PLANET X

Top class of music... somekind of overlooked here...

I wonder always what makes Liquid Tension Experiment so loved between the prog fans and this project, Planet X, is not with the same success... really... sure Portnoy, Petrucci and Rudess don't have rivals on their particular instrument... but Planet X manages to make more tight and well constructed songs... They do not just play extremist solos, the fastest, the heavier, the toughest... they just play good on what the music needs... that's why I loved this album...

Comparissons aside... the album has tight composition, great solos, good mood through the whole piece... great sounds for Sherinian, who prubes once again he's capable to play good, not just soloing... and when he does it... my God... is great... full of energy and very heavy for a keyboard player... I like more his style than Rudess... guess we can't stop comparing them... Rudess is faster and maybe better in every technic department... but just try too hard to be over the top... here Derek shows that sound and soul matters... besides, Macalpine and Donnatti manages to make and incredible journey...

Guess the difficult thing here is that the album is quite complete, that you cannot point at one particular song or solo and say "This is the best"... no... the complete album is great so you have to diggest the complete piece and some maybe doesn't feel so comfortable with so jazzy sound...

Well... at the end, this is a heavy production, with great production and sound quility at it's very best... tight composition... not a single mistake I found... just that is no so prog and more fussion and that's why so many people are missing out these guys... give it a try.. you should like it... four stars... great addition to any prog collection... for sure...!!!

Two Stars, For collectors and fans only.

I'm obviously a collector/fan of Dream Theater and Derek Sherinian, so I collect anything related, which is why I have this album, and the only real reason.

I found this album extremely boring... I mean, it's mildly entertaining, when you hear all that psychedelic noodling stuff, but... that's ALL the album is. None of the songs have any meaning... they never really make you think about anything. Well, I'll admit, a few of them made me think I was floating in some spacecraft above a moon/planet, but that's about it.

Most of the album is basically instrumental jamming with a jazz rock/metal fusion feel to it. But to be progressive, you have to really have an art to it... that is, it should make meaning. It should be epic. It should be memorable and creative. Right here, this is just 56 minutes worth of jamming, really. Don't get me wrong, the musicians are great musicians... obviously, Derek Sherinian, etc. But there's nothing you'll really remember... nothing memorable at all. I was quite bored for the entire time. Occasionally I said oh hey, this part sounds pretty cool, but then they kind've ruined it by going from a cool part to just a jam thing full of instruments playing random notes. I mean, there's good to come out of this psychedelic noodling because it's a pretty cool thing to do... such as the instrumental part of Dream Theater's Octavarium about 3/4 of the way in, the middle of Dream Theater's Dark Eternal Night, and several things on Derek Sherinian's solo albums. But this album... it's ALL that. Nothing but that psychedelic noodling, and it gets very old very fast.

I got this album because of Derek Sherinian, and because of good reviews... but I was disappointed to tell the truth. I'm not saying it's a bad album, I'm just saying it was incredibly boring to me. The main thing it reminded me of is putting a big disorganized mixure of sounds into a melting pot, and adding a spacey theme and jazz fusion type stuff. The guitar was kinda meh... It was heavy, but too much jazz/psychedelic noodling stuff to be considered heavy metal... I don't know what to call it.

Anyway, the instrument playing of this album is magnificent, all of it is done with great skill... it's just that this isn't very... what's the word... memorable. Progressive rock is often very creative, artistic, eclectic, and epic. This is very creative... not that artistic... I'll admit it's wonderfully eclectic mixing jazz fusion with heavy metal with progressive rock with space rock. And this album is NOT epic or memorable at all... I forget what any of the songs sound like! Then again, I only listened to it once... but it's going to be hard to listen to it a second time, I'll tell you that. The fact that there's no words makes it worse. It's not that I don't mind instrumentals, but when the instrumentation is so incredibly boring that you forget what you listened to, adding words is interesting. That's why I like Liquid Tension Experiment, it's a very fun album, full of life, and different interesting experimental parts. LTE has psychedelic noodling as well, but way less than Moonbabies, and played in a much more interesting way. Moonbabies... that's all it is, is boring jam sessions of instruments playing almost improvisational stuff. It sounded like they just came up with it out of the blue, and I'd be surprised if they actually wrote it carefully and all that stuff, seeing as the random nature of it. It sounds as if 4 guys walked into a studio, just recorded whatever in a day, and then walked out.

I dunno... some of you can appreciate this, but I can't, it's boring to me. I don't consider it progressive rock, rather, I consider it just jam session rock, along with jazz fusion and metal. A good album to listen to in the background when you've got something else to put your mind on... say while you're working. Anything to take your attention off it, because if you do pay attention to it, you won't remember anymore than if it was just background music in your workshop.

2 stars out of 5.

Ever heard the song Tumeni Notes?

Well, it doesn't matter, I was referring more to the title anyways. The play on words of too~many~notes is exactly what I think whenever I listen to this project. Brimming with talent, Planet X is the (moon)baby of ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian and Tony MacAlpine on guitar - and they really wanted to do something complex here. In fact, that was the actual mission statement of the band going into the recording studio, they wanted to make something monstrously complex. Call it self indulgent or call it pretentious, (the prog world certainly has heard those words enough that hearing it again isn't going to bring tears to the eyes of the artist) it really doesn't matter because if there's one thing you can't take away from these boys is that they really know how to play. If there's one thing that you can't deny when listening to this album it's the skill behind the instruments, and that is something very respectful indeed.

The music on the album is very well planned as well. It really is a crazy mix of prog metal and jazz fusion with a hint of Dream Theater thrown in there for good measure. The songs are all fairly short, the longest being around 6 and a half -ish, meaning that there's no winding epics for the artists to go on, so in that respect they've (*gasp*) restricted themselves. To compare them to anything I'd have to say, ''it's like Weather Report meets Liquid Tension Experiment in space''. These guys know structure, and they're heavy as hell. Anyone who likes a dominant keyboard and a strong lead guitar will find themselves drawn towards this one.

And yet, there's something about it which never demands more. Listening to the album there's an overwhelming feeling of the evil 'wall of sound' that so many albums fall victim to. After a while it becomes hard to pick out one song from another until about the sixth of seventh listen when they start to become different tracks. Really, the album turns into one nice big slush of progressive jazz metal.

Still, it has its ups again. Much like other virtuosos in the field of instrumental albums these guys know where to put the hooks and the catchy bits to make you bob your head along. This one is ultimately very good, but it will find more fans among those who really like their music overly and purposefully complex. 3 moons out of 5 - recommended, but more for people who really like instrumental virtuosos showing what they can do.

Wow. There are a number of albums that are so good they make you check out their previous work (Operation Mindcrime comes to, um, mind). However, it takes a special album that can actually make you re-evaluate a band. Quantum is such a disc. Prior to buying this album, I had only gotten the Live From Oz CD, and I was underwhelmed. I thought some of the songs sounded too similar and that the band played individual solos rather than jams that allowed everyone to show off while still keeping a rhythm. This album, on the other hand, is a (God, I must be feeling punny today) quantum leap forward. Tony MacAlpine has exited the band for whatever reason, which many (even non-fans like myself) were concerned. He's always been one of the better shredders out there, but he can also write a song. The news that Brett Garsed was taking over didn't really help me much not because I don't value his skill but because I had honestly never heard him and had only once heard of him. Then things picked up when I heard that guitar virtuoso Allan Holdsworth was guesting, but I still had my doubts. After all, Holdsworth's synthetic guitar sound would likely be a good fit for the band, but he specializes in warm, synth-heavy jazz fusion as opposed to the crushing fusion metal I hear in Planet X's music. However, I finally caved and bought it, and I'm glad I did.

The album opens with Alien Hip Hop, which gets the ball rolling with some orchestration courtesy of Virgil Donati. It mixes nicely with keyboard line before Virgil jumps in with a quick and impossibly complex drum roll, only for the band to suddenly shift to a lower gear, add the guitar and start chugging. Now, I already said that I didn't know who Brett Garsed was before I popped this in, but about two minutes into this song I damn sure committed his name to memory. Planet X was gelling like I had never heard, and kept it up for an entire song, something that I thought they did only in bursts on their live album. Three minutes in, the band drops out and lets Brett play while Virgil keeps a beat that sounds simple until you really listen and hear his incredible cymbal work under the steady bass drum. This segues nicely into a solo from Derek, before Brett and Virgil hop back in at different tempos start gently slowing things down until your brain can't take anymore of the contrasting time signatures and levels out to an extent, although the challenging riff keeps until the end. This superb opener is so wonderful that it made me dump what previous slant I had towards the band, and it's not even the strongest track on the album.

Next up is the first of Allan's guest spots, Desert Girl. After some soft piano passages, his trademark synthetic guitar sound gently fades in before Virgil joins in with a simple beat, followed by Brett on rhythm guitar. Just as you get adjusted to this gentle sound, Derek switches to the keyboard and Virgil starts doing some fancy footwork and Jimmy Johnson gets his first moment to really be heard. He starts playing a rolling bassline that fits in nicely with the previous gentle sound yet also prepares the track for the sudden blast of metal a few seconds later. The band switches back and forth between the soft fusion and the jazz metal before finding the perfect transitioning into a masterful solo from Allan. Call me crazy, but I think I prefer Allan when he plays for others rather than his solo efforts. Perhaps it's because when he is subject to the will of others he doesn't sound so mechanical. Allan has always been about warm music with a cold sound, but he doesn't use as much synth on guest appearances, which is fine by me. Frankly, I think Desert Girl is one of his finest performances, and my concerns about how he would fit with the band went out the window and made me hope that he is asked back on future efforts.

Matrix Gate brings back some of the metal that the previous track sacrificed, and it opens with a great piano/guitar unison that manages to sound more fluid and musical than all of the Petrucci/Ruddess lines of Dream Theater's 00's output. The rest of the song is gloriously riffy, and the riff is no less heavy when Derek plays it with a piano as it is when Brett plays it. This song almost sounds like Brett wanted to remind us that Allan wasn't about to upstage him.

The Thinking Stone opens with Virgil casually proving that he's better than just about everyone else before Brett plays a lovely rhythm full of sustain only to fall back and let Derek take the lead. The band finds a nice sludgy riff before breaking into more of Brett's cleaner passages, which are themselves broken up by some slowly played arpeggios. Take note shredders, these mid-tempo scales sound better than about 90% of your lightspeed histrionics. Suddenly, the band drops out and Allan comes in with a surprisingly face-melting solo. Despite the insanely high quality of his solo, I found Holdsworth's portion out of place. In Desert Girl, Allan is an active member throughout the song, and, even thought he song gets heavy, it finds the perfect transition in his solo; here, it's just a sudden break. It doesn't really hurt the song, but I've been so used to the album's fluidity that it jolted me, but perhaps that is the point.

Space Foam is my personal favorite track on the album (well, that changes often). It's electronic opening leads into a killer groove between Rufus Philpot, Brett, and Virgil. Derek comes in a bit later with some lush keyboards, but he soon establishes himself as the forefront of the song. After some lines from Brett, he comes in with an absolutely magnificent keyboard solo that displays all of Jordan Ruddess' potential but without an ounce of the cheese. Not many songs can make you bang your head and come off as a swinging jazz jam.

Poland stars the second half with some piano arpeggios over Brett's piercing guitar before letting Jimmy Johnson flex his fingers again with some great lines with both Brett and Derek. Derek once again finds this crazy balance between dizzying keyboard shred and lush textures. His short solo in this song doesn't have a ton of notes, but it sounds so full and overpowering you'd swear he was playing balls-to-the-wall. Brett's solo is lovely as well. The trend continues with a similarly styled bass solo from Johnson that closes the song. In a band that prides itself on technical mastery, in a genre (prog/jazz metal) that demands it, to have three showcases in one song that are all tasteful is utterly shocking.

Snuff also lets Jimmy come to the front. I'm digging this new development. One of my chief complaints of Live From Oz was that they got the insanely talented Dave LaRue to play with them, only to barely let him do anything. In addition to Jimmy's great bassline, we get yet more inspired solos from Brett and Derek. Brett's in particular shows a beauty so rarely heard in modern metal, despite his ability to play all the tricks that proggy shredders love.

We get even more contrasting rhythms from the start of Kingdom of Dreams, with a simple drum beat under a complex piano line and a great riff. Suddenly, the band switches into full on stomp-along mode before Jimmy and Derek play some killer unison lines. Around the 3 minute mark, Derek plays some keyboard that sounds an awful lot like Allan's guitar before Brett gets his true moment in the sun. His solos throughout the rest of the piece are so technical yet so refined and musical that they could both inspire and put off a generation of potential players. Brett's rhythm and lead work might just eclipse the astounding work he's put in on the previous tracks.

The album closes with the monstrous Quantum Factor, and if you thought the rest of the album was complex, strap yourself in. Virgil Donati's been amazing throughout the album, but his work on this track is so astonishing, so polyrhythmically insane, and yet so groovy that you'll be hard pressed to listen to him and think up a long list of modern drummers (or drummers from any time period for that matter) that can play in the same league as this master. His playing alone is worth a few dozen listens, and yet everyone sounds great here. Brett pierces the stratosphere with his guitar before crashing back down to hell to churn out some bone-crushing riffs. Derek lays down the atmosphere before flying out of it for some killer solos. Rufus is the least present player on the track, though his job entails keeping up with Virgil Donati on perhaps his greatest kit workout, and that alone qualifies the reputation he's been rapidly building. A killer end to a killer album.

Now, I must admit, I've always been somewhat prejudiced against Derek Sherinian. As a matter of fact, even in this review, I compare him (though favorably) to his Dream Theater replacement, Jordan Rudess. I've always viewed him as the weakest member of Dream Theater, and rarely revisit his recordings with the band (I even listen to the Live Scenes version of A Change of Seasons). I thought he was more about image and trying to be rock rather than really rocking, and that he brought down Dream Theater (a band of which I am an admitted fanboy no matter how stale their formula has become). However, this album made me realize that he's perhaps the most musical of any DT alum (his only competition being John Myung and Kevin Moore), capable of actually tempering that skill with a song I want to listen to. He, like Moore before him, doesn't play as many notes as Jordan, but ultimately the atmosphere and wide range he brings to the table are far more valuable. Before this album, I found his previous Planet X output technically masterful,yet ultimately not very engaging. As I go back and check out the discography I've shunned for years, I see that Derek always played like this, so Quanum's success cannot be fully attributed to him, although his songwriting definitely improved. I can only assume the missing ingredient was Brett Garsed. His playing captures all of Tony's technique, but adds a liberal dash of groove and catchy riffs, which makes the whole thing like a truly great jazz album; demanding yet catchy. I hope to God that this isn't a one off studio session on his part, as he is the catalyst that realizes the band's potential.

Normally when I write a review, I offer a very brief synopsis of the songs before talking about how the album as a whole affected me. However, as I started to write this all I couldn't help but mention all the various aspects of the band's sound, how the songs had infinite time shifts yet were ultimately fluid. I've been trying to cut down on five star ratings, but a masterpiece is a masterpiece, and this is certainly that. The band that I just couldn't get suddenly came out and released one of if not the best jazz fusion albums since its mid-70s heyday. It's so dizzyingly complex that you have to listen to it a number of times, yet it is so catchy and accessible that you'll want to.

Grade: A

some one need to invent a new word to describe this album, becouse the words amazing, brilliant, and beautiful are not enough!

each one of the band members broth something from himself to this album. Tony MacAlpine, Virgil Donati and Derek Sherinian are true virtuosoes, and i love each one of them separately, but when you put them all in one band.. well lets just say that i can die happy! (if you dont know who they are, then my guess is that you been hiding in a cave for the lest 50 years ;)

beside this 3 virtuosos, there were 3 amazing bass players that worked on this album, the reason there were 3 and not just one, is becouse they didn't really had a bass player back then. the bass players are Jimmy Johnson, Tom Kennedy(all so played on universe), and the absolutely amazing billy sheehan (steve vai, mr big, explorers club and more).

the album is highly technical, and its mostly prog metal with allot of weird time signature's, and some jazz influence. but its like nothing i ever heard before, its one of the most original albums i ever heard. the intro to the noble savage is pure great jazz, and i all so have to say that this is my favorite song from this album. tony macalpine is known for his jazz influence and his high use of chromatic scale, Tmac all ways had this dirty sound to his music, and for my surprise on this album he sounds great (well at least better). Derek Sherinian have this special feeling to his music, i cant really explain it with words, its something you need to listing to, Micronesia, Ignotum Per Ignotius and Ataraxia are good examples. as for donati, he sounds amazing on every song (not to munching that he wrote all most every song). donati is defiantly one of the bast drummers of our time, the technique of this guy is not of this world.its my favorite album from planet x, actually its one of my favorite albums ever.

the problem with this album/planet x(well its not really a problem), is that its so technical that probably only musicians will truly enjoy it. but hey its fusion, what did you expect?

its not just a good album, its a masterpiece!

When Derek Sherinian formed this band he stated that he wanted to be the sickest instrumental band on the planet, and it is apparent on the Planet X releases that he is attempting to do so, whether successfully or not so is up to the listener. Moonbabies, though in the jazz/fusion sub genre, seems to lean a lot towards progressive metal, with jazz elements such as odd chord changes being used. The only moment it really seems like they are playing true jazz is the intro to The Noble Savage. Musically, this is an extremely technical instrumental album, with lots of time changes and shredding type solos. Each musician is one of the best in their field, and they bring a variety of sounds to the band. Sherinian likes to do atmospheric parts and his solos are often in the fashion of a guitar, Tony MacAlpine is one of the best guitar shredders out there, and has a unique neoclassical/jazz type style, and Virgil Donati is just a monster behind the drum kit, making so many of these odd times sound natural. All of the songs are solid, although I don't know if any really stands out as a top track for me (if I had to pick it would probably be Ignotius Per Ignotium), and there's not too much variation between the songs in terms of style, and because of that I'm only giving it four stars.

PLANET X are a US all instrumental group formed by ex-DREAM THEATER keyboardist Derek Sherinian,after he was fired by the band at the end of the 90's.Named after his first solo release and recruiting Tony McAlpine on guitars and Virgil Donati behind the drums,PLANET X released ''Universe'' in 2000.This is an all instrumental ultra-heavy work,where Sherinian can't hide his past being a member of DREAM THEATER.The album is an absolutely killer fusion release with changing tempos and nice sudden breaks.The guitars are quite heavy flirting with metal,while Sherinian's keyboard work will remind you of his days with DREAM THEATER.There is also an obvious mood for vitruosity and high-class complexity,when the band's members really bring their skills to the front.All in all,''Universe'' will satisfy every demanding fan of good virtuosic instrumental rock and comes recommended by my side.

Finally Planet X come back from a five-year journey in the universe!They return to earth with a lot of experience and inspiration! Quantum is an album of a mature group that mixes up all Metal attitude with jazz influence. I think it's a great fusion of genres!!! They could appear so far the one from the other but i have to say that it's not fair . Sherinian and Donati have demonstrated this type of music it's not a pure show of cleverness, but also a great concentration of capacity to make a good music with something innovative. I have to underline Allan Holdsworth's partecipation on this album, on "Desert Girl" (wonderful song) and "The Thinking Stone" (great effort to mix melody and great groove). For the rest of the album it's can be said that it's a step forward to Moonbabies's quality. I think not too much metal for my ear but more fusion (i can do a little critic to Tony Mcalpine's style that for me it's too much connected to metal than jazz).My best songs are Alien Hip Hop (On The Virg's reminiscence), Desert Girl (I love Allan Holdsworth), Matrix Gate, The Thinking Stone, Space Foam and Quantum Factor. Check it out!

Another awe-inspiring piece of technical demonstration is Planet X's third studio CD and as with their previous work, the facility and ambition shown is remarkable. Not much new territory is explored on 'Quantum' but on the other hand, in their realm no one comes close to this gladiator of a band, to be feared by all competitors and opponents, abundantly gifted and quietly, carefully taking over the galaxy. A musical phenom that confounds and often bores half the audience it was meant for, all the while leaving most other rock, jazz, metal, prog and fusion groups in the dust. New members Brett Garsed on guitar and bassist Jimmy Johnson are fine additions, Garsed a major talent showing the chops of former member Tony MacAlpine with the taste and restraint of a Steve Hackett. And drummer Virgil Donati, who amazingly composes most of the material, does a fine job leading alongside keyboard whiz Derek Sherinian. The race car 'Alien Hip Hop' cuts tight corners, slowing now and then for a nice guitar solo showing Garsed's finesse and range, Donati's drumlines tempting the Devil with continually altered beats and theatrics. 'Desert Girl' rocks the hard jazz and features Allan Holdsworth, 'Matrix Gate' spits mean chunks, wild polymorphs and great twisted counterpoint. 'The Thinking Stone' keeps the ball rolling with a neat drum/guitar break, 'Space Foam' and 'Poland' are both up to par, and a bit of space in 'Snuff'. The ominous 'Kingdom of Dreams' and explosive 'Quantum Factor' at seven minutes finishes a strong session.

Not really comparable to anyone though sometimes it sounds like the ghost of Gentle Giant has possessed the mind of Mahavishnu and the body of Metallica. I can imagine those who say "If you've heard one Planet X number, you've heard'em all". I can only counter by suggesting if you liked one, you'll love the rest. One of the best releases of 2007.

This is easily the best album by Planet X yet. Their first album was more prog metal with slight fusion touches, but more metal still. Moonbabies was the first great album which melded technical prog-metal with jazz-rock fusion nicely. This album however mixes everything perfectly and feels like a true Planet X album should sound like. The band is definitely progressing nicely and still moving forward. Recommended for prog-metal, jazz, jazz-rock/fusion fans as well as Allan Holdsworth fans and anyone who likes pretty technical music with a lot of emotion and melody. BTW, the chord changes are the best thing.