Transatlantic Official Thread

[HOF]

After listening to Bridge Across Forever in full again, I honestly could call it a 100% perfect album; every song is a 10/10. That would actually be the first album I'd ever say that about. Now, that doesn't mean BAF is my favorite album of all time, or that any one song would rank in my all-time favorite songs (there is a particular flaw in Stranger in Your Soul that I may or may not get over, that being the very long echo of "time" when it transitions into the ambient section), but it's easily the most consistently amazing album I've ever heard.

It’s been one of my favorite albums from the time it was released. I agree, there are no major weak points on the album.

[gzarruk]

After listening to Bridge Across Forever in full again, I honestly could call it a 100% perfect album; every song is a 10/10. That would actually be the first album I'd ever say that about. Now, that doesn't mean BAF is my favorite album of all time, or that any one song would rank in my all-time favorite songs (there is a particular flaw in Stranger in Your Soul that I may or may not get over, that being the very long echo of "time" when it transitions into the ambient section), but it's easily the most consistently amazing album I've ever heard.

Honestly I don't like it that much, but it's really good anyway. The only song I can't stand is Suite Charlotte Pike.

[KevShmev]

I am never a fan of that hidden track nonsense, which is tacked on to the end of Stranger in Your Soul (that I deleted from my version of it a long time ago), but otherwise Bridge Across Forever is a perfect album, as is SMPTe.  The Whirlwind is nearly perfect; I still wish the first track wasn't so underwhelming.

I finally watched the KaLIVEoscope DVD at a friend's last night and was pretty underwhelmed by it.  I won't go so far as to say the band was going through the motions, but the excitement and energy seen on previous tours didn't seem to be there, IMO.  I don't think the lackluster crowd helped either.  I guess I see now why the guys film so many live concerts in Tilburg, as the crowd there is always full of energy and loud. 

Anyway, if we can assume for the sake of argument that the forthcoming 5th album is around 70-75 minutes and that all or most of it played on the subsequent tour (whenever that is), it will be interesting to see what songs from the first four albums make up the rest of the set list.  I fear that all of the 20 minute plus epics will all be lumped into several medleys, that way they can play some of all of them, and I would imagine a chunk of The Whirlwind would get played again.  Would be cool to see the return of Mystery Train. 

[Peter Mc]

I always loved the first 2 albums but the Whirlwind took a little time, possibly even years.  I think I played it on a train journey once and suddenly I was like “I love all of this album”.  The last one is another absolutely brilliant album but (and this is nitpicking) there are some moments where stuff is repeated too much. Where they literally repeat a few bars of generic dull riffing over and over again one after the other and I’m wishing they would move on to the next part of the song.  This is probably a minute out of 20 min songs so it is not the end of the world.  The amazing stuff massively outweighs the little nitpicks.  They’re 4 for 4 with me so can’t wait for the next one.

[HOF]

So I’ve still never heard The Whirlwind. By the time the band reformed I had drifted away from prog and had mostly given up on Neal Morse’s post-SB style, and I was also out on DT by that time as well so my confidence in half the band was low. I think I probably also heard some samples that scared me away from it.

Basically I had such fond memories of the first two albums and held them in such high regard that I was afraid the band doing something substandard would sort of tarnish the first two albums.

After I started getting more into prog again after several years, I eventually did get Kaleidoscope because Radiant was selling it for like $3 or something. And I felt pretty much like I expected to feel when I decided to avoid The Whirlwind.

So I’m only very cautiously optimistic about the 5th TA offering. I’ve recently become a bigger Flower Kings fan, so I really want to see them return to form somehow. That said, recent TFK stuff hasn’t grabbed me either. So who knows!

[Peter Mc]

You should give it a whirl (groan!), it’s a really good record. Some people complained that Neal’s more religious themed lyrics began to appear but it’s not really in your face.  It’s also different in that it’s shorter more manageable songs rather than huge 20 min epics.

[bosk1]

Yeah, the Whirlwind is fantastic and easily on par with the first two albums (in my opinion, it surpasses both of them).  I would not judge it by Kaleidoscope, as I think most people view that as a step down.  I still enjoy it, but not nearly as much as the first three. 

[The Letter M]

I am never a fan of that hidden track nonsense, which is tacked on to the end of Stranger in Your Soul (that I deleted from my version of it a long time ago), but otherwise Bridge Across Forever is a perfect album, as is SMPTe.

A very long time ago, I took the end-jam of SCP from the end of SIYS and re-inserted it at the end of the track proper (undoing the fade-out and fade-in as well). Getting them to line-up perfectly took a bit of work, but now the song is an epic 17:06 long, and the sound effects at the end of it blend perfectly into the intro of the title track. To me, it's the complete way to listen to the album and I haven't heard it any other way in well over a decade.

Anyway, if we can assume for the sake of argument that the forthcoming 5th album is around 70-75 minutes and that all or most of it played on the subsequent tour (whenever that is), it will be interesting to see what songs from the first four albums make up the rest of the set list.  I fear that all of the 20 minute plus epics will all be lumped into several medleys, that way they can play some of all of them, and I would imagine a chunk of The Whirlwind would get played again.  Would be cool to see the return of Mystery Train.

I've thought about this as well, and I'm sure they'll play the whole new album (because why not?). I'd REALLY love to see them bust out one of the Whirlwind bonus tracks (particularly Spinning), and like you, bring back Mystery Train as well. I'm sure there will be the typical Whirlwind Medley during the main set, but I can see them doing a new encore medley, which I would like to see them do a condensed version of the BAF album, since there are repeated themes and motifs between all 3 of the longer songs, they could easily mash them all up and make a solid 25-30 minute medley of the three songs (DWTD, SCP, and SIYS). So 75 minutes of new material, 60 minutes of medleys, and another 15-25 minutes of other material from SMPTe, The Whirlwind bonus disc, and Kaleidoscope (Shine and Black As The Sky). I don't see them bringing out any part of Into The Blue or Kaleidoscope (the song), unless it was another condensed medley of the two of them, but even without that, this is already reaching 160 minutes, and that's a lot of material for a tour already, but they have played 3 hour shows before, so who knows.

On the topic of weighing Whirlwind against SMPTe and BAF, for me, I discovered Transatlantic in 2005/2006, and fell hard in love with their first two albums, and so my wait for a third one wasn't as long as any fan who had known them from the start (almost half as long of a wait, really). When news broke of the third albums' sessions beginning, I was ecstatic, and I think my excitement carried through that long wait because when it came out, I could not stop listening to it. For about a year from its release, it was played in heavy rotation, despite all the other great new music I picked up in 2009/2010. To this day, I still really enjoy it, but still not as much as BAF, but as a whole, The Whirlwind is probably one of my favorite albums of all time, and a very close second to BAF.

As for Kaleidoscope, while I don't love it as much as the other three, it's still a great album, and I often myself going to it when I feel like listening to TA. Maybe because it's their latest album, or perhaps I kind of burned myself out on TW for the better parts of the 2010s? Who knows, but I still really enjoy listening to it.

I've been spinning TA music a LOT in the last month or so, and even re-watched all of the making-of documentaries, and the concert videos, tour documentaries, and every other piece of video by the band, and it always reminds me why I love them and their music so much. To me, they're like the Avengers of prog rock. Individually, they've had some great music with their respective bands and solo projects, but when they come together, it's an EVENT, a spectacle that can't be missed, and they bring some of their best music and playing. If I had just known Pete Trewavas as the bassist for Marillion, he probably would not have stood out to me, but as the bassist in Transatlantic, his playing is some of the best I've heard in the genre (especially on The Whirlwind, which, thankfully, pumped up the bass). And compared to their best work in SB and TFK, Neal and Roine's stuff in The Whirlwind is on par with all of that IMO. And of course, there's Mike, but as a drummer (who really enjoys most of his work), I can't help but be impressed by the stuff he does in TA.

I'm very hopeful about how well TA5 will turn out. It's their second longest gap between albums, and both Neal and Roine have been fairly prolific in recent years (as has Pete as well, with Edison's Children and reuniting Kino), so I hope they saved some of their proggier material for Transatlantic! I'm hoping Neal's July IC Newsletter gives an update about the album!

-Marc.

[gzarruk]

The Whirlwind is still my favorite TA album, I think everything about it is perfect (the main album, not the bonus tracks). I'm also the odd case where I don't like BAF that much and think SMPT:e is better (mostly because of AOTA and WANSL).

Kaleidoscope is weird because on paper it should work really well, but it doesn't when you listen to it. It's not like there's anything wrong with it, but it isn't as good as some of their previous stuff. Also, the two slower songs sound like they tried to recreate/rewrite We All Need Some Light and Bridge Across Forever.

[HOF]

If I had just known Pete Trewavas as the bassist for Marillion, he probably would not have stood out to me, but as the bassist in Transatlantic, his playing is some of the best I've heard in the genre (especially on The Whirlwind, which, thankfully, pumped up the bass).

Pete Trewavas is probably my favorite bass player, so that’s a good militating factor for checking out The Whirlwind. While he is outstanding in TA for sure, almost everything he does in Marillion is amazing too. He mentioned in a recent YouTube video that he was trying to channel Squire and McCartney on a particular Marillion track (I think it was either Gazpacho or Alone Again in the Lap of Luxury), and that’s very much a description of a lot of his playing. In TA he probably leans more towards Squire while he’s more McCartney in Marillion, but he pretty much never takes a song off. I also here a good bit of Rutherford in both, but I’m just continually impressed by his playing. 

[Orbert]

I am never a fan of that hidden track nonsense, which is tacked on to the end of Stranger in Your Soul (that I deleted from my version of it a long time ago), but otherwise Bridge Across Forever is a perfect album, as is SMPTe.

A very long time ago, I took the end-jam of SCP from the end of SIYS and re-inserted it at the end of the track proper (undoing the fade-out and fade-in as well). Getting them to line-up perfectly took a bit of work, but now the song is an epic 17:06 long, and the sound effects at the end of it blend perfectly into the intro of the title track. To me, it's the complete way to listen to the album and I haven't heard it any other way in well over a decade.

I used to do stuff like that, back in the days when you recorded LPs onto C-90 cassettes for listening in the car.  I got really good with the Pause button on my tape deck, since that was the only way to do it back then, short of recording and then physically splicing the tape.  I actually had a tape splicer, but I never ended up using it for serious projects.  By then I was good enough with the Pause button.  Good times.

[The Letter M]

The Whirlwind is still my favorite TA album, I think everything about it is perfect (the main album, not the bonus tracks). I'm also the odd case where I don't like BAF that much and think SMPT:e is better (mostly because of AOTA and WANSL).

Kaleidoscope is weird because on paper it should work really well, but it doesn't when you listen to it. It's not like there's anything wrong with it, but it isn't as good as some of their previous stuff. Also, the two slower songs sound like they tried to recreate/rewrite We All Need Some Light and Bridge Across Forever.

I think what's funny is that, I believe, Mike even said on the Making Of DVD that including Beyond The Sun would lead to comparisons to Bridge Across Forever, and Shine is definitely like a new version of WANSL. Heck, you might even say BATS is another MT, so really, Kaleidoscope was just copying the band's three shortest songs from their first two albums, while sandwiching them between two giant epics like on BAF. Whether it was intentional or not, the comparisons are there, so I'm hoping they were a bit more aware of trying to avoid repeating themselves on the new album, although when it comes to prog, there aren't that many options LOL. I'd like to see an album of 6 or 7 songs, to be honest, with lengths of between 10-20 minutes, more My New Worlds and less AOTA/DWTD/SIYS songs. More like Fragile and less like Close To The Edge in terms of scope and number of tracks. More shorter songs, which might make making setlists in future tours a bit easier, so they won't have to truncate the epics just to fit them in for representation.

If I had just known Pete Trewavas as the bassist for Marillion, he probably would not have stood out to me, but as the bassist in Transatlantic, his playing is some of the best I've heard in the genre (especially on The Whirlwind, which, thankfully, pumped up the bass).

Pete Trewavas is probably my favorite bass player, so that’s a good militating factor for checking out The Whirlwind. While he is outstanding in TA for sure, almost everything he does in Marillion is amazing too. He mentioned in a recent YouTube video that he was trying to channel Squire and McCartney on a particular Marillion track (I think it was either Gazpacho or Alone Again in the Lap of Luxury), and that’s very much a description of a lot of his playing. In TA he probably leans more towards Squire while he’s more McCartney in Marillion, but he pretty much never takes a song off. I also here a good bit of Rutherford in both, but I’m just continually impressed by his playing. 

Of the four "parent bands" of Transatlantic's members, Marillion was the one that didn't stick with me as much, though I do own all of their studio albums, most of their live albums, and a fair amount of Racket Records stuff (I went through a phase of collecting as much as I could in an effort to really dive deep into the band). I still listen to them every now and then, but it's not anywhere near as much as DT, SB or TFK, so I can't be too sure of his place in the band in terms of his play style, but I'll take your word for it. I think the McCartney comparison is pretty apt, from what I can recall of Pete's playing in Marillion, but he definitely goes all out in Transatlantic.

The story of how Mike picked Pete was that he heard Pete playing a Squire bass line during a soundcheck on one of the tours DT opened for Marillion in the 80s, and he knew then that there was a Chris Squire waiting to be unleashed inside of Pete, and Transatlantic has been that outlet for him. Pete's a bit more subdued on SMPTe (the Rich Mouser mix doesn't do him any favors, which is why I champion Roine's Mix personally), but he got a better place in the mix on BAF. It was in The Whirlwind where he REALLY takes off, though, and you've really gotta listen to it with headphones on because he's got some amazing bass grooves and runs in there that can't be missed!

I am never a fan of that hidden track nonsense, which is tacked on to the end of Stranger in Your Soul (that I deleted from my version of it a long time ago), but otherwise Bridge Across Forever is a perfect album, as is SMPTe.

A very long time ago, I took the end-jam of SCP from the end of SIYS and re-inserted it at the end of the track proper (undoing the fade-out and fade-in as well). Getting them to line-up perfectly took a bit of work, but now the song is an epic 17:06 long, and the sound effects at the end of it blend perfectly into the intro of the title track. To me, it's the complete way to listen to the album and I haven't heard it any other way in well over a decade.

I used to do stuff like that, back in the days when you recorded LPs onto C-90 cassettes for listening in the car.  I got really good with the Pause button on my tape deck, since that was the only way to do it back then, short of recording and then physically splicing the tape.  I actually had a tape splicer, but I never ended up using it for serious projects.  By then I was good enough with the Pause button.  Good times.

Nice! It took me some tricky editing to do in Audacity, but there were effects and tools for un-fading tracks, which really helped bring the song together. I never really understood what led them to chopping off the closing jam (when the song opened with a jam), and then tacking it on to the end of the album as a "hidden track". For years, I'd hope that someone in the band would've released the full track as originally recorded, but it hasn't happened and I doubt it ever will, so my personal mix is the best I'll get!

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, Trewavas' playing and tone are both sick as hell on The Whirlwind.  Not sure what lit a fire under his ass on that one, but he crushes it on that one.

I know I have said it before, but Kaleidoscope just feels a bit too "been there, done that."  Both epics are similar to Spock's Beard's Falling for Forever in that they are good and have some great moments, but overall just don't kill it like so many other epics by TA and the various prog bands of which the members are a part.  I like both Shine and Beyond the Sun, but both definitely feel like they went for newer versions of We All Need Some Light and Bridge Across Forever (the song), respectively, and to lesser success, IMO.  Black as the Sky is a fun song, but I can't listen to the live version.  Roine struggles with singing the verses too much live (and I am normally a fan of his singing). 

[gzarruk]

I think what's funny is that, I believe, Mike even said on the Making Of DVD that including Beyond The Sun would lead to comparisons to Bridge Across Forever, and Shine is definitely like a new version of WANSL. Heck, you might even say BATS is another MT, so really, Kaleidoscope was just copying the band's three shortest songs from their first two albums, while sandwiching them between two giant epics like on BAF. Whether it was intentional or not, the comparisons are there, so I'm hoping they were a bit more aware of trying to avoid repeating themselves on the new album, although when it comes to prog, there aren't that many options LOL. I'd like to see an album of 6 or 7 songs, to be honest, with lengths of between 10-20 minutes, more My New Worlds and less AOTA/DWTD/SIYS songs. More like Fragile and less like Close To The Edge in terms of scope and number of tracks. More shorter songs, which might make making setlists in future tours a bit easier, so they won't have to truncate the epics just to fit them in for representation.

Actually, an album with short songs (that isn't a concept album, though TW technically is a super long epic) is something they haven't done, ever. I'd like to see that, but with TA it's all about long epics

[Orbert]

Nothing but fucking epics!

[HOF]

Of the four "parent bands" of Transatlantic's members, Marillion was the one that didn't stick with me as much, though I do own all of their studio albums, most of their live albums, and a fair amount of Racket Records stuff (I went through a phase of collecting as much as I could in an effort to really dive deep into the band). I still listen to them every now and then, but it's not anywhere near as much as DT, SB or TFK, so I can't be too sure of his place in the band in terms of his play style, but I'll take your word for it. I think the McCartney comparison is pretty apt, from what I can recall of Pete's playing in Marillion, but he definitely goes all out in Transatlantic.

The story of how Mike picked Pete was that he heard Pete playing a Squire bass line during a soundcheck on one of the tours DT opened for Marillion in the 80s, and he knew then that there was a Chris Squire waiting to be unleashed inside of Pete, and Transatlantic has been that outlet for him. Pete's a bit more subdued on SMPTe (the Rich Mouser mix doesn't do him any favors, which is why I champion Roine's Mix personally), but he got a better place in the mix on BAF. It was in The Whirlwind where he REALLY takes off, though, and you've really gotta listen to it with headphones on because he's got some amazing bass grooves and runs in there that can't be missed!

Marillion is probably my favorite band overall actually (the closest competition these days is Big Big Train, who I first heard of because of Pete’s involvement with the band). They aren’t as flashy or overly prog as bands like DT, SB, or TFK, but there’s something more universal about them that I love. They scratch more than just the Prog itch for me, though they do that too. Marillion doesn’t really call for the Chris Squire style, but Pete’s playing is always melodic and creative even in their more pop or straight rock moments. It might come across better in a live setting, but he really is a master of the instrument.

[425]

I personally am a Kaleidoscope fan. I'd rank it third in their discography, which sounds bad except that I think BAF and TW are both basically untouchable albums. The first two tracks are somewhat weaker than their counterparts in the rest of the discography, yes, but I don't really think it's a major slight to be a weaker epic than AotA, DwtD and SiYS, or a weaker ballad than WANSL. The last three tracks are all superb. Beyond the Sun is a powerful song, and it doesn't need to be quite as powerful as Bridge Across Forever to be worthy of its place. Black as the Sky is distinct within their discography, and far better than the only somewhat comparable song, Mystery Train. Kaleidoscope is one of my favorite epics, and I think it's every bit the equal of the holy trinity from SMPTe and BAF.

I wouldn't want them to come out with Kaleidoscope 2 for a fifth album, but Kaleidoscope itself sums up all that TA does best, even while admittedly failing to equal their two top shelf works.


The question of setlist is an interesting one. I agree with the assumption that 75 minutes or so will go to new music. There will also likely be another 20-30 minute Whirlwind medley, hopefully with some different cuts. I'd hope to see Kaleidoscope get something, probably Black as the Sky. Pulling the Black Gold section from the title track could also be interesting. I think We All Need Some Light is pretty obligatory at this point. That would really leave room for just one of the big three epics, and my prediction, knowing MP, would actually be Duel with the Devil. Above and Stranger got cut together last time, and Stranger has been played a few times by Neal Morse. Duel hasn't come out at all since 2010 and it's every bit as popular as the other two (arguably the most popular), so I think it comes out.

What this prediction doesn't leave room for is the one that tops my wishlist: Suite Charlotte Pike. This one has never been played on its own in full. I think it's a ton of fun and would kill live, so I really hope they bring it out, although I find it hard to see where.

[krands85]

Guess I'm in the minority, since Kaleidoscope is probably my favourite. I've sometimes wondered if that could be party because I got in to the band quite late and I've not listened to much of the members other bands.

[DTA]

Kaleidoscope just sounds too much like a Neal Morse solo album. All the usual tropes are present and the epics and songwriting are pretty predictable. It's not bad or anything, just "been there, done that" whereas BAF and SMPT:e sound fresh and exciting because the style had not been overdone when they were created. I hope TA5 throws in some curveballs and has more Roine/Pete influence.

[Stadler]

I am never a fan of that hidden track nonsense, which is tacked on to the end of Stranger in Your Soul (that I deleted from my version of it a long time ago), but otherwise Bridge Across Forever is a perfect album, as is SMPTe.

A very long time ago, I took the end-jam of SCP from the end of SIYS and re-inserted it at the end of the track proper (undoing the fade-out and fade-in as well). Getting them to line-up perfectly took a bit of work, but now the song is an epic 17:06 long, and the sound effects at the end of it blend perfectly into the intro of the title track. To me, it's the complete way to listen to the album and I haven't heard it any other way in well over a decade.

I used to do stuff like that, back in the days when you recorded LPs onto C-90 cassettes for listening in the car.  I got really good with the Pause button on my tape deck, since that was the only way to do it back then, short of recording and then physically splicing the tape.  I actually had a tape splicer, but I never ended up using it for serious projects.  By then I was good enough with the Pause button.  Good times.

I still do that all the time.    I've put together the Genesis suites, I almost always edit out the "disk swap" on double and triple disk live sets.  I have an instrumental version of "Tonight" by Ozzy and an instrumental version of "War Pigs" that I made (not that I don't like Ozzy's voice - and I kept in the final chorus on Tonight - but I wanted just those guitar tones).   Right now I'm piecing together a "Somewhere In London" from the DVD and the "Songs We Played Earlier" (Never understood that title, since it's just the other songs from the two-night stand in London that didn't make the main cut).  It's so easy on Garageband to do. 

[The Curious Orange]

I'd assumed the title was a reference to classic British kids show Blue Peter, where the presenter would show children how to make something, make a complete pig's ear out of it because it was live TV, then pull a perfect version out from under the counter with a cry of 'and here's one I made earlier...'

Trust me, if you were British, you'd know it.

[kirksnosehair]

I almost never listen to Kaleidoscope.  Like others have indicated, it kind of felt a bit phoned-in to me, I guess.   I, too, would like Roine Stolt's influence to be more prominent in the writing and style otherwise it will sound like another Neal Morse solo album.  Not that there's anything wrong with that I guess it's to be expected when Neal's writing most of the music. 


I'd love to hear a more song-oriented album like the first album.  Yeah, it had epics, but it wasn't a concept album.  We already get enough concept albums from the bands these guys are in. 

[The Letter M]

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like Kaleidoscope had MORE Roine on it than the previous albums, just in terms of his demos and style and sound over-all. Going from memory (since I re-watched the Making Of doc a couple of weeks ago), in Into The Blue, I'm pretty sure the riff used for "III. A New Beginning" came from Roine, and he also sings that part as well. The guitar solo in Shine is pretty much Roine's idea, and it really adds a lot to the song IMO. Roine's vocals start Black As The Sky, which is a welcome change-up. And in the title track, I think the "III. Black Gold" and "VI. Lemon Looking Glass" sections were mostly Roine as well.

All in all, I feel like that's a hefty chunk of the album rooted in Roine's material and ideas. I enjoy it more when they mix up their ideas into single songs, rather than the SMPTe route of "This is a Neal song" and "This is a Roine song" format. I think, because of that, Kaleidoscope sounds more like a TA album than a Neal or SB album. After The Whirlwind, I feel like they really nailed their style, which was really nearly perfected with BAF anyway (which also features a great mix of each band members' themes).

My biggest hope is that, since they convened in Sweden, that Roine had a sort of "homefield advantage" when it came to offering up good ideas for the new album, and perhaps Neal didn't bring an album's worth of demos as he typically does. I also hope that Pete had some good stuff to bring, too, but like I said earlier in the thread, all 3 of the main songwriters have been fairly busy with other projects in recent years, so who knows how much saved-up material they had set aside for Transatlantic.

-Marc.

[Peter Mc]

I think all the TA albums are not a million miles away from sounding like Neal Morse/Spock’s Beard albums.  I do agree though that the last one felt more that way and less like a melting pot of ideas like the others did. It missed more of the laid back 70’s style Roine moments.  That being said, I still loved it but then I love Neal’s stuff in general.

[425]

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like Kaleidoscope had MORE Roine on it than the previous albums, just in terms of his demos and style and sound over-all. Going from memory (since I re-watched the Making Of doc a couple of weeks ago), in Into The Blue, I'm pretty sure the riff used for "III. A New Beginning" came from Roine, and he also sings that part as well. The guitar solo in Shine as pretty much Roine's idea, and it really adds a lot to the song IMO. Roine's vocals start Black At The Sky, which is a welcome change-up. And in the title track, I think the "III. Black Gold" and "VI. Lemon Looking Glass" sections were mostly Roine as well.

It is also my sense that Kaleidoscope had at least as much Roine, if not more, than the others.

[DoctorAction]

Oddly, I'd never played the Whirlwind till yesterday. Had it on went i went for an evening walk. Great!

[The Letter M]

From Neal's latest IC Newsletter-

Now, I can't say much because it's very hush-hush. I would get in trouble with the guys. But I have been doing some additional work on the album and changed it a little bit. I've been making some lyrical changes and there have been some times I've wanted to say a little bit more, so I would double a verse, and things like that. Hopefully not shocking the band too much!

But I spent quite a bit of time – a good solid week – during this last month working on the new Transatlantic and adding things and taking some of my bits away, as well. Rich is already mixing it, so it's quite a timely thing for me to do. I was definitely under the gun, which was even more difficult when I got sick.

But, Rich is now mixing the new Transatlantic and things are coming along really well.

At this pace, I definitely don't think we will see a release before November or December, and if I was being realistic, a January date would probably be more likely. I'd say definitely out by March.

-Marc.

[ytserush]

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like Kaleidoscope had MORE Roine on it than the previous albums, just in terms of his demos and style and sound over-all.
-Marc.

Maybe that's why it doesn't resonate with me as much as the others. Roine is my least favorite member of the band though I do like some of his work. Still have a few Flower Kings albums and a couple solo albums. Also really like The Sea Within but that might be because of the others involved with the project.

[jammindude]

Re: Kaleidoscope

I don’t think I’ve revisited it since it came out. And Shine is probably the biggest reason.

I really love NM and SB, but... it’s like, you know those things where a “bot” gets fed every AC/DC song ever made and then writes an AC/DC song? If you did that with Neal Morse, Shine would come out.

So I basically thought that song had gotten to the point of self-parody, and none of the other stuff kept me hanging on. But maybe I should at least give the epic another go.

[Peter Mc]

Yes, Shine is not a classic, it’s a song I don’t really listen to.  The two epics have some great stuff though and Beyond The Sun (whilst clearly derivative of earlier ballads) is nice.  Black As The Sky is pretty great too.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I really like the Black Gold section, but other than that Kaleidoscope (the song) feels pretty forgettable.

[Ben_Jamin]

Black As The Sky is the best song on Kaleidoscope. The epics have sections I enjoy, but not enough for me to want to listen to the entire length of the track. I still listen to them, but not as much as I find myself wanting to listen to Black As The Sky.

[Zydar]

Black As The Sky is the best song on Kaleidoscope. The epics have sections I enjoy, but not enough for me to want to listen to the entire length of the track. I still listen to them, but not as much as I find myself wanting to listen to Black As The Sky.

I agree. My favourite on that album is Black As The Sky too.

[Peter Mc]

Just giving Kaleidoscope a quick blast this morning.  I think Into The Blue is definitely the better of the two epics.  It is almost indistinguishable from a Neal Morse/SB song but, despite some slightly uninspired instrumental sections, the main song and melody is great.  Especially love the Gildenlow section. 

The title track is not bad by any means, it’s perfectly listenable but just not as good as any of their other epics.  Sounds like a bit of a tired Spock’s Beard throwback to me in that I feel like I’ve heard the chorus a million times before.  I still enjoy it though.

Black As The Sky is a really great shorter track and the one that really sounds uniquely Transatlantic to me, not like a Neal Morse/SB song.

Shine is playing now and I’m enjoying it more than I remembered. Some nice guitar moments and a nice little Into The Blue reprise at the end.  It’s never going to be a favourite but it’s not terrible.

Beyond The Sun is not as good as WANSL or BAF but still a really nice song and has an emotional meaning for me as my Nan died shortly before it came out and it really connected with me at that time.

It is a step down from earlier albums but I still enjoy it a lot.

[Ben_Jamin]

The thing I'm finding for myself with the 2 bands MP and NM are a part of is...The long epics end up sounding the same as a Neal Morse bands epic style. I think I'm just tired of that epic sound and it's probably why I enjoy Flying Colors more than Transatlantic. Also, I prefer the sound Transatlantic has over Flying Colors. So you can see why I consider Black As The Sky my favorite Transatlantic song.

My favorite Epic is The Whirlwind.

Stranger In Your Soul is next, mainly for the awesome lyrical trade-off section between them all.