BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER

Transatlantic is modern prog preeminent supergroup, formed not to try something new, but to double down on all the classic prog staples, particularly the "super epic". Those are pretty typical, a bunch of songs stitched together and united by a repeating theme. But to their credit, they are catchy and flow is smooth, unlike, say, certain Rush epics.

Bridge across forever sounds slightly heavier, and more like a band effort that the debut, which had the feel of super musicians hired to do Neal Morse songs (and a Roine Stolt song, plus a cover song). This is reflected in complex arrangements and prominent space in the mix to all four - loads of copycat guitar and synth styles, propulsive bass, busy drumming. Overall, Transatlantic is even better than Spock's Beard (Morse band) and almost as good as Flower Kings (Stolt), almost because it's less varied. The level of catchiness, composition and playing probably deserves 5star ratings to all Trans albums, but a responsible reviewer cannot, unfortunately, overlook many instances of plagiarism.