Transatlantic
Bridge Across Forever
Metal Blade
An enormously huge return to the heyday of supergroup-era prog rock. Three well-tempered rock operettas with one well-tempered five-minute hit. Interesting in that the band is a Dream Theater/Spock’s Beard/Marillion/others side project; I originally thought, “Sons of Asia!” Definitely worth checking for the over-the-topness factor. “Duel With the Devil,” for example, is a five-part, thirty-minute number that beings with a bit of chamber music and then into a crescendo of heavy prog, infused with Rick Wakeman-inspired keyboards, intergalactic guitars, articulate tenor vocals, and a lot of elves-dancing-around-tiny-monuments. I’m reminded of U.K. And the various harder-edged numbers them prog rockers would play, like if you avoided listening to the “hit,” there’d be some interesting music on the record. But seriously, Bridge Across Forever is a fine album and a lot of fun.
