BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER

"Bridge Across Forever" is the second studio album of Transatlantic and was released in 2001. Due to the debut studio album of Transatlantic, "SMPTe", Neal Morse, without question, has become the pivotal figure in the progressive rock supergroup Transatlantic. But, for this second album, the group attempted to balance each member's contribution more equally, because of the criticism that their debut studio album "SMPTe" was too dominated by the musical style of Neal Morse. Anyway, "Bridge Across Forever", at times, sounds more like a Spock's Beard's album than an album from any of the other players' primary bands. Perhaps that's because Morse handles most of the lead vocals, but it could be something deeper than that. While isn't a concept album, the lengthy epics share at least one movement with another.

The line up on the album is Roine Stolt (vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, Mellotron, keyboards and percussion), Neal Morse (vocals, grand piano, Hammond organ, mini Moog, Rhodes piano, synthesizer, guitars and mandolin), Pete Trewavas (vocals, Warwick bass and Taurus bass pedals) and Mike Portnoy (vocals and drums). It had also the participation of Chris Carmichael (violin, viola and cello), Keith Mears (saxophone) and Elite choir (background vocals).

"Bridge Across Forever" has four tracks. All songs were written and composed by Roine Stolt, Neal Morse, Pete Trewavas and Mike Portnoy except "Bridge Across Forever" which was written by Neal Morse and Celeste Prince. The first track "Duel With The Devil" is divided into five parts: "Motherless Children", "Walk Away", "Silence Of The Night", "You're Not Alone" and "Almost Home". It starts with good instrumental themes played in a classic heavy progressive style. After some minutes Neil's vocals starts with a heavy Mellotron sound. The lead vocals are shared by the band in a very effective way. After that, Roine brings a second vocal melody, which is also very strong, followed by a quieter part, with some guitar sounds and saxophone. After several minutes, the rest of the track mainly consists of themes that were introduced earlier, performed with some variations. This is a great and very exciting opening track to the album. The second track "Suite Charlotte Pike" is also divided into five parts: "If She Runs", "Mr. Wonderful", "Lost And Found Pt. 1", "Temple Of The Gods" and "Motherless Children/If She Runs (Reprise)". It has a more bluesy feeling and is the song most different from the other tracks on the album. According to the diary on the official website of the band, it was meant as an ode to The Beatles and a way to use some unfinished bits that the band had lying around. This is a track that sounds pretty good and that has a very strong retro feel, and where at the times the band is doing wild 60's rock. Sincerely, I don't feel this piece of music too much original, cohesive and progressive. However, we must say that it has some great musical moments like "Temple Of The Gods". The third track is the title track "Bridge Across Forever". It's a short and intimate piano ballad where the emphasis is on its melody, which is very beautiful, and is magnificently sung by Neal. A nice sensitive romantic ballad is a very good idea to break the all tension of the album, indeed. Like "We All Need Some Light" of "SMPTe", this lovely ballad it would have fitted very well on one of Neal's solo albums. The fourth and last track "Stranger In Your Soul" is divided into six parts: "Sleeping Wide Awake", "Hanging In The Balance", "Lost And Found Pt. 2", "Awakening The Stranger", "Slide" and "Stranger In Your Soul". It shares many similarities to the opening track, and in a way this reflection gives the album a cyclical feel. Again, some very good themes are used, and performed in a very fresh and energetic way. The mood changes from aggressive and bombastic to melancholic and subtle. Vocally, it's a very strong track, both on melody and on the singing voices. Some earlier themes from the album appear on this track, mostly effectively. This and the first track are clearly the best and worth buying the album.

Conclusion: "Bridge Across Forever" has the same formula of their previous studio album "SMPTe". Nobody can criticize the band as a low respectable band, because they always said that Transatlantic wanted to make classic prog rock music releasing all the musical influences from the old classical bands of the golden prog era. The two long tracks "Duel With The Devil" and "Stranger In Your Soul", are in the same vein that "All Of The Above" from the first album. This is where the band develops their own sound and at the time shows all the musical influences that they have. The performance is very good, providing the technical skills of each member. The vocals are excellent, giving the perfect balance between the classical symphonic rock and the freshness of the present day production. Between these two masterpieces there are "Bridge Across Forever", a typical beautiful ballad which isn't very well connected to the rest of the tracks and "Suite Charlotte Pike" a funny track with a lot of The Beatles feel were all band's members singing for a final unsorted but an interesting result. Concluding, here we have again a very good album with a high commercial potential, with two long tracks with absolutely stunning quality from the band that helps to cover the other weak points.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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