Band:
Roine Stolt – Electric guitars, vocals
Pete Trewavas – Bass, Vocals
Neal Morse – Keyboards, Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
Mike Portnoy – Drums,Vocals
Daniel Gildenlöw – Guitars, Keyboards, percussion, vocals
Discography:
The Whirlwind (2009)
Live In Europe ( 2003)
Bridge Across Forever (2001)
Live In America (live 2001)
SMPTe (2000)
Guests:
Steve Hackett on the DVD
Info
Released 24/10-2011
Reviewed 31/10-2011
Links:
transatlanticweb.com
myspace
insideout
For those of you who know Transatlantic I can say that you will know what you get, for those of you who don’t I can start with saying that this is progressive rock. The songs are really long, there are only six tracks on these three discs which seems to indicate the length of the songs. The music is complex with big variations and many long parts of instrumental virtuosity and so on, the band also offer lots of different kinds of entertainment with cover parts and some joking and so on. Expect the unexpected I guess you can say but at the same time this genre is all about this notion, otherwise I can say that the sound is rather good on this album but it is still very authentic live sound so it isn’t always the cleanest. The crowd is heard quite a bit so they seem to have had a decent time watching this band for three hours, ant the band also show lots of energy through their performance I might add.
Clearly it is an impressive creation by this band, the skill is evident and the songs are very good but it tends to get a bit long to listen to this album and the playing time along with the jokes and stuff feels like it makes this album more something for the big fans rather than winning any new fans. I am not the biggest fan of Transatlantic but I know them and think they are very good but not so much that I feel a three hour live album is a good way to spend my time. Overall it is quite difficult to see when one should have the time to sit down and listen to a three hour album in the stressed up world of today, this is why this album is best suited for the band’s fans.
So massive release for the fans of these guys, a live album that does not feel unnecessary considering that it is the last show of the reunion tour which at least doesn’t make it one of those live albums that follows a band’s first album which is something I usually hate unless it is a band like this or any other project that is not quite a full time band. But the three hours it takes to play this album makes this album something only for the ones already into the band, I am very doubtful towards a notion that this album will win this band any new fans.
So, if you are a fan of Transatlantic then you will enjoy this album and should buy it. If you are not a fan of Transatlantic but curious about them you can always buy the Whirlwind album as it feels like a better choice to get to know the band’s music. If you are just looking for great progressive rock, I can recommend Beyond the Shrouded Horizon with Steve Hackett. Buy if you are a fan of the band as it is very good if you like them, I am not so sure about buying if you aren’t already a fan of the band.
HHHHHHH
