Since it seems like the band won't likely get together this year, or if they do, won't release an album this year, I figured we'd still try to generate some conversation here and there, especially as I have been thinking about this band a lot lately (even amidst Neal's own new album).
First off, just to get this out of the way because I don't think I've seen it in this thread in awhile, here's my current ranking of the studio albums:
Bridge Across Forever
The Whirlwind
Kaleidoscope
SMPT:e
As much as I love SMPT:e, Kaleidoscope has really grown on me over the years. It turns 3 years old in 12 days, and it's a bit hard to believe it's been that long already, but since then, the album's five songs have slowly rooted themselves into my musical veins and they've slowly over-taken SMPT:e in ranking. I love the vocal interplay with all of the members, and the arrangements are more varied. The more I look back at the band's debut album, the more and more it stands out as being VERY Neal-heavy and not that that is a BAD thing per se, but I love the balance that the band would eventually attain with its latter two albums, with quite a bit more Roine and Pete, both musically and vocally. Even with that all in mind, though, BAF still reigns supreme, and it's easily one of my favorite albums of all time, so I doubt The Whirlwind or Kaleidoscope will ever overtake it.
And the live albums, not counting More Never Is Enough (because it really feels superfluous and I've rarely listened to it):
Whirld Tour 2010
Live In Europe
KaLIVEoscope
Live In America
Before Whirld Tour 2010 came out, Live In Europe was one of my top live albums of all time (right up there with the likes of Yessongs and Seconds Out), but Whirld Tour just takes the cake - complete live Whirlwind, plus their 3 major epics and two ballads, what more could you ask for?! Well, you COULD have asked for "My New World" but then the show would've been way over 4 hours...
And as for predictions for the band's future? Considering the time between The Whirlwind and Kaleidoscope was 4 years and 3 months, and how busy Mike and Neal are this year (with the NMB and eventually Flying Colors), I suspect that TA5 sessions won't commence until early next year at best, which would mean TA5 would come out at least 4 years after Kaleidoscope, which would be fine with me considering the wait we had for that album. I'm sure Roine has a TON of material in his backlog of stuff he writes because he's not released anything with his own writing in awhile (as I don't think the Anderson/Stolt album has a lot of his input), and The Flower Kings haven't been very active either, so I'd like to see Roine bring a lot of demos to the TA5 sessions.
-Marc.
Topic: Transatlantic Official Thread (Read 529816 times)