BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER

Chances are that I'm not the first person to tell you that there's nothing really super about this group ... but then again I think that most of the parent groups that contributed members to Transatlantic are overrated. What I hear is a bunch of highly skilled musicians who have either forgotten (or never knew!) how to compose (I can imagine much gnashing of teeth at that one, but I'm standing by it).

Take the first track Duel With The Devil (which despite being 26:43 min long, isn't the longest track here). I was bored out of my mind before vocals started which wasn't until the 5 minute mark. And I found the chorus to be really lame and poppy. There was one nice keyboard solo and the laid back section with wah-wahs and sax that kicks off round 12 minutes ain't bad, but really when at the 18 minute mark our friends tried to do a pop-jazz thing I gave up ... what a snore-fest ...

The funky Suite Charlotte Pike is better, but despite some nice electric piano touches and some obvious attempts to infuse it with Beatlesque sensiblities, the main song is forgettable. The title track is the worst of the lot ... basically just a vocals and piano tune it sounds like a lame attempt to break in on the Christian rock curcuit with an "uplifting" ballad.

Stranger In Your Soul is by far the best track here. Weighing in at exactly 30:00 minutes, one would hope so. right? It's got a strong violin intro, pulsating drums, powerful organ, topped off with sizzling synth leads and sounds somewhat like an updated version of Kansas. Unfortunately it too meanders at times especially during the dull vocal sections and a long quiet bit that starts after the 13th minute, but a gutsy metallic bit and some very tasteful synth colouring save the piece.

I listened to this album twice through ... and I don't really see myself returning too often. ... 27% on the MPV scale