Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quality music for the discerning rock fan, 12 Feb 2004
Life was great in the 70s. I was in my 20s and bands like the Beatles and 'Floyd had already launched an exciting period where many musicians and writers were no longer satisfied with producing 3 minute ditties - the new music was being called Progressive Rock and it was, well, progressing. Bands like Camel, Yes, Genesis, ELP and others produced sounds which involved the listener, challenging them to improve their attention spans - most of it was brilliant stuff and you could even listen to it on British radio on Saturday afternoons courtesy of Alan Freeman. Happy days - this would surely be the classical music of the future!! Well, for a while there, it appeared not. Punk, boy bands, hip hop etc. all took there turns in swamping the airwaves and prog. rock seemed to be doomed to extinction - it even became the butt of DJ jokes. But it's back!!I'm in my 50s now and after a period in the musical doldrums have just discovered Transatlantic - I know I've been slow off the mark and taken my eye off the ball these past few years but better late than never. If you're a prog. rock fan buy this album. If you are not, become one and buy this album. The music appears to be largely influenced by Yes and Genesis although I also hear touches of Rick Wakeman, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath and others. Most of it is a unique Transatlanticness, though. Buy the CD to find out what that sounds like - you'll love it. It's brilliant. I'm off to buy their other albums and check out Spock's Beard etc. Music is progressing again. Happy days return.
|
|
|
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE album of 2000!, 19 April 2001
By A Customer
Forget your Boyzones and your Westlifes.... TRANSATLANTIC are a TRUE rock band and their first album is extremely promising!Despite the 31 min running time of "All of the Above", Neal's arrangement of the track into several coherent (and memorable) pieces make it very easy going. I often croon "Full Moon Rising" at the top of my voice... just to annoy the neighbours! (I blame Morse - he shouldn't have made the song so good) "We All Need Some Light" is a ballad par excellence. Not your bland, clicheed excuse for a song (Who do you think they are, a Boyband?), but something original that doesn't even mention the dreaded 'l' word! "Mystery Train" just plain rocks. "My New World" is Roine Stolt at his finest. A Beatle-esque epic with very memorable melodies and great vocals by Morse & Stolt. "In Held (Twas) In I" is also a great take on the Procol Harum classic, on which all 4 members (even Trewavas!) take on a lead vocal of some kind. In summary, "SMPTe" is a fantastic album - well composed, perfectly performed and an 80min example of musical pleasure! Buy it.... NOW!!!
|
|
|
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Truly Amazing Album, 24 May 2007
Music is clearly a subjective thing and that is starkly apparent in the mixed reviews of this album. So, to try and give a balanced and objective view of this work, you have to start by dealing with the basic and undeniable facts.
This is a HUGE album - well over an hour of original music plus a lengthy Procul Harum cover - Track 5. Fact.
This is an incredibly diverse album with a whole plethora of styles covered including delicate pop rock ballad, funk, fusion and classic prog rock. Fact.
The vocals and playing are to the highest standards in rock. Fact.
The majority of the original tracks on here are accessible to fans of mainstream rock. Fact.
There is clear musical influence from The Beatles and most of the big prog rock bands from the 70s. Fact.
Some of the tracks are epic at around the 30 minute mark but are mostly broken down into clearly defined shorter sections. Fact.
Now that we've got the basics covered, all that remains is to say that the combination of the factors outlined above produces a quite brilliant example of modern accessible progressive rock.
Morse excells on vocals/keyboards and is probably the most dominant force in terms of the influence brought to the Transatlantic sound from that of his main band at the time, Spock's Beard. Portnoy & Trewavas combine to form a superb rhythm section. Stolt is also worthy of mention for some very tasteful and restrained guitar lines (sometimes a little too restrained for my liking), not to mention his varied but always sweet guitar tone.
In my view, there is no weak track on this album. All of The Above is rapidly becoming an all time favourite - 30 minutes of sheer musical bliss.
Whatever you do, approach this album with an open mind and ignore the negative reviews which stupidly put me off buying this for some time.
This is undoubtedly a modern classic in prog rock.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
![Lifeline [Special Edition] [Bonus CD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31t1xR-0B%2BL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
