Into The Electric Castle - Ayreon

Ayreon is not a band. I open by saying this simply because it's vital to understand my enthrallment with the works of Arjen A. Lucassen. Ayreon cannot even justly be called a 'group.' Ayreon is a project that (in my opinion) is one of the coolest things to happen to rock music. Now, that sounds grandiose, but it's true:
Concept albums have been done many times by many artists, but none quite like Lucassen does them. Rather than telling a story with multiple characters by signing all the parts, he hires help. For each album, he hand-picks famous vocalists to play the different personae of his tale. For example, in The Human Equation, he cast Dream Theater's James LaBrie as the main character. By putting together all of these voices, along with a different crew of instrumentalists every album, you get a very unique sound. It takes the term 'rock opera' to its truest form.
In this story, Into The Electric Castle, the listener follows 8 members of Earth's past through an emotional journey to the mystic Electric Castle. The characters are: The Barbarian, Highlander, Egyptian, Roman, Knight, Native American, Futureman, and Hippie. Also, there is the bodiless voice that follows and instructs them. All of Ayreon's albums are linked by an encompassing story, similar to the works of Coheed and Cambria. However, there's no need to understand that whole story to understand and enjoy this album.
So that's a little about the story, what about the music? I wouldn't pick this album if it wasn't amazing, of course! By allowing each vocalist to bring their own flair to the songs, it makes it an extremely rich, diverse experience. The songwriting is SOLID. Each song is carefully planned out to mesh with the story. The styles really put you in the environment: during "Across the Rainbow Bridge" I can almost close my eyes and see colorful expanse over a sea of tears. I don't really want to get in to the specific songs, as the piece is really about the whole, but every single one is a winner.
I don't want to mislead anyone: this album is indeed categorized in progressive rock/metal, but I think that most people would enjoy the music (even if they didn't get into the story). Do me a big favor, and give this one a try. I think you'll enjoy it. Yes, you.

Free link to the album on Napster:
http://free.napster.com/view/album/index.html?id=12285755