching the subtle intensity of calmer bands such as King Crimson, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream or Gentle Giant. "Abbey Of Synn" for example could have been a solid opener if it would have been about five minutes long as everything is already said at this mark. The album closer "Forevermore" has the same problem and instead of finishing the record on a great note, the grand finale turns out to be a quite pointless and mellow stumbling towards the end of the line. The single "The Stranger From Within" shares the same fate. The shortened single version sounded like a tribute to the commercial progressive music of the late seventies and early eighties in the key of Yes and was rather catchy but the album version is twice as long and offers not much more than the short version. Progressive fans might find some interesting musical details from time to time but especially the metal fan section of Ayreon will quickly be turned off by the numerous unnecessary lengths. Let's also add the revisited edition of the album doesn't add anything appealing and actually sounds less coherent than the original release.

There are still a few highlights that keep the record away from sinking into boring mediocrity. The rather modern and catchy "Computer Eyes" is a good effort, the diversified "Beyond The Last Horizon" unites progressive passages, some thrown in metal riffs and catchy hooks and offers everything Ayreon usually stands for and "Back On Planet Earth" has an interesting story, atmosphere and some refreshing heavy passages. The latter is easily the best and most dynamic track on the record and stands out.

In the end, this release has been an interesting experiment from Ayreon and offers something we haven't heard before and afterwards from him. The project sounds like a band in here and offers a rather short and homogenous record. The songs are though artificially stretched and lack of energy, atmosphere and originality so that the final result is Ayreon's weakest release. Many promising ideas and attempts have not led to a satisfying, intriguing and coherent release. While progressive music fans could like this calm tribute to the past of the genre, metal fans might quickly get bored and should skip this album to continue with the great "Into The Electric Castle" which marked the band's stunning breakthrough where Ayreon also found its own style.