TRANSATLANTIC The Whirlwind music review by UMUR

"The Whirlwind" is the 3rd full-length studio album by multi-national progressive rock act Transatlantic. The album was released in October 2009 through Metal Blade Records in the US and InsideOut Music in Europe. It?s been 8 years since the release of the band?s 2nd full-length studio album "Bridge Across Forever (2001)", but the four members of Transatlantic found time in their busy schedules for another recording session and here we have "The Whirlwind".

"The Whirlwind" originally came in three different versions. A standard edition one CD version, a double disc special edition (the bonus disc features 8 additional tracks) and a deluxe edition which featured a 105 minutes long making-of DVD.

"The Whirlwind" is a 77:47 minutes long progressive rock journey. While the album is considered one track, it is sub-divided into 12 tracks, which might seque into each other but come off as individual tracks. As the case has been on the first two albums by Transatlantic, the music on "The Whirlwind" is a combination of the sound of Spock?s Beard and The Flower Kings but with some additional "outside" ideas, which are probably mostly courtesy of Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) and Pete Trewavas (Marillion). To my ears though it does sound like it?s Neal Morse (Spock?s Beard, Solo) and Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings) who have been most involved in the songwriting.

If you are familiar with the earlier material by the band, you won?t be surprised to find very well written material, outstanding musicianship and a polished and powerful production on this album too. At 77:47 the album might be a bit too long for the casual listener but I doubt if the hardcore fans will find this to be much of an issue. Personally I could have done with a couple of surprises and also a bit more grit, but then again that?s not really what Transatlantic are about. They are pretty much satisfied with paying tribute to their 60s and 70s heroes and it?s hard to argue that they don?t do that very well albeit in a polished and "safe" fashion. A 4 star (80%) rating is warranted.

UMUR | 4/5 | 2012-5-31

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