LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT

Think of it this way......wrap DREAM THEATER in with KING CRIMSON and add just a pinch of the DIXIE DREGS and you have the LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT. Loads of great guitar (John Petrucci) with electrifying solos and strong incredible guitar riffs, Superb Bass (Tony Levin), Heavy duty keys (Jordan Rudess) and deadly and accurate drumming (Mike Portnoy). This is an all instrumental release from the Magna Carta label and is perhaps their best yet. This album offers a wide range of moods, but generally is progressive driving prog at its finest. It is far more progressive and less Metal-prog as DREAM THEATER so don't worry..you will be amazed. The best part of the CD is the last 23 min epic track "3 Minute Warning". This is pure inprov and has not been overdubbed in any way...it is pure magic and pure prog. Hold onto your seats you are in for a wild ride. At times this recording reminds me of the louder aspects of the OZRIC TENTACLES in a big way.

I have never seen such a masterpiece since the early 90's. Masterpieces are rare these days, or maybe they are harder to find. The DREAM THEATER fan should absolutely get this CD. More instrumental, it gives all the room to fast drums and guitars of the 2 artists. There are a good keyboardist who is able to follow the complex and fast patterns without any problem and the great Tony Levin on bass to complete the oeuvre. This is prog hard rock, even metal.

The great complexity of the music satisfies me totally. Probably i'll have to review my top lists....... HAPPY THE MAN!

As a very big Dream Theater fan, I was interested when I first heard about this album. I went to the store and picked it up immediately. When I got home, I put on my headphones and listened to an incredible work of music. As most of you know, LTE contains some of the best musicians in the prog rock world: John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess, and Tony Levin. This album is a stage for the musicians to participate in what some people call 'technical masturbation', this is not the case. Yes, there are many filler tracks (The Stretch, Osmosis, etc.).

The opening track "Paradigm Shift" is a powerhouse track, with an incredible Petrucci opening, and nothing less that excellent playing by the rest of the group. Other tracks worth mentioning are "Univeral Mind", "State of Grace", "Kindred Spirits", and the 25 minute improvisation "3 Minute Warning" (This track is not for the faint of heart, it even mentions on the CD case).

Overall, this album is a stellar work that no DT fan should be without. Each musician shows that they are virtuosos at their instruments, with excellent performances from everyone. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for powerhouse metal that has softer and more melodic tendencies.

Frenetic mad beginning reminiscent of intro to a cut scene from the corny original Batman TV series - I kid you not. Quickly settles into heavy duty drum action and guitar virtuosity. Sounds like a group of Ritalin -deprived ADHD sufferers has been unleashed in a music store. 'Paradigm Shift' is the first track and and after all that excitement it slows right down before finally rediscovering the accelerator right at the end. 'Osmosis' ,the second track, has an African sounding opening and develops slowly,building layer upon layer,into a nice relaxing instrumental but nothing special to my mind. 'Kindred Spirits' is better,a more focused instrumental which is satisfying without being too memorable. 'The Stretch' is funkier and has excellent playing evident throughout. These guys can play their chosen weapons thats for sure. 'Freedom of Speech' sounds like Satriani in places and has excellent keyboard,guitar and drum parts. 'Chris and Kevins excellent adventure' is pretty tongue in cheek and not much more. 'State of Grace' has a nice piano intro with subtle electric guitar phrasing,it could have been lifted from the movie 'Local Hero',I can see the beautiful Scottish landscape now. 'Universal Mind' has more focus,superlative musicianship and it sounds as though the band are having fun with this one,hell they might even be in the same room as each other! A jokey big-top circus ending does'nt even ruin it. 'Three minute warning' predictably runs to over four minutes and draws the album to a close. More excellent playing without being a winner. This album has a collection of extremely talented people playing together. I think it took a second album for them to harness their collective prowess.

Revenge of the Nerds.

The Super Bands or Super Friendz? They're obviously talented and for the next 70 minutes you'll get it good. But, if you're familiar with Dream Theater, Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, this won't be a super surprise.

I'd say the most surprising thing about the LTE project is the amount of time tooked to write, perform and record the album. This is like a month or so! Wheew. I guess this is where all the experience pays off. These guys can play whatever they want, and by the creative aspect ear impact, we could suggest they can read each others mind. This fits perfectly. Not totally improv nor prefabricated. Think of the best G3 jam you could imagine, with Portnoy on drums.

Many hyperactive songs could give you the impression of going 160 mph on a futuristic highway a la Minority Report so go easy and don't play it to granny.

Liquid Tension Experiment

Liquid Tension Experiment is really a side project for most of the personnel inside this band, which is also called Liquid Tension Experiment, a truly super group. At that time (when LTE was made), Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci work together in Dream Theater, which for me is a super group as well. Toni Levin was working with Terry Bozzio Crimson. The other personnel was Jordan Rudess, which at that time was working with Rod Morgenstein. In the end, after the success of Liquid Tension Experiment 2, Jordan Rudess were invited to be a keyboardist in Dream Theater, replacing Derek Sherenian.

What makes this album is really amazing is the production of the songs, which you can read on the cover of the album (if you have the CD! so buy it now!!). Amazingly, the songs are produced in just less than a week, yes, less than one week, to be exact, 5 days. In 5 days, four virtuosos could create 13 tracks of songs, and each track is really a masterpiece.

Well let's look at each song.

Paradigm Shift A really progressive metal song, cool and heavy guitar riff at the beginning of the song, continued with metal intro. It is my favorite song in this album, combination of progressive metal, virtuosity and feeling of the notes. The guitar riff itself for me is almost the same as Joe Satriani's Crystal Planet, but both of the songs were made in the same year, 1997.

Osmosis A cool song after a metal song, Osmosis has very soft elements of music, just some simple riff from guitar, keyboard, bass and drum. But once again, still has a great feeling when we listen to it.

Kindred Spirits Another progressive metal song, with odd time signature and odd drum section. The best part for me is the guitar solo at exactly minute 2.35. I, personally, prefer a song that has deep meaning rather than has crazy shredding. However, it would be great if the song has both elements. The guitar solo is then continued with also a deep feeling keyboard solo, exactly at minute 3.44.

The Stretch A more fusion song for me and it is very short, just 2 minutes in length.

Freedom Of Speech The most beautiful song in the album, a true great combination of feeling and great technique. The keyboard part in the intro explains everything, that the song is very beautiful. This part is then continued with also nice tones from guitar, simple yet profound. Moreover, then the guitar hits the high notes, it is like feel in heaven for me. The song changes in the middle of the song, where it is truly a progressive metal song.

Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure The song has a very-amazing-great bass line from Tony Levin and also a great drum section from Mike Portnoy. Mike Portnoy himself wrote on the cover album, that this song is really a duet featuring Mike Pornoy and Tony Levin.

State Of Grace Another beautiful song in the album, the characteristic is pretty much the same with Freedom Of Speech, simple yet profound. The song is just consists of simple guitar and keyboard lines, but the selection of notes was really amazing that I cried when I listened to it for the first time.

Universal Mind The song is like Paradigm Shift, metal, heavy progressive song, with sick (positive sick!) arpeggios from John Petrucci in the beginning of the song. John Petrucci said on one interview that this song and Paradigm Shift are his favorite songs to play in a concert.

Three Minute Warning "Caution: "Three Minute Warning" is not for the musically faint-hearted, impatient, or critics of self-indulgence. If you fall into any of the above categories, please hit the stop button on yout CD player after track #8". These sentences were taken from the back cover of the CD. When I read that words, I jumped to my CD player and turned the volume up, rather than stop the player, because I want to know what it is all about. Actually, it is 28 minutes of crazy jamming from four of them, without any neither edited nor mastered tracks. And notice at 27.12 minute, the sound changes, it is not your CD player problem, because Mike Portnoy said it was because they were running out of tape!

I give 5 stars for this amazing CD because it is an essential addition to your collection and is truly a masterpiece. Also, I recommend, if you don't like progressive metal, don't buy this album, since it is very progressive.

A display of technical virtuosity, and a circus of sorts. Since the talent is obvious, I'll stick to what makes this album not excellent. The circus like atmosphere is not very appealing to me. For one, Spastic Ink is much better at the concept of having all musicians go haywire, so they don't even "win" in that regard.

This album is fun for a few spins, and after that, its tiresome. It doesn't hold itself. It's not something I can put on repeat over and over again and get any satisfaction out of. It's mainly a flurry of notes, and while those notes are usually placed well, it has no retaining value to it. It has some very fun and rocking moments, but lacks power, or what I consider musical power.

Some of the improvisation is great, while other parts are very dull and contain some really bad riffs. Most of the album will be hit or miss for you, and certainly the circus like effects will bring a laugh or two, however the tehnical prowess is top notch, and I give them credit for their improv abilities, as it's certainly better than mine. A good album for a few spins every now and then, but nothing you would want to keep on a deserted island as it would likely drive you insane.

2 and a half stars, up to 3 for the "x" factors in it.

Very melodic, accessible yet complex instrumental music. Basically we get DREAM THEATER without LaBrie and Myung, then add Tony Levin who takes on the bass duties. I can understand some being turned off by the seeming self indulgence here but man it's so good. Besides there are some laid back sections (and songs) on here to sort of balance it out a little.

To listen to the opening notes of this album, is like getting hit in the face with a board ! There is no build up, it's built ! And it explodes out of the speakers.That would be the intro to "Paradigm Shift" which is such a good song. It does slow down after about 3 minutes allowing us to breathe, it then settles even more after 4 1/2 minutes as synths come in. "Osmosis" has an atmosphere to it i really like. Percussion and an overall laid back vibe to this one. "Kindred Spirits" is another highlight, opening with some heavy riffs as Portnoy and Pertucci shine. It settles 2 1/2 minutes in and the guitar is gorgeous. Lots of synths follow. "The Stretch" is a short funky tune. Not a fan really.

"Freedom Of Speech" has some nice keyboards early followed by some beautiful guitar. It does get more aggressive as contrasts continue. "Chris And Kevin's Excellent Adventure" doesn't do anything for me but it's a short tune. "State Of Grace" is pretty much a guitar and piano driven balad. It's ok. "Universal Mind" is much better as it opens with a "take no prisoners" attitude. Love the guitar after 3 minutes as Portnoy pounds away. It does settle with piano only 4 minutes in before getting heavy again. A silly ending to this one. Good song though. "3 Minute Warning" is 28 1/2 minutes of music divided into 5 sections.The first section doesn't do a lot for me to be honest but the last four are brilliant ! Just a shred-fest and Pertucci's on fire ! They all impress big time though.

Not for everyone but for me this is a four star album. Far from perfect though.

Okay, modern prog fans, try this on for size: we take the guitarist and drummer from Dream Theater, Dregs keyboardist and future DT member Jordan Rudess, and bass legend Tony Levin and throw them together for an instrumental album. LTE is the most high profile of DT's various side projects, and there's a good reason. Recorded over a few days, this fearsome foursome displays a level of instrumental wankery and precision that could inspire a man to burn his guitars. "Paradigm Shift" launches the album with tremendous force before slowing down to allow actual feeling. The rest of the album follows a similar path, with quiet and peacful melody giving way to hard-rocking technical wizardry.

The highlights are the aforementioned Paradigm Shift, the rockin' "Kindred Spirits," the weird stick and drums of "chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure," the frantic "Universal Mind," and the final improv "Three Minute Warning." The end jam however, loses focus in its 28 minutes and a killer piece could have been culled from a trimmed version.

Rudess is the breakout star here, having plugged away in relative obscurity. He more than holds his own with his legendary bandmates. Tony's bass and stick are a little buried in the mix, which is a sin; however, he overcomes most of it through the sheer power with which he plays here. Newcomers can start here, but shuld probably begin with the vastly better sequel, which stands as one of the greatest prog releases of the 90s. Fans of DT and Tony should really own this.

Grade: C+

I first got this album after being a Dream Theater fan for a long time. I first heard of this band after I purchased Live Scenes From New York by Dream Theater and saw in the liner notes that the song Acid Rain was originally performed by Liquid Tension Experiment. I got this album, since I couldn't find Liquid Tension Experiment 2, the album which had Acid Rain. I later heard that album. This one is more based on improvisation, and has more jazz influences than the other LTE album or Dream Theater. I highly recommend it for any fan of Dream Theater but wouldn't recommend going into listening to it expecting a Dream Theater clone. The virtuoso performances of Dream Theater are still there, but in a different, jazzier vein. I feel that the members are given a better chance to show off their skills on this album. Favourite tracks of mine are Paradigm Shift and Universal Mind, along with the epic Three Minute Warning, a 28 minute jam session.

Sweet but unsatisfying candy floss.

Hey, what's wrong with music to entertain? Nothing. But there needs to be a hook, assuring us there's something substantial to return to, to dig for and discover on subsequent listenings. Not here. LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT is all taste and no food.

Many of these tracks are front-loaded: that is, they come out with their theme immediately, then offer variations on it for the remainder of their duration. Apart from the glorious 'Paradigm Shift' - the title should tell us there are changes coming - these tracks advertise themselves in the first few seconds. Just like candy floss, the first taste is the best. Yes, 'Paradigm Shift' is wonderful, and could easily grace any DREAM THEATER album. But I can't imagine myself remembering any of the subsequent tracks. 'Three Minute Warning', in particular, is almost unlistenable. I know it was practically extemporaneous, but that doesn't make it sound any better.

Oh yes. A special mention of the DREAM THEATER gratuitous humour, which destroys the album at the end of 'Universal Mind'. Part of the trick of creating something listeners want to immerse themselves in is NOT to jerk them back into the real world. Tacking silly tunes on to the end of a serious piece is the musical equivalent of Tolkien giving the orcs machine guns. This is an old DT trick and I cringe every time they do it. 'The Simpsons Theme' in the middle of 'A Change of Seasons' anyone?

I know I won't return to a book if, at the end of first reading it, I find myself thinking more about the writing techniques than the characters and story. In the same way LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT impresses me with the technical skill of its members, but provides me with nothing worth returning for. Definitely in the 'haul out occasionally to impress my friends' category.

Contemporary musicians will love it, but progressive music listeners will, like me, wonder what the fuss is about.

"LTE" is a splendid example of everything classic prog purists hate about modern proggish metal-- it's dry, cold, technical noise devoid of meaning and soul, so filled with masturbatory extended soloing and meaningless jams that listening to it in its entirety is analogous to sitting under the dentist drill.

Of course, "LTE" is absolutely everything fans of contemporary prog-metal salivate over: dazzling technical proficiency coupled with soaring melodies, savage riffing, and an eclectic flair that dwarfs most anything any group in the '70's could hope to pull off.

I fall into the second group, and heartily recommend "LTE" to fans of Dream Theater (obviously), but also to anyone who enjoys melodic hooks and dynamic instrumental music-- of which this is one of the better ones out there. The musicianship is off the charts and the lengthy jams are half the fun!

Songwriting: 3 Instrumental Performances: 5 Lyrics/Vocals: NA Style/Emotion/Replay: 5

I recently visited a forum topic of this site about LTE and the question was: is there more music like this ? There were a few answers but I'm afraid nothing really fits the bill here. LTE is unique, LTE is fantastic, LTE is near perfect, absolutely amazing. A pity, no, a shame really these guys stopped after two albums. This stuff is so great, mouthwatering really. This is top notch amongst progressive music at least of progressive metal and given that progressive metal is my favourite musicstyle of all, it means that it's the best there is. Just jamming about and then this as a result, can you believe it ? I love DT but this is ten times better. I don't understand why intelligent guys like Portnoy and Petrucci don't realize that and give more attention to this project. I experienced that I'm not the only one who believes this. LTE have a lot of fans so I'd say: come on give us some more !!!

LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT are a fantatic instrumental supergroup formed in 1997 following an idea of DREAM THETER's drummer Mike Portnoy.Adding Tony Levin on bass and Jordan Rudess on keys but failing to include his initial choice of Jim Matheos on guitar,Portnoy turned to his DREAM THEATER fellow John Petrucci for the position of the guitarist.The intense rehearsals led the band to the release of their debut in 1998...and what a debut it was...just imagine a more technical and refined (what a combination)and less heavy version of instrumental DREAM THEATER.The album is a definition of top-notch fusion musicianship,satturated in changing tempos,moods and styles.The interplays between the instruments are numerous and absolutely fantastic,the styles cover the whole prog scale (from blues and jazz to classical and melodic) and every minute of this work flows nice and easily.A thrilling release heading to serious music lovers!

Possibly the result of their label suppressing the rock on Falling into Infinity, Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci teamed up with Tony Levin and Jordan Rudess to make an album of all-out instrumental fusion jam power. While the material on Liquid Tension Experiment's debut borders on cheesy sometimes and borders on useless other times, it borders on brilliance the rest of the time and it makes sure that everyone knows that the boiz hadn't lost their sense of technicality all together (though it does also let everyone know that the inconsistency was at least partly their own fault). On the back insert of the CD, it says "CAUTION: "Three Minute Warning" is not for the musically faint-hearted, impatient, or critics of extreme self-indulgence. If you fall into any of the above categories, please hit the stop button on your CD player after track # 8." The same statement could probably be made about the whole album, though. No doubt, however, that "Three Minute Warning" is the most difficult thing to get into on this disc. It takes some serious rock balls to record a near-30-minute improvisation in the studio and release it, and really, I think that's the only redeeming quality about the track. There are obviously some good moments, but as a whole it's not worth anyone's time. At least the rest of the album is worth a few people's time.

Here are the good things that resulted from Liquid Tension Experiment:

1. "Paradigm Shift" and "Universal Mind," then "Acid Rain," "Another Dimension and "When the Water Breaks"

2. After rejecting the band in the past, Jordan Rudess finally realized that Dream Theater was right for him, which as we all know leads to a slew of fantastic songs, albums and live performances.

The performance value of this album is of course ridiculously high, but while Dream Theater uses their musical abilities to write diverse, complex and ultimately meaningful songs, Liquid Tension Experiment is more for fun and is therefore less captivating and memorable. The production is poor and often makes the stuff sound cheesy (certainly some of the riffs are cheesy in nature, though). It's a good album for fun, for driving or whatever, but it's not going to be one you attach yourself to in any way. Also, a lot of these riffs make for great jam riffs; any players might want to take a look at these tracks for some fun riffs to learn and jam to. Those who are strictly listeners I would advist to skip this one (save for maybe "Paradigm Shift" and "Universal Mind") and listen to the follow-up. Though it does run into the same problems as this one, it's much more consistent.

Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment 3.9 Stars

A very good progressive rock album

In just five days this was written and recorded.. I don't want to believe that. Knowing that, it is safe to say that each member is extremely in tune with their respective instrument and work together very well for complete strangers (except for Petrucci and Portnoy). Why couldn't they spend maybe seven or eight days and make a perfect album?

Speaking of which, we have just four members for this instrumental album. Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci from Dream Theater on the drums and guitar respectively. Jordan Rudess who came from the Dixie Dregs and the Rod Morgenstein project on keyboards and the legend, Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, just about everything else), on chapman stick.

If you have members from Dream Theater, you can expect to have technically demanded riffs and solo's, which is exactly what will happen. Although on this project, there will be more influences, like classical and jazz, which would never come from the Dream Theater side of the band. We also get some improve, thanks to Tony Levin, especially in the track 'Three Minute Warning'

There are some tracks on here that are undeniably classic like 'Paradigm Shift' and 'Universal Mind', that are mostly guitar driven, but just great pieces within themselves. There is a very jazzy piece called 'Osmosis', but the highlight of the track is the percussion which is done all too well by Portnoy. Other then that there is nothing truly excellent on this album. You will hear to utterly horrible tracks like 'The Stretch' and 'Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure' that are only two minutes a piece.leading me to suspect they were filler. The only other track that I don't quite agree with is the +28 minute track 'Three Minute Warning'. It's really not bad for an improve piece, but can I listen to it twice a day? Never. A Week? Never. A month? Possible. I just has high and lows, something that doesn't click if you're aiming for a lengthy piece. The other tracks on the album 'Kindred Spirits', 'Freedom of Speech' and 'State of Grace' are all pretty good tracks. Lots of great guitar/keyboard interludes and duets like in 'State of Grace', which was even done on the Petrucci and Rudess 'An Evening With.' album.

If you are a Dream Theater fan like me, you will like this one. For just about anyone wanting complex instrumental music.you can find a few tracks on here you can applaud. It's a very good album, just not excellent enough. Again, why five days?

Wow how did this one escape me for so long? I love this kind of music prog/jazz/improv/jam band live feel to it. This stuff rocks! Great musicianship of course how could you miss but the intensity and mood swings are the best. My favorite songs are in no particular order Paradigm Shift, Kindred Spirits and Universal Mind and also unlike many other reviews I absolutely love Three minute Warning. It has a concert feel to it and I could just see this being played live. Some of the other stuff isn't so much filler but changes of pace and all are welcomed when listening to this as one whole package. Petrucci sounds like Al Dimenola in parts and Rudess runs the whole gambit of prog keyboardists from Corea to Emerson and a huge dose of himself. Tony Levin is as amazing as always and Portnoy shows he can do so much more than just the metal drummer that pays his way.

As to the style I hear many styles here and I can't say it is one over the other yes, fusion, metal and just some great hard rock all blend to make this a very enjoyable experience. Reminds me of the Fromuz as another great instrumental group on the scene.

I can't wait to hear the next one. I was very happy to hear the reunited for a tour this year and am hoping maybe a new album will come of it possibly even a live one. I hope they continue to keep reserrecting this project every so often. 4.5 stars.

This review relates to the 180 Gram Colored Vinyl (Ltd Edition, 1000 copies)

This Liquid Tension Experiment album holds a lot of meaning for many people, particularly the artists. For me it was the beginning of my days as a reviewer and the launching pad into years of enjoyment of discovering progressive rock and fusion music. I do believe it was second review that I ever wrote, Black Light Syndrome being the first. I have no record of those reviews, thank god. I know that I could not have done this music justice then, so now, I get a second chance.

This is the 10th anniversary of this instrumental classic release and I am celebrating my 10th anniversary in the music industry in October. In honor of this landmark recording and significance of the passing of a decade, Magna Carta has re-released this in 180 gram colored vinyl format. Disc one is green and two is purple to match the colorful cover. The band went on an abbreviated tour this month to play select live dates. Now that the tour is over, we can take in this issue to the album in all its rich and warm vinyl glory. As Kevin Godley of 10cc fondly remembers vinyl in an interview I had with him last year- "Ah sweet vinyl, like the rings of Saturn." That comment was beautiful, it made the world of vinyl seem so magical to me. It really is true, vinyl does sound better, and all along, we were lead to believe the CDs and all their predecessors were going to be pristine perfection, bah! It is all digitized, compressed, and lacking in warmth and richness, everything that vinyl still is today.

LTE was a short-lived super group made up of three quarters of Dream Theater: Jordan Rudess (keyboards), John Petrucci (guitars), the incredible Mike Portnoy (drums), and Mr. Bass himself Tony Levin. What makes this an incredible achievement is the fact that these four amazing musicians were able to come together in between projects and pull this together in one week! There was a lot of insanity behind that one week but somehow it came together and now we have one of the more significant progressive rock achievements on vinyl to relive again, minus all the digital interference.

Every song is a slice of prog-rock-jazz-fusion improvisation. I found myself stunned by the clarity and outright beauty and paralleled sadness of the closing track on the first LP (side one) "Kindred Spirits." I never noticed all of the emotion of that song like this before. Of course, I attribute that to the vinyl format. Every track was noticeably different, as if I was listening to an entirely new album. Interesting enough I had been revisiting this music on CD for the last few weeks, hearing with different ears and appreciating it more than ever.

As prog-rock enthusiast know Liquid Tension Experiment 2 was released the following year and more recently downsized version of the band titled Liquid Trio Experiment and the CD Spontaneous Combustion, which turns out to be a real dandy of a free form jazz-rock-fusion session without Petrucci on guitar and Mr. Rudess running wild on keyboards. The tracks were actually outtakes of the initial LTE sessions in 1998.

Recently I got my iPod connected to my stereo system in my vehicle and I put it on shuffle. I have LTE 1 and 2 on the device and when a certain songs play, I swear its Dream Theater, for obvious reasons. "State of Grace" is one track that really grabs me as being something DT would perform. Petrucci's guitar work is magnificent, it bites hard and his six-string sounds like it is crying out for help. Musical tears of sadness come pouring out then when "Universal Mind" follows it, and the mood switches to a joyous outbreak of energy and a fast-paced trip down an entirely different road begins. These two songs together sound like a DT jam from the word go. It is like the range of human emotions expressed all in two songs. The tracks are the strongest and most diverse of the entire session. This recording turns into a stage for each individual musician and the band simultaneously, proving an unlikely collaborative effort could actually happen and work.

This epic album deserves to return reborn again in the vinyl format. With only 1,000 copies in existence, it is sure to disappear quickly. Interesting enough, the age group that snags up vinyl are the children of the digital age, the 20 something music freaks that are download happy with iPods, MP3 players and their mobile do anything iPhones. They love vinyl because of the superior sound and the originality of holding something tangible and real in your hands. The fold out gatefold sleeves and all the artwork are a real attraction, it is something that you can actually see and it has a mass, this is not something that is invisible and is stored on hard drive. Get real-get vinyl.and while you are at it pick up this album.

This album and its sequel were my prog gateways.

I was just a lowly classic rock fan mucking about, listening for some high quality guitar work. Well, I found it here, and from there I rapidly watched myself become even more nerdy. I'm sure plenty of you can relate with that feeling.

Anyways, the instrumentation on this album is brilliant. Being (accidentally, if I remember right) mostly composed of Dream Theater, this supergroup--more like a tangent for Dream Theater, really--is entirely focused on powerful playing. John Petrucci, the man who first caught my ear, saved some of his best shreds and most interesting melodic bits for Liquid Tension Experiment. Jordan Rudess keeps up and more on the keyboards, hurling out some of rock's most prodigious synth noodling to date. The venerable Tony Levin, who is perhaps the easiest man in prog (seeing as how he's on about every other project, har har), flings his traditional Chapman mastery all over the place, with the added bonus of some sections on a standard five string bass. Mike Portnoy holds them all together, and occasionally tops them all with wild fills.

Clearly, Liquid Tension Experiment is a musician's band, playing really tricky stuff like it's not a problem at all.

The music does suffer from this, though. There are a lot, and I mean a whole heck of a lot, of shredding solos throughout. While this is a nice project for the members to blow of some steam, too much noodling, no matter the style of music, gets old after a while. And just when things are starting to go kind of stale, the thirty minute freeform jam noodle fest kicks in. In fact, if the band had just left it off, we would have a solid LP-length album that might jump up a couple of stars in my book.

The highlight tracks are the blistering opener (Paradigm Shift), the melodic rocker (Kindred Spirits), the progressive rock/metal hybrid (Freedom of Speech), and the blistering pseudo-closer (Universal Mind). These four songs still stand as some of my favorite instrumental tracks ever. Little aimless tracks like Osmosis, The Stretch, and Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure are fun for a while, but age pretty quickly. State of Grace is a pretty song, but nothing overall remarkable.

So, if high-flying and fantastic musical ability really interest you, this release and its sibling LTE 2 are absolutely indispensable. Any fan of Dream Theater or Symphony X or similar bands will almost undoubtedly enjoy some, if not most, of this album. If noodling or lack of structure bother you, you might have problems with Liquid Tension Experiment. You do need to give this a chance, though.

My friends have recommended me listening to Liquid Tension Experiment because, according to them, it's basically everything that is good about Dream Theater. To me, that sounded like a definite stab at the bands vocal section. But since I never actually had a problem with James LaBrie's vocals to begin with I don't really find anything new or different compared with what each member have done previously in their careers.

What I did find lacking were the compositions themselves because what this album offers is pure skill without any real substance to it. Of course it's fun listening to skilled musicians playing some of the most technical jams of their careers which could probably work for a 40+ minute album but it really gets old here. This problem becomes even more apparent on the 28-minute composition Three Minute Warning that in my opinion feels a lot longer and less interesting than the rest of the material combined.

I guess that if you're a fan of technical instrumental music then it's worth listening to Liquid Tension Experiment albums but personally I tend to prefer a combination of great compositions with excellent instrumental performances. Isn't that what music should be?

**** star songs: Paradigm Shift (8:54) Osmosis (3:26) Kindred Spirits (6:29) Chris And Kevin's Excellent Adventure (2:21) State Of Grace (5:01) Universal Mind (7:53)

*** star songs: The Stretch (2:00) Freedom Of Speech (9:19) Three Minute Warning (28:31)

Possibly, it could be named as debut album of Dream Theatre's side-project, whenever you can find there bigger part of DT musicians ( plus great Tony Levin). But in sense of music it is a bit different.

For sure, it is progressive metal. Full of energy and with long guitar soloing. But without LaBrie vocals (first big plus) and in fact a bit different in structure and construction (second plus). First of all, even being metal rock , the music has strong accent on improvs, what shows it's strong relation with metal fusion. Technically music is more difficult (in comparance with DT music) as well, so for serious listener this work is really more interesting than usual DT albums.

Another thing, that there occurred some similar problems, which can annoy in DT music: huge amount of soloing is reasonable only in it's smaller part. Too often axe-man feels as he is demonstrating his guitar attacking abilities without big connection with musical concept. Loud aggressive playing too often isn't a confirmation of musician's mastership. But I believe it could attract more metalheadz, so let say it is a question of taste.

Generally, interesting in places album, better, than many DT works, but still not good enough to be between genre's masterpieces. Around 3,5.

Despite the breakthroughs of artists as Steve Morse, Vai, Malmsteen and a few others, nothing quite like this had been attempted. At least not on record. Perhaps the time was right by 1998 for such an indulgent set of instrumental rock, fostered by a new era of self-production, small and willing record labels, and a hungry young audience wanting its heroes. Consequently, Liquid Tension Experiment made a real impact, particularly on musicians. An impact cousin band Dream Theater was unlikely to replicate and which allowed Portnoy, Petrucci, Rudess and Levin a special opportunity not afforded by the hugeness of these men's other bands.

That said, the album has problems mainly in the content of the material rather than the fine playing and clean sound. As the musicianship is so impressive, it is upon multiple listenings these issues become more apparent and reveal an oddly unfulfilling, sometimes even commercial tone hidden among the fireworks, one that is entirely unnecessary and utterly unwanted. It makes this debut both a landmark release and an inflated birthday cake with pretty frosting but not a lot of flavor. To be fair, LTE is indeed an experiment involving liquid tension, and that's exactly what we get: a brilliantly executed but markedly flawed escapade with four of the finest instrumentalists the world has even seen. An exhibition of the highest caliber, showing the uncanny mastery of these Berklee and Juilliard alum to improvise their way through an established but open framework. It is a remarkable demonstration. It is also only partly successful. Blister-inducing 'Paradigm Shift' certainly gets things moving in the right direction with nine minutes of twirling heavy prog rock, full of power and esurient joy showing the huge potential here. Pleasant and smooth is 'Osmosis' as it plinks along to Jordan Rudess's keyboard samples though would seem more at home on an Al DiMeola record . 'Kindred Spirits' shows promise with multiple changes but is so polished it verges on instrumental AOR, and 'Freedom of Speech' opens on a piano phrase that could be mistaken for Van Halen circa 1986 and despite some furious shredding from John Petrucci, only partly satisfies (though we're spared the horrid vocal that it surely would've accompanied from almost any other band). Maudlin 'State of Grace' doesn't exactly lift spirits but 'Universal Mind' picks things up and showcases each player nicely, and the record is capped-off by Goliath 'Three Minute Warning', a full half hour of planned spontaneity-- and a successful one too, giving fans a hearty adieu.

A rite of passage for most prog metal enthusiasts, Liquid Tension Experiment was literally a work in progress and the caution on the back regarding the last track says it all about this project; "Not for the musically faint-hearted, impatient, or critics of extreme self-indulgence." Quite right.

State of Grace

Liquid Tension Experiment is the brainchild of Mike Portnoy, drummer of Dream Theater, when asked if he wanted to form a supergroup by Magna Carta records. He assembled the expert team of new-and-upcoming keyboardist Jordan Ruddes, expert bassist Tony Levin (of King Crimson and Peter Gabriel fame), and he completed his lineup with friend and fellow DT bandmate John Petrucci to play guitar. The band formed in 1996 and they began to jam and piece together ideas until the epic self-titled debut album was released in 1998. The ensuing 70 minutes of joy, blasting forth with the uber-fast and uber-technical opener Paradigm Shift, is a joy ride most especially enjoyed by musicians who love speed and music lovers who like a good progressive jazz fusion/metal rush, with an extra jolt of adrenaline. Fueled by lengthy jam sessions and improvised riffing, the album is jam packed with a tasty blend of funk, metal, jazz, progression, and a host of other attributed conjured up in the minds of these four master musicians. It's certainly no stretch to say that nearly anything is possible when the will of a few talented musicians is let on a creative free-for-all by a willing record company, and Liquid Tension Experiment is certainly a fine example of this.

As I have said before, these four guys are no strangers to their instruments. All technical masters of their trade, none of them have any issues with shredding up and down the fretboard, keyboard, or tom set. Whether John is shredding at blinding speeds or Jordan is sweeping up and down the keyboard or Tony is slapping and tapping his bass or Mike is rotating around the kit with incredible grace, these guys have no trouble showing their skill, even if at times it comes off a bit pretentious. The balance between intensity and melancholy is sublime, matching blazing tracks like Paradigm Shift with mellow and almost spa-like tracks like the incredible Osmosis. Sadly this album is ridiculed as just a blatant expression of four guys' skill, when really these four guys truly have a gift of showing their true grace in a compositional and improvisational setting (and most of the album is constructed off improvisation). The melodies, although a bit cheesy in many of the songs, are great; they seem as if they just should exist, whether on an LTE album or not. Like I said, the album is often smashed for being an output for these guys' skill, but without their skill, there really would be no album, and the amazing atmosphere the meshing of all these guys' styles is truly amazing. I have to say, without their pretentious output, this album would not be the same.

I think I'll now dedicate this paragraph to explain the joyous expression of music that is found on the last, massive 28 minute jam session, titled Three Minute Warning. Now as a precursor to this, let me state that this song (or epic, I should say) is not a composition. This is a recording of these four guys letting out their raw creative energy onto their instruments, relaying this energy through the instruments into sound, into music, into joy, into pure chemistry through improvisation that goes without saying that this may be one of the best progressive metal jam sessions out there. Contained within these 28 minutes are a host of things, from mellow jazzy synth sections to heavier metallic section to avant-garde beauty to ambient almost post-rock-like atmospheres crafted through the state of grace these men are in during this recording. Slow to start, the song slowly builds into a grace and calm little track, and from here the track progresses through its countless phases. With no composition to stick by, the guys do what they feel, letting the juices flow as they just lay their genius right out for you. I really cannot expound on how much I love this song. Despite running a lengthy (for some) 28 minutes, the song is spectacular, encompassing the pure passion that these guys possess in their love of music. From the growling pits of Tony's often distorted and overdriven bass lines to the soaring heights of John's solo sweeping, the song itself could warrant a 5 star EP if it was released as such. In the end, I'll leave this short and sweet: Three Minute Warning is incredible.

But, the album isn't just that massive jam session. There is another 40 minutes of fantastic music to contend with, with the crushing glory of the metallic side with the mellow and heartfelt (and at times a bit cheesy and over-emphasized) 'ballad' side of the album, which really pulls in the Dream Theater influence in this music. I really have to say these guys are truly in some type of a State of Grace during this album, playing perfect chops and incredible riffs and improvised solos and so much more. This album truly is a gem in the realm of metal fusion and in progressive metal in general. 4 stars.

"Liquid Tension Experiment" is the self-titled full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Liquid Tension Experiment. The album was released by Magna Carta in March 1998. Liquid Tension Experiment is an instrumental progressive metal/ fusion project by three members of Dream Theater and bassist Tony Levin (known for his work with among others Peter Gabriel and King Crimson).

The music on the album is intrumental progressive metal/ fusion. All musicians are extremely skilled and we´re treated to technical playing on a very high level. While the tracks feature re- occuring themes, much of the material sound like it was created while jamming. Tony Levin´s use of the chapman stick gives the bass part of the music a rather significant sound, but it´s mostly guitarist John Petrucci and keyboard player Jordan Rudess who leads the show with one blistering solo after another. There´s room for more mellow melodic work too though and the album balances between faster paced progressive metal/ fusion and mellower almost new age sounding sections. Drummer Mike Portnoy is as usual a powerhouse.

While the album is in many ways a both pleasant and solid effort, I generally think it´s too obvious that this is a side-project the members created to have fun. It´s not like the music reflect that they have anything important on heart or that they spent oodles of time writing and discussing how the music should sound. While such a loose approach to writing music works for some, I wouldn´t say I find this particular album a great artistic success. If you think you can enjoy light weight progressive metal/ fusion with a rather carefree approach to writing memorable tunes this might be something for you. For me personally the album passes by without many hooks or memorable moments to hold on to and I´m ultimately left a bit unimpressed with the songwriting and with the sterile sound production too. A 3 star rating is warranted.

Liquid Tension Experiment were a supergroup put together at the suggestion of the Magna Carta label, who thought it'd be cool to get Mick Portnoy and John Petrucci of Dream Theater together with Tony Levin and Jordan Rudess for some jamming. The end result is an interesting instrumental album which, when it really cooks, is actually pretty fascinating.

To a certain extent you're listening to Jordan Rudess' audition for Dream Theater here, because it was in these sessions that Portnoy and Petrucci decided that Jordan was what that band needed in the keyboardist's spot, but if you set that point of historical interest aside the album is pleasant but can have moments of being a bit unfocused. One of the best songs on the album, in fact, is Freedom of Speech, which dials back the improv and is more orchestrated and ends up being rather magnificent with it. (It's also the song where the fusion influence is perhaps least apparent.) On the flipside, the half hour long improv session of Three Minute Warning might be a fascinating insight into the band's working, but unless you have a lot of patience for fusion-influenced instrumental music your attention is likely to wane at points.

In fact, I used to be a bit more down on this album than I am, but I think I realised why: it's because I was listening to it wearing the wrong set of ears. Due to the strong Dream Theater connection, I was geared up to hope for prog metal, and judged from a metal-oriented perspective there's definitely issues. That said, I found I enjoyed it more if I persuaded myself to see it not as a prog metal album with fusion influence, but a fusion album with a bit more metallic bite than average. So shave off half a star to a whole star if you particularly dislike fusion, or prefer your prog metal to be emphatically prog METAL, but otherwise I think I sold this one a little short.

My affection for Dream Theater drew me to Liquid Tension Experiment and I expected something incredible with the likes of Tony Levin on bass, John Petrucci on guitar, Mike Portnoy on drums and Jordan Rudess on the keys. Instead the album comes across as a good diversion from the usual brilliance of Dream Theater. The album admittedly has some amazing musicianship but it is missing the magic that encompasses the Dream Theater albums. Labrie is missing of course and Myung is also absent. Without these members naturally it is far from Dream Theater, and I was underwhelmed overall.

The music dominates over every track and the highlights are definitely the amazing 'Universal Mind', that ends with a circus theme, and the massive epic 'Three Minute Warning' that runs for a whopping 28 minutes.

I enjoyed the weirdness of jazz infestation 'Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure' that brought back memories of that strange film, but the awful 'Osmosis' and 'The Stretch' really are filler songs to skip.

I would say that overall, the debut for Liquid Tension Experiment is a curio worth checking out but could have been so much better without all the filler tracks and with more brilliance and less experimentation.

After the disappointment of finally hearing their long overdue but fatally compromised "Spontaneous Combustion" album (the blame for which goes to Magna Carta Records, and not the band itself), I felt compelled to re-visit the far stronger, self-titled Liquid Tension Experiment debut from 1998: an invigorating tonic following the massive let-down of the later album.

But first, a disclaimer: Progressive Metal isn't my favorite musical sub-genre. And the virile charms of Dream Theater in particular have always eluded me. The music here was cut from the same heavy cloth as DT: ear-catching dexterity; mile-a-minute guitar machismo; Gatling gun twin bass-drum abuse, etc. And no wonder: a full three-quarters of the Liquid Tension foursome were current or future members of Dream Theater, with session veteran Tony Levin the odd man out (but of course he fits easily into any line-up).

So what makes the close cousin of LTE an exception to the Prog Metal formula? The lack of a strident lead vocalist is a definite bonus, to these sensitive ears. As is the more impulsive nature of the music itself. The supergroup was allowed only a single week to conceive, rehearse, and record an album's worth of music, and the challenge seems to have triggered the best instincts in each player.

"Paradigm Shift" raises the curtain in a furious rush of adrenalin, setting the stage for the instrumental fireworks of "Kindred Spirits" and "Freedom of Speech", the latter with an evocative mid-section building into an air-riffer's dream come true, potent even to this reluctant headbanger. Separating the deliberate compositions are several shorter, more relaxed interludes: welcome tongue-in-cheek breaks between all the testosterone-driven fret and keyboard shredding.

But the album earns its gold-plated fourth star, and my abiding affection, for its accidental epilogue: a half-hour improvisation where "not a single note or beat was discussed beforehand" (quoting drummer Mike Portnoy's CD notes). Unplanned jams of this sort always run the risk of going nowhere in a hurry (as happened over most of the "Spontaneous Combustion" album), or failing in playback to re-capture the exhilaration of the actual performance. But the level of sustained energy and intuition displayed here is nothing short of extraordinary. Listen as the music slowly coalesces, kicks into gear, collapses and rebuilds itself, with killer grooves and telepathic focus, again and again over its 28 white-knuckle minutes.

Portnoy himself wrote afterward, "I think this jam really defines all four of us as musicians..." another reason I wish the sardonic disclaimer on the CD cover ("not for the musically faint-hearted", so forth) had been omitted. The entire exercise, randomly indexed into five separate tracks and comically titled "Three Minute Warning", isn't a self-indulgent afterthought. It's an expression of pure, unbridled creativity, and easily the centerpiece of the whole project.

Later LTE recordings, and especially the aborted Liquid Trio sessions, never attained the same high level of prolonged, unpremeditated synergy. Appropriately, for an ad-hoc group of Prog Metallurgists, they struck first while the iron of inspiration was still hot.

Liquid Tension Experiment was one of those wonderful progressive music supergroups that emerged in the 90's. And indeed, one of the best!

In fact, from this collaboration came one of the luckiest things that ever happened to Dream Theater, which was the addition of Jordan Rudess to its ranks. And listening to this album, it is easy to see why. His keyboards are perfectly complemented by the great John Petrucci guitars, and the powerful drums of Mike Portnoy, which sounds as poorly tuned as usual in his recordings.

Special mention should be made of bassist Tony Levin, who is undoubtedly one of the most talented musicians ever to play the four strings.

In summary, Liquid Tension Experiment is an album of pure progressive rock, varied, instrumentally rich and with an enviable instrumentation. A must-listen for all progressive lovers!

Best Tracks: Paradigm Shift (a powerful and appropriate way to start a record), Freedom of Speech (good progressive composition, with different atmospheres and tonalities) and of course, Three Minute Warning (contains one of the best works of John Petrucci, without doubt)

My Rating: ****