When I told you about 'Neal Morse' for the last time, it was early 2021 with the live 'Jesus Christ the Exorcist' at the Morsefest 2018 and as far as 'Mike Portnoy' is concerned, it was for the live of 'Flying Colors' at the end of 2020 ('Neal Morse' is also a member). As for 'Roine Stolt', it was for the last 'The Flower Kings' also at the end of 2020, and let's end with bassist 'Pete Trewavas' who released with 'Marillion' in early 2020 the album 'With Friends from the Orchestra' but who also participated in the admirable project of 'Robert McClung', 'Black Swallow' dating also from 2020. In short, no need to draw you a picture, 'Transatlantic' is a great group formed by a quartet of madmen of music who delight us with each release of their different projects and who each have a CV as long as the arm.
So, we can legitimately not blame them if this new baby 'The Absolute Universe' comes out only seven long years later 'Kaleidoscope', especially since it is not one but two albums available to us with a short version of about an hour 'The Breath of Life' and a long version 'Forevermore' of an hour and a half, 'Neal Morse' defending the first format and 'Roine Stolt' the second, 'Mike Portnoy' then offering to produce each their own opus. And as they never do anything by halves, their notion of versions goes far beyond condensing long into short but is a different approach with different compositions in terms of lyrics (up to the names of the titles) but also in terms of interpretations which may be different. I will not do an analysis of the differences because it is up to the public to find the version that best suits them, but it is certain that all amateurs of great progressive sagas will undoubtedly prefer the long version which is a straightforward sequel without interruption (just the blank after 'The World We Used to Know', you have to change CD !!). I will not detail all the titles either, given the density of each composition which would considerably lengthen this column (there are already so many good reviews on the Internet) but I will simply talk about the two strong points that marked me by listening to the long version: first of all, we find all the influences of five decades of progressive rock throughout these 90 minutes and each moment brings us back to a known universe and we remember all these artists who have marked our musical journey from the 'Beatles', 'King Crimson' or 'Yes' until the respective formations of these four artists with of course 'Flying Colors', 'Neal Morse Band', 'The Flower Kings' and 'Marillion', passing through all the major formations that may have existed in the meantime. And from that point of view, this album could represent a testament to what the progressive has done best since its creation with this patchwork of styles that they have managed to put together. The other point I would like to underline is that beyond the talent of our four artists as composers, they are also talented musicians and singers individually but show in this kind of production a real teamwork each bringing its stone to the building, whether at the level of the magnificent guitar solos of 'Roine Stolt' or the flights of 'Neal Morse' on keyboards or the admirable groove of 'Pete Trewavas' without forgetting the ever so inventive rhythm section of' Mike Portnoy 'and I do not speak either of the vocal performance of each one (even' Pete Trewavas' pushes the song in the title 'Solitude') and the vocal harmonies of ensemble often giving goosebumps, all this being sublimated by a production irreproachable.
In short, no surprise for this last baby of the super group 'Transatlantic', we still touch the stars of the progressive and we still let ourselves embark on an intense musical journey that you have to take your time to tame to get out of it all the richness which makes 'The Absolute Universe' a new album to add to the ideal discotheque of any amateur and all progressive rock lover through the ages... | |
