THE WHIRLWIND

A couple of months before Transatlantic announced The Whirlwind, I became a huge fan of their music. After listening to SMPT:e and Bridge Across Forever countless times, you can imagine my excitement when I found out that this band was reuniting. Not only this, but they were making a 77 minute song. A prog-lovers dream.

As soon as the release date was out, I counted down the days (from about 67) until finally, the CD arrived at my house. No sooner said than done, it was in the CD player, and a new musical journey was about to begin.

One minute and thirty two seconds into the first track, the ambient sounds explode into the one of the many recurring themes heard throughout the CD. Overture/Whirlwind highlights everything it should highlight. The instrumentals are perfect, and the first vocals are sung by Stolt! Then, Neal comes in and sings the chorus. The up temp melody breaks down into the acoustic intro to The Wind Blew Them All Away.

Much like Bridge Across Forever, the vocals are shared between all four members. There are time signature changes (although not as many) and lots of instrumentals. The main difference is that there are a lot more guitar solos, and a lot less keyboard solos. While this may throw off some prog lovers, it didn't do anything to me. Roine Stolt is one of the best guitar players of today. He never overdoes the solo work, and has many creative ideas.

The highlights, besides the tracks that I mentioned, are the ballad Rose Colored Glasses and the amazing Is It Really Happening? The first has the best vocals on the album ("we will cross that bridge and enter into life...real life..."). An incredible guitar solo follows. The second song I mentioned has the best instrumental on the album. The first half of the song is slow, and repetitive, but by the end, there are double bass drums, shredding guitar and smoking bass and keyboards. This is the climax of the album, and the highlight.

Transatlantic really lived up to their previous two albums. After 10 years of waiting, they return with the best album of 2009, and one of the top 10 of the decade. Highly recommended!