[2] After leaving Vengeance in 1992, Arjen began working on writing and recording solo material, with his newfound creative freedom.

Finding motivation to commercialize the new music from his record company, Arjen released his first solo album in 1993 under his middle name, Anthony, entitled Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy.

The dynamic and exciting music, emotionally driven lyrics, and an ensemble cast found in albums such as Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar and The Who's Tommy, commonly referred to as rock operas, inspired Arjen to create one of his own.

[6] The project was financially burdensome, but through some subsidization in the form of a "very large amount of money" from Arjen's father, it was seen through to completion, and was successful enough to warrant another Ayreon release.

The wizard then predicts that the message will arrive in the mind of another minstrel at the end of the 20th century…[8] All tracks are written by Arjen Anthony Lucassen