Totally agreed. Is any album that has recurring themes just one long 'song'? Of course not.Originally Posted by LeFrog
Totally agreed. Is any album that has recurring themes just one long 'song'? Of course not.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk
This was announced in the apocryphal prog version of the Scriptures :
Genesis, 11 : 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves an album, with an epic that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves ; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
I'm sure Neal is aware of what comes next and that's why he has been pushing for shorter albums. Alas, it has only made the new album taller.
For it was written that the prophet would be betrayed by his own disciples.
Ok, I'll have to listen up to the last part and drop it. I remember trying to make a mix of the piece as different songs doing some fading etc. Kind of futile. This 78 minute thing definitely was inevitable. It's very interesting that a band can't really pull together more than a good 15-20 minutes of totally compelling music and themes. I know you love Tales though Infandous! A band can put together an album of 10 great tunes or 4 short epics, but stringing them together as a great piece is rare. May have to do with how it's written rather than pulling different songs together.
The first two TA albums are as good as any great prog. Stranger is my favorite. That Beatles suite Charlotte pike is a bit goofy. I wasn't into the last one. Definitely seemed like they had to work to pull it tougher and made sure to have all their signature stuff in there. Again, the live disc from this tour is pretty great though. It's weird, sometimes I'm not really into a band at the moment a new release comes out and I miss my window. I haven't gotten the last two TFK albums because of that. I've been steeped in finger style guitar stuff. I psyched about this new TA though. Seems like the stars are aligning. Now if I could just get my head around this idea of two albums with some of the same tunes with different singers etc. Huh?
Plenty of bands have pulled together 20 minutes or more of compelling music and that certainly includes "Whirlwind", in my view. You indicated 15 to 20 minutes, so I am taking the high range for this exercise. Here's a partial list beyond "Whirlwind":
Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick (Parts 1 & 2)
Genesis - Suppers Ready
Klaus Schulze - Bayreuth Return, Wahnfried, Velvet Voyage, and so on....
Nektar - Recycled (even though shown as part 1 & 2, it's all one grandiose suite)
Neal Morse - ?
Far East Family Band - Parallel World
Wobbler - Hinterland, From Silence To Somewhere
Pink Floyd - Echoes
Capability Brown - Circumstances (In Love, Past, Present, Future Meet)
Chick Corea/Return To Forever - Sometime Ago/La Fiesta
Renaissance - Song of Scheherazade
The list could go on and on, with any contributions to it welcomed. To my way of thinking, a Prog track can't be too long if the music grabs me. The above ones certainly do that and, in my view, shortening "Whirlwind" would be a crime.
I'm absolutely swamped in Transatlantic at the moment. Two versions of an album by a band not exactly renowned for brevity is quite an undertaking for a reviewer. I can't tell whether to dive in and live and breathe this new album for a week, or take breaks from it and come back to it in stages. This thing is a beast.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk
I don't know what to order for this one. Both, one or the either? In about 1,800 different formats nonetheless.
Their not making this one an easy decision.
Carry On My Blood-Ejaculating Son - JKL2000
I'd say dive in if the water is good - And which version do you start with? Forevermore or Breath of Life? long or short? I would think your impression of the other is bound to be affected by which you hear first - unless they are radically different.
You are right! Decided to go for the long version - but now I re-read the release and they say the short one will be *different* - dang - now itching to pre-order the short one too
v
The long version was done first, then Neal listened thru and thought it might be better as one disc, he went to the other guys with the suggestion and they weren't on board but Mike pushed the idea that Neal could monkey with it to make it to his liking so he did. The other guys then added to what Neal did to come up with a different version, some songs missing, others added, I guess you listen to the big boy then the "revised" one.
I think I'm leaning the other way. Listen to the abridged one first. Because that will still sound 'right' years on since it was the first way you heard it. It won't be missing anything. Then go to the extended one to dive deeper into it. That will then also sound right since it will be (mostly) adding things instead of taking away.
Take the Beginner course first before the Advanced class.
The thing is, there is music on the abridged version that is not on the extended, and vice-versa.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk
Interesting and detailed interview transcript here - Neal and Roine
https://www.sonicperspectives.com/in...e-roine-stolt/
clip out one section:
On the Forever mix, the extended 90 minute album, it feels like we’ve got a lot more of your guitar on this version. It’s kind of feels like the Roine Stolt mix. Was that intentional? Were you kind of shepherding this version of the album?
Roine: Yeah, that’s what happened because when Neal said he wanted to sort of try to cut down the album because it was too long, there was too much music and then Mike came up with the bright idea to have both versions – have the long version as we wrote it in Sweden and then have a shorter version which is easier to digest. Then I think Mike said, well Neal then you can sort of coach the short version and do with it as you want and Roine can have his wild epic fantasy with the “Forevermore” version. So yeah, of course there’s a bit more guitar there. I played a lot and I wanted it to stay in the recording because sometimes you play lots of stuff and then you get back the mix from the engineer and then you realize that lots of the guitars are edited out. But if there’s still an original rough mix laying around, and then you come across that rough mix years later and you hear all that cool stuff that was just edited out, then you wonder, Why did we edit that out?! So that’s usually something that comes up when there’s a remix, whenever people do remixes of some album, then you hear like a different keyboard take or different synth solo or different guitar solo or different backing vocals. That’s kind of cool, you know. But yeah, I probably went in a little bit more aggressively with all the guitar overdubs, trying to create a great sound. So I think this Forevermore album is mostly true to what I’d like a Transatlantic album to be, or what my guitar should be in Transatlantic, which is kind of a good solution because you have both versions. So for those who can take a little bit more details and a little more guitar playing, or a few more synth or orchestration thing, I think “Forevermore” is a gold mine. And then you have the other version that is equally great in its more scaled-down version. So yes, I was sort of guarding the longer version and Neal was guarding the shorter version.
Neal: Well, that was Mike‘s idea, yeah. I wasn’t so sure about it at first. But ultimately I was convinced. I was just glad that we were able to come to an agreement. Everyone got on board with that. Part of the thing that was cool was that Roine was given the overseeing of the long version that I was given the overseeing of the short version. I think that was a cool thing because then it was clear. It’s not that the other band members weren’t involved, but sometimes it’s good to have it established who has the final say, otherwise if there’s no actual leader of any kind, then it can just be confusion, you know? And so I thought it worked out well. So then Rich went to work mixing it over the summer. Man, he took forever! He took so long on this one. I think he had some studio problems too. But yeah, this album goes down in the record books of my recording life as being the longest process and the most work I’ve ever done on any release that I can remember!
It would be an easy decision if the box didn’t include the antique vinyl replicas, as I have enough tchotchkes. Hopefully they can pull that off!
I went for the hat trick, long, short, and Blu-Ray.
My review is up. Some brief thoughts first...
- Whether your initial reaction to hearing of a new Transatlantic album was in the 'Meh, no thanks' camp or the 'Yes please!' camp, you were right. Obvious, perhaps, but worth pointing out all the same.
- If you particularly dig the Roine Stolt/TFK side of Transatlantic, you will be pleased with this one. (The Extended version, that is. I haven't delved much into the one Morse tinkered with yet, as I'm saving that one for a future companion interview piece.)
- If you find you often end up loving albums that disappointed or underwhelmed you on first listen, this one could end up as your favourite. (I reserve the right to be wrong!)
- The album is definitely a closer relative to The Whirlwind than the other three albums. Make of that what you will, based on your tastes within this catalogue.
...and so:
https://www.velvetthunder.co.uk/tran...ore-insideout/
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk
Third Absolute Interview is up - Roine Stolt interviewed by Nad Sylvan
Thanks for the review!! - are there also quieter moments on the album or is it pretty much pedal to the floor from the opening note? I'm thinking about some lovely moments in My New World and things like that. Whirlwind is pretty busy and loud throughout and this is perhaps more in that style.
Great review, Lorne! In fact, it made me break down and order the Ultimate Edition! Who am I kidding - YOLO!
How much wine did you go through listening to this mother?
I'd rather not say. It was more than a glass and less than 437 glasses (depending on the pour).Great review, Lorne! In fact, it made me break down and order the Ultimate Edition! Who am I kidding - YOLO!
How much wine did you go through listening to this mother?
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk
...other news on the Neal Morse front... THE NEAL MORSE BAND have announced they written their new record.
I love Progatron’s reviews !
They're pretty awesome!!
Last edited by mozo-pg; 1 Week Ago at 10:26 PM.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound.
Thanks guys! Very kind of you.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk
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