Elected is the latest EP by Dutch Progressive metal project Ayreon. It was released on April 25, 2008 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and on April 28 in the rest of Europe. It features the guest performance of Tobias Sammet from Avantasia. The EP contains an Alice Cooper cover, an acoustic guitar & voice version of E=MC² and the track "Ride the Comet", both from the 01011001 album. There's also a piano version of The Human Equation's Day Six: Childhood. Some reviewers and also the CD-Text information on the CD itself call the EP The Universal Ayreonaut.

Background

On January 25, 2008, both Ayreon's and Avantasia's latest albums were released (01011001 and The Scarecrow, respectively). The press soon started to create speculations on the possibility of them being rivals and which album would be more successful. When asked about this, Arjen Anthony Lucassen (mastermind behind Ayreon) stated that he was mad at Tobias Sammet, head of Avantasia, because Tobias managed to have Alice Cooper, of whom Arjen is a great fan, to perform on his last Avantasia album. Coincidently, Tobias was also mad at Arjen because he had Bruce Dickinson performing on his Ayreon album Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator. To "put some fuel on the fire created by the press", as Arjen stated on his website, they decided to record a song together. Initially, the EP was to be titled "Ayreon vs. Avantasia."

Track listing

1. Elected (Alice Cooper cover) - 3:37
2. E=MC² (Live acoustic radio version) - 3:32
3. Ride the Comet - 3:32
4. Day Six: Childhood (Piano version) - 3:04

Personnel

• Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Ayreon) – Electric and acoustic guitars, bass, Keyboards
• Ed Warby (Gorefest) – Drums
• Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia) – Lead vocals in "Elected"
• Marjan Welman (Elister, Autumn) – Lead vocals in "E=MC²" and "Day Six: Childhood"
• Floor Jansen (After Forever) – Vocals in "Ride the Comet"
• Tom Englund (Evergrey) – Vocals in "Ride the Comet"
• Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) – Vocals in "Ride the Comet"
• Bob Catley (Magnum) – Vocals in "Ride the Comet"
• Magali Luyten (Virus IV) – Vocals in "Ride the Comet"
• Joost van den Broek (After Forever) – Piano in "Day Six: Childhood"

External links

• Ayreon official website