Ayreon - 01011001 (2008)
Tracklist front / back album covers
CD 1 – "Y"
1. "Age of Shadows"
I. "Age of Shadows"
II. "We are Forever"
III. "Age of Shadows (reprise)" 10:47
2. "Comatose" 4:26
3. "Liquid Eternity" 8:10
4. "Connect the Dots" 4:13
5. "Beneath the Waves"
I. "Beneath the Waves"
II. "Face the Facts"
III. "But a Memory..."
IV. "World Without Walls"
V. "Reality Bleeds" 8:26
6. "Newborn Race"
I. "The Incentive"
II. "The Vision"
III. "The Procedure"
IV. "Another Life"
V. "Newborn Race"
VI. "The Conclusion" 7:49
7. "Ride the Comet" 3:29
8. "Web of Lies" 2:50
Total length: 50:13
CD 2 – "Earth"
1. "The Fifth Extinction"
I. "Glimmer of Hope"
II. "World of Tomorrow Dreams"
III. "Collision Course"
IV. "From the Ashes"
V. "Glimmer of Hope (reprise)" 10:29
2. "Waking Dreams" 6:31
3. "The Truth Is in Here" Lucassen, Liselotte Hegt 5:12
4. "Unnatural Selection" 7:15
5. "River of Time" 4:24
6. "E=mc2" 5:50
7. "The Sixth Extinction"
I. "Echoes on the Wind"
II. "Radioactive Grave"
III. "2085"
IV. "To the Planet of Red"
V. "Spirit on the Wind"
VI. "Complete the Circle" 12:18
Total length: 52:02
Ayreon Band Members / Musicians
Vocalists
Bob Catley (Magnum) – Forever
Tom S. Englund (Evergrey) – Forever
Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering) – Forever
Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation) – Forever
Floor Jansen (After Forever) – Forever
Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian) – Forever
Jørn Lande (Masterplan) – Forever
Steve Lee (Gotthard) – Forever
Magali Luyten – Forever
Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) – Forever
Arjen Anthony Lucassen – Mr. L on "The Truth Is in Here", and backing vocals on "Connect the Dots"
Liselotte Hegt (Dial) – Mr. L's nurse on "The Truth Is in Here"
Simone Simons (Epica) – Simone on "Web of Lies"
Ty Tabor (King's X) – an average middle-class worker on "Connect the Dots"
Marjan Welman – a 21st-century scientist on "E=mc2"
Wudstik – a 21st-century scientist on "E=mc2"
Phideaux Xavier – PX on "Web of Lies"
Instrumentalists
Tomas Bodin (The Flower Kings) – synthesizer solo on "Waking Dreams"
Joost van den Broek (After Forever) – synthesizer solo and piano on "The Sixth Extinction"
David Faber – cellos
Jeroen Goossens – flute; soprano and tenor recorder on "The Truth Is in Here"; bass flute on "Unnatural Selection"; tin whistle on "River of Time"
Lori Linstruth – guitar solo on "Newborn Race"
Arjen Anthony Lucassen – electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitars, mandolin, keyboards, synthesizers, Hammond, and Solina
Ben Mathot – violins
Michael Romeo (Symphony X) – guitar solo on "E=mc2"
Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater) – synthesizer solo on "The Fifth Extinction"
Ed Warby – drums and percussion
Arjen Anthony Lucassen – recording, production, mixing, and mastering
Joost van den Broek – engineering assistant
Jef Bertels – cover painting
Yvette Boertje – image for "The Truth Is in Here"
Felipe Machado Franco – lay-out and illustrations
Simone van Vegten – 3D illustrations
01011001 is the 7th studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. "01011001" is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter Y.
Seventeen singers in total, including Lucassen himself, contributed to the album, more than any other Ayreon album. Apart from Lucassen, only Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering) and Floor Jansen (After Forever, Nightwish) had sung on previous Ayreon albums, on Into the Electric Castle and Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer respectively.
It also stars, among others, Bob Catley from Magnum, Hansi Kürsch from Blind Guardian, Jørn Lande, and Steve Lee from Gotthard in his final guest appearance before his death in 2010. The album was a commercial and critical success.
