NEXT TO NONE

Next to my recycling bin.

Remember when Tori Amos gave us an album done with her daughter and claimed it was her best one yet? No? Of course you don't remember, you didn't buy it. Remember when Sting toured with his son as his first act? No? Of course, nobody gave a rabbit's fart. Remember when Will Smith shoved us is son Jaden claiming he's the next big thing? No? Of course, you have better things to do than watch After Earth.

Well Mike Portnoy's son highjacked his father's kit from Awake, made a band and had Daddy produce it. You guessed it, it's not good. Soloing on and on and on does not make a song, screaming your tonsils out does not make singing and ripping off your dad's band ideas does not make an album. Everything you heard in here has been done 30 years ago, when it was innovative and fresh. It's not fresh anymore.

Boring and insipid, or maybe too inspired by daddy's work?

Don't pretend being Tom Hanks when you're Colin. People can see the diff'.

Being produced by Mike Portnoy, with the son Max as a drummer, it won't surprise anyone that the music is heavily influenced by Dream Theater not only on the composition level but also on the overall sound. Max is the son of Mike and he must have a big helping hand from his dad to have his drums high in the mix and sounding very close to those of Mike. Maybe he borrowed his kit from his dad. So, the album is so well produced that you'll never guess that those musicians are teenagers because they can really play their instruments. But when the clean vocals show off, you could hear a young and unstable voice from Thomas Cuce. I feel that the harsh vocals were more suited with the music throughout this album. His voice was more in control with the ballad "A Lonely Walk" that contain a nice build up with a guitar solo. This is also the case with the other short ballad "Legacy". The track "You are Not Me" show a clear Linkin Park influence in the music and you can hear influences from metal and alternative bands in various passages, especially in the extra track "Fortune Cookie" who was one of the first track that the band has recorded. Between Prog and Metal, the band want to develop the progressive side, and the complex time signatures displayed on this album, the long instrumental passages are prove to this. If the compositions are in the epic nature, the band manage to create some nice hooks that are easy to sing a long. I was impressed with the composition level and the musicianship and i am curious to see what this band will do in the future with or without Mike Portnoy as a producer, but they show some potential. Maybe the band will write songs that represents more of their own sound instead of sounding like a pastiche of Dream Theater.