SMPT:E

Transatlantic is a multinational progressive rock super group consisting of Roine Stolt of Flower Kings, Neal Morse ex-Spock's Beard, Pete Trewavas of Marillion and Mike Portnoy Dream Theater. They formed in 1999 a side project to their full time bands and solo musical projects. Transatlantic started when Portnoy invited Morse to join him on a super group project. Portnoy is known for his love for Spock's Beard, so Morse wasn't a strange choice. One of Portnoy's other favourite bands is Marillion and Trewavas was another natural choice. But, finding a guitarist was more difficult. Originally Jim Matheos of Fates Warning was meant to be the first choice, but due to several delays it wasn't possible. So, Morse suggested Stolt and finaly the project was ready to go. It was disbanded in 2002 but they reunited in 2009.

'SMPTe' is the debut studio album of Transatlantic and was released in 2000. The title is a play on words. It's a combination of the band's member initials and a type of time code used in recording technology of the four names.

So, the line up on 'SMPTe' work is Roine Stolt (vocals, electric guitar, twelve string acoustic guitar, Mellotrons and percussion), Neal Morse (vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar and electric guitar), Pete Trewavas (vocals, bass guitar and moog Taurus pedals) and Mike Portnoy (backing vocals and drums).

'SMPTe' has five tracks. All songs were written and composed by Roine Stolt, Neal Morse, Pete Trewavas and Mike Portnoy except 'We All Need Some Light' which was written by Neal Morse and 'In Held (Twas) In I' which is a Procol Harum's song that was written by Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher and Keith Reid and arranged by Stolt, Morse, Trewavas and Portnoy. The first track 'All Of The Above' is divided into six parts: 'Fool Moon Rising', 'October Winds', 'Camouflaged In Blue', 'Half Alive', 'Undying Love' and 'Full Moon Rising (Reprise)'. It's an epic of a length seldom seen in the recent years. Atmospheric sounds in the style of 'Close To The Edge' lead to a typical Spock's Beard intro. This is quite Beard's, especially the vocal parts of Morse that are very much similar to his own Beard's style. The music rolls through rhythm and tempo changes, through symphonic and bombastic. The keyboards are quite dominant and the influence of the guitar style of Howe on Stolt is perfectly evident. This track alone is more than a worth to buying the album for. The second track 'We All Need Some Light' is a song with a beginning of acoustic guitar and piano that gives place to a great melodic song. It's the shortest song on the album that develops into a very nice ballad that would have fitted perfectly well on any Neal's solo album. It's the most accessible song and serves as a contrast with the complexity of the previous track. The third track 'Mystery Train' is a song with influences of The Beatles and has a very good work of its rhythm section with a lightly filtered voice. It has a dynamic melody elaborated with Mellotron and excellent chorus, without losing its almost psychedelic air that presides over the whole song. The highlight of the song is the drumming work by Portnoy. The fourth track 'My New World' has a beginning in the style of Yes and where Stolt appears singing with filtered voice. The differences among both vocalists are patent in this music. The song is guided more towards the classic progressive music, being very well worked, with good vocal harmonies and a soft melody. There are some guitar fragments that remind me strongly Howe, and powerful musical atmospheres clearly influenced by Genesis with some references also to Camel. The fifth and last track 'In Held (Twas) In I' is divided into four parts: 'Glimpses Of Nirvana', 'In The Autumn Of My Madness', 'Look To Your Soul' and 'Grand Finale'. This song was originally recorded by Procol Harum in 1967 and was released on their second studio album 'Shine On Brightly' in 1968. It's widely regarded as the first progressive rock epic. This dark and enigmatic suite has a length of about 17 minutes and is a modern view of the classic version, which is taken into a more symphonic version. I like very much of this new version of the song, and that can real explain why a cover song became as one of the highlights of this album.

Conclusion: 'SMPTe' is an album with heavy reminiscences to the 70's. We can revisit many classic prog bands such as The Beatles, Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, King Crimson and Camel, for instance. They even covered a song of Procol Harum, one of the most underrated prog bands. The references to some of the greatest classic prog musicians are also evident. Listen to Stolt's guitar playing and you might be able to relate to Howe. Some keyboard playing is also similar to Wakeman. 'SMPTe' is an excellent album of symphonic prog rock with the objective of arriving to more public and making the genre more known. If we compare it with the musical trajectories of the bands of the musicians that form this project, we may say that it's much closer to Flower Kings and Spock's Beard than Dream Theatre or Marillion styles. So, 'SMPTe' is an excellent musical proposal served with some of the best prog musicians in our days. It seems to be an obligatory purchase for all progressive rock followers, especially for the lovers of the classic progressive era.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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