THE WHIRLWIND

Although I know I am in the minority here, I am of the opinion that Transatlantic's material represents a fundamental problem with a lot of modern progressive rock, or perhaps several depending on how you approach an album as ambtiously constructed as "The Whirlwind".

And what's this fundamental problem you may ask?

It's simple: THERE'S NO FREAKIN' SOUL IN ANYTHING THESE GUYS DO!!

After coming to this conclusion after a few run-throughs from start to finish, I will make a few points in particular that clarify my distaste with 'The Whirlwind' and why I feel it fails on even the most basic of levels-

1. The vocals and lyrical content are, as to be expected, sub-par, as evidenced in particular by the cringeworthy 'The Wind Blew Them All Away' and 'Spinning'. Although I am not a big fan of the whole Kansas-esque approach to progressive rock to begin with, a combination of a washed-up Neal Morse and Stolt's ever-tiresome drawl really puts a damper on any enjoyment one could have here with the compositions. How can somebody enjoy the forced vocal harmonies and delivery here when there are half a dozen other progressive rock bands currently doing music who leave this supergroup in the dust? (Ex: Moon Safari).

Basically, failure to deliver vocally or lyrically = failure of an album. Moving on now-

2. The playing is good, but unmemorable and unfocused. 'The Whirlwind', much like Porcupine Tree's 'The Incident', is simply not well constructed when looked at as a whole. The Genesis and Santana covers are lackluster and too polished for their own good. In particular, Portnoy's supposedly great technique is absolutely laughable on 'Soul Sacrifice': Michael Shrieve blows this poor chump out of the water!

3. The production quality is way too compressed and polished. This is problem that a lot of modern groups seem to have with their releases, but it's particularly evident here. I mean really, is there even a bassist here, because he got majorly BURIED in this mix, lol!

Overall, albums like 'The Whirlwind' make me feel ashamed to even be part of a supposed "progressive rock" community. Much like the mainstream idiots you people seem to dislike so much, the fact that you kids throw four and five stars to an album simply because it has a track over 20 minutes and features people who are skilled in the technical department is an ABSOLUTE disgrace.

So pull out your smokes, give Yes's "Close to the Edge" or Moon Safari's "Other Side of the Sky" a morning spin, and then come back and seriously say without bursting into laughter that anything this supergroup has done in 3 albums is really worth a shit. Good riddance!

Final verdict: 2 stars because these guys can play their instruments. Giving it anything more would be an insult to the bands who actually know what the hell they're doing.