Transatlantic Official Thread

[axeman90210]

I think if they play just ONE song from Kaleidoscope, it'll probably be "Black As The Sky", or maybe even "Shine". If they don't touch the epics from that album ever again, I'd be fine, but if they have Daniel Gildenlow on the tour, I could see them playing "Into The Blue" as the sole representative of Kaleidoscope, just so Daniel could sing his part live for more than just one performance (from the 2014 Sweden Rock Festival). That's why I suggested they open with "Into The Blue" before going into TAU for the first set of the show.

-Marc.

Daniel also sang that part live at CTTE 2017 with TA (sans Roine), and also joined them for WANSL. Here: https://youtu.be/sDdcax-SD2E?t=3308

That's me just left of center in front of the stage in the Haken shirt

[emtee]

Yes, I agree. It's a marvelous album that gets better with every spin. Really loving it!

[425]

I just checked the track list on that, and you are right.  I had forgotten that they played Black as the Sky.  Anyhow, I'm not saying they won't.  I just don't think it is a given, unless they have already decided.

Not counting "In Held ('Twas) In I", they played every new songs from each new album on that respective tour. "Bridge Across Forever" wasn't played in its entirety on the BAF European tour, but it was brought out on a couple of shows as a prelude to DWTD, and I think also as an interlude in the middle of SIYS (though I'm pulling from setlist memory here, so I may not be 100% sure). I think the only reason they wouldn't do all of TAU live is because of its sheer length, but given how momentous the album is for the band, they probably will play it all live.

-Marc.

I don't know about the BAF tour, but I know Neal played SIYS with BAF as an interlude on the European tour for Lifeline.

[darkshade]

I'm actually taking a break from The Absolute Universe, but I can't stop thinking about it, last time that happened was with The Whirlwind. This is likely going to be top 3 TA album for me with BAF and TW taking the number 2 and 1 spot respectively. I love SMPTe, that album was one of the first prog rock albums I ever checked out, but I don't love the final track, and Kaleidoscope is a mixed bag for me at number 5.

[425]

I'm still not where a lot of people are with this album. I've been staying with TBOL for a while, and am going to switch to Forevermore for the first time on my next listen. Maybe that will change my impression. But honestly, I feel like the back end of this one kind of drags and the best song out of the last five is Can You Feel It, so I don't know how I'll feel about a longer album without that song.

[bluefox4000]

After a while my ranking remains firm.

1. Bridge
2. Whirlwind
3. Absolute Universe (i really love both versions.  both have their pluses and minuses.  but i stand firm in saying this album has some of their best tunes in years)
4. SMPT:e
5.Kaleidoscope (such little use for this it's comical, lol)

[HOF]

I'm still not where a lot of people are with this album. I've been staying with TBOL for a while, and am going to switch to Forevermore for the first time on my next listen. Maybe that will change my impression. But honestly, I feel like the back end of this one kind of drags and the best song out of the last five is Can You Feel It, so I don't know how I'll feel about a longer album without that song.

That's how I felt about TBOL at first, but I came around on both Looking for the Light (Reprise) and The Greatest Story Never Ends. I do think the first disc of Forevermore is the strongest full disc of music of the three discs in the set though.

[hefdaddy42]

Hey, I finally got my email from Radiant that my order shipped lol

[axeman90210]

I got some above-average customer support from Radiant this week. I had pre-ordered the TAU Blu-ray release when it was first posted back in November, promptly forgot that I did so, and pre-ordered it again in late January. I received my BR from the original order maybe a week and a half ago, and I guess they're just now getting to fulfilling the orders placed closer to the release date because I got an email from Amy asking if I had meant to order it twice and offering to refund if I had not.

[Ben_Jamin]

You know whats funny....I thought I bought the album, and apparently I didn't. It was LTE I bought instead.

[The Letter M]

I got some above-average customer support from Radiant this week. I had pre-ordered the TAU Blu-ray release when it was first posted back in November, promptly forgot that I did so, and pre-ordered it again in late January. I received my BR from the original order maybe a week and a half ago, and I guess they're just now getting to fulfilling the orders placed closer to the release date because I got an email from Amy asking if I had meant to order it twice and offering to refund if I had not.

Oh that's nice! Glad you got your BD, though. If they weren't re-pressing more, I'd say keep your 2nd order as it could have become a rarity in the future, but they're already producing a second wave of BDs to sell and release in late March.

-Marc.

[darkshade]

I got some above-average customer support from Radiant this week. I had pre-ordered the TAU Blu-ray release when it was first posted back in November, promptly forgot that I did so, and pre-ordered it again in late January. I received my BR from the original order maybe a week and a half ago, and I guess they're just now getting to fulfilling the orders placed closer to the release date because I got an email from Amy asking if I had meant to order it twice and offering to refund if I had not.

Oh that's nice! Glad you got your BD, though. If they weren't re-pressing more, I'd say keep your 2nd order as it could have become a rarity in the future, but they're already producing a second wave of BDs to sell and release in late March.

-Marc.

I ordered the BD a week or so ago. I think they already produced the 2nd wave as the BD was sold out for a while.

[hefdaddy42]

Hey, I finally got my email from Radiant that my order shipped lol

Turns out that it didn't ship.  It "shipped".

Still in TN after 2 days.

[MinistroRaven]

For those geographically closer to the UK, Burning Shed is taking pre-orders for the standalone Blu Ray edition of "The Absolute Universe"
https://buff.ly/3spOUpC

[darkshade]

The Absolute Universe is quickly becoming one of my top TA albums, well, Forevermore is.

I wouldn't put it at number 1, but it's tied for 2nd right now with BAF for me, right below The Whirlwind, and might bump BAF down to 3 as I'm not the biggest fan of the middle songs on that album. On Forevermore, I am thoroughly engaged throughout, even the finale is growing on me.

This contrasts with The Breath Of Life. I have no real desire to revisit this aside from an occasional listen. I can't believe how much good stuff Neal cut for TBOL. Bully and Rainbow Sky, for example, are two of my new favorite songs from the band, and they aren't on TBOL! I get what Neal did, though. I do appreciate how tight the album is on the abridged version, I do like some of the changes, but it feels more like a Neal Morse album with featured guests. Roine is cut out way too much on TBOL as well, imo. I don't know if I would have loved the new Transatlantic album as much as I do if the final version was only The Breath of Life.

Forevermore is the album for me. It feels more like a band album. TBOL is the alternate Neal and friends version, which if it was one of his solo albums, it would be one of his best, so I still like it, and appreciate that we have two versions to pick from. Well, three.. but I'm still waiting on my copy of the Ultimate version to ship, so I can't comment on that version yet.

[bluefox4000]

I let this album lie for a bit.  recently revisited both.  i can just say i found myself not geting past disc 1 of Forevermore......which i feel the best of the 3 far and away.

Disc 2 has grown on me.....i've played it isolation.  And i'm sorry even on it's own i still weirdly get bored around the last 3 tracks. i dunno what it is but those last 3 songs just seem forever.  even without a full listen to both discs.

i also love TBOL but find it's over to quick and is just not enough.  it is more Morse heavy but i've come to realize.  that much like Kaleidoscope.....more Morse on a band project is not what's best, lol

So i made my own version and when you combine stuff.  it really does become POSSIBLY their best album.

Still a great outing by the guys.

[KevShmev]

My own Ultimate Edition has been tweaked:

01 Overture (Breath of Life)
02 Reaching for the Sky (Breath of Life)
03 Higher Than the Morning (Forevermore)
04 The Darkness in the Light (Forevermore)
05 Swing High, Swing Low (Forevermore)
06 Bully (Forevermore)
07 Rainbow Sky (Forevermore)
08 Looking for the Light (Forevermore)
09 The World We Used to Know (Forevermore)
10 Owl Howl (Forevermore)
11 Solitude (Forevermore)
12 Belong (Forevermore)
13 Lonesome Rebel (Forevermore)
14 Looking for the Light - reprise (Breath of Life)
15 The Greatest Story Never Ends (Breath of Life)
16 Love Made a Way (Breath of Life)

That works just right.  And flows great. Owl Howl has a natural start, so going from the fade-out of The World... to that works perfectly.  I can deal with Pete's rough vocals in Solitude, but not in The Sun Comes Out Today; those are far worse and sound like me on a bad day (and I can't sing to save my life).    Losing The Sun Comes Out Today and the Love Made a Way prequel was easy.  And I will treat Can You Feel It as a bonus track, ala Spinning or Lenny Johnson, that I will listen to on its own.  Already deleted both of the full versions off my phone and updated it with the above Ultimate Edition, and I don't see any need to tweak it again. 

I have been really enjoying my own personal Ultimate Edition (above) and been loving it.  It won't break into my TA top 3, but it is ahead of Kaleidoscope pretty comfortably now.

  And i'm sorry even on it's own i still weirdly get bored around the last 3 tracks. i dunno what it is but those last 3 songs just seem forever.  even without a full listen to both discs.

Those last three songs are worth it just for the transition from Looking for the Light (reprise) into The Greatest Story Never Ends, which is hands down one of the best moments of the entire thing, IMO.

[Nick]

Got this yesterday, so far I've listened to the 5.1 edition twice and the short version once. Will get in the long version later today. So far really liking it.

[Mladen]

I agree that there isn't enough Roine on The Breath of live. It's still a fine version, but I think I prefer Forevermore.

[Kram]

I just picked up Forevermore last week and absolutely love it.  Probably already tied with TW for #2 on my list (behind BAF). I'm questioning the need to even get TBOL (haven;t heard any of it), as this is such a complete and satisfying listen for me.  I wouldn't want TBOL to "ruin" how much I'm enjoying Forevermore - or is it not like that?  I'm sure I'll eventually pick it up, but if they had just released Forevemore, I certainly would have been happy.

[425]

I finally listened to Forevermore for the first time today. Like a lot of people, I was struck by how immediate some of the differences are right off the bat.

I'm glad I listened to TBoL five or six times first. I think it was rewarding to get pretty familiar with one version before tackling the other. It made the differences much more noticeable and interesting.

It's obviously way too early for me to pick a definite favorite version. I will say that listening to Forevermore, I definitely missed Can You Feel It, which is one of my favorite songs on the album. I also think that the "Belong, belong, better to belong" theme is used more than I'd like. It's not my favorite melody they've ever written, and I already thought it was at max saturation on TBoL before Forevermore added it in like 2 or 3 additional places. On the other hand, I really like The World We Used to Know and could see it becoming one of my favorites on the album. And the lyrics I disliked on the TBoL version of Higher Than the Morning are absent on Forevermore.

So we'll see how this one settles in for me. I wouldn't be surprised at all if both versions ultimately stay in my rotation due to liking some aspects better on one and others better on the other. Already it's clear to me that each one has at least one banger of an exclusive song, so I'm at least glad to have both for that.

I just picked up Forevermore last week and absolutely love it.  Probably already tied with TW for #2 on my list (behind BAF). I'm questioning the need to even get TBOL (haven;t heard any of it), as this is such a complete and satisfying listen for me.  I wouldn't want TBOL to "ruin" how much I'm enjoying Forevermore - or is it not like that?  I'm sure I'll eventually pick it up, but if they had just released Forevemore, I certainly would have been happy.

I don't see why TBoL would "ruin" Forevermore? Maybe you can say more about what you're afraid of, but I don't get why it would.

I would say that both versions are interesting and worthwhile for people who are into alternate takes—like, what other version of this verse existed? How did this instrumental section almost go differently? It's cool comparing and contrasting them, and you might find some that you prefer on each version. There are several songs that are substantially different—Reaching for the Sky is the same base song as Heart Like a Whirlwind, but many of the vocal melodies are different—while some are virtually the same. Also, if you're a completist, TBoL has one exclusive song, Can You Feel It.

[Kram]

Maybe "ruin" is way too strong of a word LOL.  I guess what I'm trying to say is I enjoy Forevermore so much, I don't see why they ever felt the need to tinker with it in the first place.  And if I end up not enjoying TBOL as much, well that will just confirm my suspicions - but I guess I need to give it a shot before I can pass judgement.

[425]

Got it. I'd say at worst you'd dislike every difference and come away thinking, "I'm glad they made they decisions they did for Forevermore." I can't imagine there being anything that would make you regret even listening to it. It's a different question whether you end up wanting to spend money on it.

[Ben_Jamin]

I just ordered both copies on Amazon. Great thing that it has Auto Rip so I can make my own playlist of songs, now to go and listen to both albums and choose which ones to add...Gonna be fun.

I also got Terminal Velocity while I was at it.

[425]

Okay, two listens into Forevermore, and seven total to some version of this album, and I'm starting to become a believer. Long way from a final verdict, but... I can see this one working its way into the upper echelon. Which is no small feat considering what absolutely monumental albums Bridge Across Forever and The Whirlwind are.

I still have my complaints (and confusions, to be honest) about some of the lyrics. And I still have concerns about the overuse of some of the themes, particularly the "Better to belong" theme (I think if anything I underestimated earlier how many times it crops up in Forevermore). But I feel comfortable calling this album a triumph in either version. It's at least no worse than Kaleidoscope, an album I, unlike some, love.

Perhaps it's too early for anyone to go there, but anyone want to do something like top five tracks? I'd name (in running order, not ranked):

Reaching for the Sky
The Darkness in the Light
The World We Used to Know
Owl Howl
Solitude

Honorable mention to Can You Feel It, a song that I worry will become somewhat lost in the shuffle if Forevermore ends up as most people's preferred version.

[The Letter M]

So after a week of having the Ultimate Edition Mix on my phone for audio listening, I gotta say - this may be my preferred version to listen to. It's got some of the best parts of TBOL on it with almost all of Forevermore, so it's really the best of both worlds for me. There are a couple of jarring edits in the Overture, and the transition from "Lonesome Rebel" into "Can You Feel It" is a bit off, but those minor things are more easily overlooked than some of the weird and more jarring edits and transitions in TBOL.

Regarding the band performing it live, I see two possibilities:
-They find a way to finally do a Transatlantic Weekend for Morsefest 2021, especially since Neal and/or Mike had originally intended for the band to perform at last year's Morsefest, which would have presumably been just the Forevermore-version of TAU. If they do two concerts for Transatlantic, there's a chance they could perform BOTH Forevermore and TBOL live, one each night, with different second sets. Do Forevermore on Night 1, and play about 60-80 minutes of music from their first two albums, then on Night 2, play all of The Breath Of Life, then come back with most of The Whirlwind and a song or two from Kaleidoscope. It'd be a LOT Of music to learn, but given that it'd be the first (and maybe ever ONLY) Morsefest with Transatlantic, why not play as much as possible?
-OR...they gear up to play the Ultimate Mix on the Cruise To The Edge (are they yet listed as being a part of CTTE 2022?), and maybe try to launch a tour following that performance. If they tour on it, I don't think they'll switch up or alternate the versions of the albums. They might do a song-swap from night to night, like doing "Swing High Swing Low" or "Take Now My Soul", since the music is mostly the same, just the lyrics/vocalists need to change, but if they're going for a long tour, they may want consistency on a nightly basis. Doing a one-off two-night weekend like Morsefest might give them a better reason to do both Forevermore and TBOL, but as I said, that is a lot of music to learn for one weekend, especially for Roine and Pete, who probably aren't used to doing that like Neal and Mike have done for the last 7 years (6 for Mike).

Perhaps it's too early for anyone to go there, but anyone want to do something like top five tracks? I'd name (in running order, not ranked):

Reaching for the Sky
The Darkness in the Light
The World We Used to Know
Owl Howl
Solitude

Honorable mention to Can You Feel It, a song that I worry will become somewhat lost in the shuffle if Forevermore ends up as most people's preferred version.

I'll go along with this (in no particular order):
The World We Used To Know
Owl Howl (Ultimate Version)
Reaching For The Sky
The Darkness In The Light
Rainbow Sky

EDIT - Changed my mind after hearing TDITL again, so now "The Greatest Story Never Ends (Ultimate Version)" becomes an honorable mention, along with "Lonesome Rebel" and "Higher Than The Morning".

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I will go with:

The World We Used to Know
The Darkness in the Light
Owl Howl (Forevermore version) - I wasn't totally sold on this one at first, but it has grown on me very nicely, and the synth freak-out part near the end is bad ass
Higher Than the Morning (Forevermore version)
Rainbow Sky

The last spot could have been Lonesome Rebel or Swing High, Swing Low.

[425]

The Darkness in the Light has such awesome verses. The kind of phrasing that you'd only hear from Roine. The silver lining of having less of him on The Breath of Life is that The Darkness in the Light makes for an awesome first lead vocal for him.

[Ben_Jamin]

This is the mix of versions I came up with. It will definitely change the more I listen to both versions more.

1. Overture (Breath of Life)
2. Reaching For The Sky (Breath of Life)
3. Higher Than The Morning (Forevermore)
4. The Darkness In The Light (Breath of Life)
5. Swing High, Swing Low (Forevermore)
6. Bully (Forevermore)
7. Rainbow Sky (Forevermore)
8. Looking For The Light (The Breath of Life)
9. The World We Used To Know (Forevermore)
10. The Sun Comes Up Today (Forevermore)
11. Love Made A Way (Prelude) (The Breath of Life)
12. Owl Howl (Forevermore)
13. Soulitude (Forevermore)
14. Belong (Forevermore)
15. Lonesome Rebel (Forevermore)
16. Can You Feel It (The Breath Of Life)
17. Looking For The Light (Reprise) (Forevermore)
18. The Greatest Story Never Ends (Forevermore)
19. Love Made A Way (Forevermore)

[KevShmev]

The Darkness in the Light has such awesome verses. The kind of phrasing that you'd only hear from Roine. The silver lining of having less of him on The Breath of Life is that The Darkness in the Light makes for an awesome first lead vocal for him.

I agree that the last part you mentioned there does make for a great dynamic, but the Forevermore version of Higher Than the Morning is like 991 times better than the BOL one.  It is an utter travesty what was done to the song on the abridged version. 

[utopiarun]

I have listened only to the Forevermore version of the album since the release day, maybe listened to the whole thing 15 times. I wanted to be familiar with it before I listened to TBOL. I went for a walk yesterday and started listening to TBOL for the first time and my initial thought was that Neal did everything he could to remove Roine from this album. Not sure if these guys are on unstable terms but if I was Roine I would be pretty pissed. I have to admit that I didn't listen to the whole thing but what I listened to just didn't seem right. Like it was off a bit. I will listen to the rest eventually.

I honestly don't like 2 (or even 3) versions of the same album being released. It makes me feel like all is not OK inside the band and nobody wanted to budge on their vision so they just released it 3 different ways. I think Neal should have released his version as maybe an Inner Circle release.

[KevShmev]

I have listened only to the Forevermore version of the album since the release day, maybe listened to the whole thing 15 times. I wanted to be familiar with it before I listened to TBOL. I went for a walk yesterday and started listening to TBOL for the first time and my initial thought was that Neal did everything he could to remove Roine from this album. Not sure if these guys are on unstable terms but if I was Roine I would be pretty pissed. I have to admit that I didn't listen to the whole thing but what I listened to just didn't seem right. Like it was off a bit. I will listen to the rest eventually.

I honestly don't like 2 (or even 3) versions of the same album being released. It makes me feel like all is not OK inside the band and nobody wanted to budge on their vision so they just released it 3 different ways. I think Neal should have released his version as maybe an Inner Circle release.

I haven't gone back and read the interviews since the album's release, but I have seen chatter in a few places online where some think Roine's annoyance was more than obvious in some of the pre-release interviews. I likely didn't pick up on it cause I hadn't heard the album yet (other than a listen or two of each of the three early "singles"), but it doesn't surprise me that that is what some are hearing.  Even with the contributions by the others being there in a big way on albums 2,3 and 4, I think each album comes off as still leaning more towards Neal Morse's style than anyone else's, and then with Forevermore, Roine was probably thinking, "hey, finally a Transatlantic album where I got to kind of take the lead and let my style be more of the driving force," and Neal said, "Nope, I am gonna redo it and take out a bunch of your stuff and make it more my style like usual."  Now, I doubt Neal actually said or thought that, but it sure does come off that way. And anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE Neal Morse fan, and will continue to be one regardless of how this played out, but if Roine does have a bad taste in his mouth because of this, it is 100% justified, IMO.

[DTA]

They should've done a 4-way release and had each member do a version like Kiss' solo albums.

[Mladen]

Favorites on Forevermore:

Heart like the whirlwind
The Darkness in the light
Rainbow sky
The Sun comes up today
Owl howl

Favorites on The Breath of life:
Reaching for the sky (maybe slightly more interesting than Heart like the whirlwind)
The Darkness in the light
Take now my soul (better than Swing high, swing low)
Owl howl

I also thought Overture was better on Forevermore, so I guess I prefer Forevermore by a hair. Both albums kind of get tiresome after Solitude, though.

[425]

The Darkness in the Light has such awesome verses. The kind of phrasing that you'd only hear from Roine. The silver lining of having less of him on The Breath of Life is that The Darkness in the Light makes for an awesome first lead vocal for him.

I agree that the last part you mentioned there does make for a great dynamic, but the Forevermore version of Higher Than the Morning is like 991 times better than the BOL one.  It is an utter travesty what was done to the song on the abridged version. 

True, I definitely do prefer the Forevermore version of Higher Than the Morning.

Even with the contributions by the others being there in a big way on albums 2,3 and 4, I think each album comes off as still leaning more towards Neal Morse's style than anyone else's, and then with Forevermore, Roine was probably thinking, "hey, finally a Transatlantic album where I got to kind of take the lead and let my style be more of the driving force," and Neal said, "Nope, I am gonna redo it and take out a bunch of your stuff and make it more my style like usual."  Now, I doubt Neal actually said or thought that, but it sure does come off that way. And anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE Neal Morse fan, and will continue to be one regardless of how this played out, but if Roine does have a bad taste in his mouth because of this, it is 100% justified, IMO.

I certainly hope there's nothing to this, and I think it's hard to speculate about exactly what went on or even who wrote what parts, but it does seem plausible just looking at what was taken out between the different versions. I think it's also plausible, though, that Neal didn't do it as an intentional slight.

It's kind of surprising to me on one level that this band has gone so well for so long with three members who definitely like to be in charge. I wonder if Roine has ended up being somewhat outvoted in general with Mike and Neal maybe coming to see things eye-to-eye more and more the more they work together. I remember getting the impression from one of the Kaleidoscope interviews that The Letter M shared a few pages ago that Roine wasn't happy with all the choices on that album, but he more or less accepted it as a consequence of collaboration. I recall him saying that he didn't even want Beyond the Sun on the album at all, and didn't play on the song, but got outvoted. Which, hey, maybe he's fine with it. I don't know a lot about what kind of person he is, but maybe he's willing to accept compromises with Neal and Mike in TA, knowing that he can write music where he's more in charge with TFK.