TRANSATLANTIC - BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER

TRANSATLANTIC - BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER

Disk 1
1) Duel With The Devil . . . . . 26:43
I) motherless children
II) walk away
III) silence of the night
IV) you're not alone
V) almost home
2)Suite Charlotte Pike . . . . . 14:31
I) if she runs
II) mr. wonderful
III) lost and found pt. 1
IV) temple of the gods
V) motherless children / if she runs (reprise)
3) Bridge Across Forever . . . . . 5:33
4) Stranger In Your Soul . . . . . 29:10
I) sleeping wide awake
II) hanging in the balance
III) lost and found pt. 2
IV) awakening the stranger
V) slide
VI) stranger in your soul

Disk 2 (Limited Edition only)
1) Shine On You Crazy Diamond . . . . . 15:27
2) Studio Chat . . . . . 4:50
3) And I Love Her . . . . . 7:53
4) Smoke On The Water . . . . . 4:20
5) Dance With The Devil . . . . . 9:07
6) Roine's Demo Bits . . . . . 11:15
Interactive Section

Transatlantic's official website at:
http://www.transatlanticweb.com/

Line-up
Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) on drums and vocals, Neal Morse (Spock's Beard) on keyboards and vocals, Pete Trewavas (Marillion) on bass and vocals and Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings) on guitars and vocals. Additional guest musicians are Chris Carmichael on violin, viola & cello, Keith Mears on saxophone and The "Elite" Choir on background vocals • format: CD, regular and special editions Metal Blade/Radiant Records/ IOMCD 086 • release date: October 9, 2001

Bridge Across Forever is about as close as you'll ever get to the perfect prog album. From the impeccable musicianship to the brilliant comopositions and astonishing arrangements, the second album of this symphonic progressive supergroup was unfortunately to be their last. A highly varied effort, all four musicians shared in the creation of the material on this disk, unlike their first album SMPTe, which had been mostly written by Neal Morse, giving it a Spock-ish tone. But both albums though are still considered to be some of the finest representatives of modern progressive music.

The album is composed of four tracks, beginning with the lenghty epic Duel With the Devil, a sublime composition of symphonic prog unlike anything that's been made before. It incorporates various influences from The Beatles, Spock's Beard, early Marillion, Dream Theater, TFK and much more, seamlessly mixing into the next track, Suite Charlotte Pike, a dynamic, exuberant number with quite a bit of Beatles influence again. The obligatory ballad follows, Bridge Across Forever is a melancholic, very slow and emotional ballad. The album ends with another glorious epic, the gargantuan Stranger in Your Soul. Drama, energy, glory... all these emotions are magnificently conveyed, punctuated with brilliant keyboard, guirar, drum and bass passages, A supreme ending to a mythical album.

Will there ever be a reunion of this amazing formation? Who knows! And although it remains extremely unlikely, there have been improbable reunions over the past few years, like the short-lived Anglagard tour in 2003, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

My rating for Bridge Across Forever : 10/10(album reviewed by Robert Dansereau 19/12/2006)