Into The Electric Castle - Ayreon

I Must Be Dead, or Stoned Out of My Head

Advantages: Inventive mix of styles, great use of multiple vocalists.
Disadvantages: Overlong, borderline masturbatory instrumental passages.

The double disc 'Into the Electric Castle: A Space Opera' is the third release from multi-talented Dutch prog enthusiast Arjen Anthony Lucassen, but essentially the second (after 1995's 'The Final Experiment') to be of any note. Like its predecessor, 'Into the Electric Castle' is difficult to pin down to a specific style, but is mostly a blend of progressive rock, progressive metal and psychedelic rock in the form of a rock opera (though Lucassen opts for the somewhat meaningless term 'Space Opera'). The diverse cast of characters are all performed by famous rock vocalists from across Europe, although Fish from Marillion is the only truly well-known one here outside of metal circles. Later Ayreon releases upped the ante somewhat to draft in the vocalists from Dream Theater, Opeth and Iron Maiden. This multi-vocal effect is great ...

Frankingsteins 20.04.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Into The Electric Castle - Ayreon

Who's castle?

Advantages: Funny and entertaining
Disadvantages: They never win which is very frustrating

Takeshi's castle is a Japanese game show which is very similar to Total Wipeout although it's very dated. The show starts out with 100 contestants who battle it out by running assault courses and participating in different challenges before faces the final challenge and being in with a chance of winning one million yen. The show is ridiculously hard and it does make the watcher wonder if they don't actually have the prize funds at the end. My favourite challenge throughout the show is where the contestant has to run through doors but some of the doors are glued shut so if they choose the wrong one then they end up crashing into it. Craig Charles narrates the UK version of the show and I have to say that he is very funny with some of the things he comes out with. He adds a whole new level to it and makes it all the more fun to ...

claribella 22.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Takeshi's Castle

King Of The Castles

Advantages: Beautiful grounds, lots to see outside, a very popular 'must go to' tourist attraction
Disadvantages: Can get extremely busy, expensive tickets (dungeon is additional)

hundreds. Considering the ticket prices I would have expected the parking to have been included, but this is at an additional charge also. The field I parked in cost £3.50 which latest the whole stay, so at least you can park up and not have to worry about rushing back to your car if you're paying within a time limit. If you've parked, you'll need to get a coin from a machine which you then insert into another machine on your way out of the car park, and you can get this from the castle entrance at any time. Walking from the last car park to the castle itself was quite a trek. I was surprised at how large the grounds actually are, so be prepared to walk for 20-25 minutes to and from the castle. The walk is well-sign posted though, so you can't get lost! On reaching the entrance, you'll find toilets, food and drinks stands, the ticket ...

gothic_moon 06.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Warwick Castle