REVIEWS:
Yet another progressive rock supergroup, Transatlantic consists of Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings (electric guitar, vocals, mellotron), Neal Morse of Spock's Beard (lead vocals, keys, acoustic guitar), Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater (drums, vocals), and Pete Trewavas of Marillion (bass, vocals). Their sound brings together influences from those four bands (particularly from the former two) for an almost 'retro' progressive rock sound.
--Nick Karn
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
The debut offering from this supergroup focuses just as much on the melodic aspects of their sound as their instrumental chops (which the individual members have quite a lot of). It may be a bit hard to believe by the absolutely intimidating running times of the five individual pieces here totalling 77 minutes (!) - the centerpiece of the album, opening track "All Of The Above", clocks in at a mere 30 minutes, for one thing, and another two pass 16 minutes. The overall sound of the project is a little more like the retro prog of Spock's Beard and the Flower Kings (Neal Morse and Roine Stolt's bands), as Morse handles most of the lyrics and vocals and Stolt tackling a good amount of the guitar parts. The other two members also make their presence known - Pete Trewavas brings virtuosic bass playing to the table (was he really this great in Marillion??), and Mike Portnoy's drumming is somewhat more laid back and tasteful than it was in Dream Theater, but still very accomplished and exciting.
The aforementioned half hour centerpiece "All Of The Above" is divided into six parts with a few recurring melodic instrumental parts that seem to come out of nowhere, including a breathtaking 'closing' theme in the "Full Moon Rising Reprise". The "Full Moon Rising" section begins the song with a fantastic, tight jam and very hopeful lyrics, vocals and melody, while "October Winds" is a lyrically introspective and musically atmospheric section that turns into a jazzy solo and then proceeds to melt into "Camoflaged In Blue",which is very shimmering and melodic. In contrast, "Half Alive" is uptempo and hard-hitting, and "Undying Love" is, lyrically and melodically, unspeakably gorgeous and moving, an effective setup for the unreal closing theme with its' lengthy, quiet fadeout - a perfect closer for another one of my favorite prog epics - songs over 10 minutes don't seem as long anymore after experiencing this one.
After that exhausting, but fully brilliant extended piece, "We All Need Some Light" is a very intimate and beautiful ballad in a Neal Morse kind of way, with such cryptic and odd lyrics like, 'When the creep beats the rap on appeal / and the cop who can't stop, shows the kids how to steal' over a powerful melody and chorus which really drives the song. "Mystery Train" is built like an extremely catchy novelty tune, with more odd lyrics over an engaging beat, and all members singing in harmony on the last word of every verse, leading into a majestic chorus that flows from the verses in perfect fashion.
The Roine Stolt-sung piece here, "My New World", is an adventurous 16 minute journey that boasts the best melodic moments here - after a towering intro, the song turns into Stolt singing a breathtaking melody over soft piano the lyrics dealing with two separate stories that are somehow tied together, of a girl living in the 60s and a soldier that has gone off to war. The harmony filled chorus sounds somewhat different from the verse sections, but somehow fits in perfectly. The song then goes into a quiet, airy direction and then moves into a tight progressive jam and a darker section ('disappointment... struck him hard...') that then reprises some of the best melodic moments in the song to end things out.
The final song, a 17 minute cover of "In Held (Twas) In I", originally done by Procul Harum, is the only slightly unsatisfying number here - I haven't heard the original, but I doubt it was this extended and dominated by various jams that don't seem to capture my attention anywhere near as much as the ones throughout the rest of the album. The philosophical lyrics sung by all four members at different points in the song (including a haunting intro where Pete Trewavas narrates the spoken word part and Mike Portnoy does the part of the Dalai Lama) are interesting, though, so it's not like the song is worthless. It's just a bit of a disappointment considering the towering masterpieces that came before. A wonderfully inspired success for the start of the new millennium (okay, technically maybe not), and a must for progressive fans, especially those who are particular fans of extremely well-crafted melody.
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COMMENTS
Idotic title,isn't it?Anyway,the album is great-for me,it's pure 10 and nothing else. The best pop-prog/neo-prog(name it how you want) album I have heard so far."All Of The Above" is great epic with great jam in the middle.Rather idiotic ending,though-guys just wanted to get the epic out of 30 minutes."We All Need Some Light" is beautiful pop-ballad,"Mystery Train" is the most generic number on here-and it rules!!!"My New World" is the worst on here,but still good.Poor,Roine,it seems after Flower Power he can't do anything new...And the Procol Harum cover is really great thing too.A 10.
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
It isn't too far of a stretch to call Transatlantic the band who only writes epics, as certainly proven by their sophomore effort. This time out, there's only four songs over a 71 minute length, and not only that, this thing is a concept album. Uh oh. It's Tales From Topographic Oceans all over again, isn't it? Well, not quite. The thing about this band is, despite the ungodly length of these songs, these are at the core, pop numbers that connect completely different melodies together by occasional bursts of jamming and reprises of the main themes, just like the debut did. So basically, it's a bit of a repeat of the SMPTe formula (I still think that's an awful name for an album), which naturally leads to weaker results - the melodies are on the whole a little less interesting this time out, and the multi-part structures are not as cohesive. But that being said, there are still quite a few completely cathartic moments that show up throughout, and it is a more democratic album than before (featuring all four members writing and taking vocal spots).
The 26 minute opener "Duel With The Devil" is a more than accurate showcase of the stylistics here - originally a Neal Morse composition that he had lying around for years, it's given a completely different Transatlantic spin in that every member provides their own stamp on the jam portions. More importantly, though, the main melody to the opening section 'Motherless Children' is totally beautiful and sorrowful genius. And the way it all comes to a head in its' slow 'Almost Home' coda with the hauntingly gorgeous choir singing is an amazing high point. As for the rest of the song, though, it's certainly very good, but the second 'Walk Away' portion, as nice as it is, breaks the flow of the intro a bit, and the jam portion in the transition to the 'Silence Of The Night' melody is a little undistinguished, but the sax solo is sure a wonderful touch. A quite good epic overall, even though it doesn't reach the heights of before despite its' promising beginning and ending. Wow, that souned like a review of a whole album itself, didn't it?
But of course, that isn't all - next comes the 14 minute Abbey Road medley pastiche "Suite Charlotte Pike", whose coolest feature is the bluesy intro jam where the band members actually leave the aborted first take in as the song restarts. The main 'If She Runs' melody is fine enough, too (I also love the 'It's haaaard....' harmony part where all the band members add their different responses to that line), 'Temple Of The Gods' is really funny the way it has that synth break which appropriates its' title, 'Mr. Wonderful' is a nice piano pop section, and the reprise of the 'Motherless Children' melody from 'Duel With The Devil' is a great conceptual touch. While all the parts here are really good by themselves, the overall piece does feel a little forced and derivative.
The only sane length piece on the album in the 5-1/2 minute title track, and it's a dull, dull, dull Mellotron-laced piano ballad. It's a good thing they picked this one to be the shortest song here, because it really feels out of place on the album. The atmosphere is completely colorless, and the conviction of the melody and vocals just aren't there at all. But thankfully, it is followed by perhaps the most fully-realized and awesome composition on the entire thing in the 25 minute "Stranger In Your Soul", which features not one, but two powerfully epic and beautiful piano and vocal melodies repeating through much of the song. The great cello, tribal rhythm section and organ in the intro really get things off to a powerful start, and it really says something about the melodic quality of its' opening 'Sleeping Wide Awake' that I'm fully able to sing along to it despite it containing some of the dumbest lines I've heard in awhile ('but I can't hear it now, is it all too late? 'cause I would sell my dreams, if I could be awake').
Subpar lyrics surely cannot ruin this gem, though, as it then moves into a totally 'balls and chunk'-like heavy portion called 'Hanging In The Balance' (with dramatic Mellotron breaks added here and there), plus it reprises melodies from "Suite Charlotte Pike" in the 'Lost And Found' and 'Awakening The Stranger' sections in a totally different musical setting. Then the jazz-like 'Slide' moves into one of the most gorgeous, epic codas I've heard from a 21st century album (which isn't saying much, but oh well), and what makes it so effective is it's seemingly the whole rest of the album that builds up to that special moment. Simply put, it has to be heard to be believed. Bridge Across Forever itself is certainly flawed in places, with occasional periods of dullness and lack of progression, but this closing piece alone (and selected moments throughout the rest of this effort) makes it well worth owning.
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COMMENTS
If the first Transatlantic album had strong Yes influence,so this one is really Beatles-like.I just like to listen to all four songs-they all are good...The best? "Suite Charlotte Pike" is really best on here.A 7.