QUANTUM

Dream Theater side projects and spin-offs are thick on the ground, and I personally find them rather hit and miss, but Derek Sherinian has really landed on his feet with this Planet X deal. What makes Quantum such a joyful listen is its seamless blending of progressive rock subgenres you wouldn't have otherwise expected to work so well together. There's a jazz fusion underpinning to affairs which reminds me a lot of UK - indeed, UK's own Allan Holdsworth guests on a couple of tracks - and the guitar performances tend to be metal-oriented, but the overall aesthetic of the compositions, especially when Derek's keyboard textures come into play, remind me of nothing less than space rock in the Ozric Tentacles mode. On the whole, it's a highly competent album which will appeal to anyone in the market for spacey, technically complex instrumental prog.