Transatlantic Official Thread

[ThatOneGuy2112]

After a few listens, I thought it was ok. Seeing as it's a concept album, it will probably make more sense in context. Definitely liked it more than the first single that dropped. The opening instrumental was nice, if nothing new from these guys.

[darkshade]

Roine, like Neal, are good singers, but I wouldn't call them the best ever. Roine accentuates words in an exaggerated manner sometimes, it could be his Swedish accent, but to me they both have lots of character in their voices, which is big for me. Like, say, Eric Gillette in Neal's solo band, who is a competent singer, but his voice in the NMB albums is my least favorite aspect of the band, his voice sounds overly-processed, kind of a modern-corporate pop/"pop-country?" sound, and it sounds like he needs to clear his throat. I like him backing up Neal, but not lead. He does, however, have character in his voice, even if it isn't exactly to my taste.

Roine's vocals have evolved over time, as well, his voice sounds a lot different on the 70s Kaipa albums as he was obviously a lot younger, but even on the 90s TFK albums, and the first 2 TA albums, compared to pretty much anything he's been on since the mid-2000s, there's a change, likely age, but I think his best vocals are found in those 90s albums IMO.

[Fritzinger]

Guys, we will be interviewing Roine next Thursday. Do you have questions for him?

 

This is not Transatlantic-related, but I'd really like to know why he cut out 6 minutes from The Devil's Playground for the Unfold The Future re-release!

[Fritzinger]

Roine, like Neal, are good singers, but I wouldn't call them the best ever. Roine accentuates words in an exaggerated manner sometimes, it could be his Swedish accent, but to me they both have lots of character in their voices, which is big for me. Like, say, Eric Gillette in Neal's solo band, who is a competent singer, but his voice in the NMB albums is my least favorite aspect of the band, his voice sounds overly-processed, kind of a modern-corporate pop/"pop-country?" sound, and it sounds like he needs to clear his throat. I like him backing up Neal, but not lead. He does, however, have character in his voice, even if it isn't exactly to my taste.

Roine's vocals have evolved over time, as well, his voice sounds a lot different on the 70s Kaipa albums as he was obviously a lot younger, but even on the 90s TFK albums, and the first 2 TA albums, compared to pretty much anything he's been on since the mid-2000s, there's a change, likely age, but I think his best vocals are found in those 90s albums IMO.

I hardly know anything about/by Kaipa, could you name a few songs by them where I can hear him sing?

[darkshade]

Roine, like Neal, are good singers, but I wouldn't call them the best ever. Roine accentuates words in an exaggerated manner sometimes, it could be his Swedish accent, but to me they both have lots of character in their voices, which is big for me. Like, say, Eric Gillette in Neal's solo band, who is a competent singer, but his voice in the NMB albums is my least favorite aspect of the band, his voice sounds overly-processed, kind of a modern-corporate pop/"pop-country?" sound, and it sounds like he needs to clear his throat. I like him backing up Neal, but not lead. He does, however, have character in his voice, even if it isn't exactly to my taste.

Roine's vocals have evolved over time, as well, his voice sounds a lot different on the 70s Kaipa albums as he was obviously a lot younger, but even on the 90s TFK albums, and the first 2 TA albums, compared to pretty much anything he's been on since the mid-2000s, there's a change, likely age, but I think his best vocals are found in those 90s albums IMO.

I hardly know anything about/by Kaipa, could you name a few songs by them where I can hear him sing?

Honestly, I can't. They're all in Swedish. I just put the album(s) on and let the music flow. I don't think he sings lead on the self-titled first Kaipa album, as the keyboardist is the lead singer and sort of the front man of the group, but the follow up and third albums (Inget Nytt Under Solen, and Solo respectively) he does sing lead. Those albums are pretty short since they came out almost 50 years ago pre-CD era, so much shorter, more easily digestible than any of Roine's work in the last thirty years.  I recommend all 3 albums. I even checked out their two 80s albums without Roine on Spotify recently, and I surprisingly liked one of them, Händer. The other one Nattdjurstid not as much. Oddly, it's difficult to find any of Roine's 80s work without spending a ton of money. I'd like to hear what he sounded like then.

[HOF]

Roine, like Neal, are good singers, but I wouldn't call them the best ever. Roine accentuates words in an exaggerated manner sometimes, it could be his Swedish accent, but to me they both have lots of character in their voices, which is big for me. Like, say, Eric Gillette in Neal's solo band, who is a competent singer, but his voice in the NMB albums is my least favorite aspect of the band, his voice sounds overly-processed, kind of a modern-corporate pop/"pop-country?" sound, and it sounds like he needs to clear his throat. I like him backing up Neal, but not lead. He does, however, have character in his voice, even if it isn't exactly to my taste.

Roine's vocals have evolved over time, as well, his voice sounds a lot different on the 70s Kaipa albums as he was obviously a lot younger, but even on the 90s TFK albums, and the first 2 TA albums, compared to pretty much anything he's been on since the mid-2000s, there's a change, likely age, but I think his best vocals are found in those 90s albums IMO.

I hardly know anything about/by Kaipa, could you name a few songs by them where I can hear him sing?

Honestly, I can't. They're all in Swedish. I just put the album(s) on and let the music flow. I don't think he sings lead on the self-titled first Kaipa album, as the keyboardist is the lead singer and sort of the front man of the group, but the follow up and third albums (Inget Nytt Under Solen, and Solo respectively) he does sing lead. Those albums are pretty short since they came out almost 50 years ago pre-CD era, so much shorter, more easily digestible than any of Roine's work in the last thirty years.  I recommend all 3 albums. I even checked out their two 80s albums without Roine on Spotify recently, and I surprisingly liked one of them, Händer. The other one Nattdjurstid not as much. Oddly, it's difficult to find any of Roine's 80s work without spending a ton of money. I'd like to hear what he sounded like then.

Did Roine sing with Kaipa? I have Solo which is great (kind of Camel meets Yes) and have also heard the first one but I don’t think Roine sang on either of them.

[KevShmev]

How much input does he usually like to give into the live TA sets, including different arrangements of songs, doing medleys, and incorporating little tributes to classic songs within the TA material?

Ahhh, I like that one a lot. I'd love to hear Roine's answer to that one.

Roine, like Neal, are good singers, but I wouldn't call them the best ever. Roine accentuates words in an exaggerated manner sometimes, it could be his Swedish accent, but to me they both have lots of character in their voices, which is big for me. Like, say, Eric Gillette in Neal's solo band, who is a competent singer, but his voice in the NMB albums is my least favorite aspect of the band, his voice sounds overly-processed, kind of a modern-corporate pop/"pop-country?" sound, and it sounds like he needs to clear his throat. I like him backing up Neal, but not lead. He does, however, have character in his voice, even if it isn't exactly to my taste.

Roine's vocals have evolved over time, as well, his voice sounds a lot different on the 70s Kaipa albums as he was obviously a lot younger, but even on the 90s TFK albums, and the first 2 TA albums, compared to pretty much anything he's been on since the mid-2000s, there's a change, likely age, but I think his best vocals are found in those 90s albums IMO.

Maybe it is my ears playing tricks on me, but it felt like Roine's voice was aging, yet it sounds the old days again on the two newest TFK albums and this new Transatlantic song.  It's like there was this certain quality that I rarely heard in his voice anymore that has come back in the last year or so.  I can't pinpoint exactly what it is; it's just a specific quality that I hear at certain times.  Vague, I know. 

[darkshade]

Roine, like Neal, are good singers, but I wouldn't call them the best ever. Roine accentuates words in an exaggerated manner sometimes, it could be his Swedish accent, but to me they both have lots of character in their voices, which is big for me. Like, say, Eric Gillette in Neal's solo band, who is a competent singer, but his voice in the NMB albums is my least favorite aspect of the band, his voice sounds overly-processed, kind of a modern-corporate pop/"pop-country?" sound, and it sounds like he needs to clear his throat. I like him backing up Neal, but not lead. He does, however, have character in his voice, even if it isn't exactly to my taste.

Roine's vocals have evolved over time, as well, his voice sounds a lot different on the 70s Kaipa albums as he was obviously a lot younger, but even on the 90s TFK albums, and the first 2 TA albums, compared to pretty much anything he's been on since the mid-2000s, there's a change, likely age, but I think his best vocals are found in those 90s albums IMO.

I hardly know anything about/by Kaipa, could you name a few songs by them where I can hear him sing?

Honestly, I can't. They're all in Swedish. I just put the album(s) on and let the music flow. I don't think he sings lead on the self-titled first Kaipa album, as the keyboardist is the lead singer and sort of the front man of the group, but the follow up and third albums (Inget Nytt Under Solen, and Solo respectively) he does sing lead. Those albums are pretty short since they came out almost 50 years ago pre-CD era, so much shorter, more easily digestible than any of Roine's work in the last thirty years.  I recommend all 3 albums. I even checked out their two 80s albums without Roine on Spotify recently, and I surprisingly liked one of them, Händer. The other one Nattdjurstid not as much. Oddly, it's difficult to find any of Roine's 80s work without spending a ton of money. I'd like to hear what he sounded like then.

Did Roine sing with Kaipa? I have Solo which is great (kind of Camel meets Yes) and have also heard the first one but I don’t think Roine sang on either of them.

I could have sworn he sang somewhere on those first 3 albums, but not the debut.

[The Letter M]

If anyone is curious, I managed to screen-cap the TA5 Sessions whiteboard that Mike "accidentally" showed in his Instagram story, and here's what I could pick out:

-At the top, it says "TA5 - Off The Grid", which could be a working title?
-Pete has 3 ideas titled "Sun Comes Up", "Genesis Bit", and "World End"
-On the far right, there's a part that says "Need in Overture", with two items under it: "Big Theme" and "Love? (something)"
-Mike has one idea, simply titled "Mowwww"
-Roine has at least 8 items under his name, two of which have red check marks beside them (possibly because they have already been used). From top to bottom, the ones I can make out are "Hogwarts"(maybe?), "The Samuraij" (?), "Out Again", "Hiking", "Folklore", "Black Swan", "Igorte"(?) and "Escape", with the first and last of those getting aforementioned checks.
-The far left of the whiteboard was a bit too blurry on my screen caps, but I think it's safe to say these are Neal's ideas, even though I cannot read his name anywhere on there, but it appears four of those ideas have red check marks beside them.
-Of these 9 or 10 ideas on the far left, I can make out "Overture", "Bally" or "Rally", "Rainbow ____"?, and "Westward Baby".

I'm sure Neal or Mike will release a full picture of this whiteboard at SOME point. At the very least, one of them will include in the Making Of "TA5" bonus DVD that comes with the Special Edition of the album next year. It seems like they have no shortage of ideas this time, and as usual, I am sure they are writing some new stuff as they jam along. Seeing them in these sessions really makes me want to rewatch the Making Of The Whirlwind and Kaleidoscope documentaries!!

-Marc.

I can't believe I haven't gone back and looked at this since the press release a few weeks ago, but let's finally look at what song titles made it over to the final track list!

From Pete's ideas, we've got 'The Sun Comes Up Today" opening the 2nd CD of Forevermore. "Genesis Bit" was obviously a placeholder, and both "World" and "End" feature in separate song titles, so it's hard to say which song this idea might have become.

"Love Made A Way" seems like the idea that was just listed as "Love".

Roine's ideas all have names that don't seem to translate well to any of the finalized track names, but "Black Swan" must have been passed on because the latest Flower Kings album has a song with that title, so it's possible he saved it and reworked it for TFK.

Of Neal's ideas, of course we get another Overture, but it looks like "Bully" was the word I could barely make out, as well as "Rainbow Sky", both of which are back-to-back on Forevermore. Not sure where "Westward Baby" ended up though.

Can't wait to watch the Making Of Documentary for this one just to see how they eventually pieced together the initial double album!

-Marc.

[Fritzinger]

If anyone is curious, I managed to screen-cap the TA5 Sessions whiteboard that Mike "accidentally" showed in his Instagram story, and here's what I could pick out:

-At the top, it says "TA5 - Off The Grid", which could be a working title?
-Pete has 3 ideas titled "Sun Comes Up", "Genesis Bit", and "World End"
-On the far right, there's a part that says "Need in Overture", with two items under it: "Big Theme" and "Love? (something)"
-Mike has one idea, simply titled "Mowwww"
-Roine has at least 8 items under his name, two of which have red check marks beside them (possibly because they have already been used). From top to bottom, the ones I can make out are "Hogwarts"(maybe?), "The Samuraij" (?), "Out Again", "Hiking", "Folklore", "Black Swan", "Igorte"(?) and "Escape", with the first and last of those getting aforementioned checks.
-The far left of the whiteboard was a bit too blurry on my screen caps, but I think it's safe to say these are Neal's ideas, even though I cannot read his name anywhere on there, but it appears four of those ideas have red check marks beside them.
-Of these 9 or 10 ideas on the far left, I can make out "Overture", "Bally" or "Rally", "Rainbow ____"?, and "Westward Baby".

I'm sure Neal or Mike will release a full picture of this whiteboard at SOME point. At the very least, one of them will include in the Making Of "TA5" bonus DVD that comes with the Special Edition of the album next year. It seems like they have no shortage of ideas this time, and as usual, I am sure they are writing some new stuff as they jam along. Seeing them in these sessions really makes me want to rewatch the Making Of The Whirlwind and Kaleidoscope documentaries!!

-Marc.

I can't believe I haven't gone back and looked at this since the press release a few weeks ago, but let's finally look at what song titles made it over to the final track list!

From Pete's ideas, we've got 'The Sun Comes Up Today" opening the 2nd CD of Forevermore. "Genesis Bit" was obviously a placeholder, and both "World" and "End" feature in separate song titles, so it's hard to say which song this idea might have become.

"Love Made A Way" seems like the idea that was just listed as "Love".

Roine's ideas all have names that don't seem to translate well to any of the finalized track names, but "Black Swan" must have been passed on because the latest Flower Kings album has a song with that title, so it's possible he saved it and reworked it for TFK.

Of Neal's ideas, of course we get another Overture, but it looks like "Bully" was the word I could barely make out, as well as "Rainbow Sky", both of which are back-to-back on Forevermore. Not sure where "Westward Baby" ended up though.

Can't wait to watch the Making Of Documentary for this one just to see how they eventually pieced together the initial double album!

-Marc.

I totally forgot you did that  Very interesting to see that Black Swan was proposed to be on TAV!
Will be interesting to see how it all comes together.

[MinistroRaven]

Guys, we will be interviewing Roine next Thursday. Do you have questions for him?

 

Thank you for the questions submitted so far.
Please keep 'em coming!

[gzarruk]

Guys, we will be interviewing Roine next Thursday. Do you have questions for him?

 

Thank you for the questions submitted so far.
Please keep 'em coming!

I'd love to know more about the decision to make 2 (or 3 or as many as there are) versions of the album. How were the band conversations? Was there any tensions between the band members before they decided what to do? Which version is his favorite? Are the differences subtle or big?

[HOF]

Guys, we will be interviewing Roine next Thursday. Do you have questions for him?

 

Thank you for the questions submitted so far.
Please keep 'em coming!

Something I’m curious about is his take on The Flower Kings and Transatlantic’s role in the 90s/00s prog revival as someone who had been active in the genre since the 70s. What was it like to be a part of both the original heyday as well as the dry spell in the 80s and the revival in the 90s? Does he attribute the genre’s rebirth to the nostalgia, the internet sort of democratizing music, or other factors? Or was it perhaps something that never totally fell out of popularity in Europe?

[DTA]

Guys, we will be interviewing Roine next Thursday. Do you have questions for him?

 

Thank you for the questions submitted so far.
Please keep 'em coming!

Mines not too important, but I’m curious if there’s any obscure or unpopular Flower Kings songs he’s really fond of.

[MinistroRaven]

Nice Q's guys!!

[Fritzinger]

Nice Q's guys!!

I'm also curious about the frequent drummer changes. Especially Zoltan Csörsz and Felix Lehrmann. Why did Zoltan leave the band (twice even) and how did he get to know Felix?

[KevShmev]

Nice Q's guys!!

I'm also curious about the frequent drummer changes. Especially Zoltan Csörsz and Felix Lehrmann. Why did Zoltan leave the band (twice even) and how did he get to know Felix?

I thought I had heard that Zoltan and Tomas Bodin did not get along at all, which is why he exited both times. And supposedly it's what started the friction between Bodin and Roine that eventually resulted in the reformation of the Flower Kings last year sans Bodin.

[The Letter M]

https://youtu.be/wDOG6fGZaEs

The next Absolute Interview features Ted Leonard talking with Neal Morse!

Edit - What a fun and funny interview. They took a bit of time getting to the meat of the matter, but here are a couple things they discussed if you don't want to have to hear them talk about Rich Mouser's intricate mixing habits:
-Pete's big theme ("Love Made A Way") that closes the album wasn't originally in the overture, but I believe Neal said he wrote it in with other stuff as well.
-There was a lot involved in having to rework the album for TBOL version, since they took out some parts - Neal's first draft of the single-disc version even included his own songs being cut ("Bully" and "Rainbow Sky" as I found out when earlier in my post about the TA5 whiteboard)
-Ted said there is a LOT of Roine on this album, and that Pete continues to be a beast as well
-Ted also said that "Owl Howl" was a highlight of the album, and Neal agreed.
-Neal mentioned that "Solitude" was a Pete piece.
-Neal brought up that he sometimes has two versions of lyrics for songs he writes and he often has to struggle picking which version he likes more, but in the case of TAU, since some songs were changing, he realized he didn't have to choose and opted to have both sets of lyrics, one on each album.
-The song "Swing High, Swing Low"  on Forevermore had its lyrics re-written by Neal and became "Take Now My Soul", with new words penned during the summer, at the height of the pandemic (which influenced his new lyrics in this song, and maybe other places too)

Over-all, I guess because of the insane amount of material, that probably means there's a lot of music from each band member. I'm happy to hear how much Roine is all over this album, and that the big final theme/piece is by Pete (who wrote one of the best parts of "Stranger In Your Soul"), so that excites me a lot.

I wonder who will interview Roine...maybe Daniel Gildenlow? That would make sense. As for Pete's interviewer? I dunno, John Mitchell?

-Marc.

[darkshade]

Nice Q's guys!!

I'm also curious about the frequent drummer changes. Especially Zoltan Csörsz and Felix Lehrmann. Why did Zoltan leave the band (twice even) and how did he get to know Felix?

I thought I had heard that Zoltan and Tomas Bodin did not get along at all, which is why he exited both times. And supposedly it's what started the friction between Bodin and Roine that eventually resulted in the reformation of the Flower Kings last year sans Bodin.

That's a shame, I think Zoltan was the best drummer TFK had, followed by Felix.

[bosk1]

Oh, wow.  Ted apparently lives very near me.

[darkshade]

Cool interview. Neal confirms it's all his fault, and that there's 5 other versions of the album.

[Orbert]

You're kidding, right?

[Mladen]

That was such a cool interview, those guys are amazing!

[MinistroRaven]

That was such a cool interview, those guys are amazing!

I liked this one better than the one with Portnoy, IMO, Ross was not a good interviewer.

[DoctorAction]

I thought this one was waaay too waffly. Neal seems like he's off in his own little world, somehow.  Nice to hear him speak though. Never have before. He's not what I expected.

[Zydar]

I was just sitting there watching and reflecting on the fact that the current singer of Spock's Beard was interviewing the original singer (and founder) of Spock's Beard

[Mladen]

You can actually tell they are kind of pals. Ted also admires Neal quite a bit.

[darkshade]

I thought this one was waaay too waffly. Neal seems like he's off in his own little world, somehow.  Nice to hear him speak though. Never have before. He's not what I expected.

These aren't traditional interviews, they're being interviewed by peers, colleagues, friends, so there's a lot of joking, side chat, etc.. going on plus the interviewers aren't asking any real profound questions.

[devieira73]

I'm really loving these more relaxed interviews, in fact, more like a conversation between friends. Also plenty of interesting information before the release of the album.

[axeman90210]

You're kidding, right?

I think the 5 other versions was referring to the different ways Neal tried to cut the original version down to the shorter version that we're ultimately getting. Don't worry, not five more versions to buy (yet )

[The Letter M]

You're kidding, right?

I think the 5 other versions was referring to the different ways Neal tried to cut the original version down to the shorter version that we're ultimately getting. Don't worry, not five more versions to buy (yet )

We'll have Forevermore, The Breath Of Life, the 5.1 Ultimate Mix, the first live album, the Morsefest 2021 Performance, and the third live album. 

-Marc.

[axeman90210]

I suspect Inner Circle members will eventually get at least some of the other drafts at The Breath of Life

[Orbert]

You're kidding, right?

I think the 5 other versions was referring to the different ways Neal tried to cut the original version down to the shorter version that we're ultimately getting. Don't worry, not five more versions to buy (yet )

We'll have Forevermore, The Breath Of Life, the 5.1 Ultimate Mix, the first live album, the Morsefest 2021 Performance, and the third live album. 

True.  There will be at least a few more official versions coming.

[bosk1]

Just thinking about the sheer volume of music on Forevermore and The Breath of Life alone, and about how I normally digest music, I am a bit overwhelmed at the thought of just trying to soak all of this in.    And that's not a bad thing.  But, man!  This is going to be exhausting for me.

The Whirlwind was long too.  But it was easier given that it was really just one full disk of the main content, with the bonus disk being a handful of shorter bonus songs and covers. 

[darkshade]

Just thinking about the sheer volume of music on Forevermore and The Breath of Life alone, and about how I normally digest music, I am a bit overwhelmed at the thought of just trying to soak all of this in.    And that's not a bad thing.  But, man!  This is going to be exhausting for me.

The Whirlwind was long too.  But it was easier given that it was really just one full disk of the main content, with the bonus disk being a handful of shorter bonus songs and covers.

Having two discs of Islands (TFK) and one of Sola Gratia (NM) to digest has been good practice.