BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER

When hearing about the existence of this super-group, I didn't expect anything that super from it. One half of the members of Transatlantic come from bands that I personally can't stand for more than a few minutes. The other half come from bands which I love for half their career and hate for the other half. Still I was talked into buying it by very persuasive friends and being somewhat of a sucker for epic packed albums.

The album has its strong points and its weak points. The musicianship from all four impresses me. Even Ronnie Stolt whom I usually can't stand impresses me with his lead work especially in "Duel With The Devil." Portnoy gives one of his best performances and actually keeps himself in check never doing anything I would describe as unfitting for the songs. Pete Trewavas steals the show though giving by far the best performance out of any member. "Duel With The Devil" and "Suite Charlotte Pike" offer little in terms of originality, especially the latter which reeks of The Beatles (never a bad thing though), but they certainly make up for it in other ways. Both songs feature the previously mentioned great musicianship with very catchy, yet not poppy, melodies that stand up to repeated listening and some great vocal harmonies that I can enjoy despite abhorring Neal's, Mike's, and Ronnie's voices.

Unfortunately, the entire album is plagued by Neal and Ronnie's vocals. Neither have impressive voices and neither make up with it in ability. In addition, the second half of the album, "Bridge Across Forever" and "Stranger In Your Soul," lack any of the great melodies that the preceding two tracks did. "Bridge Across Forever" fails to do anything besides bore. It is far too long for the simple, poppy, piano ballad that it is. And any track that focuses on Neal Morse's singing has little chance of success. "Stranger in Your Soul" really annoys me. It's flamboyant with very few ideas to show off.

Transatlantic delivers about as much as I would expect given the members in the band. Half the album really impresses me and the other half really disappoints.