LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT

Though certainly a lively set by four of the finest techies to ever pick up an instrument, what is best about the second LTE record is what is best about all alternative projects: the psychology of being a "different band" despite a same or similar lineup; some unspoken but tangible liberty felt by four pros who, one way or another, had found a way to make a pretty good living playing original music, had begun to feel the cold hand of style slowly tighten its hold on them, and wanted to do something about it. In that way the LTE project was mildly successful and Liquid Tension Experiment 2 turned out to be the superior of the various releases.

But it is not necessarily a great album, at least not in the normal sense. More an experience than a piece of work, the material is no better than from any number of first-rate rock/fusion outfits over the past forty years. In some ways, it reminds of Rick Wakeman's early days as a solo artist and the fun that is heard pouring out of those sessions. Steve Hackett, too. But, as is sometimes the case here, the compositions themselves may not be as important as the moment-- the event of four seasoned vets getting together for some low-pressure but, with luck, high-gain recordings that may prove to be more than the sum of its parts. Spontaneous invention within predesignated patterns is the order here, an art form that is not often done well but when witnessed, always leaves an impression. Petrucci stereo-pings his tricky 7-string riff to open 'Acid Rain' with Rudess right behind and Portnoy/Levin punching it all alive, this the boys' need for "a burner" on the album, "a blazing fury of notes and ideas" (an apt description of the whole set). 'Biaxident', really a sister piece to the opener, is forgiven its romantic uplift as it shifts to various sweet thematic variations with gorgeous solo breaks between piano and guitar, polished and large-sounding '914' recalls ELP circa '92, and the astro-rock of 'Another Dimension' is a pleasing ride through space with good symphonic arrangements and plenty of neat details and development.

At seventeen minutes, massive centerpiece 'When the Water Breaks' regales with layers of metal, building keyboard themes, playful drum/bass exchanges, bluesy diversions, Yngwie-like cosmic viking plunderings, vintage Lord/Blackmore-isms, gonking funk, before finally returning to the starting line. Superfluous 'Chewbacca' is a painful 13 minutes of not much, an experiment gone awry, but 'Liquid Dreams' is more promising with clean, dignified lines quietly tapering off into slightly sappy finisher 'Hourglass'.

What we don't have here is failure to communicate, and it is the sound of virtuosos who could spend all day & night simply playing together whether they knew what was coming at them around the corner or not. Which is to say it is a blast to listen to.

With everything considered, Liquid Tension experiment is just Dream Theater with a bit of jazz fusion. After all, John Petrucci is the main force behind the compositions and the overall heavy sound they produce. This album is no different, but it does take a much different approach. It is obviously very jazzy, and has a lot of free-flowing jam elements as well. Like Dream Theater the musicianship is impeccable. Portnoy and Petrucci and Rudess do what they're best at while Tony Levin adds some melting bass lines.

'Paradigm Shift,' (9/10) 'Kindred Spirits,' (8/10) 'Freedom of Speech,' (9/10) and 'Universal Mind' (10/10) are all classic Dream Theater sounding songs.

The more experimental songs are 'Osmosis,' (5/10) the funky 'The Stretch' (6/10) and Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure.' (6/10)

Unfortunately they had to include 'Three Minute Warning' (3/10) which is really just a 30-minute jam session.

Other than that, this album is a lot of fun. The compositions are great and the jazziness is fine. Though I would say this effort is not as strong as their second, as they often lose focus especially in the last song.

7/10

The second album by the instrumental prog metal gurus sees a lot more focus than it's predecessor. The songs are overall more composed, but still retain a lot of the jazz element.

John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess really lay down some amazing riffs and melodies. Portnoy adds some powerful drum grooves that really spice up the songs. And of course, Tony Levin is a monster on the Chapman stick. What amazes me so much about this album is that these guys can be so technical while still keeping melody and flow.

The album is largely upbeat, fast, and technical. It is basically a combination of prog, metal, and jazz, but the variety is immense. You get the strong metal offerings of "Acid Rain" and "Another Dimension," the slower and jazzy "Liquid Dreams" and "Hourglass." And of course, the album isn't complete without epic longer songs, which can be found in my personal favorite "When the Water Breaks," and the creepy "Chewbacca."

Overall a very strong album from "The Instrumental Dream Theater" which should not be overlooked by DT fans or prog metal fans alike.

First of all I would like to subscribe snobb's suggestion to place this album under an individual bandname because after all it's called Liquid Trio Experiment and not Liquid Tension Exp. And I also agree with him that if also placed in the jazzrock/fusion subgenre this album would get much more appreciation (and of course higher rating average). Because this is downright fusion and has nothing to do with prog metal. So far the introduction for this special output.

For that's what this is: a unique album which has nothing to do with the two fantastic releases by the other LTE (Liquid Trio Exp.+ John Petrucci). And it's obvious this one isn't mainly a product by Mike and John but has much more writing influence of Mr. Levin. Most of the stuff on here sounds most of all like LTE 2's albumtrack Chewbacca. A track that is often referred to as a typical King Crimson (= Levin) kind of composition. Very experimental and so is the majority of the tracks on Spontaneous Combustion.

Leaves me with a bit of a problem about the rating. Similar to KC's debut also this gives me a headache for that matter. Because I could give all 5 ratings for all sorts of reasons. For originality and progressiveness I could give 5 and for 100% my own taste expecting something like the two Liquid Tension albums I could just as well give 1 star. I think I will go right in between because that seems fair to me and does the most justice to my actual feelings for this piece of art. So 3 stars it is.

Send it to Barney, as it is...

When this album was recorded it featured only two members of Dream Theater; John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy. Since then Jordan Rudess has joined the band and Mike Portnoy has quit, so a 50% DT contingent remains! The quartet is completed by bass and Chapman stick player, Tony Levin of King Crimson and Peter Gabriel fame.

It pretty much goes without saying that the level of musicianship is phenomenal, and whilst it lacks vocals, this is to my mind is a positive. The main events include three pieces of ultra melodic, action packed prog metal (Paradigm Shift, Kindred Spirits and Universal Mind) and the improv jam, Three Minute Warning. Whilst the latter actually lasts closer to 28 minutes, it gets its name from the ultimatum given to the band by Tony Levin, who was growing impatient with the other members' meticulous approach to song writing. Other highlights include Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure and Freedom of Speech.

If the tracks already mentioned were the only tracks on this album, then I would be quite tempted to give it five stars. However, Osmosis and The Stretch feel rushed and out of place, whilst State of Grace is downright boring.

The Verdict: Overall, a cracking debut.

My affection for Dream Theater drew me to Liquid Tension Experiment and I expected something incredible with the likes of Tony Levin on bass, John Petrucci on guitar, Mike Portnoy on drums and Jordan Rudess on the keys. Instead the album comes across as a good diversion from the usual brilliance of Dream Theater. The album admittedly has some amazing musicianship but it is missing the magic that encompasses the Dream Theater albums. Labrie is missing of course and Myung is also absent. Without these members naturally it is far from Dream Theater, and I was underwhelmed overall.

The music dominates over every track and the highlights are definitely the amazing 'Universal Mind', that ends with a circus theme, and the massive epic 'Three Minute Warning' that runs for a whopping 28 minutes.

I enjoyed the weirdness of jazz infestation 'Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure' that brought back memories of that strange film, but the awful 'Osmosis' and 'The Stretch' really are filler songs to skip.

I would say that overall, the debut for Liquid Tension Experiment is a curio worth checking out but could have been so much better without all the filler tracks and with more brilliance and less experimentation.

Opting to call their second album "Liquid Tension Experiment 2" rather than give it a distinctive title was a sound call on the part of Liquid Tension Experiment, because like so many sequels the album is just like its predecessor, only more so.

On the plus side, there's no equivalent here of the extremely long Three Minute Warning improvisation from the first disc; all the music on here seems much more composed and there's little sign of the band just jamming away simply to fill up the CD. So if you wanted to love the first album but found yourself hitting "stop" as Three Minute Warning began you'll probably enjoy this one from beginning to end.

On the other hand, what's left is much the same as the composed material on the previous album - very technically flashy, little emotional depth or substance. If you're cool with that, add another star.

Liquid Tension Experiment were a supergroup put together at the suggestion of the Magna Carta label, who thought it'd be cool to get Mick Portnoy and John Petrucci of Dream Theater together with Tony Levin and Jordan Rudess for some jamming. The end result is an interesting instrumental album which, when it really cooks, is actually pretty fascinating.

To a certain extent you're listening to Jordan Rudess' audition for Dream Theater here, because it was in these sessions that Portnoy and Petrucci decided that Jordan was what that band needed in the keyboardist's spot, but if you set that point of historical interest aside the album is pleasant but a bit unfocused. Some of the more metal-tinged pieces are good, but when the band go full-out jazz fusion my attention begins to drift. The half hour long improv session of Three Minute Warning might be a fascinating insight into the band's working, but I suspect most people will prefer the preceding eight tracks of compositions which emerged from jam sessions such as that one; even there, though, my attention begins to drift after the first four tracks or so.

Add another star if you are particularly keen on listening to prog superstars jamming for jamming's sake, but for my part I tend to prefer more direction and focus and cohesion in prog metal; if you're the same, approach with caution.

"Liquid Tension Experiment" is the self-titled full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Liquid Tension Experiment. The album was released by Magna Carta in March 1998. Liquid Tension Experiment is an instrumental progressive metal/ fusion project by three members of Dream Theater and bassist Tony Levin (known for his work with among others Peter Gabriel and King Crimson).

The music on the album is intrumental progressive metal/ fusion. All musicians are extremely skilled and we´re treated to technical playing on a very high level. While the tracks feature re- occuring themes, much of the material sound like it was created while jamming. Tony Levin´s use of the chapman stick gives the bass part of the music a rather significant sound, but it´s mostly guitarist John Petrucci and keyboard player Jordan Rudess who leads the show with one blistering solo after another. There´s room for more mellow melodic work too though and the album balances between faster paced progressive metal/ fusion and mellower almost new age sounding sections. Drummer Mike Portnoy is as usual a powerhouse.

While the album is in many ways a both pleasant and solid effort, I generally think it´s too obvious that this is a side-project the members created to have fun. It´s not like the music reflect that they have anything important on heart or that they spent oodles of time writing and discussing how the music should sound. While such a loose approach to writing music works for some, I wouldn´t say I find this particular album a great artistic success. If you think you can enjoy light weight progressive metal/ fusion with a rather carefree approach to writing memorable tunes this might be something for you. For me personally the album passes by without many hooks or memorable moments to hold on to and I´m ultimately left a bit unimpressed with the songwriting and with the sterile sound production too. A 3 star rating is warranted.

State of Grace

Liquid Tension Experiment is the brainchild of Mike Portnoy, drummer of Dream Theater, when asked if he wanted to form a supergroup by Magna Carta records. He assembled the expert team of new-and-upcoming keyboardist Jordan Ruddes, expert bassist Tony Levin (of King Crimson and Peter Gabriel fame), and he completed his lineup with friend and fellow DT bandmate John Petrucci to play guitar. The band formed in 1996 and they began to jam and piece together ideas until the epic self-titled debut album was released in 1998. The ensuing 70 minutes of joy, blasting forth with the uber-fast and uber-technical opener Paradigm Shift, is a joy ride most especially enjoyed by musicians who love speed and music lovers who like a good progressive jazz fusion/metal rush, with an extra jolt of adrenaline. Fueled by lengthy jam sessions and improvised riffing, the album is jam packed with a tasty blend of funk, metal, jazz, progression, and a host of other attributed conjured up in the minds of these four master musicians. It's certainly no stretch to say that nearly anything is possible when the will of a few talented musicians is let on a creative free-for-all by a willing record company, and Liquid Tension Experiment is certainly a fine example of this.

As I have said before, these four guys are no strangers to their instruments. All technical masters of their trade, none of them have any issues with shredding up and down the fretboard, keyboard, or tom set. Whether John is shredding at blinding speeds or Jordan is sweeping up and down the keyboard or Tony is slapping and tapping his bass or Mike is rotating around the kit with incredible grace, these guys have no trouble showing their skill, even if at times it comes off a bit pretentious. The balance between intensity and melancholy is sublime, matching blazing tracks like Paradigm Shift with mellow and almost spa-like tracks like the incredible Osmosis. Sadly this album is ridiculed as just a blatant expression of four guys' skill, when really these four guys truly have a gift of showing their true grace in a compositional and improvisational setting (and most of the album is constructed off improvisation). The melodies, although a bit cheesy in many of the songs, are great; they seem as if they just should exist, whether on an LTE album or not. Like I said, the album is often smashed for being an output for these guys' skill, but without their skill, there really would be no album, and the amazing atmosphere the meshing of all these guys' styles is truly amazing. I have to say, without their pretentious output, this album would not be the same.

I think I'll now dedicate this paragraph to explain the joyous expression of music that is found on the last, massive 28 minute jam session, titled Three Minute Warning. Now as a precursor to this, let me state that this song (or epic, I should say) is not a composition. This is a recording of these four guys letting out their raw creative energy onto their instruments, relaying this energy through the instruments into sound, into music, into joy, into pure chemistry through improvisation that goes without saying that this may be one of the best progressive metal jam sessions out there. Contained within these 28 minutes are a host of things, from mellow jazzy synth sections to heavier metallic section to avant-garde beauty to ambient almost post-rock-like atmospheres crafted through the state of grace these men are in during this recording. Slow to start, the song slowly builds into a grace and calm little track, and from here the track progresses through its countless phases. With no composition to stick by, the guys do what they feel, letting the juices flow as they just lay their genius right out for you. I really cannot expound on how much I love this song. Despite running a lengthy (for some) 28 minutes, the song is spectacular, encompassing the pure passion that these guys possess in their love of music. From the growling pits of Tony's often distorted and overdriven bass lines to the soaring heights of John's solo sweeping, the song itself could warrant a 5 star EP if it was released as such. In the end, I'll leave this short and sweet: Three Minute Warning is incredible.

But, the album isn't just that massive jam session. There is another 40 minutes of fantastic music to contend with, with the crushing glory of the metallic side with the mellow and heartfelt (and at times a bit cheesy and over-emphasized) 'ballad' side of the album, which really pulls in the Dream Theater influence in this music. I really have to say these guys are truly in some type of a State of Grace during this album, playing perfect chops and incredible riffs and improvised solos and so much more. This album truly is a gem in the realm of metal fusion and in progressive metal in general. 4 stars.