LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT

The musician lineup got off to a good start with Tony Levin and Jordan Rudess, but then the rest is hopeless. The musicianship of Portnoy and Petrucci is not even on the same planet, never mind league with Levin. Levin's exquisite bass playing gets lost or never gets many real opportunities in the din. This mess was thrown together in six days, and it sounds like it. It's just an overly self-indulgent jam session. Thank goodness there are only a few studio sessions recorded for LTE.

Paradigm Shift: Oh I get it, we're in B&B's 3-ring circus. Definitely an unplanned pregnancy. Osmosis: Congratulations, there was a real plan...and it wasn't bad. Kindred Spirits: Just aimless rambling. The Stretch: I strongly suspect Tony should have saved this for a better day with better musicians. Freedom of Speech: Just moments of interesting possibilities over powered with hammering. Chris and Kevin's.....: impotent. State of Grace: I guess I'd like this stuff if I was hearing impaired....no, even the hearing impaired can make distinctions between racket and a composition. Universal Mind: Guitar bombardment with a limited sense of direction. Sounds like "Bad Dream Theater". Portnoy and Petrucci are enormously overwhelming and dull. Three Minute Warning: It has moments of coherent craftsmanship, then the guitar or drums just kills any sensible music theme......right out of the blue. If Al DiMeola was really an influence for Petrucci, he should have listened more carefully. I hear Allan Holdsworth gives private lessons. Meanwhile, Portnoy really should have taken some time to take lessons from Bill Bruford or Pat Mastelotto. You can get this kind of noise form any garage band.

Silly Rabbit! Liquid Tension Experiment I is for kids!