LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT 3

LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT is the mega group of stars who inducted RUDESS to the future keyboard position within DREAM THEATER; LTE created in 1997, from jazz fusion to orchestral heavy metal, rock and improvisation. 22 years old and release due to a devouring pandemic of this opus of 4 woodcutters musicians, sizes who combine the pleasure of playing with technicality. LTE3 to listen to to see if the creative madness is still present, if the improvisation can be so redundant. LTE3 or how to get swallowed up in a trap album!

Fast "Hypersonic" for guitar, bass and drums; PORTNOY as in the good old days of DREAM THEATER; track worked melodically with a baroque break which slips on epic metal, a "Carmina Burana" giving birth to a prog jazzy metal high in colors and in volts; a deluge of notes, twirling synths, the bass almost distant but which sets the tempo, which regulates it, a guitar solo that tears off, hold PETRUCCI uninhibited and better surrounded, a long suite that never ends; welcome with "Beating the Odds" second single unveiled in preview, a rock boogie, not rock demonstrative, symphonic, cataclysmic; It starts with SATRIANI, ELP for the overboxed synth, in short no lyrics but notes per kilo, machine gun type and its string of balls in 12.7mm and this magnificent melodic theme based around the guitar. "Liquid Evolution" continues with loose improv, it starts on a bass à la SERRA, aria à la GABRIEL-LEVIN, monolithic declension and associated spleen with the tortured Crimsonian guitar, then it's just beautiful, the musical evolution in a few notes. "The Passage of Time" now on a heavy piece, their first written in 22 years; then what to say when the fusion of the instrumentalists is done almost perfect; everything is well placed, a piano that calms the atmosphere, a colorful guitar that makes you want to pull on the strings, oh no, it's going too fast; well it starts on a sound ambush where the notes are struck with tracer bullets, the synth returns and rounds the angles for a grandiloquent finale to the enjoyable DREAM THEATER. Some will not like it too bad for them! At the moment the "lack" of voices is not a problem. "Chris & Kevin & Amazing Odyssey" for a moment of pure progressive bliss; double bass by LEVIN supported by the drums of PORTNOY and the triptych at the end of the series 'Chris & kevin' and this nod to their misspelled first names; the intro prog jam, crimsonian, tormented; the song that you put on a loop to reassure you that you will not find a prog track of this ilk, beauty without a name.

"Rhapsody in Blue" for THE cover of GERSHWIN's hymn, rhythmic, sublimating the track with thundering keyboards and guitar, now recorded on CD. Pure, unstructured energy, kitschy beauty with a bluesy digression, it starts with a phonic explosion, jazzy on a common theme, the synth is really greasy. 4 minutes and the spleen-creation variation of the world; it starts again with a drenched blues, good light on the fabulous guitar but a little long, we know where we are going; melodic finale as at the start, in short, pompous on one side, majestic on the other. "Shades of Hope" for the musical break with duet of guitars and piano, the title romantic ballad, spleen, the piano coming to temper the ardor of the notes of John's guitar. "Key to the Imagination" and the enjoyable finale at DREAM THEATER. Softness, aggressiveness, jazzy; intro that looks for a few moments, prog then a tune that puts you down with your beer, your lemonade, John's last bourbon; well done, the guitar, the bass, the keyboards of the piano with the different synths, the drums of course; we know we are going on a cruise ship where there will be no waves; at 6 minutes it digresses on the diabolical synth; these musicians seem to have even more fun here; like Arabist-oriental atmosphere, the guitar pulls its strings. Small digression on the progressive memories that this brings; you are not bored, you have what you imagined from a prog title with the ease of playing it yourselves (in a dream), and you have the freshness, the innovation, the sublime and bombastic side to admit that we can't do better!

For those who have the album in its bonus version, improvisation is not unnecessary, extracts from jams made during the recording of the album: "Blink of an Eye" and the improv in declination; a melodic crescendo based on the guitar accompanied by the other instruments returning the same. "Solid Resolution Theory" for a bluesy, melodic sound, a long destructuring suite with a guitar that never ends, for hard fans of DREAM THEATER. "View from the Mountaintop" with a piano-bass variation, appearance of layers of various keyboards accompanied by a limpid guitar. "Your Beard Is Good" for a rhythmic synth-guitar fight, then Zappaien, then jazzy that even grooves. "Ya Mon" jazzy with warm and languid keyboard, it's long but the notes flow naturally.

LTE3 is a very nice surprise, I feared a repeat like many recent dinosaur bands that come out of the good but not the excellent, kind album glorified but not objective. Well, big sound with a bass that slows down the scent of notes a little, tunes cut to make you vibrate on your seats, on your walkers or on your youpalas; LTE has therefore released a musical toy here, one of those that you will grind while also laughing at those who have fun putting in a drawer: prog, heavy, jazzy, bluesy, metal, musical, OMNI also and especially for a great album ; let's stop chronicling and relaunch the replay.