Transatlantic - The Absolute Universe

[Rael]

I’ve listened to BOL a few times, but not yet to the extended version. After a few listens, I feel a little burned out on TA, but I must get to that extended version. BOL is ok, but I can’t say it rocks my world or anything. I think I prefer The Whirlwind. I find the song Trewavas sings to be a bummer, because it just doesn’t sound good. There’s no way around that for me. I feel like I could have done it better, and I’m not good. I love Pete, but...

Also, when the band shouts “Whoo!” a couple of times, I cringe. Maybe I’ll get over these things. And maybe I’ll like the extended version a bit more. I feel like more Stolt will help.

I've tried, with great difficulty to get into this album and I'm just not hearing what others are hearing. Twenty years ago, I might have really dug this album (talking about the extended version). But I still think I'm good with the first two Transatlantic albums and don't need much else by them. I admire the musicianship and the production is great too. The other thing I still love about Transatlantic is you get to hear what a great bass player Pete Trewavas really is. But musically, I find this stuff really predictable and generic. The Roine/Morse oriented stadium rock style retro prog played itself for me a long, long time ago. No disrespect intended for those who still enjoy it. I guess it's just not for me anymore.

[moecurlythanu]

Also, when the band shouts “Whoo!” a couple of times, I cringe. Maybe I’ll get over these things. And maybe I’ll like the extended version a bit more. I feel like more Stolt will help.

Hang in there man! You can fight your way through this!

[Top Cat]

The only other Transatlantic music I have is the Live in Europe DVD.
I'm not a TA fanboy and just a casual listener, but both my wife and I love the new album.
My copy arrived Thursday, the Extended version on vinyl and it sounds absolutely wonderful.
I think it's the best work, well crafted and there is a maturity and weight to it as compared to the other releases(what I've heard any way).

Roine's guitar work shines, and whatever touches he put on the mix and arrangements are very well done.
My wife(and myself to a point) are not big fans of Neal's often pedal to the metal dramatic vocal styling, and on the Extended version he sounds great and is blended in, yet the power of his voice comes through without overpowering the music or other members.

I had to really squeeze the budget to get the Extended version on vinyl(blue transparent is beautiful on the eyes), but it is well worth it, and hearing my wife say she loves it, makes me happy about my purchase.
We're both retired, and listen on Friday night's as music date night. So any music purchases we get have to fall in to the mutual admiration category. Thank goodness she loves prog.

[mozo-pg]

I agree that the extended version is very enjoyable. I like Roine's playing and prefer Neal's vocals but like both. I have been getting the most mileage out of disc 2.

[BravadoNJ]

been giving this a listen for over a month now. it's much better then their last album X. but not as good as Wirlwind.

[JKL2000]

What the hell is that laughing sound between “Solitude” and “Belong” (on the abridged version at least)? Is it supposed to be a child laughing? It sounds like Cookie Puss from the Carvell commercials! Pretty damned annoying, whatever it’s supposed to be!

[SteveSly]

What the hell is that laughing sound between “Solitude” and “Belong” (on the abridged version at least)? Is it supposed to be a child laughing? It sounds like Cookie Puss from the Carvell commercials! Pretty damned annoying, whatever it’s supposed to be!

I have thought the same thing!

[MudShark22]

Cookiepuss was the best! [emoji106]

I will Forevermore call that version "The Cookiepuss".

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[JKL2000]

Cookiepuss was the best! [emoji106]

I will Forevermore call that version "The Cookiepuss".

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We once preordered a "Fudgie the Whale" cake for father's day, for my Dad, from an Asian-owned Carvell franchise.When I picked up the cake it said "To A Whale Of The Dad." We still laugh about that, but we were easily amused!

Note that I support my AAPI friends and co-Earth-dwellers!

[MudShark22]

Jed + did you ever eat at a Schrafft's growing up?
My parents met while they were working at a location on the East Side as a 2nd job back in the day. Mom a waitress, Dad a busboy.

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[JKL2000]

Jed + did you ever eat at a Schrafft's growing up?
My parents met while they were working at a location on the East Side as a 2nd job back in the day. Mom a waitress, Dad a busboy.

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I did eat at Schrafft's. The one I ate at was on Madison Ave. between 58th and 59th street. It was a big one, or at least it seemed big! - see attached photo. I was a kid, and didn't eat there a lot. A few times before or after movies. This was in the early 70s.

service-pnp-gsc-5a05000-5a05900-5a05980v.jpg It was fun, and I do remember the servers and busboys bustling around and being pretty friendly! When did your parents work there? Do you know which location? I know there was at least a 2nd one, maybe more.

[SRS]

I’ve listened to BOL a few times, but not yet to the extended version. After a few listens, I feel a little burned out on TA, but I must get to that extended version. BOL is ok, but I can’t say it rocks my world or anything. I think I prefer The Whirlwind. I find the song Trewavas sings to be a bummer, because it just doesn’t sound good. There’s no way around that for me. I feel like I could have done it better, and I’m not good. I love Pete, but...

Also, when the band shouts “Whoo!” a couple of times, I cringe. Maybe I’ll get over these things. And maybe I’ll like the extended version a bit more. I feel like more Stolt will help.

I like the way Pete sings "Solitude"! It has a certain fragility to it that fits the lyrics. It's a pivotal song in the story arc as well (at least as I understand it that is)

And the "Whoo" in 'Can You Feel It' is perfectly placed! Whoo!!

[SRS]

What the hell is that laughing sound between “Solitude” and “Belong” (on the abridged version at least)? Is it supposed to be a child laughing? It sounds like Cookie Puss from the Carvell commercials! Pretty damned annoying, whatever it’s supposed to be!

https://www.sonicperspectives.com/in...e-roine-stolt/

Right at the start of the actual track “Belong” there’s these pygmy-like cries or something. What are those?

Roine: Oh, yeah! That was a sound effect I found some somewhere and…I don’t know, really. Sometimes you just find something and you try it and you put it in and it just sounds right. It’s a presence of something else or someone else. I used it in The Flower Kings also, like there’s an African tribe coming up with some chants somewhere or some Mongolian monk or something. It’s just a flavor, like a reminder of a world that’s not about Sweden and not about the United States being the center of the universe as some people think. It’s about that there’s a world outside there, that there are people living somewhere in the Himalayas or in Tibet, or nomad tribes somewhere in the desert and they have a language and they have music and they have other lives. So it’s like opening a door to something that belongs to the big picture.

[miamiscot]

I listened to both versions over the weekend (after having put Transatlantic to the side for a bit) and they really are great. Both versions shine in their own way. What a great way to keep the peace between Neal and Roine!!! No hard feelings here.

[JKL2000]

https://www.sonicperspectives.com/in...e-roine-stolt/

Damn it, you have a good answer for everything! ��

[Garden Dreamer]

After enjoying a few spins of BOL, I'm getting around to listening to Forevermore and I can't decide which I like better. This is feel-good comfort prog and I love every minute of it. I think that's Mike singing lead on "Looking for the Light" and either they've done some studio magic to make him sound better or his singing has improved. At first I couldn't tell if it was Mike trying to sound like Neal, or Neal trying to sound like Mike.

[vmartell]

Unrelated to musical discussions, anyone else disappointed that the extended version was NOT a triple gatefold? - I was hoping for that. They went for Gatefold + Single + Slipcase - is nice I guess and the music is what matters, but I was definitely hoping for a triple gatefold...

v

[BarryLI]

After enjoying a few spins of BOL, I'm getting around to listening to Forevermore and I can't decide which I like better. This is feel-good comfort prog and I love every minute of it. I think that's Mike singing lead on "Looking for the Light" and either they've done some studio magic to make him sound better or his singing has improved. At first I couldn't tell if it was Mike trying to sound like Neal, or Neal trying to sound like Mike.

Mystery solved, Mike ushers you in, Neal ushers you out.

https://youtu.be/OvhvY-vUkLI

[Garden Dreamer]

Anyone catch the Ayn Rand reference throughout the first verse of "Higher Than the Morning"?

There's another Ayn Rand reference in "Looking for the Light" from Forevermore. "You thought you were the Bowie Nazz/Your Howard Roark's a sorry spaz..." Is there some sort of Ayn Rand resurgence happening somewhere that I'm not aware of? Neil Peart was done with Rand-related lyrics by the 80's, so what are these references about?

The a capella "aaahhs" that open disc 2, "The Sun Comes Up Today"... anyone expect to hear the next line be "Because" from the Beatles?

Same as happened with his solo spot on "Kaleidoscope", Pete's lead vocal on "Solitude" bothers me less with each subsequent listen. There's a fragility and sincerity to his singing.

There's a part in one of the Roine songs, can't remember which one, which sounds like a part from early TFK, maybe Garden of Dreams.

A keyboard lick in "The Greatest Story Never Told" sounds like a bit from "Firth of Fifth".

These aren't criticisms, just stuff I notice. My album(s) of the year!

[Garden Dreamer]

Candidate for Misheard Lyric of the Year...

Just saw in the lyrics booklet, Pete sings this on "Solitude":

So I locked the doors/and turned off all devices
And I seemed to live in metaphors in oh so many ways...

After 3 listens, I still heard... menopause...

[The Czar]

I'm liking the 5.1 a lot!

[Azol]

Got both versions on the CDs, enjoyed both, the Abridged version works better from the beginning, I think, but the Extended really shines from the second half onwards. The quiet outro is better on Extended version too, weird (steel?) drum thing seems like an unnecessary afterthought.

P.S. In fact, I'm finding myself listening to this monster of an album much more than, say, Kaleidoscope. Great stuff!

[SRS]

Got both versions on the CDs, enjoyed both, the Abridged version works better from the beginning, I think, but the Extended really shines from the second half onwards. The quiet outro is better on Extended version too, weird (steel?) drum thing seems like an unnecessary afterthought.

P.S. In fact, I'm finding myself listening to this monster of an album much more than, say, Kaleidoscope. Great stuff!

agree. And I bet I have listened to this album already quite a bit more than I have listened to Kaleidoscope in total. I started with BoL and now have been listening to FM for about 2 weeks. I think Stolt was a little too busy on some of the songs on the first disc ("Higher Than the Morning" and "The Darkness in the Light") there is soloing on the outro of one and then again on the intro of the other. I don't think it serves those two songs as well as just letting those moments breath a bit and allow some space there. There are some other moments like that where I thought BoL had the better take. That said I generally like FM more simply because there are more songs (and they are all good) and I like the 2 cd format which gives a nice natural break after "The World We Used to Know". And CD2 is near perfect, I think I prefer all of those takes ("LMAW (prelude) "Owl Howl" and "Solitude" for sure) over the BoL ones.

So I'll probably end up creating my own playlist combining what I think are the best takes from the two versions. They should offer a Rich Mouser app we could use where we can design our own playlist (our own "Universe") and it will program all the song transitions so they are smooth with no weird gaps. But without that I'll be getting creative in audacity.

[ScottAM]

There's another Ayn Rand reference in "Looking for the Light" from Forevermore. "You thought you were the Bowie Nazz/Your Howard Roark's a sorry spaz..." Is there some sort of Ayn Rand resurgence happening somewhere that I'm not aware of? Neil Peart was done with Rand-related lyrics by the 80's, so what are these references about?

Neal spoke with me a bit about this: https://www.sonicperspectives.com/in...e-roine-stolt/

Here's an excerpt, though the full answer is longer in the interview:

"...I started writing about some of my time from when I was in my twenties. I got into this author named Ayn Rand, who wrote a book called “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged“. And she’s kind of the mother of Libertarianism. She wrote a book called “The Virtue of Selfishness” and there’s a whole kind of world of philosophy and living that sprang from her books and her thinking. And so I spent some time in that, and then I was writing about that and where it led me. That’s why there’s those lyrics about Howard Rourk who was the main character in “The Fountainhead“. So I’m writing about how I went down this road of selfishness basically, and then how the Lord brought me out of it and how much better it is to not be in that place. [laughs]That’s what I’m singing there near the end with. “I lived that life. I testified. Dwelled among the sons of pride. It only left me cold and alone…keep looking for the light.”

[Garden Dreamer]

Great interview, thanks.