KALIVEOSCOPE

I discovered Transatlantic only two years ago, shortly after getting acquainted with Spock's Beard music, and I was lucky enough to experience them live in Paris in 2014. I was literally blown away. Their music is incredible, they played it flawlessly, and the show they put together was certainly one of the best I've ever experienced.

This release, however, which by the way came to me as unexpected (well, older fans know the drill by now, but I don't see the point of releasing so many live albums), disappointed me in two ways. First, since I had decided to go for the limited edition of the Kaleidoscope album (yes, the big LP-sized one with heaps of bonus discs), and because I have a thing for those special editions, I just had to order the "limited deluxe special whatever" edition of this live album as well, and I expected the same kind of packaging. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the same kind of box set as the special edition of the Whirld Tour -- with less effort: many pictures, but no booklet. Well, that's only packaging, it isn't bad by any means, but still, this was disappointing.

Second, and more importantly: the music.

Now don't get me wrong: as usual, you get far more than your money's worth. The full Kaleidoscope album live, a Whirlwind medley, and most of their other epics that we know and love (although the full version of the last two would have been better than a medley). The special edition features two concerts actually (and a documentary that you won't really miss if you can't afford the special edition). But the band didn't feel as tight as it did to me on that magical evening back in Paris; I expected to be truly thrilled by this recording, but it didn't happen. Even though I'm fully aware that it's not supposed to be as good as the real thing, I expected something better. I guess the better the musicians, the more demanding the audience becomes.

The other thing that ruined this release for me was the collaboration with Thijs Van Leer. I can't speak for the rest of his carreer outside this recording, since I don't know it, but I just cannot bear what he does on this album. He makes the whole thing sound as a circus or a complete joke, and even though I've tried a few times already to bear his sung onomatopoeias, there always comes a time where he eventually gets on my nerves to the point that I need to skip to the next song.

All in all, if you only have money for one, I'd strongly suggest you go for the special edition of the Whirld Tour. It's Transatlantic at their best, and you definitely cannot go wrong with it.

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