TRANSATLANTIC

For me, this is a progressive rock masterpiece. Stolt, Morse, Trewavas and Portnoy have collaborated again to make another wonderful album.

All of the tracks on Disc 1 piece together seamlessly to make up the 78 minute title song. Similar to Morse's solo records, or the Flower Kings' albums, there are catchy melodies throughout the album as well as proggy time signature changes ("Pieces of Heaven", especially) and wicked instrumentals.

Noteworthy on this album is Trewavas, who shines on the bass, playing every note with emotion and intensity. There is a bass line used in the main "whirlwind" theme that is reminiscent of "Yours is No Disgrace" by Yes. Nevertheless, it doesn't feel like it is "copied" in any way. The influence of classic progressive rock bands such as Genesis, Yes, ELP, Pink Floyd, and Rush are clear on Transatlantic's music - but they always manage to keep their music fresh, impressive and unforgettable.

Stolt, Morse, and Portnoy play with an unparalleled standard of creativity and proficiency. For example, listen to Portnoy's meticulous drumming on "Set Us Free" - the little cymbal bits could be described as musically tasty. Stolt's guitar solo at the end of "Out of the Night" is awesome. It sticks in your head.

There is much variation on this album - there are no parts that drag. The overture/introduction to this song will drag you in, and the conclusion, "Dancing with Eternal Glory/ Whirlwind Reprise" is an epic ending to a great song that reprises the main themes of the album. The lyrical content is true and fits the music perfectly.

Favorite Parts: "Is it Really Happening" "Overture/Whirlwind" (Guitars at 7:40!!!) "Out of the Night" "Dancing with Eternal Glory / Whirlwind (Reprise)"

Don't miss this album if you love prog - I easily give it a full-blown FIVE stars. It's a masterpiece - and extremely underrated, in my humble opinion.

Transatlantic's 'The Whirlwind' is a mammoth album with one colossal epic that sounds as great live as it does on this studio release. Neal Morse's crystalline clean quality voice permeates the album along with his keyboard wizardry. Stolt is exquisite on guitar injecting some powerful riffs. Trewavas is wonderful on bass and, Portnoy is dynamic as ever on drums.

The opening track of the 77:47 epic 'The Whirlwind' features minimalist feminine sections of symphonic beauty which are augmented by the masculine rock sections, with sporadic drumming patterns and chaotic punctuation, balancing out the quieter moments where keyboards drift along waves of beautiful guitar phrases. It is a multi-movement suite in classical music tradition, wth grand crescendos tempered and counter balanced by serene passages of tranquillity. It climaxes with the huge wall of sound that is essential Transatlantic. It is a masterful track broken into 12 segments. It sounds incredibe live too, which is where I first heard it, and I am more into that version as it has a heavier feel and very atmospheric in the live setting.

On CD 2 Santana's 'Soul Sacrifice' is mind blowing, one of my favourite's so it was great to hear a rendering of Carlos' guitar lines. The band's performance of 'The Return of the Giant Hogweed' is exuberant and does the classic justice. Morse handles the quirky lyrics with finesse and the intricate structure is delivered with powerhouse guitars. It is terrific to hear new covers of 'A Salty Dog' by Procol Harum, and 'I Need You' by America and The Beatles, though The Eagles' version is still superior.

The artwork on the cover is one of the most iconic covers of 2009, with its golden paintwork, turbulent storm and the enigmatic starship swooping across. This is one of the best Transatlantic albums undoubtedly, though "More Is Never Enough" is the way to really hear this, complete with incredible visuals.

What was the defining prog album release of 2009? For sure, it was 'the Whirlwind'. For a super group this release did not disappoint, with all 4 participants contributing to contribute to an epic result. I'm so glad that I saw them play the entirety of the first disk LIVE at Victoria Park at the end of July 2010 (and what a warm up for the following evening when for the very first time I saw Emerson Lake & Palmer. Happy days/daze........). I feel truly honored and blessed to have seen this performance and the memory will stay with me for ever, particularly the competition and inter play between Morse and Portnoy vying for attention and well deserved adoration! Talk about upping the game that night, it was truly truly magical. That Saturday evening in London between 8 and 9.30pm, as the sun set over East London was a night for memories. As you might expect, with the musicians in attendance (to include Roine Stolt and the chap from Marillion) the reproduction of the cd was note perfect. As a lapsed Christian, I'm attuned to lyrics that might feel uncomfortable in a wider setting, but really, this is not in your face evangelism, the lyrics are both responsible and sensible (after all I can't see Roine putting his name to something overtly and obviously Christian). The musicianship is supreme, the way in which the album builds and peaks in an organismic manner at various times is the work of masters in the prog genre. To cap it all, for the encore Steve Hackett came on stage for the encore 'the return of the giant hogweed. Confirmation indeed, that the batten had been passed from the old to the new...........

If all the written reviews here were only by fans and apologists, these archives wouldn't be worth very much. With that in mind, I freely admit to being a fan of Transatlantic's first two albums, enough to insist on a contrary opinion of their latest studio effort to date: yet another ersatz sermon by Neal Morse dressed, like the fabled emperor, in all-too transparent Prog Rock finery.

The idea behind the album was suspect from the start. Presenting a single, 78-minute opus was really just a stunt, aimed at hungry progheads who might have forgotten that Ian Anderson's LP-long "Thick as a Brick" was intended as a concept album parody. Here the supergroup simply borrowed the epic SPOCK'S BEARD / FLOWER KINGS formula and inflated it to ridiculous length. But the model itself remained unchanged: after hearing the opening theme you can bet your mother's mortgage that the album will end with the same melody, played at a slower, more majestic tempo, and augmented with strings and bass pedals all piled skyward atop Morse's melodramatic singing (The "Supper's Ready Effect", a trusted strategy in modern Prog composition).

A (hopefully) quick digression: I single out Neal Morse over his bandmates because he was obviously the driving force behind this project. Musically and thematically, his songwriting has always teetered (in a manner of speaking) close to the edge separating true inspiration from Neo Prog tackiness. But his headlong embrace of Christian fundamentalism upset that delicate balance, and pulled even this veteran partnership right over the brink.

It still might have worked, if he didn't peddle his message like a used-car salesman. The libretto for "The Whirlwind" is a whopping 2,270 words, and yet they boil down to a simple lesson: life stinks, but eternal glory awaits us if we surrender to God. On first exposure it almost sounds like a Born Again jihad against sinners and unbelievers ("...the wind blew them all away", etc), but that's only the knee-jerk reaction of an oversensitive freethinker. A closer reading shows the metaphorical tempest to represent the misfortunes we all face from cradle to grave ("we got caught in the whirlwind / torn by the storms of our lives..."), which according to Morse can best be withstood through blind devotion to primitive monotheism ("come bring this ship / out of the whirlwind / set us free, free, free!")

Worse yet: all that suffering is apparently a part of His Divine Plan ("before we're raised up / he's got to break us down"), which to me sounds uneasily like cult bullying, on a cosmic scale.

And that's only a taste of the opening twenty-five minutes, with almost an hour's worth of artless proselytizing still to come. What it all amounts to is Neal Morse again putting all his superstitious insecurities on paper, and then trying to make them rhyme: "You've got to lay down your life / like rain in Spokane", so forth. (A mild ecological nitpick: there isn't much precipitation in the rain shadow of eastern Washington State, so what exactly is he demanding here? Reluctant submission? Would "cattle in Seattle" have made a better metaphor?)

I would like nothing more than to overlook the wall-to-wall text and simply enjoy the high caliber of musicianship, never less than stellar from all four players, including Mr. Morse: a truly gifted keyboard artist and arranger. But that would be like telling a nervous agoraphobe visiting the Grand Canyon to just ignore the view. Transatlantic borrows so many elements from other Golden Age Prog giants, it's a shame they didn't also sneak a peek at PETER HAMMILL's playbook. The 1971 "Pawn Hearts" album in particular could have been an invaluable model ("Still waiting for my savior / storms tear me limb from limb...")

Failing that, any self-respecting deity would have (gently) broken Neal Morse's fingers, so he couldn't write another lyric until he learned that music alone can be its own spiritual epiphany: just ask Mr. Fripp, or the shade of the late Florian Fricke. Indeed, on those occasional moments when he shuts up the astonishing skills of each performer really shine through. The tense jam at the start of "On the Prowl" is Transatlantic at its instrumental best, and the escalating pinpoint madness leading to the climax of "Is It Really Happening?" is a technophile's wet dream (this at around the 60-minute mark, better later than never).

Dynamic Prog Rock overkill and naïve religious dogma: not the most rewarding combination, especially when stretched over 78-continuous minutes and played with sometimes sledgehammer finesse. Give the band credit for stamina, at least. The whole roadshow production actually peaks after 40-minutes (in "Rose Colored Glasses"), and the quartet then has to rebuild its momentum from scratch, without even the courtesy of a potty break. Theology aside, the album stands as an argument in favor of long-playing vinyl, where the need to flip the record over presented a natural intermission.

Golden Age proggers like YES and GENESIS, besides being a little more Gnostic in their spiritualism, were all about quality over quantity, even when assembling side-long epics like "Close to the Edge" and "Supper's Ready". It's a pity Transatlantic didn't learn that lesson better, instead of merely aping the more superficial cosmetics of the classic prog style...

...Which leads to a brief addendum on the bonus disc: a quartet of shorter songs (shorter by comparison, that is: two of them approach the ten-minute mark) plus four oldies paying affectionate tribute to our shared Prog Rock heritage. The original stuff is hardly superstar material, and doing the covers might have been a miscalculation, serving only to underline how much better the originals were. "The Return of the Giant Hogweed", for example, is only a note-perfect clone of the 1973 "Genesis Live" version, even quoting Peter Gabriel's stage introduction in a faux-English accent. Like the other selections here, there's no attempt at interpretation.

In the interest of full disclosure it's only fair to admit that one of my reasons for visiting such an already well-received album is to kick the legs out from under "The Whirlwind" in a later review, without seeming like a spoilsport. The profound letdown of that next effort left me wondering if the band itself had slipped during the intervening years, or just my opinion of them.

But after hearing their sophomore album again, I'm convinced: it was the band. "Bridge Across Forever" is just as vital today as it was a dozen years ago, when the supergroup released what stands as their definitive collaboration, far ahead of the popular but uneven studio debut of "SMPT:e".

On close inspection it shouldn't have worked at all. This is an album of motifs instead of actual songs, arranged and repeated over three extended multi-section suites, with the title ballad positioned like a palate cleanser before the 26-minute climax of "Stranger In Your Soul", arguably Transatlantic's finest (half) hour, but not even the longest selection here. The band could have eliminated the track indexes altogether and run the whole thing as one 73-minute monster: the cut-and-paste aesthetic would have been the same either way. But the discrete separations give the larger album a manageable structure, far more effective than the sum of its individual parts, and allowing the listener to digest one set of musical ideas at a time (unlike the numbing one-and-a quarter hour-plus medley of "The Whirlwind").

Piece by piece it's actually a bit of a mess. Expect moments of Symphonic Rock bombast ("Duel With the Devil"); bogus machismo ("Temple of the Gods"); insecure vocal harmonies ("Lost and Found"); histrionic overkill (a Neal Morse specialty, as heard in the faux-soulful climax of "Duel..."); and more lyrics than would otherwise comfortably fit on a 73-minute CD. The obvious thematic spirituality is (thankfully) more universal than explicit, and lacking the Born Again blinders of later Neal Morse writings. But the glut of words is still an acquired taste, and hardly the album's crowning attribute.

"Whatever you're looking for / Don't ever start looking behind" is a fairly typical line, and pretty funny coming the poster boys of Retro-Prog conservatism. That may sound like harsh criticism, but keep in mind the music here isn't remotely progressive. This is pure, unapologetic Prog Rock, with a widescreen, neon-lit capitol letter 'P', and fully deserving four complete stars (on this web site, at any rate) for grandiosity alone.

There's even a thrilling episode of live-in-the-studio jamming, fading into "Suite Charlotte Pike". Such unexpected spontaneity provides easily the most liberating one-minute and fifty- seconds of music on the entire disc, and that includes the audio-vérité flub and recovery. Too bad the improv was prematurely stopped dead at the start of the song itself: yet another jumble of unfinished ideas crammed into a single 'composition'. This is clearly a band that plays well without a script, and I wish they had done so more often.

All of which underlines my key point. Examine the Bridge through a microscope and you'll see every structural blemish, wart and wrinkle, across the entire span. But in total it's a more balanced and well-rounded effort than their year 2000 debut, although I wish the vocal duties had been assigned less democratically (Mike Portnoy should have stuck to his drumming). Not unlike a Picasso collage, the album requires a little distance to see how neatly each theme fits into the overall canvas, particularly during the finale of "Stranger...", when many of the musical phrases heard earlier in the album are reprised to their fullest effect.

What it all boils down to is an ambitious, dynamic, and often gloriously redundant Golden Age throwback: a guilt-free guilty pleasure freshly minted for the new millennium. A pity the band didn't quit while they were ahead.

I've been waiting for years for this CD. Parts of it are incredible, while other parts are eh able. Some of the songs are excellent - such as Overture/Whirlwind, Evermore, and Is It Really Happening? from the first main disc, and Return of the Giant Hogweed and Soul Sacrifice from the second (bonus) disc. However, there are two songs I don't like at all - Rose Colored Glasses is incredibly repetitive and grating and Salty Dog, the Procul Harem cover, which I have never cared for. The musicianship throughout is, as always, phenomenal, but I feel the material is more of a let down. Still, it is good prog with a good message.

Transatlantic's debut album was released in the spring of 2000, five months before the SPOCK'S BEARD career peak of "V". Clearly the stars were aligned for Neal Morse that year, although I doubt the erstwhile Beard frontman would interpret his good luck in such pagan terms (insert rueful emoticon here).

The supergroup attracted some criticism for being musically skewed toward its keyboard player, a hollow complaint after hearing the new band's centerpiece epic "All of the Above", arguably the best Spock's Beard song not on a Spock's Beard album. It was a piecemeal opus, as usual for Morse, but the separate pieces all highlighted his compositional fluency, as well as a few performance skills I wish he'd exercise more often, best heard in strictly instrumental passages like the jazzy "October Winds" jam.

It needs to be said that the song's heroic length was more calculated than organic. If you own the Roine Stolt remix of the album, you'll hear drummer Mike Portnoy during the extended ambient outro urging his bandmates to "keep it going!" just to reach the half-hour plateau. But there isn't a dull moment over any of those thirty-one minutes, from the "Close to the Edge" fade-in to the final guitar harmonics.

The six-part suite almost deserves an entire review by itself, which I'll refrain from pursuing, except to note the understated beauty of "Camouflaged in Blue", one of loveliest ballads ever penned by the prolific Morse. Ditto "We All Need Some Light", an even prettier song until the bombast kicks in, and showing signs of belated lyrical maturity as well. "While the creep beats the rap on appeal / And the cop who can't stop shows the kids how to steal" is a clever bit of doggerel, and the heartfelt yearning of the chorus is a lot easier to digest than the medieval wish-fulfillment in a typical Neal Morse sermon from his later solo career.

But after that the quartet has to scramble to find enough material to fill a CD, with mixed results. "Mystery Train" is a not unpleasant throwaway rocker resembling an outtake from the "V" sessions. "My New World" is a lackluster Roine Stolt original with a trite storyline about a hippy chick and her soldier boy, complete with stock '60s references to Woodstock, Jimi and Janis, and Frisco (the latter a particular annoyance to any Bay Area native).

And the album ends with a curious piece of musical archeology, resurrecting the Proto Prog relic "In Held (Twas) in I", one of the earliest Progressive Rock epics ever recorded. The song hasn't aged particularly well, which in theory would make it the ideal candidate for a thirty-year face-lift. But the update sounds mechanical when compared against the richly arranged PROCOL HARUM original, trading the faux-pretensions of the 1968 version for the real thing.

In retrospect the band probably went into the recording studio too quickly, before enough of the new material was properly chewed and digested (which might explain why their 2001 follow-up "The Bridge Across Forever" was so much stronger). Apparently even a global alliance of Prog Rock superstars needs time to find its feet, but there were a lot of fans (myself included, at the time) willing to share those growing pains with almost masochistic enthusiasm.

Eh, really, if this is a masterpice of progressive rock, I'm Mickey Mouse, I don't get what the fuss is all about this release. From the beggining I can say that they never and will never release a better album then Bridge across forever with the best piece they ever done Duel with the devil. After disbanded in 2003, each musician involved return to their own bands, Portnoy with DT, Morse with his solo career, Trewavas with Marillion and Stolt with Flower Kings. They got together in 2008 and they manage to come with this release from 2009 named The whirwind. To my ears this is an usual album, if almost mediocre in places, but overall not bad, only good and nothing more for sure. I can't understand why so many peoples think this is a masterpiece, they are blinded by the line up and maybe forget about the music, is their own choice after all. Back to the album, this is ausual affair, double album, with more then 2 hour of music, is hard to grasp all pieces on one listning, but with few spins I got my opinion. This album is less intresting and captivating then anything they release before and for sure weaker then Bridge across forever, their best album to date. Not a single pieces is i front, almost all has same level. The musicianship of course is great, they are excellent musicians, but together and specially on this album the ideas they gather are weak and to predictable and usual. Is true the album is progressive, has plenty of melodic parts, complex passages, but in the end I can't remember anything from what they offer, is was not the cas with precedent album. So, to me this is only a 3 star album, nothing more , nothing less, and far from masterpieces status, I know and have hundreds of more intresting albums only from that year not to mention from that period. In places it sounds like some leftovers from some Neal Morse solo album or some The Flower kings release. I don't know if this is a very welcome return in prog rock world, maybe if the next release will sound better I will return to them with a more opned mind, untill then I'll stick to Bridge across forver.

When you come up with an album as stunning as Bridge Across Forever and when you take a hiatus for 8 years and announce a reunion, expectations will be heavy and it isn't easy to live up to the expectations. Yet how can you create an ever lasting impression when you have so called "reached the peak" with Bridge Across Forever? Its by coming up with a single track album cloaking a massive 78 minutes. Generally, bands hesitate to come up with long songs with the fear of exposing their weaknesses in songwriting, making the album less commercially successful, or making it quite boring. Yet, Transatlantic defied all the odds and came up with what could arguable be one of the greatest progressive rock epics, "The Whirlwind".

Right from the start, the Overture gives you an idea of what is to come throughout the full song. You wouldn't fail to notice the influences from possibly all the genres which progressive music covers. Take it classical or rock or funk or metal or ambient. The various progressions in the song are split into 12 tracks which do justice to the lyrics and the theme concerned.

There are a lot of positives in this album. 1)You need the guts to make a 77:54 minute song and make it not sound boring or technically mediocre. Even for soft listeners who don't like listening to long songs, this is an album/song which anyone can and will finish in one listen. Such is the journey the album takes us through 2)This album has something Transatlantic were criticized to not have. Equal vocal contribution from all the members. Everyone has their own uniqueness in their voice and their contribution adds to the diversity in the song. 3)Individually, everyone were at their peak. Neal Morse's voice has never been better and so are his keyboard parts. Roine Stolt does justice to the album with his emotional guitar work and singing. Pete Trevawas incorporate a lot of groovy and melodic bass lines which give a sense of completeness to the song. And Mike Portnoy able to steer the whole song with his technical drumming and increased contribution vocally. 4)The lyrics really add a new dimension to this album. The themes vary and deal with a lot of topics but yet gives a subtle emotion in each of the tracks. 5)The Grand Finale is something no one can forget. Dancing With Eternal Glory, which clocks 12 minutes in length, just blows the listener off with its intense emotion and atmosphere. Even though there are strong religious influences, it makes everyone shed a tear or two. Arguably the best segment of the album, this makes it hard for the listener to not listen to the whole track again.

However, a very critical mind can look at a drawback or two 1)Pete Trevawas, who blew everyone away with his strong voice in Stranger In Your Soul, wasn't given that much importance in the lead vocal contribution but that is compensated by the majority of the backing support. which he gives 2)The song stretches a bit during On The Prowl, Lay down Your Life and Is It Really Happening.

Overall, this is probably Transatlantic's greatest album and one of the best progressive rock albums of all times. Any music lover should listen to this masterpiece and let the world know what they are truly missing. The Special Edition version has a whole lot of covers as well Released on October 29.2009 through MetalBlade in the US and InsideOut in Europe, this 77:54 minute masterpiece is a must listen. A perfect 10.

In my review of Bridge Across Forever I said I was surprised about how a band could write two fantastic albums in just two short years. I believe I am more amazed at how, after seven years the supergroup has still got it. Surely they would have run out of ideas in this time period, given that they use a lot of material for their main bands but this couldn't be further from the case. This is every bit as exciting as their first two releases. With that said, there really isn't too much different from their others, as this relies on the sound and style since established on the debut. Perhaps this is the band's most equal as far as contribution. Neal probably came up with a good majority of the melodies here, but the contributions from the others has increased significantly since their debut, especially Trewavas, who adds some truly great stuff.

The opening overture is probably the strongest part of the whole song, and is packed with interesting and catchy melodies. It is an opening that is to be expected from anything Neal Morse related, at this point, as he is most likely behind most of the themes. 'The Wind That Blew Them All Away' is another great part, with some dramatic vocals from Morse. Roine's guitar seems to be the dominate instrument, for which he plays some soulful guitar pasts.

'On the Prowl' is based on a chunky bass line from Trewavas, but has pleny of interesting riffs to make it varied.

The following two songs have Roine's footprint all over them. 'A Man Can Feel' is slightly haunting, with Roine's unique vocal style taking the lead. The rest of the band adds some great backing vocals in harmony. The latter 'Out of the Night' I believe originated as one of Roine's ideas for which the band built upon. It mixes an up-tempo, cheery section, as is so common with The Flower Kings, with a reprise of the Whirlwind theme.

'Rose Colored Glasses' originated from a little diddy Neal Morse wrote on acoustic guitar for the passing of his father. I believe Neal and band do a great job of passing on that sentimentality in the music. The guitar solo from Roine is what I would consider one of the climax's of this lengthy piece.

'Evermore' and 'Set Us Free' both are very jam-oriented piece. The flowing bass, and Roine's signature guitar lines along with the musical drumming of Portnoy gives them a rather loose feel.

'Lay Down Your Life' is a rather heavier piece with plenty of string use that is so common in Neal's solo work. Neal's vocal work on this is also very interesting, and much different from his normal style. I especially like the main riff, in addition to Portnoy's drumming which gives it an odd rhythmic feel in spots.

'Pieces of Heaven' is probably the most complex song on the album despite being only two minutes. It changes time signatures frequently; with some parts in 11/8 is a very hectic song with some parts in 11/8, and not to mention some interesting syncopation parts.

'Is It Really Happening' opens with a rather melancholic atmosphere which builds up beautifully into what I would consider the best few minutes of the album to make this the appropriate climax.

The ending 'Dancing Eternal Glory' is a rather lengthy concluding section with Neal's soaring, dramatic vocals. The song isn't terribly special, it simply reprises many of the melodies found in the earlier sections. Though most people do not think highly of this, I believe it is an epic conclusion to an epic song.

The bonus tracks of the two-cd set consist of some covers and some orinigal tunes. The covers are alright, but I never care them anyway. The original songs are written mostly by the individual band members. The highlight is the band's 'Spinning,' but Roine's 'Lenny Johnson' and Pete's 'Lending a Hand' are rather nice.

There we have it, a journey of flawless musicianship and musicality that should define the band and modern prog in general. While I prefer Bridges Across Forever, this one easily ranks within my favorite prog albums.

10/10