Arjen explains: Robert and I go back a long way, further than I can remember. When I had disbanded Vengeance, I finally had the opportunity to work with Robert. We started Planet Nine, a Whitesnake type of band, but at that time that kind of music was no longer popular, so the band never took off. Robert has a low, raw and full voice, and is often compared to David Coverdale, which doesn’t…

Arjen explains: I was looking for a voice who could represent ‘Death’ and what better choice than a grunter? I was about to record Sharon den Adel, and her boyfriend Robert Westerhold is the grunter of ‘Within Temptation’. And because he loves my music, he was more than willing to grunt along. Robert told me that George Oosterhoek of Orphanage could release the most chilling…

Arjen explains: I know Rodney from the glam rock outfit The Blockbusters (www.blockbusters.com) because I sang a Bowie song on their 1999 album ‘Powder to the People’. Rodney has been repairing and providing computers for me for years. One day he left his solo CD on my desk. I was very impressed by his powerful voice, so I asked him to sing a song on this album. He chose…

Arjen explains: The Symphony X webmaster informed me that guitarist Michael Romeo liked my music. I started listening to Symphony X and was blown away by Russell’s voice.
I tried to get in touch with Russell, which wasn’t easy but as soon as he had heard my music he called me a few hours every week! Russell has a very powerful and versatile voice, and on top of that he…

Arjen explains: I heard a demo recording of Ruud’s voice, and his warm, calm voice immediately won me over. Although the first CD ‘The Final Experiment’ was already finished, I wrote and recorded ‘Charm of the Seer’ especially for Ruud. I also played and sang on some of his solo tracks under the name ‘Biscuit’. He now plays in a great band called Cloudmachine.

Arjen explains: Back in about 1997 I read in a music magazine that the new band ‘Within Temptation’ named Ayreon as one of their sources of inspiration. Of course I was honoured so I went to their concert and met with Sharon afterwards. She told me that she would love to sing on an Ayreon CD. Sharon has a beautiful, fragile voice and great charisma. At the time we recorded her part of the Indian she wasn’t very

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Arjen explains: I met Steve for the first time back in the eighties when we played in Italy with Vengeance, my band at the time. He still was a drummer and a goldsmith back then and I immediately recognized his amazing vocal talent after I heard him sing on a demo they gave me. A bit later he stayed at my house for a few days because

Arjen explains: I heard Stratovarius on a metal compilation and thought the singer Timo had a very pleasant voice. I got in touch with him through email and he was immediately interested in participating. We immediately hit it off, and because we have the same sense of humor, we laughed so hard and had funny pictures made of the both of us. I used Timo’s voice very differently from…

Arjen enlisted the vocal talents of his “arch rival” Tobias Sammet (Avantasia, Edguy) to record an explosive, over-the-top version of the 1973 Alice Cooper hit, Elected. The song is featured on a 4-track EP including 3 other tracks…

Arjen Explains: no comment yet.

Arjen explains: no comment yet.