Transatlantic
BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER (Radiant/Metal Blade, 2001)

Transatlantic:

• Peter Trewavas - Warwick Bass, Taurus Bass Pedals, Vocals
• Mike Portnoy - Drums, Vocals
• Roine Stolt - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Vocals, Mellotron, Additional Keyboards and Percussion
• Neal Morse - Grand Piano, Hammond Organ, Mini Moog, Rhodes Piano, Synthesizer, Vocals, Additional Guitars and Mandolin

I've been listening to this disc for close to a year, at least once a week although every day for long stretches isn't uncommon. Why?

Transatlantic is a supergroup of sorts, all the members being part of other well-known progressive bands...well-known if you follow this genre of music I should say. At the time this was recorded Morse was still the main creative force in Spock's Beard, Portnoy the drummer of Dream Theater, Trewavas the bassist from Marillion and Stolt the leader of The Flower Kings. They had previously recorded SMPTe (Radiant/Metal Blade, 1999), a very credible disc in it's own right but ultimately more of a rogue Spock's Beard record than the sum of it's performing parts. If this disc had been as good as SMPTe, it certainly would have been worth owning; the fact that it might possibly be the best progressive rock record recorded makes it required listening.

More of a group record than the aforementioned SMPTe, the music on BRIDGE is a complex but hook-filled collection of the best of the member's main bands outputs filtered directly through the Beatles. Soaring lyrical passages juxtaposed with the instrumental pyrotechnics you'd expect. Trewavas in particular has never sounded better: fantastically melodic lines weaving in, out and around Portnoy's drumming like he was possessed by the ghosts of McCartney and Ray Schulman.

The disc opens with the epic (and except for the title track, they are all epics) "Duel With The Devil", a song that through it's 26 minutes calls to mind every prog band from Genesis to Utopia without ever sounding like an imitation to any of them. Followed by the Beatlesque "Suite Charlotte Pike", a medley of five songs a la the second side of ABBY ROAD (for those that grew up on the vinyl version), one begins to see the conceptual structure of the disc as themes, musical and lyrical, are recalled from "Duel". Although the song sounds like a melange of "Hey, I've got this little tune I never finished", which turns out to be not such a bad thing as it is definitely the most hum-able progressive rock you're likely to hear. The short "Bridge Across Forever", basically a solo performance by Morse on piano, serves as a ....er, bridge.... to the final 25 minute epic ("the epic to end all epics", as Morse introduces it on the concert DVD) "Stranger In Your Soul". "Stranger", while the final cut, is actually the centerpiece/capstone of the disc in the same way "Supper's Ready" is for FOXTROT; while the previous material is great, there is a sense of impatience while you wait to get to the "big" number.

Beginning with a reprise of the opening string figures from "Duel", "Stranger" escalates for close to 12 minutes, wave after wave of bigger and grander progressive godhead. At the halfway mark, the piece drops to a calmer, quieter reflection on finding inner peace which builds to an ending that can only be called "majestic" in the grandest sense the progressive genre has to offer.

There is a sense of spirituality throughout the disc, which is hardly surprising given Morse's then-current religious journey, one which would lead to him leaving Spock's Beard the next year to focus on his "call from the Lord". Lyrically, this is a Christian themed record that doesn't name names or mention deities, probably making it easier for listeners who aren't interested in "God music" (it should be noted that Morse's first solo disc, the fantastic TESTIMONY, belays those fears by being the most eminently un-preachy Christian rock record I'm aware of - but that's another commentary I'll get to eventually). Anyway, that sense of spirit and inner peace and even love (both capital L and small "l") is ultimately what helps this disc rise above its peers. The stunning musicianship and arrangements and the stick-in-your-head singable melodies are certainly not to be overlooked, but the synergy between these compositional and performance elements with a spirit of good will is what makes this record nearly impossible for me to get out of the disc player.

I don't know how long I'll continue to need to hear this with the frequency I do now, but if I do continue to listen to it constantly for years to come, it won't be time wasted.

Posted 14 December 2004