THE WHIRLWIND

After a long, long wait of almost an entire decade, these four monsters made a triumphant musical comeback into the nowadays Prog Rock scene in the most incredible and impressive way. 'The Whirlwind' is an almost seventy-eight minute piece indexed into twelve tracks that unveils the best piece of work the multinational supergroup has produced so far. The display of musicianship shown in this concept album outruns anything previously created and released by TRANSATLANTIC to such extent that 'The Whirlwind' instantly turned into the main reference to tell the band's distinctive signature from the rest.

"Overture / Whirlwind" reveals the base chords and passages the entire suite will continuously show all along this epical journey, almost as if these chords turned into the main and supporting characters dwelling in this musical narrative. And so, the first gleam of emotiveness sparkles marvelously on 'The Wind Blew Them All Away', a song filled with intense and crushing lyrics that almost at the same time soothes the impatience of devouring the entire album once and for all.

'On The Prowl', 'A Man Can Feel' and 'Out Of the Night' carry on down this road plagued of massive progressive passageways that bring back that old school TRANSATLANTIC we all waited for almost ten years until 'The Whirlwind' was released. Every song completes the following superbly in a way that you can pretty much feel you're lending ears to a classic TRANSATLANTIC medley within the depths of this musical whirlwind.

'Rose Colored Glasses' is to me, the next song in importance when it comes to depict the album's sense of emotion and sensitivity right after 'The Wind Blew Them All Away'. The simplicity of the instrumentation suits the lyrics perfectly. The song merges both music and words endlessly. It is simply the turning point of the entire album.

'Evermore' is where I got to feel a slight change of direction, if not completely; in the way 'The Whirlwind' was flowing. And it's a great one indeed. There seems to be a certain kind of contrast between that old school TRANSATLANTIC and the brand new one. It keeps the essential and yet it reveals the freshness of the band's renovated genius that flies throughout up to the very end of this masterpiece.

'Is It Really Happening?' and 'Dancing With Eternal Glory / Whirlwind (Reprise)' are two very enjoyable tracks, so rhythmical and greatly arranged. They've got all the pianos, guitar riffs and drumrolls you've been expecting to get in return for patiently waiting nearly ten years. The bundle has got keyboards played marvelously by Neal MORSE, a guitar department managed superbly by Roine STOLT, the passionate bass work displayed in the hands of Pete TREWAVAS and the signature thundering performance of Mike PORTNOY on drums. Nothing more to ask for in here.

So, it was worth the wait. 'The Whirlwind' has now become the cornerstone to devoted and new TRANSATLANTIC fans. All in all, the album deserves a standing ovation for the effort, the passion and lyricism altogether. It already ranks high among my personal favorite top prog rock albums of all time and I'm pretty sure it will stay there unarguably.