10 Bands To Listen To If You Love Led Zeppelin
3. Ayreon
Ayreon is the main project of Dutch composer/singer/guitarist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Basically, it sees him crafting delightfully expansive and interconnected sci-fi concept albums with the help of some of the biggest instrumentalists and singers in all of progressive rock and metal.
Every Ayreon sequence exudes Lucassen’s love for 1970s rock music, yet it’s the records that feature Threshold/Headspace frontman Damian Wilson – in particular – that are essential for Led Zeppelin fans. Why? Because Wilson sounds eerily close to Robert Plant.
Just listen to Another Time, Another Space (from Into the Electric Castle) or And the Druids Turn to Stone (from Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer) for proof of how uncanny the combination of Lucassen and Wilson can be.
Beyond that specific pairing, Ayreon’s discography is full of overt reverences. For instance, the final song from The Human Equation – Day Twenty: Confrontation – centers around a guitar motif plucked right from Dazed and Confused. Likewise, The Source’s Sea of Machines recalls numerous Led Zeppelin acoustic ballads.
Those connections consistently reveal why Lucassen is an ingenious protégé.